"WHICH” RELATIONSHIPS MATTER?

September 16, 2023

Irmo elections are up and running, as well as the signs. “Fresh, new voice” is one, again, and again, and again, and again. These signs must be pre-printed, just insert name. Was actually used in one of the last elections by another Barry candidate, and again, this time by another Barry candidate, but this will be another article soon to come.

This article is about Barry’s signs and his slogan. So, I must ask, which “relationships matter” could he be referring to? Those relationships with Brandy, Jada, Erik Sickinger, and/or Kelly Busch. Whom are not supporting Barry this Mayor’s race? How about the relationship with Bill Danielson, which Barry “endorsed” at last moment in Bill’s election over Barry’s hand-picked candidate. Barry’s relationship with her didn’t last until the election. Nor did his with Bill Danielson, since Bill is running against Barry for Mayor.

In 2019 according to Barry’s state.sc.gov Initial Campaign Disclosure, he received funds for his campaign from various people who originally were supporters of Bill Danielson for Mayor in the 2019 election. Oh, you didn’t know that, did you? But when Bill decided not to run at that time, they switched to Barry. The 2023 Initial Campaign Disclosure for Barry doesn’t have the same financial supporters or dollar amount (2019 report $4800, 2023 $1000). Again, this leads me to believe those relationships don’t matter this campaign.

I first ran for Irmo Council in 2003, 2004, and elected in 2005, re-elected in 2009, elected to Mayor 2011, and again in 2015. So I have been in this environment awhile and can’t count the number of people who helped Barry in his campaigns over the years, but weren’t back to help him in his next election, some even came to help me. And now many of those who ran with Barry in 2019, worked with him, helped him, and supported him in 2019, are not working with him, helping him, supporting him, in this 2023 election.

By the way, while you are at the state.sc.gov website checking public reporting, you might as well check Bill Danielson’s financial disclosures for Mayor’s race in 2019, and his subsequent campaign disclosures for Town Council in 2020, 2021, and this Mayor’s race in 2023.

Yes, “Relationships Matter”, and relationship matters, but keeping those relationships, matters more.

"WHICH” RELATIONSHIPS MATTER?

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Well, it must be Election time here in Irmo again.

October 15, 2025

Yes, I got a campaign brochure in my newspaper box the other day, I guess there is a good reason to keep those things. And thank you Councilwoman Barbara Waldman for it — you have my vote. Some things have changed and some things stay the same. Years ago, when you first ran, and being a neighbor of an individual who I assumed talked to you into running for his benefit, I did not vote for you. But over the years of your service, especially after seeing you stand up to the “bully” attempting to pressure you into seconding some ridiculous item he had on the agenda — and you refused — my opinion of you changed. Since your election, and seeing you do what you truly believe is in Irmo’s best interest, you have gained my trust and therefore my vote. I won’t spend much time commenting on the other candidates — that will be their job to introduce themselves and attempt to convince you to vote for them. But I will mention two of them. One, Gabriel Penfield , who has my other vote, has worked hard during his years of service to the town — improving and making better the things that he could. He is a great council member, has a good heart, and is there to make Irmo better. I will write more about him later. The other candidate, whom I will also write more about later (not too positively, however), is the one I wrote about before — being deceitful about where he lived and not residing at the address he listed on his candidate form. If you remember, he claimed to live in a house in Rose Oak that he hadn’t lived in for a couple of years, and at that time was actually living outside the town of Irmo. Anyway you look at it, it was not honest — it was deceitful. And even if someone who evidently doesn’t know the difference between dishonesty and being truthful tried to claim it was a “minor clerical error,” we all know better. We aren’t ignorant as he believes we are — that’s why he was a one and done. We’ve got two great candidates who have proven they put Irmo first. I urge you to vote to reelect Councilwoman Barbara Waldman and Councilman Gabriel Penfield. Thank you for your consideration. — Hardy King

American Virtues – 2025 Commencement Address

September 23, 2025

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on May 10, 2025, at Hillsdale College’s 173rd Commencement Ceremony.

The Significance of the Recently Released Russia Hoax Documents

September 23, 2025

Within hours of her 2016 presidential campaign loss, a devastated Hillary Clinton attributed her defeat not to the American voters who rejected her, but to Russia, echoing a campaign theme she had been developing for months. “Hillary declined to take responsibility for her own loss” and “kept pointing her finger” at Russia, according to Shattered, a 2017 book about her campaign—“Her team coalesced around the idea that Russian hacking was the major unreported story of the campaign.”