[UPDATE] Now WIS thinks the flag should come down.  Check out the general manager’s thoughts at http://wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6420356

Two Sunday’s ago Brad Warthen wrote an editorial titled “Everybody thinks the flag’s an issue except those who can act on it.”

Well Brad…not according to our readers. 

147 people answered our poll and 58% said “A compromise is a compromise. Its fine where it is” or “Get over it.”  The remaining 42% were nearly split between “That damn flag needs to come down” and “Put it back on the dome.”

In fact, we don’t hear anybody talking about it. To us it just seems like a fixation of The State and the NAACP. Everyone else seems to be worried about things like Iraq, illegal immigration, and the looming health care crisis just to name a few.

[UPDATE] WIS just joined The State and editorialized saying the flag should come down.  Okay, now we are going to editorialize too.  It drives us crazy that the NAACP is boycotting South Carolina while we have one of those worst unemployment levels in the nation. 

You know why we have one of the worst unemployment levels in the nation? 

The I-95 corridor, the rural counties predominately inhabited by African-Americans, is hundreds of miles of economic wasteland.  There are no jobs.  Schools are falling apart.  People are suffering. 

So what’s the NAACP’s plan to advance African-Americans in South Carolina?  Economic boycotts.  Yeah, they’re right.  It’s not economic activity and jobs our rural areas need.  Taking the flag down will take care of everything.

How about spending your time on something that really friggin’ matters - like economic development?

Now on to our next question.

We posted earlier this week the criteria for candidates to take part in the South Carolina presidential debate.  We think that this criteria could lead to the symbolic end to a few of the campaigns.

The criteria is:

The party sent a letter to the candidates saying they must have filed papers establishing an exploratory committee or full-blown candidacy and paid the fees associated with the state primary ($25,000).

They also must have “garnered at least 1 percent in recent state and national polls leading up to the registration deadline, as determined by Fox News Channel and the South Carolina Republican Party.”

The guys over at southcarolina08.com are asking “who should be allowed to debate?”  You tell us:

Only announced candidates?

All candidates who pay the filing fee?

Candidate who pay the $25k and are polling at least 1%?

Boo debates! Hooray beer!