Interests: ignore the heading. this blog is about civil discourse on an infinite array of topics, but we will return, like a compass needle toward magnetic north, to south carolina politics. it is my fervent wish that we engage our political questions with open minds and an eye to what works, without cant and party lines. ditto with national politics, which for the next few months will play an exaggerated role here, the democratic and republican parties), by which i am alternately attracted and repelled. another purpose -- and perhaps the central purpose -- is to provide a window into my own thinking, which is but one perspective on the newspaper's editorial board. when i became epe in 1997, i mandated that henceforth, editorial writers would produce a weekly column, so that readers could see the personalities, interests and attitudes that shape our official editorial positions. this blog is an attempt to go beyond what the columns are able to do., since south carolina will play a prominent role in choosing the next potus. you will see certain themes here -- the rejection of political factions (i, a.k.a. the unparty; a somewhat more focused alternative called the energy party; advocacy of changing our forms of government on the state and local l