# Jim DeMint (R) is retiring. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203 "2012-12-06T17:22:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/21 "2012-12-06T19:55:57Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Why would I retract it? That would be the stupid thing to do, not the honest thing to do. > > And speaking of stupid things, pulling the “cite” ploy as if we’re playing some sort of debate-game with cite rules also qualifies. This intransigence isn’t surprising considering the source (F-P), but it appears that you have yet again made another round of specific partisan allegations that you are entirely unable to support. Quite frankly, your complaint as to being asked to substantiate your contentions says all that needs to be said concerning your (very limited) credibility you have on these boards these days. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/22 "2012-12-06T19:58:47Z")
By all indications it appears to be a legitimate article from a reputable source. That’s good enough for me. If you guys don’t want to accept it that’s fine. What you believe or don’t believe is of no concern to me. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/23 "2012-12-06T20:07:25Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Truth is that at the time I first posted in this thread about it I did not recall the specifics altogether, and my post was based on a vague recollection of having read an article in the NY Times about Biden’s political/business career, and I assumed it was a well known fact. [This](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/us/politics/02finances.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1354824212-mzYLYsncHRQ7aI3ArYHTbQ) might be the article I was recalling. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/24 "2012-12-06T20:14:21Z")
> [@](#): > > The bank did not give him a below-market interest rate, a perk that has caused embarrassment for some other members of Congress. But, Mr. Tennant said, “We paid particularly close attention to make sure everything came out right.” Oh my GOD! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/25 "2012-12-06T21:09:07Z")
[Eleven reasons why you’re glad that Jim DeMint Is Leaving the Senate](http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/06/1293171/jim-demint-resign/?mobile=nc). And they’re mostly pretty damned good reasons. Like supporting Todd Akin in his ‘legitimate rape’ remarks, saying that openly gay people shouldn’t be teachers (ditto if you’re unmarried but sleeping with someone, you hussy you), tried to make it illegal for a woman and her doctor to discuss abortion over the Web, and said he was willing to cause major disruptions to our economy (via the debt ceiling) if that’s what it would take to be able to cut Social Security and Medicare in a big way. And that’s just stuff he’s said since the beginning of 2010. This isn’t reaching way back in time to find embarrassing shit he’s said. This is what he believes NOW. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/26 "2012-12-06T21:09:30Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Oh my GOD! Indeed. If you would have asked me, I would have advised you that your gambit was silly to begin with. I mean, here I had linked to what purported to be a reprint of a legitimate article from a non-partisan news source, and to an abstract of that article that appeared to substantiate it, and which at the very least confirmed one of its key elements. A wiser person would have refrained from challenging its veracity. But you - whether out of a need to back up your initial ignorant assertions in this thread, or out of an inability to see beyond your partisan viewpoint, or some other reason - decided to challenge it as being a “bullshit opinion pieces from the echo-chamber”. And then to your surprise, I put up a NY Times article which covers pretty much the same ground as that article - oops! And now you’re reduced to … this pathetic post. So let that be a lesson to you, young man. Virtue is its own reward. Keep your nose clean and you’ll stay out of trouble. Take my advice now and you’ll have occasion to thank me later. Many times, I would guess. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/27 "2012-12-06T21:20:02Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > [This](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/us/politics/02finances.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1354824212-mzYLYsncHRQ7aI3ArYHTbQ) might be the article I was recalling. Okay, I read the entire article and still can’t see what you’re going on about. The guy and his wife make about $250K/year. To reach a net worth of only $2M and change after all these years is, in a word, astonishing, and makes me wonder if this guy has any smarts at all. I went from a net worth of nearly zero in 1992 to a net worth of over a million in 2008 without really trying all that hard, and our combined income didn’t reach $250K/year until about 2005. Considering the fact that Biden has access to the government’s TSP (which has some matching money) and free health care, his net worth should be much higher, if he was paying attention at all. Instead, he has two mortgages on his home to the tune of $750K. He needs to fire his financial adviser, and this phony outrage of yours needs to go away. Or was this nonsense just a deliberate threadshit? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/28 "2012-12-06T21:25:44Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Indeed. > > If you would have asked me, I would have advised you that your gambit was silly to begin with. I asked you to substantiate a childish partisan dig. Which you still have not. > [@](#): > > I mean, here I had linked to what purported to be a reprint of a legitimate article from a non-partisan news source, and to an abstract of that article that appeared to substantiate it, and which at the very least confirmed one of its key elements. A wiser person would have refrained from challenging its veracity. No. You linked to a blog post, with no cite associated with it. Don’t mislead those reading this post to think that you are winning here. > [@](#): > > But you - whether out of a need to back up your initial ignorant assertions in this thread, or out of an inability to see beyond your partisan viewpoint, or some other reason - decided to challenge it as being a “bullshit opinion pieces from the echo-chamber”. I still challenge it. You posted a partisan attack with no substantiation. It wasn’t even relevant. Then you grumbled about being asked to cite it. > [@](#): > > And then to your surprise, I put up a NY Times article which covers pretty much the same ground as that article - oops! And now you’re reduced to … this pathetic post. Your article shows nothing of the sort. Read it again. You have cited something different. > [@](#): > > So let that be a lesson to you, young man. I generally take lessons from people that know more than me. You have yet to demonstrate this quality. > [@](#): > > Virtue is its own reward. Keep your nose clean and you’ll stay out of trouble. Take my advice now and you’ll have occasion to thank me later. Many times, I would guess. Strutting like a peacock isn’t the same thing as winning. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/29 "2012-12-06T21:28:09Z")
With that - and acknowledging that maybe I shouldn’t have responded to **Fotheringay-Phipps** ’ comments either - we can bid this hijack adieu and get back to discussing DeMint’s resignation and the current Congress. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/30 "2012-12-06T21:31:24Z")
Wasn’t DeMint talked about a potential presidential candidate, or am I on crack? If so, would this help or hurt that? I can talk myself into either side. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/31 "2012-12-06T21:35:14Z")
Fair nuff. I think this is a very bad thing for the GOP. DeMint is a rare breed of crazy. He’s Bachmann-level Tea-Party insane. He endorsed Akin, the Legit-Rape dude. Now that he will wield huge power in one the top conservative think tanks, this is going to poison the party for decades. Heritage Foundation missives are going to start looking like WND or Brietbart glurge. The Republican Party is gonna get even stupider. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/32 "2012-12-06T21:35:52Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/33 "2012-12-06T21:41:55Z")
Here’s Alvin Greene’s big chance! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/34 "2012-12-06T21:43:09Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Fair nuff. I think this is a very bad thing for the GOP. > > DeMint is a rare breed of crazy. He’s Bachmann-level Tea-Party insane. He endorsed Akin, the Legit-Rape dude. > > Now that he will wield huge power in one the top conservative think tanks, this is going to poison the party for decades. Heritage Foundation missives are going to start looking like WND or Brietbart glurge. > > The Republican Party is gonna get even stupider. It’s not like he’s gonna take a moderate organization and tack it due right. They’re already in the land of nutter. He is their kind of guy before they even officially made him their guy. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/35 "2012-12-06T21:50:13Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > It’s not like he’s gonna take a moderate organization and tack it due right. They’re already in the land of nutter. He is their kind of guy before they even officially made him their guy. Admittedly I haven’t been hanging on Heritage of late, but I had the impression that they were just wrong, and not crazy. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/36 "2012-12-06T21:54:38Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Admittedly I haven’t been hanging on Heritage of late, but I had the impression that they were just wrong, and not crazy. I think the oddest part of this is, unless I’m mistaken, Heritage is the group that invented Obamacare, and Obamacare is absolute anathema to Jim DeMint. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/37 "2012-12-06T22:02:02Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I think the oddest part of this is, unless I’m mistaken, Heritage is the group that invented Obamacare, and Obamacare is absolute anathema to Jim DeMint. Good point, I’d forgotten that. I just found this Atlantic story that talks about it that’s fairly interesting: > **[Is Jim DeMint's Heritage Foundation Job Kind of a Flip-Flop on Obamacare?](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/12/jim-demints-heritage-foundation-job-kind-flip-flop-obamacare/320758/)** > > The South Carolina leader is quitting the Senate to run the conservative think tank that invented Obamacare. And if you take a look into his past, well, this guy really hates Obamacare. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/38 "2012-12-06T22:36:36Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Indeed. > > If you would have asked me, I would have advised you that your gambit was silly to begin with. I mean, here I had linked to what purported to be a reprint of a legitimate article from a non-partisan news source, and to an abstract of that article that appeared to substantiate it, and which at the very least confirmed one of its key elements. A wiser person would have refrained from challenging its veracity. But you - whether out of a need to back up your initial ignorant assertions in this thread, or out of an inability to see beyond your partisan viewpoint, or some other reason - decided to challenge it as being a “bullshit opinion pieces from the echo-chamber”. > > And then to your surprise, I put up a NY Times article which covers pretty much the same ground as that article - oops! And now you’re reduced to … this pathetic post. > > So let that be a lesson to you, young man. Virtue is its own reward. Keep your nose clean and you’ll stay out of trouble. Take my advice now and you’ll have occasion to thank me later. Many times, I would guess. Yes, yes, under advisement, now where does the “honest graft” come in? Nothing you’ve yet linked or posted here would seem to constitute graft in any form. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/39 "2012-12-06T22:47:48Z")
[TPM is reporting](http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/source-haley-considering-bbq-chain-owner-as-placeholder?ref=fpb)that Nikki Haley is considering Chad Walldorf, owner of the Sticky Fingers barbecue joints as a possible replacement. Interesting because a) holy cow, has anyone had their stuff? It’s unbelievably good, and b) all I know of him is that he’s the guy who paid fifty grand to Steven Colbert’s charity auction (further detail and video in the link). Anyone know if he’s a rabid partisan or a rare, sane conservative? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203/40 "2012-12-07T00:28:35Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Now that he will wield huge power in one the top conservative think tanks, this is going to poison the party for decades. Heritage Foundation missives are going to start looking like WND or Brietbart glurge. > > The Republican Party is gonna get even stupider. “Start looking like WND or Brietbart glurge”? Too late, they already do. They do not shy away from inviting creationists, [http://www.heritage.org/events/2009/06/signature-in-the-cell-dna-evidence-for-intelligent-design](http://www.heritage.org/events/2009/06/signature-in-the-cell-dna-evidence-for-intelligent-design) And they are also peddlers of climate change denial. > **[Heritage Foundation](https://www.desmog.com/heritage-foundation/)** > > Heritage Foundation Background The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich to “formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government,... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-demint-r-is-retiring/643203.md?page=3)