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ATTORNEY GENERAL SPEAKS TO STUDENTS ABOUT GOVERNMENT, POLITICS
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster stopped by Dutch Fork High School today to talk with Kelly Payne’s advanced government class. And The Palmetto Scoop tagged along to see what all the buzz is about.
Like the late-night talk show circuit or visits with newspaper editorial boards, Payne’s class is quickly becoming a must-stop for South Carolina politicos. Already, the Speaker of the House, the Comptroller General, and a number of other elected officials have visited this group of bright, young students.
With a theme of “this is your state, take part,” the Attorney General discussed everything from some of the high-profile cases he has handled to one of his favorite books, “South Carolina: A History” by Walter Edgar.
The standing-room only classroom was more than up to the challenge of talking politics and government with the attorney general. Students asked about the history and power of the attorney general’s office, and even grilled McMaster on his future aspirations.
“I’m interested in helping the state as governor, but after that, we’ll have to see,” McMaster said. That’s probably the closest you’ll get to an announcement that he’s running… for now.
Everything McMaster does is good.
Everything Bauer does is bad.
Everything Graham does is good.
Everything Sanford does is bad.
Everything McCain does is good.
Everything Barrett does is bad.
Did I miss anyone?
Impressive! Why don’t more teachers take this approach? She’s bringing the world into her classroom. I bet her students love the lessons they learn this way. Very few people in SC will ever have the opportunity to meet a high-ranking official like our Attorney General. Looks like she’s bring in MOST of the state’s top officials to discuss serious issues with her students. Kudos to Ms. Payne!!
Thank you Mr. McMaster for coming and speaking to the Current Issues class at Dutch Fork High School. I learned the difference of powers between the Governor and the Attorney General. You said that the Governor has the power of persuasion and the advantage of the bully pulpit. It sounds like you have major interest in it in becoming governor! I would vote for you!! As sad as it is that people dog fight in this state it was very interesting to learn how people are caught and to be educated even further about it. It’s shocking to hear that people bet up to $100,000 on dog fighting. Once again thank you very much for coming and speaking to the students at Dutch Fork High.
Hey General Mc Master thank you for visiting my class yesterday, it was awesome. I never got to meet anybody like you. Your discussion about the Internet sex predator problems really made me think a lot, now I want to tell everybody. Thanks again for taking your time out of your busy schedule to teach us!!
Chelsea Jones
Hey Mr. McMasters,
Thank you very much for coming to our class on Jan. 29, 2009. It was fun and very informational. I didn’t realize how bad the dog fights were, how heartless some people can be. Thank you again for explaining to us about what you do and how important it is.
Christine
How much do they pay you Fogle; McMaster’s campaign that is? You don’t even attempt to cover up the fact that your working on his campaign, you need to report a juicy story on Mcmaster you brown nosing bigot…
Dog Fighting
I learned that you are opposed to dog fighting. I am totally against it also. Harming innocent animals for your own personal amusement is a heinous crime! Come on that’s not right. In my opinion this is the cruelest and most inhumane thing a person could do to an animal. While some people are betting on which animal will survive basically you are putting a price on another dog’s life and for what? I am writing this to say to Henry McMaster thank you so much for you dedication to stopping this despicable activity that people indulge in and that has plagued our society! You are a true blessing for all that you do for our state and we will always be grateful to you for that.
Dear Attorney General Mr. Henry McMaster,
My name is Jade French; I am a student from Dutch Fork High School. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the school program with you and my fellow schoolmates. I did have the chance to see you speak on the recorded video, and hear from my classmates the basics you covered. I must say I was astonished, I never knew someone would be that knowledgeable about South Carolina. I enjoyed hearing about how you feel about teens speaking up for what they believe. As a kid myself, I’ve always stood strong on that. Hearing about how you won so many law cases, wanting to abolish parole, and many things you talked about. The two most interesting topics you hit was how you’re passionate about stopping online pornography, and gathering SLED agents to pretend to be kids and teens to catch sexual predators. You do not know how that made me feel, to see someone make the world a better place for all- young, old, and animals. I really don’t like the parole rule and how they get out so soon, but it will change one day because is a new beginning. The second topic was the dog fighting; that was very interesting because I have never heard much about it. Maybe if you revisit, I will try my best to come and meet a wonderful man.
Sincerely,
Jade French
Thank you for visiting our school, Mr. Henry McMaster. I hope your plans come true when you run for Governor in 2010. I really hope you abolish parole because some people need to stay locked away for more than a year and a half to three years. Dog fighting is also a big issue and it needs to be stopped. People watching animals kill each other for fun is wrong and its animal cruelty so I hope you win if you run for Governor.
Sincerely,
Winston Mattison
Dear Mr. Henry McMaster,
Even though I wasn’t able to be in the class that day to see you, I feel that if I were there, I’d have a good time. I’d like to thank you for coming to our school because I think kids in high school need that support and help. Some of the kids that were there shared with my class what issues you discussed with them. I’d especially like to bring up the issues on dog fighting and parole. Dog fighting has been around for years and people have tried to stop it, but it has gone no where. For some reason I think that you can probably stop this from happening. I also watched a recording of what you said about parole. Everything you said made sense! Creating“Middle Court” is interesting too. I would’ve never thought of that. I hope that one day I can see you because I feel that we would have a good conversation about today’s issues. Oh, I also heard you’re thinking about running for Governor in 2010! Good Luck with everything!
Sincerely,
Kelsey Edwards.
Dear Mr. Henry McMaster,
Thank you for coming to our school and telling us about these important issues that’s we have today. Thank you for explaining to us about the current situation involving parole. You taught me something that I never even knew. Abolishing parole would be a great idea for South Carolina. Thank you for telling us about dog fighting also. This is all very interesting. I hope your campaign does well when you run for Governor- that is, if you decide to. We were glad to have you here and we all hope you will come back.
Sincerely,
Gary Johnson
I can not even think of anything less educational for students than
having a bunch of SC politicos speak to them. The teacher of this
class is obviously unable to come up with sufficient work for her
students to do and just tries to fill in their time with useless crap
like this.
Dear Mr. Henry McMaster,
My name is Brandon Johnson. Im sorry I couldn’t be there but I had a wrestling match to attend. Ms. Payne updated me on some of the things you talked about and well, I agree with you. The dog-fighting is a problem and I don’t think people should treat dogs like that. Thanks for visiting!
Sincerely,
Brandon Johnson
Philotiger–
That was almost refreshing.
There is still a place in the world for those of us who no longer suffer from political cataracts.
Mr. McMaster,
Thank you so much for taking the time to come and visit our class. I really enjoyed your opinions! Sir, as I sat in my seat, I realized you have so much compassion, your heart is in the right place, and you really do care about the South Carolinians. You encoraged us to speak up, which was very exciting, and you really nailed those questions we asked you! I never knew how knowledgeable you were about South Carolina and it’s government. You also threw some curveballs at us! When I asked you, “If you could reform South Carolina’s Government, what you you reform?”, You talked about paroles! I was amazed to hear something refreshing, and new, and you also had a plan of action, unlike others. Thank you so much for coming here to visit us and sharing your knowledge and opinions. I hear that you are thinking about running for Governor in 2010! Well, in my opinion, I think you could devilver exactly what South Carolina needs.
Dear Mr. Henry McMaster,
Thank you so very much for comming to Dutch Fork to see our class. Ms. Payne is a great teacher and does a lot for us. What really got me were two of your points: dog fights and sexual predators. I have a dog and to think that there are people who want to hurt animals for their amusement is just wrong. All animals and living creatures should be given the same respect they give us. I have seen Datine’s “To Catch A Predator” series and I think it is sick and wrong that people would want to do that to these inoocent kids. I like the ideas you presented, and thanks again for visiting.
Sincerely,
Ashley Underhill
Philotiger,
This is a CURRENT ISSUES class that in the syllabus tells us we will be learning about current issues in our state and government. This is what we are supposed to be learning about and why we signed up to take this class. Mr. McMaster didn’t even talk about politics, he discussed differences between his duties as attorney general and that of a prosecutor. If this is such “useless crap” why are you taking time out of your day to read this blog and dog out my teacher; maybe you have nothing “sufficient” to do.
Thank you Mr. McMaster for coming to speak to my class. We all learned a lot. I now feel like I am involved in my state. I am not going to sit around and let my state pass me by. I never knew that dog fights were happening in my state. Hearing about it now makes me realize that bad things happen everywhere. It’s not just the cops who have to keep the citizens safe. The general public has that same responsibility. Like you said there will never be enough law enforcement to protect everyone all the time. I know now that I need to take responsibility to speak up against the crime and report it. You taught the class a lot about SC and not just the pretty stuff. SC has a lot going for it, but we need to make sure we don’t let our state fail. I believe you can help fix some of our problems we currently face. I extend a heartfelt thank you Mr. McMaster for everything.
It seems odd to me that these students pick an arbitary SC state politics blog to post their thank you notes to. The guy has an e-mail address and a mail box too.
I suppose since Adam was there, he got a few minutes to plug the glorious and noble profession of state politics blogger and this site in particular?
McMaster focused his time on dog fighting? Way to take a stand there! Hopefully next he’ll announce his support of apple pie.
Oh my, it has been so difficult to not make a “standing room only…” joke.
hahaha. good post Bill A
Thanks for getting students involved, Ms. Payne. These students will form the next generation of political leaders. Perhaps they are learning a lesson on the importance of building relationships with voters. Keep up the good work.
To Bill A. :
its pretty sad that you would make fun of Mr. McMaster for taking time out of his day to speak to us. And wow, if you honestly don’t know the reason we blog this (Which im sure you don’t), then your a disgrace to politics. I will make sure to give him a huge thank you when I personally visit his office.
To Philotiger:
FYI, these people called and asked if THEY could come in and speak with OUR class. Mr. McMaster did not dicuss politics with us, he discussed South Carolina’s issues. Its the idiots like you who know nothing about politics that gives South Carolina a bad name. So before you ever come blog on a political website again, I suggest you do a little researching.
Opportunities for education by a professional teacher of this caliber are a gift extraordinaire for her students. Ms.Payne is a hands on instructor that only seeks the best for her students. Her educational techniques stretch far beyond the limits of the classroom and she makes the world come alive in her classroom. What a refreshing Blessing.
Dear Mr. McMaster,
Thank you so much for coming to our classroom to talk about the issues with our state. I fully agree with you that prisoners shouldn’t get out of jail until their full sentence is over. It doesn’t really teach them a lesson at all. Thanks for everything! I hope to see you again soon!
I thank you for visiting our school. You really helped us understand South Carolina’s current issues. You are a great Attorney General, Mr. Henry McMaster. I hope you do run for Governor in 2010. You are an excellent person. I think its great that you really care about us and our safety. I am very honored to have met you.
Dear Henry McMaster,
Thank you for teaching me a lot of things on your visit. I learned about how you worked as the Attorney General. We all are very thankful for people especially you for protecting us from all these potential dangers. If you decide to run for Governor, I hope that you win because I think you could be perfect for the Governor’s job. I am wishing you good luck in everything you do. Thanks again for coming to our school, Mr. Henry McMaster!
Sincerly,
Your friend Chris Baker.
Mr. McMaster,
Thank you for coming to Dutch Fork to see Ms. Payne’s class. I wish I could have made it, but gym class, as always, kept me from going anywhere. I have another teacher for Current Issues but I wish that I could switch to Ms. Payne’s class so bad! I really feel that the points you made about dog fighting, parole, and sexual predators were very informative and they really opened my eyes. I want to thank you for working so hard and putting blood, sweat, and tears into making our state a better place. I think that if you run for Governor, (and if I’m eighteen) you will have my vote!
Daniel L. Kyre
Dear Mr. McMaster,
Thanks for coming to Dutch Fork on the 29th. I myself did not have the chance to meet you. I agree with your idea on establishing a “Middle Court”. I also think its awesome that we will save about $13,00 per inmate.
Even though I wasn’t there, I would like to thank you for taking the time to come to Dutch Fork to educate my fellow classmates on your job and how you do what you do. The biggest issue I agree with is putting truth in sentencing. We are spending all this money putting criminals in jail and they end up serving less than half of their sentence. It’s unbelieveable and it makes me angry knowing that we use all of that money just to be wasted! Once again I want to say thank you for coming and talking to us.
I like Mr. McMaster’s idea of establishing a “Middle Court” and I support him. I think he stands for a good cause and that he is a good and kind man. Attorney General Henry McMaster really helps the community and especially the youth by cracking down on sexual predator. Thank you for coming by and showing us you care.
Dear Mr. McMaster,
Thank you so much for taking the time to come to Dutch Fork High School on Thursday. I agree that people serving time in prison or jail should stay in jail instead getting out on parole. Depending upon the crime, people stay jail for 1/3 of their time and get out on parole which is very upsetting. The prison system spends a lot of money on things that need to occur. Thank you again for coming to visit Dutch Fork High School.
Thanks,
Terah Eunts
I’ll stop mocking McMaster when he stops bringing along his own personal little press corps to make sure everyone hears about his noble deeds.
Dear Mr. McMaster,
I want to thank you for coming in yesterday and talking to kids like me about the dangers of sex offenders. I agree with you all the way. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Anthony D.
It’s Adam’s choice who he wants to report, he didn’t “Bring along his own little press” and at least he’s trying to make a difference in our community and you can’t say that you have.
It was interesting listening to you talk about the issue of parole. I totally agree with your opinion. Thank you so much for coming to Dutch Fork to speak. I know everyone enjoyed your visit.
Dear Mr. McMaster,
Thanks for coming to the school and talking about your opinions and your ideas of a “Middle Court.”
Thank you for coming to our class and I agree with your idea of a Middle Court because it would keep the murderers and other felons in jail, where they need to be. I also think we have the right to to support our religion, so I support the “I believe” plates.
I agree with your idea of serving consecutive sentences instead of concurrent sentences. I think that when a prisoner serves concurrent sentences, it is just a way for him to get around his punishment, therefore learning no lesson. Thank you for visiting Dutch Fork High School and good luck in future campaigns.
I think i’m going to be sick if i see another “thankyou Mr. McMaster” blah blah blah…..
The man has fought cock fighters and dogfighters…. big whoop.
How can a regular citizen visit this class to show the class the meaning of hypocrisy.
I am being abused by state and federally elected people. I’d love to show the class the 3000 pages of documentation required of me in order to maintain my SSA benefits. Governor, Lt. Gov, Senator, Congressman, State elected Senators, State elected Congressmen all know. AG, US Attorney, Sherriff, Chief of Police, SLED, FBI, Secret Service all know.
YET THESE LAW ENFORCEMENT PEOPLE ARE ALLOWING PROFOUND ABUSE.
I’d love to visit this class and show them how to prepare to deal with elected people.
I’m showing people in DC so again, I’d appreciate the opportunity to show the kids the difference in what they say, and what they do….
I was MADE AN EXAMPLE>
Liz, maybe you can show them when they tour the Department of Mental Health…
to liz shepard:
thats why we signed up to take this class: to learn about current issues. every single person in america has been cheated, just like you, because, according to our constitution, we shouldn’t be paying taxes. well guess what? we all are. its a part of life right now, and it needs to change. thats why we are taking this class: to learn about current issues so hopefully, one day, we can make a difference.
Philotiger-
Bill A-
Mab-
Obviously you did not have the opptunity that we students have when you were in school. Ms. Payne is a CURRENT ISSUES teacher and do you know what that means? By the sounds of it no! When McMaster came and talked to the class he left all the political views out the door.. .before he probably even came in the school. He simply talked to us about the differences between his job and some others that he works with. The whole dog fighting was just one of the examples that used… and the fact that many people are bringing it up might just possibly mean that they are INTRESTED in it. He talked about sex pretators on the internet as well as the water issue with NC. All the man was trying to do was just explain a couple situations that his job deals with.
If you have so many problems with students thanking him then why don’t you just not read them…
But of course, you might have nothing else to do so you just blog and try to put people down.
“I can not even think of anything less educational for students than
having a bunch of SC politicos speak to them” quoted by Philotiger,
-this could possibly be the MOST educational thing for students
FOR CRYING OUT LOUD ITS CURRENT ISSUES!
so for now on when you talk about stuff that you dont fully understand you might want to watch it
Mr. McMaster has a very interesting job. He defends South Carolina in major court cases and he brings down criminals.
Thanks Mr. McMaster for coming to our class! I really enjoyed hearing what you had to say about online awareness and the dog fighting that is going on in our state.
Thank you so much, Mr. McMaster for visiting our class. Now that I know more about your role in the government, I think your job is very interesting and important. I really do hope you run for governor because you make very good points about important issues facing our state. I was also shocked to hear about the dog fighting going on in South Carolina but I’m glad more people are getting caught. Thanks again for coming!
Mr. McMaster’s visit to our Current issues class was meaningful to say the least. It is the fact that the attorney general took the effort to share some of his knowledge that impacts the students the most. We as students are eager to learn and become more involved in our states government. To Attorney General McMaster thank you for supporting us as we now support you.
p.s. Bill A. … your ignorance is almost intolerable. thanks for being a part of the state i take pride in.
I had to go to Math for this block and didn’t get to come. I’m sure if I was there though all of the stuff that everybody else is saying would have been true.
Hope ill be there next time
I couldn’t go. I hope that the next time someone like this comes it will be scheduled during our block so I don’t miss out, because I’m a very busy student, like I’m sure all the other seniors are.
Corey
I unfortunately wasnt able to attend the visitation of Mr.McMaster, but i hear that the room was jammed packed with teens who were interested in politics and government. The responisbilites of an Attorney general are numerous. The fact that Mr.McMaster took the time to vist a Dutch fork shows that he still keeps his constiuents in mind and takes time for the community
Thanks agian
I was in the class that General McMaster spoke to. I think that he did an excellent job. He told us about the dog-fighting in the state, the predators, the scandals, and a lot of other things about SC. I can’t wait to see what his plans are for Governor.
I think it was awesome when McMaster came to talk to our class. we got to hear alot of things like how the trial over the water in North Carolina will effect us. What i really liked was him talking about us helping our neighbors. We dont hear that enough as young people. Just about everyone tells us to help each other but somthing about what he said hit home for me. We should be active in our communities and we should be looking out for one another. We never know when the world is going to end or if the sun will rise tomorrow but we should help out to make every second of that day count. We all live in South Carolina and we should be making our home the best place it can be.
First, I want to thank Mr. McMaster for coming into Ms. Payne’s class last week. I think that everybody left school that day with something new in their head.
Second, for all the ones posting that are saying that it is stupid for Ms. Payne to have politicians come into class, I think that it is a GREAT thing that she does have politicians coming in because it is just another way for students to gain a first hand look at our government and our state, and that is exactly what the class outline states that we are to do. So, like i said, it is just another GREAT way to better understand out state.
Thanks again, Mr. McMaster. We are glad you came and hope you will come again.
Dear Mr. McMaster
Thank you soo much for coming to talk to our class. We got to hear a lot about things that will affect our state. I think that dog fighting is soo wrong and it just sickens me to think that people will bet as much as $100,000 to see that. I also found out a lot about SC history and abotu the water in North Carolina. I never really thought about how bad sex predators can be. I also agree with you that prisoners should serve their sentence without getting out on parole. Its just ridiculous. After they get out, they’re just going to do what they did before jail. Well…most of them. Anyway, thanks so much for coming to our class, we really got a lot from it.
Attorney General McMaster,
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to our current issues class. It was very interesting to learn about your duties as Attorney General and the legal issues that are plauging our state. It will be interesting to see how South Carolina changes if you become governor in 2010. Thanks again, it was a truly enjoyable exsperience.
i think that it’s awesome that high position politicos, like mr.mcmaster here, can take time out of their very busy agenda, to come to our school.this is an event, nowhere else does something like this take place. i lived in Oklahoma for, approximately, three years, and i never even heard of something like this ever happening. so i really appreciate mr.mcmaster coming to our school. he talked about things that are going on right now in SC that i didn’t even know about, and that are a big problems. i think that mr.mcmaster is the indicated person for governor.
Dear Mr. McMaster
I wasn’t in class the day you visited us, but I heard about it. I heard about the dog fighting and all the sexual predators out there, and I think it’s horrible; I wouldn’t have even thought of it if i didn’t hear about it. I’ll want to learn more about the history of South Carolina, and the current issues that are severe, but rarely discussed. Thanks for coming to our school, and hope to see you as Governor in the future.
This was a blast! It was very cool to hear him talk about all these issues hes trying to fix, and then to pretty much announce how he would like to run for SC governor.
Mcmaster vising our class was a neat experience. Glad he could come and share with us what he does and some of the things that are going on. I learned about the dog fights that i didn’t know before. the problems with North carolina were shocking i was unaware we were having issues over water.
Thanks
Thank you Mr. McMaster for coming into our class last week. I enjoyed hearing you talk and i learned a lot about South Carolina.
Thank you for comming to speak to our class. I really liked the story about how we should end dog fighting. I think you inspired many of us to persue a career in politics. Thanks again!
Thank you Mr. Mcmasters for coming to Dutch Fork High School. I enjoyed listening to you and your stories. Thanks again.
It is really great to see people such as Henry Mcmasters visit our school and class. Even though I could not attend because I had to do something I could not miss in math class. I hope maybe one day he speaks again.