Haitz leads State in new, smarmy direction

Now here’s a Facebook page that, sadly, should have an almost never-ending supply of material going forward: The State Jumps the Shark.

The State refers to the Columbia-based State newspaper, which for many decades was the largest paper in South Carolina. That honor now belongs to the Charleston Post and Courier.

Within the past couple years, The State’s daily circulation dipped below 100,000 for the first time since the 1960s, and today it’s at less than 84,000, according to the most recent data from the Audit Bureau of Circulation.

“Jumping the shark” is an idiom used to describe the moment of downturn for a previously successful enterprise.

George III on how not to handle a crisis

Some 235 years ago on this date, King George III, in a Speech from the Throne at the opening of Parliament, declared the American colonies in rebellion and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution.

Of course, this was more than six months after actions at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.

In the meantime, the 13 colonies had called out their militias, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought, the Second Continental Congress convened and the Continental Army was created.

But, given the slow manner in which news traveled in those days, George can hardly be faulted for being a little slow on the uptake.