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COUNTY CHAIRMAN DEFENDS STATEMENT BUT MEANT NOTHING DEROGATORY
Less than 48 hours after publishing a guest editorial that used an ethnic stereotype to defend U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, two South Carolina GOP County chairmen are apologizing for their remarks. Well, sort of.
Orangeburg County GOP Chairman James Ulmer penned a piece along with his Bamberg County counterpart Edwin Merwin that said, “There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves.” That statement, the chairmen said, was akin to DeMint’s opposition to Congressional earmarks.
And late Monday night, Ulmer issued a quasi-apology.
“I admit that perception is indeed reality to many and that I could have certainly worded that sentence much better. I sincerely apologize for this great error,” Ulmer said in a statement picked up by CBS News. “If I had quoted that great man from Pennsylvania, Ben Franklin, using his, ‘A penny saved is a penny earned,’ I doubt I would be writing this note.”
Of course, if Ulmer had quoted Franklin in the first place, he would have been correct.
The Huffington Post did a little background research on the saying and found that it is Franklin, not the Jews, to whom the phrase is actually attributed. So it appears Ulmer’s attribution to Jewish people makes it even more malicious.
But in Ulmer’s apology, he said that wasn’t his intent.
“I meant absolutely nothing derogatory by the reference to a great and honorable people,” he said. “I hope that anyone and all who were offended by my comment will accept my humble apology.”
The comment, which ran in the Orangeburg Times and Democrat Sunday, went largely unnoticed until The Palmetto Scoop covered it Monday, noting that “it’s people like Ulmer and Merwin that make many folks fear for the future of the once Grand Ole Party.”
Late Tuesday morning, Merwin issued a similar statement of his own.
“At this time I wish to deeply apologize for any material included in that letter that would be considered antisemitic in any way,” he wrote in an e-mail to reporters and other Republican officials. “I have always abhored [sic] in the past, and shall continue to do so in the future, anti-semitism in any form whatsoever. I concur fully with the apology offered by my co-author, Jim Ulmer, and likewise beg that any and all who were offended will accept my deep felt apology.”
Pretty soon the print media will be able to sell space like the legal advertising so that all apologies for being insensitive to another person can run so that a record of the apology will be established.
This is ridiculous and getting out of hand. I have been called many names in my life, many which upset me very much, but I didn’t go whinning to the newspaper. Or could this be a great opportunity to get more presss coverage. So I would like to go on record if I or my family including all generations back to the pre civil war days has said or done anything to offend anyone please accept this as going on record as being dreadfully sorry that you are such a whiny little wush that words can destroy you. Bite me
“Y’all, I swear I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, I swear! No one loves our Jews down here in these parts more ‘n me. Why, I eat some a-them what cha call ‘em? Beagles every chance I get …”
Ha ha ha ha ha! South Carolina, if you didn’t exist we’d have to invent you!
Anti semitism and racism normally go hand in hand. Why am I not suprised by Republican insensitivity?
I would hardly call this an apology of any sort. In fact, it is a second insult, in particular this statement:
Is he saying that the perception of Jews as greedy and money hording is a reality to many in S.C? Because that is how it reads to this Jew broad.
If he wanted to quote Franklin, he should have. There is no comparison, however, between attributing an actual quote to the individual who said it/wrote it and using a stereotype to smear an entire group of people. There is simply no comparison and for him to note that if he had used the Franklin quote originally, he would not have to be writing this apology illustrates just how little appreciation he has for insulting his statement was. Perhaps you might email him and let him know that Hitler used this exact propaganda as a reason to round up Jews. He seems to think or at least imply that all of this is simply him stumbling over words. No, the intent is evident in his complete and total ignorance as illustrated in his non-apology.
From this Jew… not accepted.
Thanks for your fine reporting on this.
Best,
LA
I’ve already had my fun with these redneck knuckle draggers. Ooooh, family values. Saw another crowd of trogladytes had been at Joe Wilson’s little to-do up in North. Seems they thought Joe’s shout-out during the Presidents address to congress was just o.k. by them and it was speaking truth to power. One of them was a nurse against a public option for health insurance. That really turns me on, ignorance, stupidity, bad manners and of course those trailer-bred sensibilities. Yes we’re dumb and proud of it. Joe Wilson’s gang.
That has to be one of the most clumsy, awkwardly written apologies I have ever seen! It just may be worst than the op-ed (and that was written by the same two geniuses). Those guys need an editor bad. This incident could spawn some classic jokes like “How many SC Republicans does it take to write a competent opinion piece?” the answer: probably the same number of Republicans it will take to force Mark Sanford to resign.
[...] can scarcely afford it,” Drake said. “I am glad to see that both Ulmer and Merwin have expressed apologies for their statements, and well they should, for both the slight to South Carolina’s Jewish [...]