South Carolina, the Gift that Keeps on Giving

MoonHowler

Some contributors have accused me of picking on South Carolina.  You know, I just don’t think I do.  I think they dangle it out there for us to poke at.  That state is the gift that keeps on giving.  You don’t even need to remember what they did last…there always seems to be something new.

The latest set of incidents is much like the Twelve Days of Christmas.  First you have a woman running for governor of the Palmetto State, NIkki Haley.  Nikki has been accused of having an affair with a blogger named Will Folks and a lobbyist named Larry Marchant.  Nikki was born a Sikh.  She converted to Christianity. 

(Is it getting good yet?)  Nikki is also a Tea Party Person.  The blogger has said he had a physical relationship with her and the lobbyist insists he had a one night stand with her in Utah.  Sarah Palin endorses her and Governor Mark Sanford’s wife defends her.  A state senator has called her a ‘rag head’ because her parents immigrated from India.  Nikki says she is a Methodist. 

According to the Charlotte Observer:

Haley has vehemently denied allegations of inappropriate relationships with blogger Will Folks and lobbyist Larry Marchant, and she said Friday that she would resign if she is elected and anyone finds proof she had an extramarital affair.

She refused to say what would constitute proof, calling that moot. Her campaign declined an interview request Friday.

Folks wrote on his political blog that he and Haley had an inappropriate physical relationship when he worked for her in 2007.

More recently, Marchant, a former lobbyist for one of Haley’s opponents, said he had a one-night stand with her in a Salt Lake City hotel room during a school-choice conference.

On Thursday, state Sen. Jake Knotts used an ethnic slur to refer to Haley, whose parents immigrated from India.

“We’ve got a raghead in Washington, we don’t need a raghead in the Statehouse,” Knotts said on an Internet political talk show. He later apologized, saying the remarks were a joke.

Haley, who was born a Sikh and describes herself as a Methodist, called it another shameful attack.

It’s not clear whether the flaps are damaging the married mother of two, who has been endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Her rivals had said internal polls show her leading going into Tuesday’s primary.

The allegations come a year after Gov. Mark Sanford, Haley’s political mentor, famously ditched his security detail to rendezvous with his Argentine mistress and returned to confess.

Sanford’s ex-wife, Jenny, who divorced him over his affair, also defended Haley on Friday.

“I have watched with revulsion the spectacle that is now surrounding the governor’s race. Our state is better than this,” she said in a statement.

 

Virginia politics seems so clean and boring after checking out South Carolina. Politics as usual? I certainly hope not. No wonder we can’t get good people in office. This is far better than any soap opera. Some of these good ole boys will stop at nothing, will they?  Oh and the ‘raghead in Washington’ comment made by Senator Jake Knotts was referring to the President of the United States.  Good grief!  Chivalry is definitely dead.

South Carolina: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

MoonHowler

Governor Mark Sanford will probably face impeachment hearings for his behavior last spring. The most serious charge will deal with the fact that no one knew where Sanford was for several days, including the Lt. governor of the state.

Republican state Rep. Greg Delleney told CNN his resolution lists three charges against Sanford: dereliction of duty for leaving the state to visit his mistress in Argentina in June; attempting to cover-up the scandal; and bringing “disgrace and shame and ridicule” on the state.

“If that is not serious misconduct in office, I don’t know what is,” Delleney said of Sanford’s actions.

A missing governor is not all that’s happening down south. There is more “disgrace and shame and ridicule” where that came from. A former Republican activist, Rusty DePass, has made some extremely unfortunate remarks about First Lady Michelle Obama while commenting on an escaped gorilla.

South Carolina should change its state nickname from the Palmetto state to the EMBARRASS ME state.

IF HE OFFENDED ANYONE? Wait, why does this statement need a qualifier? Of course he offended people. Why would anyone, even if they lived in a cave, not know that you just don’t say things like this!

The state motto is Dum Spiro Spero (While I breathe, I hope.) Is there a Latin phrase about a state full of political jackasses?

Full Sandord story at CNN