S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s office misled multiple state lawmakers as she sought their support for a legal motion backing her authority to call an emergency session of the S.C. General Assembly.
Haley’s attempt to force lawmakers back to Columbia, S.C. was shot down on Monday by the S.C. Supreme Court – although her administration’s full-court press to rally lawmakers to her side has provided yet another case study of the governor playing fast and loose with the truth.
One of these lawmakers, S.C. Sen. Mike Rose (R-Summerville), went public with his concerns on Monday – saying that the governor’s office deliberately misled him regarding the position of S.C. Sen Tom Davis (R-Beaufort).
“I was specifically told that Senator Davis had signed onto (the motion),” Rose told FITS. “That was a big part of my decision because I know from a legal standpoint Senator Davis would have done his homework on this.”
Not only that, but Davis has been fighting to strengthen Haley’s watered down bill by insisting that lawmakers abolish the S.C. Budget and Control Board – a quasi-executive, quasi-legislative agency that currently manages most of the executive branch of government.
“Any version of the Department of Administration bill that does include the elimination of the Budget and Control Board is not a worthwhile reform,” Davis said. “Let’s be clear: this bill must abolish the Budget and Control Board. Anything short of that would be a huge mistake and a missed opportunity.”
In sharp contrast to her campaign rhetoric in support of that position, Haley has been aggressively lobbying behind the scenes to preserve the board – part of a backroom deal she cut with S.C. Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman (RINO-Florence).
Obviously Haley’s refusal to stand and fight for real reform is unfortunate – but it’s her ongoing duplicity that’s really troubling.
On Tuesday, a pair of Republican State Senators told FITS that they were also misled by Haley’s office regarding Davis’ position – although neither was willing to give his name for fear of political retribution. A fourth state Senator may have also been misled.
One Senator – Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson) – said that Haley’s office made no representation to him regarding Davis’ position. However, his position on the legal merits of the case shifted dramatically in a very short period of time. On Thursday, Bryant told FITS that Senate President Glenn McConnell “is (the) only one who can call us back.” On Monday, though, Bryant permitted his name to be used on Haley’s lawsuit – which argued the opposite view.
According to Bryant, an opinion from S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson “made me think there might be another possibility.”
Davis confirmed to FITS on Monday that he never told the governor, nor her staffers nor her emissaries that he would join her legal motion – which the Supreme Court rejected by a 3-2 vote.
In fact, in a statement released yesterday, Davis clearly stated that he believed the decision should be left exclusively up to the court.
“As for the legal arguments surrounding Gov. Haley’s authority to call lawmakers into a special session in the middle of a two-week recess, that is a question (for) the South Carolina Supreme Court to answer based on its interpretation of the South Carolina Constitution,” Davis wrote. “That is the branch of state government authorized to resolve separation of power issues like this.”
Haley’s deception regarding this legal motion may have also spread to the S.C. House of Representatives, where several lawmakers say that they were misled regarding who did – and didn’t – agree to let the governor use their names. One House member’s name may have been added to Haley’s motion without permission – which if true could have serious legal repercussions.
As we’ve said all along, we have no problem with Haley forcing lawmakers back to Columbia. They clearly accomplished absolutely nothing over the last five months – and from a purely political standpoint it was a brilliant move on Haley’s part (at least in the short term).
Our problem is that Haley – who had anemic first legislative session (despite the low bar she set for herself) – is desperately trying to snatch a political victory at the expense of real reform.
“(Restructuring) is worthwhile only if it is done completely,” the editorial writers at the Spartanburg Herald-Journal wrote recently. “The bill must abolish the Budget and Control Board and put all its executive functions in the Governor’s Office. A bill that moves some or most of those functions into the Governor’s Office is likely to put others under more boards or commissions appointed by lawmakers. That would be a mistake. It would be remodeling state government, not reforming it.”
We agree completely – which is why we’ve been supporting this very reform for years. In fact, we supported an amendment to the House restructuring bill earlier this year that would have handed the Board’s power over to the governor – but Haley lobbied against it, and as a result only seven Republican lawmakers supported it.
***
By Skidmarks June 7, 2011 at 3:55 pm
I hope the conference committee whacks Nimrata’s budget.
Payback is a bitch.
By Michael P. June 7, 2011 at 4:13 pm
It must be an election year, legislators are now using the “misled” excuse.
By Big T June 7, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Davis has been Haley’s Lackey from Day 1, hasn’t he?
Davis is the idiot who tried to BLOW the Amazon deal. I’d have a little trouble throwing him into the Excuse pool.
It looks like Haley told everybody to close their eyes and take off their clothes. Rose was one of the foolts who fell for it. Now he’s trying to use a dolt who is as naked as he is to cover for himself.
By cash June 7, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Misled=lied to. Pathological, even. The voters are now finding out what Lexington has known for some time.
By Groundball June 7, 2011 at 4:40 pm
I’ll bet that Kitzman is getting nervous.
By Columbia Insider June 7, 2011 at 4:46 pm
I would have been amazed had Tom Davis signed on as an intervener. He’s much too smart to do that.
By Angry Housewife June 7, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Imagine Trikki Nikki no longer having to deal with that mean old B&C Board, and having oodles of new State jobs in the new Department of Administration to dole out to her supporters! And getting to appoint the State Superintendant of Education (“Maybe Bridget oops I mean Kritsen will do it!”) and pick her running mate (Larry? Thad? Will? Eleanor?) — just like they picked Sarah Palin!!!
“I’m so excited, I wet my panites. Opps. I’m not wearing any. Ha Ha on me. I must have left them in Will’s car. Tee Hee.”
By rwwllms June 7, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Identifying a Pathological Liar
Pathological liars – or “mythomaniacs” – may be suffering from histrionic personality disorder or narcissistic personality disorder. The following comments basically reflect a pathological liar who has the characteristics of histrionic personality disorder.
Some characteristics
1. Exaggerates things that are ridiculous.
2. One-upping. Whatever you do, this person can do it better. You will never top them in their own mind, because they have a concerted need to be better than everyone else. This also applies to being right. If you try to confront an individual like this, no matter how lovingly and well-intentioned you might be – this will probably not be effective. It’s threatening their fantasy of themselves, so they would rather argue with you and bring out the sharp knives than admit that there’s anything wrong with them.
3. They “construct” a reality around themselves. They don’t value the truth, especially if they don’t see it as hurting anyone. If you call them on a lie and they are backed into a corner, they will act very defensively and say ugly things (most likely but depends on personality), but they may eventually start to act like, “Well, what’s the difference? You’re making a big deal out of nothing!” (again, to refocus the conversation to your wrongdoing instead of theirs).
4. Because these people don’t value honesty, a lot of times they will not value loyalty. So watch what you tell them. They will not only tell others, but they will embellish to make you look worse. Their loyalty is fleeting, and because they are insecure people, they will find solace in confiding to whomever is in their favor at the moment.
5. They may be somewhat of a hypochondriac. This can come in especially useful when caught in a lie, for example, they can claim that they have been sick, or that there’s some mysteriously “illness” that has them all stressed out. It’s another excuse tool for their behavior.
6. Obviously, they will contradict what they say. This will become very clear over time. They usually aren’t smart enough to keep track of so many lies (who would be?).
Another WikiAnswers contributor adds:
They lie about even the smallest things. For example, saying “I brushed my teeth today,” when they didn’t.
They add exaggerations to every sentence.
They change their story all the time.
They act very defensively when you question their statements.
They believe what they say is true, when everyone else knows it isn’t.
An alternate ‘checklist’:
Lies when it is very easy to tell the truth.
Lies to get sympathy, to look better, to save their butt, etc.
Fools people at first but once they get to know him, no one believes anything they ever say.
May have a personality disorder.
Extremely manipulative.
Has been caught in lies repeatedly.
Never fesses up to the lies.
Is a legend in their own mind.
More opinions and input from WikiAnswers contributors:
I have found a few differences in pathological liar and a “slime ball” liar. Pathological liars cannot tell that they are lying; they actually believe the lie as soon as it comes out of their mouth. They lie about unimportant things that don’t really matter to anyone. This can be caused by mental defect but isn’t always. Slime-ball liars lie about things that make them look better or embellish to get attention. They also lie to keep their butts out of trouble and to get what they want.
Here are things to ask yourself: How could this many things happen to one person? Would believe these stories if someone else told you? Think back to the beginning: you had red flags and alarms going off in you head. Learn to trust your instincts.
It is very hard to tell when one is a pathological liar. Some people just are liars and lie to lie because they can and they don’t care about getting caught and aware that you know they have lied. These people care not about lying, it’s no big deal. It’s like “ok, so what? I lied”. The pathological liar on the other hand, IS aware that they are lying BUT will go to extremes to make you believe that they are truthful. They appear to believe their own lies BUT in truth, they know their lies are just that, lies. But because their efforts are constantly backing up their lies, it appears to us that they actually believe their lies, when we eventually do find out about them and then we tend to feel sorry for these people. Then they have an excuse, “I am sick, I don’t know why I lie, I believed what I was saying etc.” The only truth was the fact that they don’t know why they lie. Other than that it’s crap. It is true that most of them have an extremely low sense of self worth and are continuously trying to make themselves feel better about THEMSELVES and this is one reason they lie. It is about them but the lies are not always set up with the purpose to hurt some one else; it’s that these people feel so low about themselves they need to create ANYTHING different from the ugly reality they feel about themselves so they lie about even the most tiniest little thing. The people closest to them get sucked into these lies which sometimes start as something very trivial and then turn into something that can turn everyone involved worlds upside down and inside out.
Unmasking the pathological liar is an easier task when the pathological liar is no more than a casual acquaintence to the “un-masker.” Close relationships provide camouflage for the pathological liar, and intimacy provides a heavily-fortressed breeding ground.
Other indicators: 1) Rage attacks after they realize you’re questioning their lies. 2) Distraction techniques, e.g. hanging up the phone when you catch them in lie, playing word games, or even just running out of the room. After using the distraction technique, or rage attack, or sometimes both, they will pretend that nothing ever happened. They re-write history, so it never did happen in their minds. Normal people do it too, but these people take it to the extreme.
From “Go Ask Alice”: Lies are unplanned and impulsive. Behavior is repeated over a long period of time. Lies don’t seem to exist for any external reason. Behavior may not always be a conscious act. Lies are admitted, changed, and/or adapted if a false story is challenged.
From Andrea Broadbent “The Truth about Truman”: To begin, the definition of pathological actually means abnormal or grossly atypical. Therefore, a pathological liar prevaricates more frequently than the average person or tells more abnormal lies. In most cases, pathological liars tell lies that are “unplanned and impulsive” (Hausman). These lies are usually very emotional stories that tend to serve no purpose except to impress people (Ford 133). As of now, psychiatrists are unsure whether or not pathological liars are fully capable of realizing if and when they are lying, so detecting whether or not a person is a pathological liar is a very difficult task (Hausman). By looking at the list of conditions commonly connected with people considered to be pathological liars, psychiatrists are better able to determine whether or not a person might actually have the disorder. Some main qualities linked with pathological liars include dysfunctional family origin, family lying patterns, anomalies of sexual life, frequent substance abuse, and a great capacity for language.
From Raymond Lloyd Richmond, Ph.D. “Psychological Honesty”: Even a pathological liar carries deep in his heart a desire for goodness and honesty and yet, because of painful emotional wounds, believes that the world never has, and never will, recognize his pain. And so, to hide that pain from himself, he uses all the lies he can concoct to hurl at the world as he runs in fear from his own goodness.
For me, the first indication has been that I hear them tell different things to different people and they can’t all be right, because they directly contradict each other! And I am able to prove it. If you can prove over and over again that things someone is telling you are outright false, then you have a pathological liar on your hands.
With the Internet, it is now easier than ever to “fact-check” even the most mundane things. I think pathological liars often lose track of the lies they tell different people and it will eventually catch up with them.
By Roberta June 7, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Thanks voters for putting Queen Bitch in office.
By jimlewisowb June 7, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Misled! Misled you write.
What a crock of buffalo shit. These Turncoats willingly and knowingly bought what the Gypsy Queen was selling. Next thing I will read is that some of them will claim the room was dimly lit when they met with the Gypsy Queen. They couldn’t see what they were doing. Perhaps the carpet was too soft and made them too relaxed to think clearly. No, it was the the background music. That’s it. A little Jimmy Buffet will make anyone turn into a parrot. No, no it was her perfume. Yes, the Gypsy Queen’s perfume was intoxicating.
Dammit people, I was drunk when I signed my name onto her petition.
What a crock of buffalo shit. This group of little piggies who rooted their way under the Gypsy Queen’s skirt did it all on their own. To say any different, these Turncoats would have to label themselves as “intellectually delayed”.
By truth be told June 7, 2011 at 5:15 pm
rwwmmls,
Whenyou looked up the definitions of narcicisst and pathologies
for lying, was Haley’s picture posted next to the explanations?
Groundball,
Kitzman should be nervous, she is as bad as Haley ever could be.
Her picture should be there also.
And we are clammoring to give these people MORE POWER, MORE CONTROL, MORE APPOINTMENTS, MORE INFLUENCE OVER THE STATE’S OPERATIONS!!!!
We will look back and say, “What were we thinking”.
What a disasterous mess, what a mess indeed.
By Michael J. Stefonick June 7, 2011 at 5:32 pm
rwwllms,
Are you speaking of Senator Tom Davis?
Your comments are so in sync with the facts that I must know.
We know about Haley.
Have a great evening.
By Artemis June 7, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Good lord, if the Governor cannot tell the truth to key supporters, she will lose them.
Warren Buffett said, “It takes 50 years to establish a relationship and five minutes to destroy it.”
Gov. Haley seems a whirling dervish with facts, commitments, objectives — even invitations to cocktail parties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AglGJYby_pQ&feature=related
around and around and around and around…
By Huhhh??? June 7, 2011 at 7:59 pm
1. So, Rose is saying: “I’m too stupid to keep up with what’s Constitutional. I leave that to Mark’s little lapdog and beard.”
2. Sic, you say you had an ongoing sexual relationship with this fool and you didn’t pick up on her duplicitous nature?
I picked up on it 3 years ago when she went to Cindi Scoppe and Brad Warthen about mean ole Bobby Harrell “demoting” her from the Commerce to the Education Committee – and she wants to appoint the Superintendent of Education, ain’t that a hoot?
3. Vote “NO” on the Department of Adminstration. We have gone from bad to worse with governors and certainly cannpt trust this one to be a “good steward” of the taxpayers’ money. It would be on the way to Punjab within 2 hours.
By Scooter June 7, 2011 at 8:52 pm
And because she always tells the truth, we must believe this one, too? Yep, yep. She’s a terrible teller of the untruth. wheeee, and around and around we go. I really think it is time for someone with guts to tell her what is right and what is wrong.
By eggaday June 7, 2011 at 9:34 pm
do all of the elected first check with Tom Davis to find out what to do next?
if so, clearly SC is in bigger trouble than anyone knows.
By eggaday June 7, 2011 at 9:39 pm
to rwwllms
you describe Markie Mark Sanfraud to a “t”
By Cancerman June 7, 2011 at 10:28 pm
Tom Davis is a totaly prick!!!!
By Jack June 7, 2011 at 11:13 pm
Trikki Nikki–what a joke
By Jim June 8, 2011 at 7:38 am
How much u wanna bet that Glenn McConnell is still seething after being bitch slapped by Haley’s press secretary in the news yesterday. Still debating whether that was a brilliant strategic move by Haley or a dumbass mistake?
By Dixie June 8, 2011 at 8:43 am
“do all of the elected first check with Tom Davis to find out what to do next?
if so, clearly SC is in bigger trouble than anyone knows.”
If this is so, what are we paying the rest of them for – there is a cost savings right there. I wonder if this guy knows how stupid that statement sounded. Is there anybody in the government in Columbia that hasn’t got his head sticking in a place where they can’t see the light of day.
By sick of the sack of sikh June 8, 2011 at 9:18 am
rwwllms, everything you state is true. Pathological liars,also, quite aften, suffer from sexual addiction…very serious. Sexual addiction is used to describe the behavior of a person absessed with sex. Thoughts of sex tend to dominate their thinking, making it difficult to work or engage in personal relationships. Sex addicts engage in distorted thinking, often rationalizing and justifying their behavior, and blaming others for problems. They are in denial of this disorder. For some sexual addiction progresses to involve illegal activities. Behavior associated with sexual addction includes compulsion, extramarital affairs, multiple sex partners and/or one night stands, use of pornography, such as lap dances from other women. This mental illness require therapy…but only if the person is willing to admit the problem. There are several 12 step recovery programs available to those in need.
By MajorC June 8, 2011 at 6:37 pm
@ Will Folks. I just heard on WVOC / 560, on the tail end of a broadcast, that some legislatures were making light of Nikki “playing music” (her song choice) every time she signs a bill. What’s up with this? Anybody got the scoop on this? First time I’ve heard of it. We need a post on this Will.
By Old Bike Dude June 8, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Rwwllms
There is a penalty for exceeding the 3 sentence rule. Although your post was most enlightening I’m afraid you must report for execution.
By MajorC June 8, 2011 at 8:41 pm
@OLd Bike Dude. Rwwllms will be late for his execution — he is busy drafting a request for a stay of execution. I heard he read “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire” before he was potty trained.
Also, what is the penalty for posting all in caps and sounding like a drunken sailor?
By yikes June 12, 2011 at 5:26 pm
pol·i·ti·cian/?päl??tiSH?n/Noun
1. A person who is professionally involved in politics.
2. A person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement. Merriam-Webster
Guess which one operates here in SC?