By fitsnews – March 12, 2012
Ah, memories …
While the newsroom at The (Columbia, S.C.) State newspaper was busy ignoring information that would have painted former S.C. Lt. Gov. Ken Ard in an unflattering light, the lead writer for the paper’s editorial board was busy heaping praise on this corrupt “Republican in Name Only.”
“He’s the type of person we need to have in political office – particularly now, particularly in this state, particularly as a Republican,” Cindi Ross Scoppe wrote, casting Ard – who resigned in disgrace amid criminal corruption charges last week - in the role of principled political unifier.
“After eight years of Mark Sanford and at a time when the shrillest voices and the most unbending ideologues on both sides are increasingly dominating our political debate, when the dominant wing of the Republican Party that controls our state has declared it a cardinal sin to so much as refuse to demonize members of the other party, Mr. Ard is a refreshing voice of reason,” Scoppe continued. “He has the values we used to take for granted in politics but that are increasingly rare, at least among new faces.”
Sounds like somebody was quite smitten, wasn’t she?
Scoppe even titled her piece “A breath of fresh air.”
“The day he visited us was a busy one, and I promised my colleague Warren Bolton I would get Mr. Ard out in 45 minutes,” She writes. “Nearly two hours later, we reluctantly concluded the meeting.”
That’s funny … our founding editor had the same problem whenever he met with S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley (albeit for different reasons we’re sure).
Anyway, Scoppe concluded her assessment by saying that “for the first time in my 22 years of covering state government, I saw in (Ard) the possibility of making something of the lieutenant governor’s office.”
Sheesh …
Obviously FITS has no room to talk when it comes to making bone-headed endorsements (especially this one), but in our defense at least the people who fooled us were good liars – and at least they were lying about their support for limited government as opposed to this “mushy middle” nonsense that Ard sold to Scoppe (“Turn on one channel, and you think Democrats are the worst people,” he told her. “Turn it up two channels, you’ll think Republicans are the worst. That’s detrimental”).
Please … if anybody’s at fault for perpetuating this false dichotomy, it’s the press.
Anyway, the relevance of The State newspaper’s editorial board has taken a major hit in recent elections (remember, this is the crowd that endorsed Jon Huntsman for President only to watch as he dropped out of the race less than 24 hours later), and we’re sure that this Ard hit will constitute another well-deserved black eye.
Of course maybe the real story here isn’t the gullibility of editorial board writers, but the sheer ideological bankruptcy of the politicians seeking their endorsements.
Whatever the case, this website will continue doing its best to recommend candidates at the federal, state and (occasionally) local level that we believe will walk the walk when it comes to protecting taxpayers.
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