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In what will likely deal a crushing blow to yet another revenue stream for budget-tight South Carolina, State Senator Larry A. Martin last week introduced a proposal to repeal the  Subversive Activities Registration Act. According to Martin, the law has been on the state’s books since 1951 and mandates that state-based subversives first register  and pay a five dollar filing fee with the state prior to any activities related to overthrowing the government or face some nasty fines.

Section 23-29-50 of the law states:

“Every member of a subversive organization, or an organization subject to foreign control, every foreign agent and every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States … shall register with the Secretary of State.”

Al-Qaeda, Jihadists and other terrorist wannabes since the McCarthy era  have delighted that their plots could be cooked up and hatched for the bargain price of only five bucks in the Palmetto State. Thrifty subversives noted with glee the state has kept the fees lower than their twenty-five dollar combination big game and fishing license, twenty-five dollar shrimp baiting license or the state’s exorbitant forty dollar boat title and registration fee.

Since the 1950s many terrorists  have come to develop a predilection for low-country Gullah cooking and come to appreciate the southern hospitality afforded them in SC.

Martin stated that his repeal proposal was with the Senate Judiciary Committee and hoped it would be up for a full vote soon. “In the interim, we’ll continue to search for subversives,” Martin said with a chuckle. He noted that he would be checking with the Secretary of State to determine exactly how many subversive organizations have registered under the act.

He offered no opinion on how the state would make up the revenue shortfall.

About Michael J. Solender

Michael J. Solender is a recent corporate refugee whose opinion and satire has been featured in The Richmond Times Dispatch, The Winston-Salem Journal, and Richmond Style Weekly. He writes a weekly Neighborhoods column for The Charlotte Observer and is the City Life Editor for Charlotte ViewPoint. His micro-fiction has been featured online at Bull Men’s Fiction, Calliope Nerve, Danse Macabre, Dogzplot, Gloom Cupboard, Full of Crow, Pangur Ban Party and others.

You can find more of his work at his website and also at his blog.

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