The Democratic Race Is Over February 29, 2008
Posted by fitsnews in : Presidential Politics , 3 commentsHILLARY’S NEW AD IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE WORST THING EVER
FITSNews - February 29, 2008 - You know, if Hillary Clinton wanted to lose the Democratic nomination for president this bad, she could just drop out now and save everybody the trouble.
Honestly, we’ve watched Clinton’s new “3:00 A.M.” commercial three times now and all it does is make us want to take a nap.
If the only requirement for running the free world is being able to wake up at three in the morning, we know some crackheads who never sleep, people. They’d be perfect!
S.C. Public Safety Chief, Top State Trooper Step Down
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 14 comments
SCHWEITZER, ROURK SUBMIT RESIGNATIONS AMID RACIALLY-CHARGED CONTROVERSY
FITSNews - February 29, 2008 - S.C. Department of Public Safety Director James Schweitzer and Highway Patrol Colonel Russell Roark submitted their resignations to the Governor’s Office today after they were criticized for not adequately disciplining an officer who used a racial epithet during a traffic stop four years ago.
Both men stepped down after the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus threatened to block Schweitzer’s pending nomination for a second term as Public Safety Chief based on a video it obtained from the 2004 traffic stop. In the video, a white highway patrolman uses the “n-word” and threatens to kill a black suspect attempting to flee the scene after a gun was found in the vehicle in which he was traveling. The patrolman was suspended and ordered to undergo anger management counseling, but was not fired.
Former Highway Patrol Lt. Colonel Harry Stubblefield will serve as interim head of the patrol until Gov. Mark Sanford names a permanent replacement.
Sanford Stumps For Mulvaney
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 6 comments
GOVERNOR ENDORSES REPRESENTATIVE’S BID FOR STATE SENATE SEAT
FITSNews - February 29, 2008 - He may be hated within much of the South Carolina political establishment, but Gov. Mark Sanford is still the cat’s meow as far as the average voter is concerned. Campaigning on behalf of State Rep. Mick Mulvaney in Fort Mill and Sun City today, the governor received standing ovations and was treated like a regular rock star as he told crowds numbering in the hundreds about the need for change in Columbia.
“At the core of what we’re looking at is the notion that the world is changing, via globalization and via the Internet,” Sanford said in Sun City, one of South Carolina’s Republican strongholds. “We have got to fundamentally reshape and reshift where we’re coming from if we’re going to be competitive.”
Echoing many of the same themes he’s been preaching for years, Sanford touted slower government growth, income tax cuts, workers’ comp reform and tort reform as keys to achieving that competitiveness, noting that ”capital goes where it’s loved and flees where it’s not.”
Mulvaney - the first legislator to receive Sanford’s endorsement during the 2008 election cycle - is the odds-on favorite to replace retiring Sen. Greg Gregory in Senate District 16, a high growth area of the state that is trending more and more conservative with each passing day. In fact, during a recent six-month period over 2,000 new residents registered to vote in the district - 90% of them in Republican-dominated precincts.
G-Vegas Is On Fire
Posted by fitsnews in : Good Stuff , 3 comments
OH, THE HUMANITY
FITSNews - February 29, 2008 - A fire erupted in downtown Greenville, S.C. early this morning after Sic Willie mistook the sidewalk for his ashtray on a windy, wintry night in the Upstate’s largest city … alright, alright, already … that building isn’t really on fire, people. That’s just Sic trying out the artsy-fartsy features of his new digital camera. Either that or you’re on acid right now. In which case we’d recommend staying away from mirrors. And squirrels.
Anyway, we were pretty sure there was some Old Testament law banning heathens like Sic from ever setting foot in a city this upright (and beautiful), but somehow he managed to sneak in undetected. And then pretend to set it on fire with his camera. Seriously, you can color us all flabbergasted if this guy makes it out of here without becoming a pillar of salt, people.
So what is FITSNews doing in the Upstate? Why have we been trolling the streets of G-Vegas since O-Dark-Thirty this morning? Well, as much as we wish it were otherwise, in order to write a “man on the street” story it turns out you actually have to talk to a few men on the street. Or to be politically correct, “persons on dirt-challenged surfaces.”
Anyway, we’ll be stopping by several Upstate locations this morning as part of a story we’re working on, but after giving half the state’s political establishment a damn stroke earlier this week, we won’t be teasing this one.
Stagflation? February 28, 2008
Posted by fitsnews in : US Politics , 5 comments
THAT SOUNDS KINDA KINKY, PEOPLE
FITSNews - February 28, 2008 - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman (and South Carolina native) Ben Bernanke said today that while the American economy is currently sucking pretty bad, it is not headed toward “stagflation.” From Reuters:
“I don’t anticipate stagflation,” Bernanke said under questioning by the Senate Banking Committee. “I don’t think we’re anywhere near the situation that prevailed in the 1970s. I do expect inflation will come down.”
In case you were wondering, “stagflation” is a period in which high inflation is coupled with a stagnant economy (i.e. stuff costs more but you can’t afford to pay more). Is the term circa 1965? And the brainchild of U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Iain MacLeod? Check and check, baby.
Anyway, who’s responsible for this crappy economy? Well, seeing as Republicans added $3 trillion to the national debt from 2001-2007, we’re gonna go out on a limb and say “Republicans.”
Sanford To Face Investigation
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 6 comments
PAY-FOR-PLAY ACCUSATIONS SURROUNDING PORT DEAL AT HEART OF PROPOSED INQUIRY
FITSNews - February 28, 2008 - S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford is facing a Senate investigation for attempting to steer a development deal to one of his campaign contributors, the Associated Press is reporting today. Based in part upon information uncovered over the weekend by The Palmetto Scoop, Sanford received nearly $9,000 in campaign contributions from Jim and Betsy Chaffin of Beaufort, S.C. Chaffin’s company, Chaffin-Light, was the development firm that Sanford aggressively lobbied for in a recent multi-million dollar state land deal.
Frankly, we think the governor deserves some heat for this boneheaded move, and we’d commend both the AP and The Scoop for their investigative work on this story. Sanford has always had a “blind spot” when it comes to deals affecting his adopted home of Beaufort County, but given his connections with this developer he should have immediately recognized the necessity of recusing himself from any involvement in this deal. If there were valid pro-taxpayer points to be made - which the governor’s office assures us there were - Sanford should have found another way to make them. Believe it or not, Mark, it’s okay to let somebody else get the credit for ”standing up for the taxpayer” every once in awhile.
Having said that, the Senate couldn’t have picked a more ethically-bankrupt lawmaker to call for these hearings. Except for maybe this guy. Well, and this guy, too. (more…)
Private Eyes … Are Watching Sic
Posted by fitsnews in : Good Stuff , 14 comments
SIC WILLIE’S N.C.-BASED STALKER IS BACK
FITSNews - February 28, 2008 - We’ve been trying to capture a pic of the private dick who’s apparently been tailing Sic Willie for a few months now, but invariably the dude always seems to drive off before we can get a clean shot (editor’s note: photographically speaking, of course). Not so this morning, however, when our new “smokefree office” policy forced Sic outside to feed the cancer genes at around 9:33 A.M. - at which point he discovered the same North Carolina-tagged Chevy Avalanche that’s been spotted previously on numerous occasions outside our world headquarters.
Shortly after this pic was taken, the car screeched off (like it always does when Sic comes out with his Ruger), but behind the wheel we spotted the same middle-aged, gray-haired man that our custodial technicians caught going through our trash earlier this week.
Look, people. Feel free to pick through our garbage cans. Feel free to take all the pictures you want. Feel free to tail us, stalk us, tap us (well, not in a sexual way), track us, harass us, whatever you want … we’re used to it by now. Just know we’ve got all your info now (editor’s note: 
). Oh, and you better believe we know exactly where the property line is …
Since we started this website, we’ve had at least two private dicks up our … um … scratch that … we’ve had at least two private investigators assigned to us by various people. We’ve also received dozens of death threats, including a new one just yesterday. Of course, in much happier news, we’ve also received three pairs of ladies’ underwear, so it all balances out. R-r-r-r-awr, people!!
