To Sin By Silence January 30, 2008
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 9 comments
LATEST LEATHERMAN SCANDAL MARKS A LINE IN THE SAND FOR SOUTH CAROLINA’S REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP
FITSNews - January 30, 2008 - We could honestly give a rat’s ass who the next S.C. Supreme Court justice is. Seriously, we know a lot of people way more important than us have their panties in a wad over it, but we honestly haven’t taken the time to look at either Kaye Hearn or John Kittredge, although we have heard from our pro-business friends that Kittredge is the better choice.
No matter what side of that race you come down on, though, the accusations we published two days ago against State Sen. Hugh Leatherman concerning intimidation tactics and outright vote-buying on behalf of Hearn’s candidacy are deeply troubling, and judging from the lack of any effort to discredit what our sources told us, decidedly on target.
Frankly, it amazes us that something which everyone acknowledges to be true hasn’t resulted in Senate leaders Glenn McConnell and Harvey Peeler stepping up and taking action against Leatherman. Or for that matter Gov. Mark Sanford, Attorney General Henry McMaster or SCGOP Chairman Katon Dawson.
Seriously, how long is this sort of crap going to be tolerated in our state government? Leatherman has been accused by his colleagues of illegally bribing fellow legislators in the past, but then - as now - the justified anger of those raising the allegations is always tempered by an abiding fear of retribution. (more…)
These People Are Too Perfect
Posted by fitsnews in : Pop Culture , add a comment
GAVIN AND GWEN ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY
FITSNews - January 30, 2008 - Both are super-rich, super-talented rock-n-roll stars who together have sold about eleventy kabillion albums. They also made perhaps the best-looking baby in history, and have another little one on the way. Such is life for Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani, who are so perfect it’s hard to believe they’re not aliens.
Seriously, our guess is that this kid will sleep through the night, never poop its diaper, speak five languages at birth and have a record deal by the time it hits puberty. It will probably also cure cancer, eradicate poverty, crush radical Jihadism and stabilize a foundering global economy, not to mention figure out how to levitate car keys and stuff when your hands are full, or invent an Angelina Jolie cloning machine or self-heating coffee cup.
We don’t believe in reincarnation or anything, but if we did we would be in Gwen Stefani’s tummy right now, people - learning Swahili, perfecting a plan for geopolitical homeostasis and adding helpful new elements to the periodic table. Is anybody writing this stuff down? It’s dark in here, dammit.
Port Of Charleston’s Competitive Position Slips Further
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 5 comments
ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER DROPOFF
FITSNews - January 30, 2008 - Since we were kicking around former S.C. Ports Authority board member Tumpy Campbell a good bit yesterday, we figured we ought to give you a reason why. And here it is - according to this morning’s edition of the Charleston Post and Courier, the once-proud Port of Charleston is slipping even further behind its competitors … again. From the P&C story:
The Port of Charleston reported a double-digit drop in container volume in 2007, but it will likely hang on to its position as the fourth-busiest East Coast port.
The port handled the equivalent of 1.75 million 20-foot-long containers in the last calendar year, down 11 percent from 2006, according to the State Ports Authority.
Four years ago the Port of Charleston was the fourth-largest in the nation, not the East Coast, but South Carolina’s insistence on maintaining a communist “total state control” model for port expansion and its failure to aggressively pursue public-private partnerships (like our competitors in Virginia, Florida, Alabama and several other states) has caused our state to squander its most valuable competitive asset.
Ports Authority board members Campbell, Bill Stern and Harry Butler bear the lion’s share of the blame for this disaster (they cast the deciding votes back in 2005 against free market expansion), but Gov. Mark Sanford deserves his fair share of criticism as well for failing to get rid of these three nimrods years ago.
They’re Voting In Florida January 29, 2008
Posted by fitsnews in : Presidential Politics , 2 comments
SOON IT’LL BE SUPER COOL DUPER TUESDAY …
FITSNews - January 29, 2008 - A bunch of old people are going to the polls in Florida today to vote for their Republican nominee for president, which is good only in that we will be one step closer to this ridiculous election being over.
According to the latest public opinion surveys, the race in the Senility State is down to John McCain and Mitt Romney (both candidates are currently polling at around 30%), with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani battling it out with Mike Huckabee for third place (both are currently polling at around 15%).
Of course polling in Florida - sort of like voting in Florida - is notoriously unreliable. People down there are too senile to really know who the heck they’re supporting, and even when they do get in the voting booth they’re frequently too weak to push the chad all the way through the paper.
UPDATE - For the record, Sic Willie’s chad is “dangling,” not “hanging” or “pregnant.”
Stalking Britney Spears Is Dangerous
Posted by fitsnews in : Pop Culture , 1 comment so far
CARDINAL RICHELIEU CALLED AND WANTS HIS NECKLACE BACK, DUDE
FITSNews - January 29, 2008 - Since we don’t spend all day camped outside of Britney Spears’ house waiting to see what part of her body she’s going to flash next (editor’s note: we spend all day camped out in front of our computers for that), we had no idea that jockeying for photographic position could be this intense.
Check out THIS VIDEO, in which an enraged paparazzi freaks out on a TMZ.com crew waiting to capture the famous popslut’s latest misadventures.
We’re not sure exactly who this guy is but he talks like Antonio Banderas, dresses like Cardinal Richelieu and curses like a sailor.
UPDATE - Oh, we forgot. One reason the paparazzi competition may be so intense is Britney’s tendency to sleep with photographers. Frankly, we think that would be a disincentive, but whatever floats your boat, Seaman Cardinal Banderas.
Landess Tapped To Run S.C. Policy Council
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 17 comments
DON’T MESS WITH THIS ANGEL, PEOPLE
FITSNews - January 29, 2008 - In one of the best executive decisions since the Brits put Winston Churchill in the Cabinet, FITSNews has learned that the Board of Directors of the S.C. Policy Council has selected Ashley Landess (middle angel, we think) to lead South Carolina’s most influential conservative thinktank.
In addition to being one of the smartest people we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, Landess is also an uncompromising fiscal conservative and a passionate voice for real education reform, which are two reasons why we endorsed her for this position last week. She’s also incredibly hot, wears bright colors better than anyone we’ve ever seen and is more than a little sassy, people.
The selection of Landess couldn’t come at a better time, either, as State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex and several Republican co-conspirators are in the midst of attempting to gut South Carolina’s already worthless educational accountability standards (more on that later this week). Frankly, there’s no one better equipped than Landess to shine the light on any effort to water down our state’s already abysmal academic benchmarks, or for that matter to provide the public with sort of legitimate economic data that our state’s borderline retarded Board of Economic Advisors perpetually fails to provide us with.
Anyway, props to Landess on her new position, and don’t be surprised if you start hearing a little less chamber music and a little more Rage Against The Machine coming from the Policy Council this year …
Deconstructing Rocket
Posted by fitsnews in : Sports , add a comment
CLEMENS TEAM GETS CALLED OUT AS CONGRESSIONAL STEROID HEARINGS LOOM
FITSNews - January 29, 2008 - We enjoy covering the steroids issue because pretty much every article written about it includes some sort of reference to needles being stuck in people’s butts. Which is good imagery, all you aspiring writers. Anyway, the latest Roger Clemens opus from senior Sports Illustrated correspondent Tom Verducci is no exception. In taking issue with the latest report put out by the embattled pitcher’s team of lawyers and spin doctors, Verducci wastes little time in playing the “butt card,” and in the process gets a little Tyler Durden-y on us:
Here’s the closest the report comes to referencing the real issue at hand: “It has been suggested that Clemens’ performance during July and August of 1998 was unusual.”
“Unusual,” of course, is code for the Mitchell Report finding of McNamee sticking needles full of steroids into Clemens’ butt back then.
Did Clemens use steroids or didn’t he? Who knows. Probably. What we do know is that for the second time in four years, baseball’s biggest stars are being called before the Congressional gavel to testify about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. We also know that “butt” is a naughty word, and you should really say “bottom” instead.
