I know South Carolina is notoriously “too small for a republic, too large for an insane asylum”, but either SC Senator Tim Scott’s newest intern is a truly dedicated performance artist or the state is even weirder than I assumed. Caity Weaver, at Gawker:
Byron Thomas, a patriotic young man from “the extremely beautiful state of South Carolina” loves flags. He loves Confederate flags, like the one he hung in his room at the University of South Carolina despite protests from other students. He loves American flags, like the ones that decorate the office of his state’s Republican United States Senator Tim Scott, where he has been an intern for eight days.
Sadly, not everyone shows flags as much love as Byron Thomas does. No one else in his office, representing the extremely beautiful state of South Carolina, even says the Pledge of Allegiance before work every day, like he does.
Byron Thomas is reaching out to change this. So he sent out an email [Wednesday] morning, inviting staff and fellow interns to a cool flag party happening every day before 9 a.m.
Good morning
My name is Byron Thomas and I’m from the extremely beautiful state of South Carolina. I intern for Republican Senator Tim Scott. I’ve had the pleasure of coming into different offices to meet the staff and interns from different states. Yes, we are all different and are working on different agendas but at the end of the day, we’re all citizens of the greatest country on earth, known as the United States of America. Now I’ve only been here for 8 days but I can tell that something is wrong, (in my opinion). We have American flags in front of every room, but I’ve never seen anyone take the time to proudly say the Pledge of Allegiance. Truly ask yourself, when was the last time you put your hand on your heart and said the Pledge of Allegiance. Now, I’m not attacking anybody because it’s your freedom and right to not say it but I’m assuming everyone that’s working up here loves this awesome country. Are we that busy that we can’t take a minute to show some pride and respect for our country? I say it every morning before I walk in because America’s always on my mind. I truly care about this country and I refuse to let this country fall. I know saying the pledge isn’t going to straighten out this economy we are in, but I believe it’s the little things that will take us far in life….
There is much more to this email, at the link. Warren Rojas at “Roll Call‘s gossip blog” went the extra mile and shared a bunch of CNN iReports from “the fiercely opinionated Byron Thomas“:
Earnest or acting, I will say this in Mr. Thomas’ favor: He’s way more professional than Tucker Carlson and his latest kiddy-act novelty Gabe Finger…