-By Warner Todd Huston
The Sun News, a McClatchy owned paper in Myrtle Beech, South Carolina, was excited to tell its readers that the state’s tourism officials were getting “flooded” with emails from folks upset and threatening to cancel future vacations in South Carolina. What raised the ire of these emailers was the behavior of Representative Joe Wilson (R, SC) who called out that Obama was a liar during the president’s healthcare speech delivered before a joint session of Congress last week.
In its first two paragraphs, the Sun News made it seems as if an avalanch of folks had emailed state officials expressing their outrage.
State and local tourism officials are being flooded by e-mails and calls from people across the country, who say they won’t vacation in South Carolina because they’re upset by Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst at President Obama.
A number of the out-of-state e-mailers have said they’ve taken beach trips for years in Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head and other resort areas, but don’t plan to return, officials said.
The story goes on to rehash the whole Wilson “liar” incident assuming that all kinds of tourists are turning against South Carolina vacations because of Wilson’s conduct.
It isn’t until the last few paragraphs of the story that we finally find out the true extent of the number of upset emailers.
Marion Edmonds, a spokesman for the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, said his agency had received 147 e-mails from people who cited Wilson by name and expressed displeasure with his shout-out.
The Sun News thinks 147 emails is a “flood” of emails? Out of the millions of tourists that South Carolina gets per year, that “flood” of 147 emailers must be shocking, indeed.
In any case, 147 emails seems like much ado about nothing.
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as NewsBusters.org, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.
He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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