S.C. senator slammed for blog linking bin Laden, Obama

By SEANNA ADCOX
Associated Press Writer

Published: July 22, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ A Republican state senator from South Carolina is being criticized for a post on his blog that shows photos of Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden wearing similar clothing, along with a line that states the difference between the two is “a little B.S.”

The image was posted on Sen. Kevin Bryant’s blog on Friday without an explanation from the politician. It appears to be a photo of a T-shirt, with images of bin Laden and Obama wearing turbans and the words “OBAMA” AND “OSAMA,” with the “B’’ and “S’’ each highlighted in red.

“It’s just one of those pictures that I received by e-mail,” Bryant told The Associated Press on Monday. “I hope people will understand the sarcasm in it.”

He said he had been unaware of the controversy that erupted last week over a caricature of a turban-wearing Obama and his wife on the cover of The New Yorker magazine.

“As a matter of fact, I was on vacation last week and I wasn’t aware of that New Yorker picture,” Bryant said. “So I guess that’s coincidence.” He said reactions have been mixed.

“I’ve gotten some calls. Some are very vulgar and cuss me out. Some of them say they see my sense of humor.”

Bryant said he is concerned about Obama’s foreign policy stances and his commitment to fighting terror. He also asserted that a double standard applies to political criticism.

“I see a lot of hypocrisy of all the things that are said about our president, yet Sen. Obama is untouchable. Nobody seems to have a problem when they bash Bush. It seems like a double-standard to me.”

The chairwoman of the state Democratic Party called the posting a “desperate and juvenile attempt” by Bryant to get attention for his re-election bid.

“I was appalled. That kind of ignorance and hatred, I’m surprised to find it exists,” Carol Fowler said Monday. “South Carolinians are not ignorant, hate-filled people.”

By Monday evening, the posting had generated 22 comments on Bryant’s Web site, most of them chastising the senator, though one called the image “very funny.”

Bryant, a 41-year-old pharmacist and first-term senator, started his “blog from the backbench” after his 2004 election and boasts that it was the first for South Carolina legislators.

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On the Net:

http://kevinbryant.com