By fitsnews – December 9, 2009
S.C. Rep. Jenny Horne (RINO – Dorchester) delivered a bizarre and tearful monologue during the final meeting of a House impeachment subcommittee on Wednesday, ultimately deciding to join all but one of her colleagues in voting against a resolution that would have impeached S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford for misconduct in office.
Unknown at this point is a) why Horne was crying, and b) whether or not her tears were real or of the “crocodile” variety frequently employed by female politicos in South Carolina. You know, like Rep. Shannon Erickson (RINO – Beaufort) or Christy Cox, former Chief-of-”Staff” to longtime House Speaker David Wilkins.
And yeah … badda boom badda bing bang … we’ll see your “baby” quotes and raise you an actual … you know what? Nevermind …
Anyway, the resolution to impeach Sanford was easily defeated by a 6-1 vote – with its only support coming from the lawmaker who authored it, S.C. Rep. Greg Delleney.
The result was predictable, seeing as the panel had already dismissed a host of relatively minor accusations against the governor – and seeing as they gave short shrift to the one major taxpayer-funded indiscretion (that we know of) which might have actually constituted an impeachable offense.
So to recap, a House panel that didn’t have (or at least didn’t ask for) subpoena power basically glossed over the findings of a commission appointed by the governor (and stacked with his campaign donors).
And yeah, we had to pay for this goat show … along with the bill for Mr. Fancypants, a lawyer representing the “Office of the Governor.”
Of course, FITS readers will recall that this particular deck was stacked in Sanford’s favor from the beginning by S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell, who is said to be eager to avoid any scrutiny into his various affairs … of state.
What led us to such a sorry situation?
Well, Sanford was busted in June leaving the state for five days to visit his Argentinean lover, Maria Belen Chapur. After lying about his whereabouts, Sanford ultimately confessed to his affair (and his love of Eastern Airlines) in a tearful press conference.
The governor later said Chapur was his “soul mate” and that he had also “crossed lines” with other women.
Around the same time, Sanford announced that he was returning approximately $3,000 to the state treasury that had gone to pay for a portion of his expenses on a 2008 “economic development” trip to Argentina – a trip during which Sanford claims he “crossed the ultimate line” with Chapur.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Sanford received first-class plane ticket upgrades in violation of state policy, misused the state plane for personal and political reasons and failed to report numerous airplane flights that were provided to him by friends and political allies – which could expose him to a tax liability.
What’s the next step in the Sanford saga?
Honestly?
At this point we could care less …
