Signs and Wonders: South Carolina voters give Sanford second chance

Carolina comeback. Former congressman and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is proving that in America there are second chances. In a special election yesterday, he won the GOP nomination for the 1st District U.S. House seat vacated when Tim Scott took Jim DeMint’s place in the U.S. Senate. Sanford, whose political career seemed over following an extra-marital affair, will face Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of comedian Stephen Colbert. Sanford won the runoff for the GOP nomination by defeating attorney Curtis Bostic, 55 percent to 45 percent, with 67 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press. The 1st District is a strong Republican seat, so it is likely that Sanford will be returning to the U.S. House. But he shouldn’t slack off just yet. Colbert Busch is running an excellent campaign. She released an internal poll Monday showing she had a narrow lead over Sanford.

Evangelicals and immigration. Evangelicals in South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, and Florida are producing a series of ads designed to change the minds of their co-religionists on the issue of immigration. The Rev. David Fleming, senior pastor for Champion Forest Baptist Church of Houston, said the current system isn’t working. Besides, he added, “These folks speak English, they work hard, they pay taxes … they are great neighbors, they are friends of ours. We live together, we work together, we serve together. We are all in this together. We see the immigrant as a person created in the image of God.” The group cites Matthew 25 as the inspiration for the campaign: “I was a stranger, and ye took me in.”

Out of chances. You may remember Ward Churchill, the former University of Colorado professor who said the 9/11 attacks were the result of “ongoing genocidal American imperialism.” Not long after making those outrageous statements, he lost his job for (unrelated) plagiarism and fabricated research. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Churchill’s appeal without comment. Colorado’s state Supreme Court had already denied his appeal. Officials at the University of Colorado and David Lane, Churchill’s attorney, both said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision effectively exhausts Churchill’s legal options.

Gold bugged. Those who advocate a return to the gold standard complain that “fiat currency,” which includes the U.S. dollar and all other currencies, has no intrinsic value, and its cost is based purely on the confidence of the country issuing the currency. If that’s true (and I think it is), it is interesting that gold prices are falling. This week gold hit its lowest point in nearly four weeks, in part because housing, factory orders, employment, and other key indicators of the U.S. economy have shown strength over the past month. Weaker gold prices are also a drag on other precious metals. U.S. gold for June delivery fell $7.40 an ounce to $1,568.50.