Letting Fox News set agenda

So the people at Fox News say they now know where the Guantanamo Bay detainees (read: suspected terrorists) "could be going."

In a "breaking news" "major development" (first reported in Time magazine earlier this year), Fox said Friday that Charleston is "very much in play" to house some of the detainees.

What was your first clue, Sherlock?

The Navy's brig in Hanahan has housed several of these guys over the last seven years. Of course the Pentagon is considering this -- like it or not.

To be sure, this is a scary prospect for many. People from here to Kansas think they may be targeted for terrorist attacks if these yahoos are jailed in their communities. It has become one of the biggest not-in-my-backyard issues today.

You know what else is scary?

Apparently, some of South Carolina's congressmen get their information about what's going on in the federal government from Fox News.

Aren't they the federal government?

Disagree to disagree

On Friday afternoon, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett -- you know, one of the five Republicans running for governor -- issued a statement condemning the White House decision to stick terrorists in the brig, based on the Fox report.

U.S. Rep. Henry Brown quickly followed suit, calling it "extremely unsettling" news.

On Monday, Brown's primary opponent for next year's 1st District race -- Carroll Campbell Jr. -- tried to one-up him.

"It is more than unsettling; it is unacceptable," Campbell said. "(W)e need to house captured terrorists outside of our borders and to spend our time focused on protecting our nation, not coddling captured terrorists."

Don't hold your breath waiting on the other side to issue a "pro-coddling" stance.

Now it's really getting crazy. We have one gubernatorial candidate (Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer) asking another gubernatorial candidate (Attorney General Henry McMaster) to do something about this. And on Tuesday, Barrett asked the other gubernatorial candidates to join him in writing to President Barack Obama to protest this.

On Friday, Barrett said he simply wants to make sure people know where he stands on the issue, whether it's confirmed or just a rumor.

Glad we got that straightened out -- wouldn't want to frighten people needlessly.

Close encounters

This may come as a surprise to some people, but there is some partisan politicking going on.

There wasn't nearly this much grousing when the previous administration moved detainees here from Guantanamo -- though, in fairness, Brown has been griping about this since the Twin Towers fell.

Read additional columns by Brian Hicks