Voucher Voice, pt. III: the sad, predictable finale

So where were we? Oh yeah, trying to figure out if the Voucher Voice is a genuine SC blogger with an axe to grind or just another libertarian outsider pushing the voucher scheme here in the Palmetto State.

So far, all we know is that the Voucher Voice is a man named Herbert. "Herbert1820." He likes to “blog it, nee-ga!” and advertise his site on SCHotline. That’s good stuff, but it tells us little about Herbert’s motives here in South Carolina.

As an added bonus, while doing my figgerin', Gervais also happened to learn that the philosopher Herbert Spencer (father of Social Darwinism) was born in 1820. That’s probably just a coincidence, though. What does Social Darwinism have to do with vouchers?

Turns out, Herbert1820 isn’t really named "Herbert." I lied about that, but you folks seem to like a dramatic build-up for these sorts of things. As a point of fact, if you plug the Voice for School Choice's username into the LookSmart database, you’ll find that the “herbert1820 education archive” belongs to a fella named Chaim “Chuck” Karczag.

Who is Chuck Karczag? Yeah, he's a blogger who says “Inez is a total slut." But who is he and what is he doing in our state?

a) a “notable libertarian” and one-time “leader of the … College Libertarians at Rutgers University -- a campus so anti-freedom that he dubs it ‘Moscow on the Raritan [River]?’”

b) West Orange, NJ signatory of the anti-public school pledge, "I proclaim publicly that I favor ending government involvement in education?”

c) apparent aficionado of Herbert Spencer

d) the “PR director for a grassroots organisation in South Carolina?”

e) all of the above.

I don’t want to give away the answer, other than to say that it’s a vowel. Like I said before, the Voucher Voice may be a soccer mom from Irmo, a farmer out in Gilbert, or a pastor from the Pee Dee. But then again, he may be just another shill for 'South Carolinians' for Responsible Government.

Gervais says, reach your own conclusions about Chuck Karczag. Personally, I don’t think “ending government involvement in education” is an SC value. People who sign pledges like that typically don't want other South Carolinians to know about it. I think the average Sandlapper – conservative, moderate or liberal, public or private school parent - values our public schools and wants to improve them. And I think that’s why the libertarian fringe behind Put Parents In Charge/SCRG has been so unsuccessful here. (next Voucher Voice post)