Part One
Usually, I’m always up for an adventure. But last Saturday, I just wanted to sit with coffee, on the outdoor, shaded couch, pet Jewel the puppy and immerse myself in the Trump Trial on my phone. My wife Pat dragged me out of that stupor.
She and her good friend Maria have been long-time fans of the country-rock band Sawyer Brown. A few weeks back, they traveled to Greeneville, Tennessee, to catch their show. They always want to see Sawyer Brown on the rare times they make it into the South.
Well, last Saturday, they wound up in South Carolina, at the Pickle Fest, in New Zion. As one of our Facebook friends so succinctly put it, “Where the heck is New Zion?”
It is the most unlikely outdoor venue you would ever see. In the middle of the field, on the flatest land ever, beside a tractor barn.
It was Great.
Getting there, from here, is a little tedious - through Columbia and Sumter, but not quite to Lake City and Florence. If you want to go interstate the whole way - we do not!! - you can take I-26 to I-95 and go north. It is, in other words, a long way.
But we made it, and we saw our friend Leigh Ann who is the publisher of the newspaper in Manning. If there is any party within 50 miles of there, she’s at it. We sat through an opening act, ate some food truck food, got sprinkled on a little, then - it was time.
As Mark Miller was crooning, the sky behind him and the band turned beautiful orange. That’s the picture above, only in black and white (note: this image was B&W on the Opinion page of our May 28 issue). Which is fitting for Sawyer Brown - they were the first-ever winner of Star Search ($100,000!!), the forerunner of American Idol - IN THE 80s, and they are still pounding out the beat. Their new album is “Desperado Troubadors” - it’s in the CD player in Pat’s Suburban right now. I’m taking it (the car) for a shower this afternoon. They also have a new book and soon a documentary film.
So, take home message, get up, get out, get moving, get off your phone. And, always, take your wife’s advice.
Vic MacDonald is Editor of The Clinton Chronicle. In June 2025 he will observe 50 years as community journalist. Reach him at 864-833-1900 or news@clintonchronicle.net.
Sawyer Brown here.
"The Walk" here.
Part Two: “Execute,” it doesn’t mean what you think it means
The term “execute a search warrant” does not mean that the person(s) in the house where the warrant is being served is about to be executed.
It’s the warrant that is to be “executed”.
Not the person in the residence on whom or which the warrant is issued is to be “executed”.
We know this is confusing, but bear with us.
As federal investigators said about a two-years-ago’s search warrant at a certain house in Florida:
“The FBI followed standard protocol in this search as we do for all search warrants, which includes a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force. No one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter.”
So, and we really shouldn’t even have to say this, when law enforcement shows up at your house with a warrant, don’t meet them with your gun.
They just want the stuff that’s listed in the warrant.
GIVE IT TO THEM, and don’t get cute and give some and keep some.
And, if you are not home, like you are spending the summer at your house in the north, tell the people at your house to just let them in, and let them go about your business. If you’re a privileged person, they might even tell you they’re coming.
And, if you’re privileged, you’re probably going to see them in business casual Polo shirt, not FBI jackets. Now, if they show up at your house in a surplus Army half-track, WOW, you must have something they really want.
They’re probably just going to be driving a black SUV.
Maybe we should teach it in school - what to do when the lawman or woman comes to your house. The BEST WAY to make sure that doesn’t happen is to not have any secret government records in your house. The Feds get real nervous about that kind of thing.
They showed up the other day at President Biden’s house to “execute a search warrant” and even Sleepy Joe didn’t believe that what that document really meant to say was “execute the homeowner”. They always have their body cameras on, except if you are a champion golfer, so they don’t want to be “on film” carrying out the wrong kind of execution.
But really, all seriousness aside, the reason you don’t bring a gun to a warrant “execution” is so law enforcement is not put in the no-win situation of having to put you down. I would even extend that - don’t produce your cell phone, a comb, a beer can, a fake gun, a toy gun, anything that even resembles a gun, a spatula, a set of car keys - just open your hands, they will see you are unarmed and they will leave you alone.
Then, they will clean up after themselves.
And, drive away, with the stuff you stole. (No, you won’t get it back.)
Easy breezy, no muss, no fuss. No matter what your crazy aunt Lou says on tweeker. It’s only when you try to hide stuff that the situation becomes a little dicey. But, still, you can survive it. They will take what they came for, and send you an arrest warrant next. Then, you will go to trial - maybe. And, if they can’t find you, for goodness sake, don’t show and tell them where you’re having your 80th birthday party.
