Longtime political whore Nikki Setzler is a prime example of the kind of garbage that makes up South Carolina's General Assembly. Setzler was publicly exposed in 2017 for his conflict of interest in all things probate. It's now a matter of public record that he derives income from his probate-dealing law firm. Pressed for action to eliminate the probate racket, Setzler exemplifies the high-handed nature of the State House gang by simply clamming up. Does the State House gang act like they're dependent on fair elections? Or does their behavior suggest that they know something about elections that most folks don't? I tried to post comments about the probate racket below the two State newspaper articles linked to above, but comments were not allowed.
By "rigged" I mean beyond the usual gerrymandering and corporate financial aid for election campaigns from such crooked, thug goon corporations as SCANA. I'm talking about the way the vote was tallied.
If you wanna know who's really concerned with helping South Carolinians, there's a simple way to find out. Anyone aware of the probate racket who has done everything in their power to warn South Carolinians that a time limit has been placed on wills is on the public's side, and anyone who refuses to do so is the public's enemy. A great example of the latter is Chris Wooten's blabber on his "show" on Columbia's "Make the Point" (I call it "Miss the Point") radio station. "Legislator" Wooten has never ever not once, to the best of my knowledge, breathed a word about South Carolina's probate racket, much less warn South Carolinians that a time limit has been quietly placed on wills. Wooten's ad for his show is interesting in that he claims "people don't trust what's going on in the State House," which suggests the State House gang has heard plenty from the electorate, but Wooten has yet to raise an eyebrow that the gang was allegedly re-elected fair-n-square. More comments about "Columbia's only talk-radio station" later in this post.
I got to thinking about how unbelievably gullible South Carolinians would have to be to re-elect the State House gang, especially in the midst of the fleecing they got - and continue to get (I don't buy the notion that SCANA can't be made to reimburse rate-payers) - via the nuclear power scandal, a ripoff of such magnitude that it attracted national attention. Then I realized that a totally rigged 2018 election isn't out of the question when the public is confronted with a mafia-style, greed-obsessed gang whose members have wormed their way into positions of power. The gang's tentacles are widespread and deeply entrenched throughout the state. To confirm it, one need only consider the news blackout regarding the probate racket. Local mainstream media "knows better" than to warn South Carolinians that a time limit has been placed on wills. If the State House gang thought they could get away with it, would they rig an election? You bet they would.
If the electorate really did re-elect the State House gang, then Governor Henry McASSter (sic) was no doubt elected because of his overdone southern accent, a manner of speaking which, to anyone with a brain, makes him sound like the countrified hick he apparently is. But of course, McASSter's strategy wasn't to appeal to anyone with a brain. In fact, it was quite the opposite, and succeeded majestically if we are to believe the proclaimed results of the election. For all his southern-styled blabber about his concern for the welfare of South Carolinians, McASSter has yet to warn South Carolinians that a time limit has been placed on wills. McASSter - along with every other member of the State House gang - apparently gets a sadistic pleasure out of people finding out all of a sudden that a will has been nullified. That's the kind of deceitful, low-life creep South Carolina now has posing as a governor.
There are two main reasons why the State House gang is so secretive about the probate racket. Of course they want to trap as many unsuspecting South Carolinians as possible, and force 'em to hand over a big portion of estates to attorneys. Another reason is that the probate racket proves beyond a doubt how malicious the gang actually is. There are no innocent bystanders when it comes to members of the State House gang and the ripoffs they inflict on South Carolinians.
As I stated in a previous post, the gang's ripoff schemes are getting bolder by the day. The gang views South Carolinians not as people who's interests they represent but as collateral to finance a never-ending slew of SCANA-style ripoff schemes. The gang's latest scheme - that we've now heard of - is to pass a law requiring a state property tax, which would put peoples' homes at risk of foreclosure if they dared not or could not pay. The gang has long been targeting peoples' homes by empowering Homeowner Associations to foreclose, now it's a state property tax. Incidentally, the Homeowner Association in my neighborhood is totally out of control.
Meanwhile, some self-styled "government watchdog" individuals and organizations are also refusing to warn South Carolinians that a time limit has been placed on wills. The center of operations for this circus seems to be "Columbia's only talk-radio station," aka "Make the Point" radio, which I've dubbed "Miss the Point." I've blogged about the South Carolina Policy Council's refusal to address the probate racket, and the cozy relationship Council President Ashley Landess has with station-owner Keven Cohen. Cohen is another self-styled "government watchdog" who refuses to warn South Carolinians (I've tweeted him links to this blog) that a time limit has been placed on wills. Cohen has his own conflict of interest because he runs ads from Jesse Near, who proudly boasts that his law firm only deals in probate-related matters. Cohen used to broadcast ads from Caldwell Trust, enticing folks to avoid the horrors of probate by setting up trusts, but Caldwell's ads disappeared when I started protesting the probate racket. Maybe Cohen is bitter about that...
The most recent member that I know of regarding Miss the Point's Government Watchdog Circus - Cohen makes a great ringmaster - features Dave Schwartz, president of the so-called "Freedom Action Network" (FAN). purporting to "keep an eye on what's going on in the legislature" and to organize text-messages to legislators expressing opposition to a state property tax. Right. Why vote the State House gang out when ya can tell 'em what they already know by using yer cell phone? Nuthin' like the illusion of freedom...
I visited FAN's Facebook page and submitted remarks about the need to warn South Carolinians about time limits on wills, along with a link to this blog. And wouldn't ya know it? My post was filtered out and never appeared. Doncha jus' love FAN's devotion to free speech and its concern for South Carolinians? FAN should be re-named FAKE of South Carolina. Then I tried to expose FAN's censorship on Twitter via the 2/15/2019 update to this post, but the link was blocked. Then any link to this blog was blocked. Wonder how much Twitter charges reputation management goons to give 'em access to someone's Twitter account. Keven Cohen, Dave Schwartz, and Ashley Landess enthusiastically promote each other as they refuse to warn South Carolinians that a time limit has been placed on wills. "Legislator" Wooten functions as the circus' sideshow.
When self-styled, well-financed "government watchdog" organizations refuse to warn South Carolinians that a time limit has been quietly placed on wills, something is terribly wrong with the picture.
Like the South Carolina Policy Council's President, Ashley Landess, Dave Schwartz's salary is conspicuously absent from FAN's website, so to find out, I contacted the Secretary of State. At last count (2017), ol' Dave got a whoppin' $98,000, which by now probably equals or exceeds the six figure salary for his friend Ashley Landess. Wonder why these non-profit organizations - both of which claim to promote full disclosure - don't list the salaries of their top honchos on their websites. Anyone who donates to 'em is a fool.
So I'm supposed to believe that the State House gang was re-elected fair-n-square in the midst of public outrage over the nuclear power scandal, and I'm further expected to believe that there's enough public outrage at the State House gang to support not one, but two self-styled "government watchdog" organizations with such broad-based support that they can afford to pay their chief honchos salaries in, or close to, the six-figure range, but South Carolinians still saw fit to re-elect the same ol' State House gang.
Let's face it: Either South Carolina's 2018 election was rigged, or South Carolinians are some of the absolute dumbest - perhaps the dumbest - people on the planet.
Things aren't always what they appear to be, and at this point (pardon the pun) it wouldn't surprise me to find out that Cohen and his "government watchdog" circus is funded by the same government they claim to be so concerned with keeping an eye on. Why didn't the SC Policy Council - whose membership rolls are kept secret (betcha FAN's are too) - expose the probate racket back in 1986 when the racket got underway? Note that 1986 was the same year the Policy Council was established. Something is indeed terribly wrong with the picture. Betcha Cohen had one easy time of it getting a broadcast license for his radio station.
FAN's phone-text scheme is as strange as the proclaimed results of SC's 2018 election. As demonstrated by the gas tax, the probate racket, and the nuclear power boondoggle, the State House gang couldn't care less what the South Carolinians think about the gang's ripoffs. It was a hoot when shortly after South Carolina's 2018 election, Ashley Landess opined - without offering one shred of evidence - that she thought "South Carolinians were waking up." Maybe Ms. Landess meant "waking up to go to work each day," 'cause if South Caolinians are "waking up" in any other sense, ya sure wouldn't know it by the proclaimed results of the 2018 election. And that brings up another interesting development: Along with "Legislator" Wooten, as far as I know, nary a member of Cohen's Government-Watchdog Circus has raised an eyebrow that South Carolinians supposedly put the State House gang back in power.
Perhaps the most troubling thing about Cohen (not counting his promotion of something as filthy and inane as homosexuality) is his opinion that members of the State House gang are to be treated with respect. This is consistent with Cohen's belief that there are "some good legislators," and his often repeated declaration that he is not an "enemy" of the South Carolina legislature.
BOYS AND GIRLS!!!!!
Why on earth would anyone in their right mind behave respectfully toward a gang of white-collar thugs who at this very moment are probably cooking up yet another scheme to rip South Carolinians off? The gang gets no respect from me, and I'm proud to say I'm an enemy of the State House gang because they've proven themselves to be enemies of South Carolinians. These scum-balls are not your friends and it has nothing to do with Repuke versus Demagogue. It has everything to do with the people versus a pervasively corrupt government. While South Carolinians are grovelling at the feet of these ripoff artists, here are some sobering facts about the economy.
Cohen is a Jewish lad who is offended at anyone who dares to criticize Israel's genocidal, U.S.-backed policies toward Palestinians. For example, he won't listen to music by Pink Floyd, and Cohen's overly supportive sentiments toward the legislature may well have something to do with legislative efforts to limit criticism of Israel. No wonder Cohen is so fond of warmongering lunatics like Lindsey Graham and Joe Wilson, who think antagonizing Palestinians is the key to world peace. Then again, maybe Cohen simply thinks it's okay for legislators to sneak around behind people's backs and put a time limit on wills.
America is nothing more than a garbage-pit of corruption, corruption, corruption, corruption, corruption, and more corruption, propped up by a cowardly public, and if there's anything the sleazy little rat-hole is devoid of, it's a free press. The very idea of holding an election when incumbents have made sure the electorate isn't informed of the probate racket and the time limit that's been placed on wills. What a farce. Wonder what other ripoffs the State House gang is managing to keep quiet?
It doesn't help any that Americans are so susceptible to brainwashing. Dishonesty and deceit have become the hallmarks of every aspect of American society. Even advertisements of "free filing" tax returns can no longer be trusted. The scheme is to lure victims into investing several hours worth of time, then inform them that the "free" version doesn't include a common schedule, and a pop-up demands payment in order to file. There's no rule of law or con-artists like Turbo-Tax and H&R Block wouldn't dare pull such a stunt. The much-ballyhooed Credit Karma also advertises free tax filing, but like Mountain America Federal Credit Union, is apparently in cahoots with the telephone industry and can't "understand your message" when someone dares to not have a phone. Dr. Roberts summed it up well when he wrote that "life in America has become a gut-wrenching, soul-sucking, misery-drenched, demoralizing existence."
From the get-go, Amerika (sic) has been a lover of lies, a destroyer of dreams, and a genocidal maniac. As for South Carolina's State House gang, I'd like to remind each and every member of the General Assembly - especially Political Whore Setzler, "Legislator" Wooten, and "Governor" McASSter - that a fly once lit on a turd floating around in a toilet, and thought it was the captain of a great ship.
Update 5/17/2019 - Protested in front of the Williams, Stitely, and Brink law firm in downtown Lexington for an hour yesterday. Thanks to all who signaled support and visited this blog.
Update 5/9/2019 - Today's article by Dr. Roberts exposes the truth about Ameika's government- controlled mainstream media and social media.
Update 5/8/2019 - protested the probate racket in front of the State House for about two hours. GREAT response, including more than the usual number of people stopping to talk with me. Special thanks to them, and to everyone who visits this blog. I also sent a link to this post to all SC legislators via South Carolina Legislature Online, and tweeted a link to this post to Make the Point Radio and to South Carolina "Governor" Henry McMaster.
What YOU can do:
> Spread the word about the probate/trust racket. Most folks don't find out about the attorney-generated horrors of probate until they are struggling through the bereavement process, and shock value is a key part of the effort to browbeat people into hiring a probate attorney.
> If you need help with non-probate matters, avoid using attorneys who advertise that they specialize in probate. Many attorneys refuse to get involved in the probate racket, and one of them told me with a wink, "It's a 'highly specialized' area of law."
> Refuse to be bullied by the attorney-generated horrors of probate into paying attorneys to set up trusts. Probate is financed with tax dollars, and should be an inexpensive, viable alternative to setting up trusts. Executors (now called Personal Representatives) shouldn't need a law degree to probate an inheritance.
> Cut costs by downloading your own estate documents - especially wills - from the Internet. Paying probate attorneys outlandish fees to "draw up a will" is risky business, because attorney-legislators have a vested interest in nullifying wills.
> Last - and what certainly shouldn't be least (but probably is) - send "your representatives" an e-mail expressing your sentiments about the probate/trust racket.
