Chalk another one up for the good ole boys of the South Carolina GOP. Every time I read something about this group it feels like a slow, deep slide back to 1865.

The Lexington County Republicans censured State Senator Jake Knotts Friday night for his nasty racist remarks about "ragheads." Here's the quote:

"We've got a raghead in Washington, we don't need a raghead in the Statehouse,"

His apology was even worse than the original quote. He justified his idiotic racism by claiming to be in a casual setting and conversation. I see. If one is relaxed and just chatting, being a racist is ok? Well, it's ok if you're the GOP in South Carolina. Bless their hearts.

A censure is fine and well if it actually means something. But in the case of Lexington County, it means next to nothing. Remember, these were the same yahoos that censured Senator Lindsey Graham because he said climate change is real. That censure led him to his twisty gyrations last week while arguing against the Murkowski amendment to reverse the EPA finding on greenhouse gasses while not actually coming out and saying climate change is real.

So a censure means very little, and Knotts' response affirms it.

"No, I'm not going to resign from office and they can say what they want to," said Knotts. "I made a mistake. I immediately recognized it and apologized."

And of course, Knotts had his defenders:

During the meeting, people spoke up for and against Knotts.

"I actually thought the apology was just as bad, the attempt at the apology was just as bad as the original remark," said Joshua Gross.

"I do not feel like we should be divisive and sew more discord by doing something so ugly as to censure him," said Tommy Blonk.

But don't despair, because there are worse threats to the Lexington Party GOP than racists. There are...(cue scary music, please) LIBERTARIANS.

Knotts says libertarians have infiltrated the party and are the same group of people who called out US Sen. Lindsey Graham for working with Democrats on an energy bill, but didn't vote to censure Gov. Mark Sanford for his affair.

Poor Knotts. He just can't bring himself to say "teabaggers", can he? In South Carolina, that just might be a hangin' offense.

Good ole lyin' Joe the Hon Wilson (I swear, that's how his campaign disclosure reads) won't quite withdraw his endorsement, choosing instead to walk that thin line between losing donors and losing his soul, assuming he had one:

Congressman Wilson released a statement Thursday evening saying he "strongly supported" the actions by the county party.

"Senator Knotts did not reflect the values of our citizens in his language or in the tone of his remarks and certainly did not reflect mine," said Wilson.

That stops just a bit short of an endorsement withdrawal. I'm sure Lyin' Joe knows it'll all blow over soon enough and be a thing of the past.

If it doesn't, they've always got the voting machine strategy to fall back on.

Oh please, please, Sen. Graham. If we're really, really good, and do everything exactly the way you want, will you finally let us win one?

What planet do they live on? They're so good at the cognitive dissonance, they can't even tell when they sound like clowns. Gee, I wonder what a Congress where they were less cooperative would look like - Dresden?

At the same time, passing it has its risks too. While a bill-signing ceremony in the Rose Garden would provide at least a short-term boost to a beleaguered president, Republicans have made clear that the legislative procedure Democrats are using to avoid another filibuster would so anger them that they would not cooperate on other major initiatives this year.

“If they jam through health care,” said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, then Democrats will have “poisoned the well” on other issues. He was interviewed Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

An immigration proposal he has been working on with Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, would likely fall victim to the worsened environment, he said.

Here's a recap in video of Judge Sonia Sotomayor Confirmation hearing from Monday just in case you missed it. Don't forget to check C&L's Video Cafe on a daily basis because the team is posting a ton of videos there that we don't front page.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor Introduces Her Family Members

Senator Hatch Opening Statements Judge Sonia Sotomayor Hearing

Senator Feinstein Interrupted By Protester Judge Sotomayor Confirmation Hearing

Senator Sessions Opening Statements Judge Sonia Sotomayor Hearing

Judge Sotomayor No Republican Would Have Picked You! Senator Lindsey Graham

Senator Russ Feingold Defines "Judicial Activist" Judge Sonia Sotomayor Hearing

Jeff Sessions oblivious to the irony of calling Sotomayor 'prejudiced'

Judge Sotomayor's Opening Statement

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Today Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) spoke like a person prepared to defer to the President's choice of Judge Sonia Sotomayor and vote for her confirmation despite his disagreements with her judicial philosophy. While I disagree with Graham on the Senate's role regarding judicial appointments, I must credit him with consistency on this issue. Graham said:

“My inclination is that elections matter…President [Barack] Obama won the election, and I will respect that.” He criticized Obama’s rationale, when a senator, for voting against the nominations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, but he added, “We’ve got a chance to start over. I hope we take that chance. . . . My belief is that you will do well. Whether I agree with you on the big things in life is not relevant here. My question is whether you have earned the right to be here. . . .

(Emphasis supplied.) With due respect to Senator Graham, I disagree with him both on the "big things" regarding judicial philosophy and the fact that if he disagrees with Judge Sotomayor on those "big things," he should still vote in favor of Judge Sotomayor. He should not. He abdicates his responsibility as a Senator. More . . .

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The Plame Affair

Norm has some juicy tidbits: " ...one interesting point though--it is worth noting that a parade of senior republican senators have evidently been privately pushing McCain to lobby to be Cheney's replacement. senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has also been mentioned...read on"