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ANTI-SANFORD PROTEST MAJOR BUST AS BARELY DOZEN TURN OUT
The State newspaper’s former editorial page editor called it the “UNrally.” But judging by the video he shot of last week’s “protest” calling for Gov. Mark Sanford’s resignation or impeachment, Brad Warthen made a serious understatement.
Warthen, who opened his video by saying “let me see if I can capture just how sad and pathetic this anti-Sanford rally today is,” panned 360-degrees around the steps of the Statehouse to show barely a dozen protesters and two counter-protesters.
“There are more media and/or curiosity seekers here than there are what you might call rally participants,” Warthen noted. “No speakers, no program. Of course, I got here late so I could have missed it; could have blinked and missed it.”
The protest was fueled almost entirely by South Carolina Democrats looking to exploit Sanford’s five-day absence and Argentine affair for political gain.
The movement completely fizzled, though, when the only well-known Republican pushing Friday’s rally, Republican National Committeeman Glenn McCall, dropped out.
Love those stylin’ shades, Brad!
Good job Brad and Adam!
Foges — would you please patch a message through to Mr. Warthen that his continuing to block me from his blog is denying me my constitutional right to be Lee Muller’s parrot.
Mab — I’ll do my best.
Turnout was low because Sanford didn’t do anything wrong.
Mark Sanford Dickipedia
Dickipedia:
Marshall Clement “Mark” Sanford, Jr. (born May 28, 1960) is the Governor of South Carolina, a passionate lover of Argentinean women, and a dick.
Sanford was a leading candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination until an extra-marital affair in Argentina brought national attention to his dickishness (pun very much intended).
In addition to being a disgraced politician, Sanford is also a real estate developer and Air Force Reserve captain, which allows him to screw people out of money while wearing a bomber jacket and most likely calling them “Iceman.”
Read the whole story: Dickipedia
http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=Mark_Sanford
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/13/mark-sanford-dickipedia_n_230447.html
Sanford and staff cell phone records made public
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Post and Courier obtained e-mails and phone records Monday evening for Governor Mark Sanford and his staff that detail behind-the-scenes efforts to find the governor when he disappeared for several days in June.
The records show that Scott English, the governor’s chief of staff, tried to reach Sanford at least 10 times in mid-June when the governor traveled to Argentina to see his mistress; Sanford told his staff he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/jul/13/sanford_and_staff_cell_phone_records_made_public/#comments
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National Journal:
South Carolina Has the 5th Most Dysfunctional State Governments
National Journal is just out with “The Six Most Functional State Governments” and the Palmetto State comes in at number 5.
Yayyy, us!
The ratings are based on four criteria:
The quality of leadership — by the state’s legislature, its current governor and, where applicable, its ousted governor.
The whiff of criminality in the state’s top political leadership.
The severity of the state’s policy challenges.
The intensity of the media circus surrounding state government.
Each state is graded in each category on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 representing the worst, the most severe or the most intense, and 1 representing the most benign. The categories are averaged to produce a final score and ranking.
On the issue of leadership, we get a big spankin’ 10:
After his now infamous sojourn to Buenos Aires to visit his mistress, Gov. Mark Sanford (R) returned to South Carolina in a drastically weaker position than when he left. He had already alienated many in his state with his effort — blocked by the courts — to decline certain federal stimulus monies. Then he irked political leaders and constituents by leaving the state for several days without providing forwarding information. Finally, after his return, Sanford inexplicably volunteered to journalists a wealth of details about his unsettled personal life.
Our next best, uh, worst score is for “Media Circus” – a 9:
The Sanford story caught fire internationally and bequeathed a new euphemism — “hiking the Appalachian Trail” — to the English language. But as Sanford looks more and more likely to stay put, South Carolina has already begun to return to normalcy.
Our “statewide challenges” merit a 7 due to the unemployment rate and other issues such as infant mortality, premature births, stroke, diabetes, smoking prevention and violent crime.
About the only thing we come out looking good on is “criminality” where we get a score of 2.
The other five states (and thier ranking) on the list are:
6. California
4. Alaska
3. Illinois
2. Nevada
1. New York
http://www.examiner.com/x-16728-Columbia-Democrat-Examiner~y2009m7d13-National-Journal-South-Carolina-Has-the-5th-Most-Dysfunctional-State-Governments
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Jun 22, 2009
Sanfraud Spokesman: SC governor hiking Appalachian Trail
(AP) — A spokesman for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he is hiking the Appalachian Trail, which explains his perplexing absence.
A statement issued by Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer Monday night didn’t make clear what part of the trail he was on.
Sanford hadn’t been in his office for several days, and fellow politicians and his wife said they didn’t know where he was.
Sawyer had said earlier in the day he wasn’t aware that anyone on staff had spoken to the governor since Thursday.
Jenny Sanford said she had not spoken with her husband for several days. That includes Father’s Day.
Where is South Carolina’s governor?
The lieutenant governor doesn’t know, and neither does a state senator who’s a close confidante.
And while his staff said they knew where he was, a spokesman said he wasn’t aware that any of them had spoken with the governor since Thursday.
“He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids,” Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press while vacationing with the couple’s four sons at their Sullivans Island beach house. She said she didn’t know where he was, but wasn’t concerned.
“Gov. Sanford is taking some time away from the office this week to recharge after the stimulus battle and the legislative session and to work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer said that he hadn’t spoken with Sanford since Thursday and wasn’t aware that any other member of the governor’s staff had, either. The governor told his staff where he was going last week and planned to check in.
Sawyer wouldn’t say where the Sanford was, but said it was an area with limited communication.
The lieutenant governor said he did not know Sanford was taking time away from his office.
State Sen. Tom Davis, a Beaufort Republican, Sanford confidante and former chief of staff, said his calls to Sanford were going straight to voice mail. Calls from The Associated Press to the governor’s cell phone also went to voice mail.
Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said he didn’t know where Sanford was but said he had not been put in charge.
“It’s one thing for the boys to go off by themselves, but on Fathers Day to leave your family behind? That’s erratic,” said Senate Minority Leader John Land, D-Manning.
Sanford’s unannounced absence was a cause for concern because the National Guard and the state’s top law enforcement agencies report to him, Land said.
“And when those officials can’t get in touch with the commander, it’s really weird. That’s not responsible,” he said.
Sen. Jake Knotts, said the state needs to know where its governor is. “Somebody’s got to be in charge.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jG3Xqgk_yvHFCxzYZIaivTgoMo0gD9903OU80
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South Carolina governor Mark Sanford seems to be a compulsive liar
So is his staff!
JOEL SAWYER IS A FREAKIN’ LIAR
Why Did Sanford’s Staff Lie About His Trip To South America?
When Mark Sanford’s five-day absence was noticed by the national media Monday, Sanford’s staff sought to quell concerns by telling reporters he was hiking the Appalachian Trail:
Then, at 10:01 p.m. Monday, [Communications Director Joel Sawyer e-mailed reporters an update: “The governor is hiking along the Appalachian Trail. I apologize for taking so long to send this update, and was waiting to see if a more definitive idea of what part of the Trail he was on before we did so.”
Sawyer said Sanford was hiking “to kind of clear his head after the legislative session.” He added emphatically, “[Sanford's] an avid outdoorsman.”
On Tuesday morning, Sawyer said that Sanford had “called to check in with his chief of staff.” Yet he stuck with his claim that Sanford was hiking.
It turns out, however, that Sawyer was lying. This morning, reporters from The State caught up with Sanford at Atlanta’s Hartsville-Jackson International Airport, where he had just returned from a seven day trip to Beunos Aires, Argentina — nowhere near the Appalachian Trial. Sanford refused to say what he had been doing in South America, and offered no explanation for why his staff lied.
http://detroit.craigslist.org/pol/1237193461.html
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EMAILS SHOW SANFRAUD IS NOT INTERESTED IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Chief of staff tried to reach Sanford 15 times during secret trip, records show
Sanford’s chief of staff Scott English unsuccessfully called the governor’s cell phone 15 times during the governor’s secret trip to Argentina to visit his lover last month as staff members were out of contact with the governor for at least four days.
With calls unanswered, the governor’s communications director Joel Sawyer juggled e-mails and media calls from around the nation, refining what was later proven to be an untrue message that the governor was taking a break after a draining legislative session and hiking the Appalachian Trail.
“The governor is hiking along the Appalachian Trail,” Sawyer repeatedly wrote to reporters June 22. “I apologize for taking so long to send this update, and was waiting to see if a more definitive idea of what part of the Trail he was on before we did so.”
Documents shed new light on a June 18-24 secret trip the governor took to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to visit his lover, including Sanford missing an economic development meeting during his time in South America.
Sanford has said he misled his staff to believe he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.
The governor was approached June 24 by a reporter from The State newspaper in the Atlanta airport as he exited a plane on his way back from Buenos Aires. He later confessed to the affair with his Maria Belen Chapur, his Argentine lover, whom he called his soul mate, as well as other inappropriate contact with other unnamed women.
The documents show:
• The governor’s staff appears to have believed the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail. On June 18, the day the governor left for Buenos Aires, the governor’s scheduler e-mailed State House law enforcement security that she was “not sure of (the governor’s) weekend plans still.”
The governor’s phone records for his state-issued cell phone show six days of no communication between Sanford and his chief of staff. On June 23, the governor finally returned English’s calls.
English and Sawyer only exchanged one e-mail on their state e-mail accounts about Sanford’s whereabouts.
• The governor allowed some economic development initiatives to take a back seat during his secret trip. He was invited to but turned down a dinner invitation June 24 with representatives from a company looking to expand their S.C. operation, according to e-mail records. Sanford also declined a June 25 celebration event for a S.C. business’ plant expansion because his schedule was “just absolutely jammed this summer,” wrote a staffer in an e-mail.
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/904010.html
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Sanford told to help pay for repairs to GOP
COLUMBIA S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford needs to use the $1.7 million left in his 2006 election account to rebuild the GOP image his extramarital affair tarnished, former state Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson said Monday.
Modest donations continued flowing into Sanford’s account during the second quarter as he railed against federal stimulus cash, according to a campaign finance report Sanford filed Friday.
There was big spending, too, notably with a Maryland firm that has done his polling and political consulting for years.
But the quarter ended with Sanford disgraced by the repeated, tearful admissions of an affair with a woman in Argentina he called his “soul mate.” However, state law enforcement officials said they won’t pursue charges after an inquiry, and Sanford has said he won’t resign.
While Sanford may be rebuilding his marriage – first lady Jenny Sanford has said she’s willing to reconcile – Dawson said Monday he needs to put up cash to repair his party.
“Mark Sanford has done a lot of damage – certainly to his own reputation in South Carolina and that’s terrible – but there’s been a lot of damage to the Republican brand,” Dawson said. “It makes fundraising very difficult when a scandal is at front of most people’s minds.”
Dawson said he’s told Sanford in a couple of phone calls that he needs to put money into that. “The Republican Party needs your help for the damage this scandal has cost,” Dawson said, recalling his last conversation.
Sanford doesn’t immediately have to do anything with the money in that account or $128,155 he has remaining in his U.S. House account, according to his most recent Federal Election Commission report in April.
Dawson frets he’ll take the path other politicians have taken: creating a political education committee or foundation with the money and using it to pay himself a salary.
Sanford has spent nearly $18,000 from the state account in the second quarter. More than $15,000 went to Red Sea LLC of Bethesda, Md., and its polling operation, Basswood Research. That polling work played out amid Sanford’s fight to keep the state from taking nearly $700 million in federal stimulus cash.
That spending includes a check for $1,050 to Red Sea on June 29, the day Sanford began three hours of tear-filled interviews with The Associated Press detailing his affair.
Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said he could not immediately discuss details of the spending with Red Sea.
Red Sea founder Jon Lerner did not immediately respond to a message left at his office.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/831932.html
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Criminality is a 10 too, we are fixin to find out.
Did Sanford affair cost South Carolina jobs?
Democratic Leader John Land wants to know what other duties Mark Sanford might have skipped out on to visit his Argentine lover.
The State reported today that Sanford “…declined a dinner invitation from a company looking to expand its business in South Carolina because Sanford planned to be in Argentina that day.”
Sanford also missed another meeting during the trip when his spokesperson said his schedule was “absolutely jammed” for the summer.
“When Mark Sanford ran off to Argentina, he missed two critical job creation meetings. Mark Sanford placed a higher value on his personal pleasure than bringing jobs to a state with a 12% jobless rate,” Land said.
“We need to investigate further and learn what other opportunities have been missed through the Governor’s selfishness.”
Land also criticized the fact that Sanford’s newly public schedule has been largely blank.
“When you’ve dragged your state into the one of the nation’s highest jobless rates, you owe it to the people who elected you to spend night and day chasing down any company that wants to create jobs,” Land said.
“Governor Sanford’s economic development philosophy has always been hands-off. Now he owes it to us all, critics and supporters alike, to come clean about other missed opportunities to create jobs. Only then can we begin the long and slow process of clawing back from the one of the nation’s worst jobless rates.”
http://www.examiner.com/x-16728-Columbia-Democrat-Examiner~y2009m7d14-Did-Sanford-affair-cost-South-Carolina-jobs
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