Dear Gov. Sanford,
As you know, for years — since our first meeting in the driveway of your Sullivan’s Island home when I was volunteering my time for your first gubernatorial campaign — I have strongly supported most of your efforts. Until recently, the only major complaint I’ve had regarding your service as governor has been your persistent inability to convey your thoughts in writing as clearly as you should. This issue came to mind while I was reading your recent oped published by numerous newspapers on July 19, 2009.
After reading your most recent oped, penned after you “struggled with how best to convey” your “regret in letting so many down,” I have to ask what you are seeking forgiveness for — your oped, published widely in South Carolina, does not specify.
If you believe you need to say “I am sorry” to South Carolinians and Republicans for your affair with your “soul mate,” and/or for having “crossed lines” with numerous other women, you’re wrong. While many of us were shocked by these revelations, members of your family are the only people who need to receive that apology.
If you were writing to say “I am sorry” for having deceived your staff about your whereabouts prior to your June 2009 trip to Argentina, you should direct that apology to your staff, particularly (now former) Communications Director Joel Sawyer — not us.
Mark, after reading your most recent rambling, I hope you are asking us to forgive you for:
Either: As tax-payers, fitting the bill for your 2008 tryst in Argentina with Maria Belen Chapur (i.e. Adding the Argentina leg to the S.C. Dept. of Commerce’s 2008 trade mission to Brazil, a “trade trip” to Buenos Aires that was equally as specious as the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s recent investigation of your possible misuses of state funds to pay for your visits with your paramour).
Or: Leaving the state without telling the General Assembly who could make executive decisions in your absence should an emergent situation have arisen while you were “hiking on the Appalachian trail” (i.e. Another wildfire in Myrtle Beach, or some sort of “man-made” disaster).
Or perhaps both.
If any of the above is the case, Mark, you have this South Carolinian’s forgiveness.
Still, regardless of whether you paid the state back for your 2008 “trade trip,” on which you visited with Maria, you broke the law. You misused state funds for your personal pursuits. What about paying the state back for the expenses associated with the Dept. of Commerce staffer’s trip to join you there?
Then, when you made your more recent trip to visit Maria in Buenos Aires — without telling anyone where you were going — just as when you used state funds to do so the first time, you continued to demonstrated you do not take seriously the trust given to you by South Carolinians.
While so many of your supporters forgive you for “being human,” please don’t misunderstand things — so many of us in South Carolina also think you should resign.
South Carolinians don’t need more pledges that you will work to serve our interests as a torchbearer of ethical leadership and responsible governance. You made that pledge twice before when elected and re-elected to serve as governor, and yet you have broken such pledges on numerous occasions since.
God and many of us will forgive you for your indiscretions, but it will be much easier for most of us humans to do so if you now do what’s right, and resign.
Sincerely,
MICHAEL S. SMITH II
Editor’s Note: Lowcountry S.C. Republican Michael S. Smith II briefly volunteered for Mark Sanford’s first gubernatorial campaign. Smith serves as an informal communications consultant for several Republican South Carolina politicians, and he is a member of the New York-based Monday Meeting, an influential forum for conservative policy-makers, journalists and business leaders. He is a former copy editor and features writer for the Evening Post Publishing Company’s Charleston Mercury newspaper, and currently serves as editor of The Palmetto Times, a recently launched news and current events opinion site managed by Smith.
By Fred July 21, 2009 at 12:34 pm
A further note on his bio, he is wed to Howie Rich, Larry Merchant and Andre Bauer.
By Fred July 21, 2009 at 12:38 pm
PS…there is nothing new here, just piling on, and on and on. When will enough of the same be, well, enough?
Politics is a dirty business, but to the average citizen, repeated kicking of a downed man is likely to draw sympathy and perhaps even pity for the man.
So, enough already. Time to move on and to be constructive.
By fitsnews July 21, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Fred-
Isn’t that bigamy?
-FITS
By Fred July 21, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Bigamy…sure, but when being well paid (in one form or another), it seems well worth doing! A lot of people are on the bandwagon, and that wagon has precious little to do with the wellbeing of the citizens of SC.
I like Howie’s goals, but his big money perverts our system and our politicians. Rich is not the only big money player working behind the scenes to see that Sanford goes and is replaced by someone more “pliant”.
It is an alarming trait of humans, but it seems that people just can’t do enough for the rich and famous. They bow, they scrape, and they write editorials and cut backroom deals…all to be in the realm of the rich and powerful. Those in politics seem most inclined to this folly.
Powerful forces want Sanford gone, and their desires have nothing to do with this scandal. I am tired of hearing from these sycophants that do the secret bidding of their masters. And I suspect the general public is growing weary of it.
Let’s move on.
By Reality Check July 21, 2009 at 1:17 pm
MICHAEL S. SMITH II is a c-grade charlton whose only verifiably political experience is serving as an intern to J. Sewell.
http://schotline.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/schotline-welcomes-contributing-editor-michael-s-smith-ii/
By Michael S. Smith II July 21, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Fred,
Ouch! Is this better? …
“I want to thank Governor Sanford for the honor of his nomination to be the Director of SLED, which is an agency that is critical to the battle against crime in South Carolina, as well as to the improvement and protection of the quality of life and economic opportunity that the Governor has placed as a priority for our State. I respect and look forward to the confirmation process that will follow and will work hard to be worthy of Governor Sanford’s nomination.”
– Reggie Lloyd’s statements contained in the January 2008 press release announcing Gov. Sanford’s nomination of Mr. Lloyd for the position of Director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
When his term as SLED chief concludes, it is likely Reggie Lloyd’s most high-profile case will have been the investigation of whether S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford misused state funds by adding a jaunt to Argentina to the S.C. Department of Commerce’s 2008 trade mission to Brazil — on which the governor visited his Argentine paramour, Maria Belen Chapur. Given his poor management of that investigation, along with the governor’s recently announced plan to use more state resources for personal reasons, some might consider it ironic for Mr. Lloyd to have characterized SLED’s role as “critical to the battle against crime in South Carolina.”
Soon after he revealed his affair with Maria, Gov. Sanford made several announcements. The three that stood out most for many of us in South Carolina were: (1.) A plan to embark on a tour about the state, seeking forgiveness for his indiscretions, rather than submitting his resignation; (2.) A commitment to compensate the state for expenses tax-payers covered during his 2008 trade trip to Argentina (What about the expenses for the S.C. Department of Commerce staffer who joined him on that trip?); (3.) His sordid story of deceit should be looked upon in the same light as King David’s story in the Bible. (Given that I do not possess a degree in psychology, I believe I am in no way qualified to adequately address the implications of the final item on this list. Still, phrases like “delusions of grandeur” do come to mind.)
While even Mr. Sanford’s close friends in the S.C. General Assembly argued Sanford’s decision to repay the state represented an acknowledgement of wrong-doing on his part, and that he should resign, initially, the state’s attorney general did not see things quite the same way.
Some onlookers, myself included, suggested justice was taking a back seat to S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster’s own desires (i.e. an investigation forcing Sanford to resign could make it harder for McMaster to realize his goal of becoming Sanford’s successor if another prospective gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, were to run as an incumbent). Finally, days after he told the media Gov. Sanford should not be investigated, Mr. McMaster reversed his position, and ordered SLED to investigate whether his friend had breached the state’s trust by using tax-payer dollars to fund visits with his “soul mate.”
To the surprise of few, almost overnight SLED determined the governor had done no wrong by using state funds to pay for his 2008 trip to Argentina. This, after Mr. Sanford conceded the state should not have paid for it.
Were its investigation not as specious as Mr. Sanford’s “trade trip” to Argentina, SLED may have discovered some things that warranted a bit more diligence from its director. Discovery materials gathered for a more comprehensive investigation might have included records of Mr. Sanford’s 2007 meeting with (now former) Argentine Ambassador to the U.S. José Octavio Bordón, a meeting South Carolinians and all interested parties deserve to know more about. SLED may have also learned the public affairs officer for the S.C. Department of Commerce was a key staffer for Sanford’s first gubernatorial campaign.
Amb. Bordón visited the Palmetto State in March of 2007 as a featured speaker for the South Carolina World Trade Center’s Ambassadors Series. Included among the items on his agenda were a meeting with Gov. Sanford and an SCWTC-sponsored speaking engagement at The Harbour Club of Charleston. I attended the latter of these events, during which Amb. Bordón briefly discussed the former.
According to Amb. Bordón, Gov. Sanford signaled an effort to strengthen trade ties between South Carolina and Argentina would not be part of the Sanford administration’s economic development agenda. (Amb. Bordón, a former Argentine presidential candidate, has been understandably avoidant of my efforts to reach him in order to discus the full scope of Sanford’s statements outlining his disinterest in expanding business between South Carolina and Argentina. Why would he want his name to appear in stories about my governor’s reprehensible behavior?)
SLED Director Reggie Lloyd is clearly disinterested in such details — details which clearly suggest commercial matters were probably altogether absent from Mr. Sanford’s agenda when adding the Argentina leg to the S.C. Department of Commerce’s 2008 trip to Brazil.
What’s also clear: Gov. Sanford’s decision to remunerate the state for expenses associated with his 2008 trip to Argentina represented an effort to keep this entire matter out of the courts. There, the facts might matter to those who would be responsible for determining the extents to which Mr. Sanford violated the trust previously given him by South Carolinians.
The last thing anyone in South Carolina wants to do is pay for more of Mr. Sanford’s personal pursuits, politically or literally. And Mr. Lloyd may rest assured that when the governor begins using the state’s resources to support his forgiveness tour, South Carolinians will regard him as a facilitator of more misuses of state resources for Mr. Sanford’s personal ends. Our attorney general can at least claim he did his part.
-#####-
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By Huhhh July 21, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Mr. Smith, do a little research on C Street. King David is a favorite of The Family/The Fellowship.
Reggie Lloyd’s resume indicates he has never held a job longer than 3 years, not even self-employment.
The most fascinating thing about our governor is that he hired Mr. Lloyd for SLED after US Atty. Lloyd allowed Thomas Ravenel’s Italian co-conspirator to flee the country after discussing the case with him. And, we all remember how shocked Ravenel’s sentencing judge was because the prosecution praised Ravenel’s cooperation, but apparently that did not include any additional names from the Charleston elite.
I guess Mark knew he would need an incompetent at the helm of SLED at some point.
By MsSwin July 23, 2009 at 7:50 pm
This will help with research on C Street, the real story here behind the poor players in this sad play
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/21/c_street/