South and its Leaders are "Mired in Mediocrity"--Andrew Brack of Citizens For A Better South

The following Letter to the Editor appeared in the October 21 Mobile Press-Register from Andrew Brack and we reprint it with permission from him here. He's made some excellent points and he's 100% correct on all of them, which is probably why the Kingfishers of the Press-Register Editorial Board went after him brandishing all of their well-honed knives with a frenzied gusto.
*(Brack's September 29 Huff Post Op-Ed that started it all)

Their editorial response is nothing short of ignorant, misplaced and evidence of a bully's bravado to cling to the old ways of "don't tell us whut ta do." We're not even going to refer to any of their silliness in this post and let the reader access their nonsense through the link. But we do find it interesting that their bragging of two particular industries says nothing about the ensuing cost to the environment because just mentioning that word, environment, brings on the attacks from Alabama's machine.

Alabama doesn't care about education, another of Mr. Brack's points, and the recent numbers bring the state in at almost dead last in the nation. The Kingfishers and politicians hate that inescapable revelation and give further strength to why that is by refusing to talk about how to fix it--all they're interested in is more roads, more big polluter industries to brag on, continued terminally dead environmental enforcement and a lowly educated budding workforce in our schools to produce more of the same. The higher universities are working in concert with this and their best and brightest are being indoctrinated to carry on the Big Mule agenda.

It all serves to keep the staus quo of no change and the continued destruction of our environment and education system. Alabama can do better but not with the same old ways that have held back this state for years and that, we believe, was Mr. Brack's point.

We suspect that with Mr. Brack's pedigree and resume' the Press-Register knew they were outgunned on the intellect level and chose to descend to what the loser of a sensible argument usually does and resorted to name-calling and personal attacks. It's a badge of honor they handed to you, Mr. Brack, with their venomous response (albeit predictable) and you should be proud that they proved your points, and in doing so they showed they weren't smart enough in their arrogant, knee-jerk blustering to think before they attacked.

We say bravo to you Mr. Brack for your fortitude, insight and a compelling letter that tells it like it is and strikes at the nerves that need all the stomping that can be afforded to them on a regular basis.

South and its Leaders are "Mired in Mediocrity"
How comforting it must be for the people of the Mobile Bay area to know that the editorial board of its largest newspaper is a vanguard of intransigence, a seeker of vanilla in a world filled with countless exciting flavors.
Rather than face facts of how our South is being mired in mediocrity by dimwits and pompous politicians who wouldn’t know leadership if it smacked them on the head, the Press-Register would rather shoot a messenger for challenging Southerners to demand better and more.
Based on its Sunday, Oct. 17, attack editorial (South: not perfect, but no ‘clunker’), one wonders whether the editorial board wants poor children to do anything other than attend underachieving, underfunded schools. Or whether it prefers the status quo for unemployed workers struggling to make ends meet.
Yes, the editorial board obviously agrees that we need to push ahead with all guns blaring to keep things the same so we can stay at the bottom — just like we were before the hurricanes and oil disaster.
Good going, edit gang. Bully for you. But I hope the people of the Mobile area see through your slothful embrace of a past that has caused so much pain and hurt to people of the South for generations.
We can do better in our South. But it’s going to take bigger thinking than is going on at the Mobile paper to generate the progress that we so desperately need.

ANDREW C. BRACK
President
Center for a Better South
Charleston, S.C.

Charleston businessman Andy Brack publishes several online offerings, including weekly commentary in CharlestonCurrents.com and StatehouseReport.com.  AndyBrack.com is a compilation of some of Brack’s commentary.
Brack, has a national reputation as a communications strategist and Internet pioneer.  A former U.S. Senate press secretary and reporter, Brack provides communications consulting for HawkerBritton, an Australian government affairs firm, and the Charleston School of Law.  He also publishes SC Clips, a daily news service.
Currently, Brack serves as president and chairman of the Center for a Better South. He also chairs the board of trustees of Charles Towne Montessori School. He is a past president of the historic Rotary club of Charleston. Brack is a a former director of the National Wildlife Federation and a past president of the S.C. Wildlife Federation. Brack, a graduate of Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, lives with his wife and two daughters in Charleston, S.C.
*Editor's note--We'll add the links to our R sidebar for future reference.