Columbia man-about-town and former Rep. Bubba Cromer is quite a character. Even at 140 characters. The sasquatch enthusiast and white-trash chronicler had a burst of inspiration concerning the divorce proceedings between Gov. Mark Sanford and now-former First Lady Jenny Sanford. It’s best read in the voice of our gubernatorial lothario.
Don’t Look 4 me in the courtroom
My Lawyers stand in 4 me
Divorce Ct. Scares Me
My courage skimpy
Just read my statement
And call me WIMPY!
Brilliance knows many mediums.
Haven’t had enough of watching Gov. Mark Sanford getting publicly filleted because of his misdeeds in his personal life? You may be in luck. A Thursday report from The Post & Courier says a hearing regarding the divorce hearing of Sanford v. Sanford will be open to the all-seeing electronic eye.
Per the story, at least three television networks have asked to broadcast the proceedings, with requests to do it live. While the philandering Governor does not have to attend, the still-current First Lady Jenny Sanford will probably have to testify.
It’s no doubt that a lot, if not most, people in South Carolina would like to put this whole episode behind them and let the Sanfords deal with their personal issues on their own. But, you can’t slag on news organizations, because this hearing certainly fits in with the best definition of “newsworthy.”
Gov. Mark Sanford can be a crafty fellow when he wants to be. He could have used his considerable wealth to pay for his defense in the impeachment debate back-and-forth. It’s doubtful that Jenny Sanford would have been down with that. So, he dipped into his well-stocked campaign account and shelled out some big dollars to his attorneys, as well as his consultant.
MARK SANFORD
Contributions: $2,412.21
Expenditures: $259,052.40
Cash-on-hand: $1,405,225.07
Significant contributions
None.
Significant expenditures
Hall & Bowers (legal), $65,000, $70,663.16, $49,683.80
Red Sea LLC (consulting), $62,000, $4,100
Sen. Jake Knotts, who is one of the foremost experts on Gov. Mark Sanford’s nefarious activities, said that the Senate needs to take a closer look at Sanford’s trips to Argentina and other actions that will lead to his censure by the House. He’s saying that the House didn’t do its job in respect to a thorough investigation.
“I don’t intend to participate in a cover-up the House did,” Knotts said to the Associated Press. “I just don’t believe in playing political whitewash on an issue of this magnitude to the people of South Carolina.”
Ironically, it was a revelation from Knotts last summer that started the ball rolling on finding out to where Sanford had disappeared. As of right now, though, there doesn’t appear to be much support for readdressing the issue, even though senators typically have more power to get what they want accomplished.
Gov. Mark Sanford nearly impeached for cheating on his wife in Argentina while taxpayers payed the tab.
Former State Treasurer and rising political star Thomas Ravenel sent to prison on charges he operated a cocaine ring.
Former Sanford spokesman Will Folks pleading guilty to criminal domestic violence.
Lobbyist and political consultant Larry Marchant thrown in jail for driving under the influence.
A four-star failure, and embarrassments, all of them. Thus has been the public lives of four of the major players in South Carolina’s antagonizing school choice movement. The policy proposal that was once considered the most divisive in the State House is now hurdling to Earth in a fireball of humiliation and seems set to peter out to the lonely sound of a lone blogger’s key strokes.
How many of these guys are going to implode this effort, one personal scandal at a time? And when are people going to start connecting the dots? This so-called “reform movement” is having a meltdown, principal by principal, consultant by consultant.
You can’t trust an issue being peddled to you when you can’t trust the people pushing it and the lawmakers writing bills about it.
The House Judiciary Committee meeting on Wednesday to address the impeachment or censure of Gov. Mark Sanford was classic House. There were impassioned speeches, some ill-chosen remarks and after all that noise, little actually was accomplished.
It started out with debate over the impeachment resolution, which was passed unfavorably out of subcommittee last week. It didn’t go so well in full committee, falling to an 18-6 vote. Reps. Greg Delleney, Keith Kelly, Vida Miller, Todd Rutherford, Bakari Sellers and Seth Whipper went for it. Rutherford got rather animated in his evaluation of the subcommittee’s work, saying at one point, “We really are the idiots people make us out to be.” He also chimed in with, “We care more about striped bass than we do about this.” Some of his comments rankled Rep. Jim Harrison, who asked, and received, an apology.
The committee moved on to the censure resolution, which passed unanimously. Censure comes down in the gray middle between a genuine punishment and having to have something on the books that shows members of the General Assembly do not approve of what Sanford has been up to. Rep. James Smith said in an AP story, “A vote for censure is not an endorsement for the governor’s conduct. It’s quite the contrary.”
Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell, reflecting on the censure bill moving to the full House, said in a statement, “The Committee’s ruling to honor the recommendation from the subcommittee was the right decision. Our state’s Constitution sets a very high standard for removal from office. While this process revealed the Governor’s actions to be irresponsible, misguided and hypocritical, the evidence available did not reach the Constitutional level to remove the Governor from office.
“The censure resolution — a legislative decree condemning the Governor’s actions — will now move to the House floor. I expect the full House to quickly address this censure and move on to more pressing issues facing our state.
“While the Governor’s irresponsible actions did not meet the Constitutional definition for removal, they clearly warrant an official censure by the House of Representatives. In fact, the embarrassment and continued distraction caused by these actions should have warranted the Governor’s resignation from office — an action that I and an overwhelming majority of lawmakers urged the Governor to take in the best interest of our state months ago.”
Sanford isn’t totally off the hook. His suspected ethics violations are still subject to investigation and sanctions from the State Ethics Commission. However, getting a few fines levied on him isn’t likely to provide too much pain to the Governor, who has already seen his biggest punishment — the death of his political career — happen months ago.
The fourth annual Yale Book of Quotations compiled some of the most zeitgeisty of quotes from 2009, and to no one’s surprise around here, the interesting year in Palmetto State politics provided a number of phrases that entered their way into the national consciousness.
1. “Keep your government hands off my Medicare.” Speaker at health care reform town hall meeting in Simpsonville, S.C., commenting on the government-created Medicare program, quoted by The Washington Post on July 28.
4. “You lie!” [U.S. Rep.] Joe Wilson’s shouted retort to Obama’s address before a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9.
9. “The governor is hiking the Appalachian Trail.” Spokesman for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford regarding Sanford’s disappearance on June 22.
Why is Gov. Mark Sanford smiling? Maybe because he doesn’t live in New Hampshire. Beside other things that Sanford most likely abhors — hippies, flinty old men out of Pepperidge Farm commercials, teh gheys — the Granite State is also home of an enforceable statute on adultery. It’s 200 years old, and it still carries a price. Namely, a $1,200 fine.
Seven months after the state approved gay marriage, lawmakers will consider easing government further from the bedroom with a bill to repeal the adultery law.
“We shouldn’t be regulating people’s sex lives and their love lives,” state Rep. Timothy Horrigan said. “This is one area the state government should stay out of people’s bedrooms.”
Horrigan, D-Durham, and state Rep. Carol McGuire, R-Epsom, have teamed up on legislation to repeal the law.
Horrigan signed on because he believes it continues New Hampshire’s efforts toward marriage equality. In June, lawmakers voted to legalize gay marriage – a law that takes effect Jan. 1.
“We shouldn’t be in the business of regulating what consenting adults do with each other,” Horrigan said.
Convicted adulterers years ago faced standing on the gallows, up to 39 lashes, a year in jail or a fine of 100 pounds. The punishment has been relaxed to a misdemeanor and a fine of up to $1,200 – with no jail time.
South Carolina also has an adultery law, which carries with it a $500 penalty. However, the state refused to prosecute. We can only imagine what would have happened if his affair was with a man, but considering that the U.S. Supreme Court made buggery legal, that would not have stood up to constitutional muster.
TMZ has become the new hub for investigative journalism in America — aggressively and unapologetically — and today it went live with the Sanfords’ divorce filing. The initial filing doesn’t have anything that unusual, for those used to looking over such things. However, South Carolina is a no-fault state, but Jenny Sanford is asking for the divorce on the grounds of adultery. We’re not sure of her legal strategy, but that might be the beginning of a move to take a chunk out of the hide of the Governor.
Let’s get legal:
We didn’t believe all the talk during the summer that the Sanfords could reconcile after Gov. Mark Sanford’s affair with an Argentinean woman. What it did, and what was expected by us, was that it lit the fuse on a long burn that would end up in divorce filings. Of course, every divorce, like every marriage, is a different animal. But, after living through watching our parents call it quits, we saw the writing on the wall.
So, first lady Jenny Sanford made it real when she announced that she and the Governor are calling it quits. In her statement, she said, “As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process. It is also a very personal and private one. Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal with our difficulties than do other couples. Indeed, I know it will soon become known so I choose to release this brief notice that I am now filing for divorce. This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family.
“I remain thankful to so many across this state and nation for their words of encouragement and prayers during this difficult time. Please know the boys and I are doing well and are blessed with the incredible support of friends and family and bolstered by our faith and the unfailing love of our God above.”
In South Carolina, from the way we understood it, you have to have a one-year separation and after that, you can get it done. We do feel for Ms. Sanford and her sons. From a kid’s perspective, divorce sucks, even if it’s totally warranted and understood. We think our parents are better off not being with each other, but that didn’t mean that dealing with the situation was easy. The first year was pretty hard. The second was worse. But, after that, things started to calm down and life moved on.
So, we’re hopeful that everybody gets through this OK. And to Ms. Sanford and her children, we say that it may be bad now, especially because the ordeal is playing out in public. But, it will get better. Really. You just need to keep your head down and get through the hard times right now.
