Return Of The Echo Chamber – The Ascot Edition

SINCE SO MANY OLD FRIENDS HAVE FOUND OUR TEMPORARY HOME, WE MIGHT AS WELL DUST OFF THE OLD ECHO CHAMBER

FITSNews – January 7, 2007 – For those of you who didn’t groove on the original FITS, we did a little something-something there called “Heard in the Echo Chamber.”

What’s an echo chamber? Well, it’s a place where you hear the same stuff repeated again over and over. But don’t worry, an echo chamber is not dangerous like a gas chamber. Or being stuck in an elevator with Sic Willie when he has gas.

The purpose of the “Echo Chamber” is to dig down under the weeds and uncover the most intimate details of S.C. politicos’ lives.

Like Jeffrey Sewell, co-founder of SC Hotline, for example, who seems to think that it’s okay to wear ascots and may have even gone to Brittons’ this week and picked up a new one especially for the inauguration festivities.

We keep trying to tell Jeffrey that ascots are for cake boys (say it with us Clueless fans … Oscar Wilde-readin’, disco-dancin’, Steisand ticket-holdin’ Friends of Dorothy) and that Polo Cologne went out of style 20 years ago, but God bless the boy for tryin’ so hard.

Anyway, the epitome of the “Echo Chamber” in South Carolina is what goes on under the State House dome during the Legislative Session, also known as the annual reduction in the Intelligence Quotient of the City of Columbia, S.C.

It really is something to behold. Watching the temperature of an entire city go up ten degrees like that thanks to all the hot air rolling into its center. Or watching your tax dollars get incinerated in the ensuing conflagration.

But since the Circus (or Flea Circus anyway) is coming to town this week and there’s nothing we can do to stop it, we figured we’d harken back to some fun memories from the old FITS as we recap the TOP 10 S.C. STATE HOUSE NICKNAMES (just click on the nickname links for a stroll down memory lane).

10. Gov. Mark Sanford – Stretch (as in the truth)
9. Rep. Scott Talley – The TalleyWhacker (lucky dog, he’s in the clear)
8. Rep. Bakari Sellers – Barack Obama
7. Rep. Annette Young – Dewer’s (click the link that started it all)
6. Rep. Wallace Scarborough – Wallace, Texas Ranger
5. Rep. Thad Viers – Flounder or Pee Dee Rock Star Legislator (click both)
4. Sen. Hugh Leatherman – Huge Government
3. Rep. Murrell Smith – Chewbacca
2. Rep. Dan Cooper – Chairman Egg-Tooth
1. Speaker Bobby Harrell – Mayor of Importantville

Course, they’re all Mayors of Importantville in their own minds, but welcome back anyway, South Carolina Legislators.

Thanks to you, the weekends have never looked so good.