SOME THOUGHTS ON THE LATEST PALMETTO POLITICAL SOAP OPERA
FITSNews – June 15, 2007 – There’s no escaping the fact that the buzz in the Palmetto political blogosphere over the last 24 hours has focused on the personal lives of three folks who we here at FITSNews have had the pleasure of calling our friends at one time or another in the past. State Rep. Thad Viers, his estranged wife Natalie McKelvey and John Zeigler – the three central figures in this drama – are all good people, and the public scrutiny their personal lives are undergoing right now is something few of us can comprehend.
We’ve gotten lots of phone calls and e-mails from different people wondering why we haven’t weighed in on this made-for-the-blogosphere political soap opera, particularly in light of the fact that we’ve had access to the tape recordings at the heart of this story for some time now. People want to know – are we on somebody’s payroll? Does what’s currently happening to these three friends remind us of Sic Willie‘s own very public soap opera two years ago? Do we have some sort of personal connection going on here?
While the answer to the first question is an unequivocal “no,” the other two reasons do hit pretty close to home. We really like Thad, Natalie and John, we think all three of them have tremendous potential for their lives, and yes, we do know a little better than most what they’re going through right now.
Hopefully, all three of them will be able to put the last 24 hours in the past, forgive each other and move on with their lives. And hopefully, the fact that one of them has “Representative” in front of his name won’t prevent the rest of us from letting them do just that. As a very wise State Senator told us once, “it’s not the crisis that defines you, it’s how you respond to the crisis.”
We all have hurt and pain in our lives. And we all make mistakes. But just because somebody else’s hurt, pain and mistakes end up making the blogs or the newspapers, that doesn’t make it any different from ours. More public, maybe, but no different.
By Don Johnson June 15, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I think Thad did the right thing and owned up to it, took responsibility and said he wanted to move on. Good for him. Look, as you wrote, everyone makes mistakes. It’s time for everyone to move on… the media included.
By Watchin and Laughing June 15, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Seriously are you gonna post a bunch a crap about other folks but not really harp on this:
FITS – “Hopefully, all three of them will be able to put the last 24 hours in the past, forgive each other and move on with their lives.”
If this had been Democrat you would have teed off for a week, if it had been a anti-voucher repub – same, if it had been someone who you didn’t used to hang with @ that bar on Gervais, then mayyour decision not to write more about it would have been acceptable, but it was purely political…and not to mention may get folks talking bout your past discretions….
By FITSNews June 15, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Dear “Watching,”
We were actually leaked something 1,000 times worse than this on a prominent State House Democrat who opposes school choice a few weeks ago and took a pass on it – as in not four stories, three stories or one story, but zero stories.
How does that fit with your theory?
-FITSNews
By Sandlapper June 16, 2007 at 6:26 am
Fits–i guess your response is kind of like a tree falling in a forest. If there’s nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?
By sic haters June 16, 2007 at 8:43 am
lets give little willie a medal then or maybe a cookie. then lets come back to reality. this jack ass would cut his mothers knees out from under her if she did not hols the line on spending.
By holly golightly June 18, 2007 at 2:53 pm
i give you props.