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SC Governor Sanford faces 37 charges of breaking state ethics laws.
Now, in all honesty, some of this is piddly shit. You see, there's a state law that traveling government personnel (the Governor included) must try to get the lowest-cost option. So yeah, Sanford flew first class a few times when he could or should have flown coach.
Big whoopty fucking do.
However, he also used state-owned aircraft for political and personal events. (Okay, side note: If the Governor is traveling to say, Charleston, on a state-owned plane for an event that he is supposed to be at, that's one thing. If he's traveling to Charleston on a state-owned plane to support a candidate from his party for some event, that's an entirely different thing. And it's a no-no.)
One of the flights he took for personally or political reasons was to a birthday party for a campaign contributor in Aiken. Now, I grew up in Aiken. It's an hour drive from Columbia to Aiken. So, why the plane ride? I mean really?
Again, that's probably more piddly shit.
What they're going to hang him on are either the improper reimbursements out of campaign money OR the fact that he used some of those state-paid first class tickets to visit his mistress in Argentina.
Now, I don't know if the trip mentioned was the one that got this whole thing in the news (back when he was ostensibly hiking the Appalachian Trail), but it really doesn't matter. He fucked off (quite possibly literally) on the taxpayer's dime for an affair.
Of course, the Republican party has been a lot quieter about this then they should have been, because hey, he's one of own. They're not nearly the pack of baying wolves that they were when Clinton was getting a knob shine in the Oval Office. But then, Clinton didn't fly Air Force One out to Hooter's for some ribs and pussy.
Still, I fully expect our state legislature to make a complete mess of this. These are the same asshole who took years to get rid of the mini-bottle law in this state and debated more about whether tattoos should be illegal then they did about predatory payday lending.
Now, in all honesty, some of this is piddly shit. You see, there's a state law that traveling government personnel (the Governor included) must try to get the lowest-cost option. So yeah, Sanford flew first class a few times when he could or should have flown coach.
Big whoopty fucking do.
However, he also used state-owned aircraft for political and personal events. (Okay, side note: If the Governor is traveling to say, Charleston, on a state-owned plane for an event that he is supposed to be at, that's one thing. If he's traveling to Charleston on a state-owned plane to support a candidate from his party for some event, that's an entirely different thing. And it's a no-no.)
One of the flights he took for personally or political reasons was to a birthday party for a campaign contributor in Aiken. Now, I grew up in Aiken. It's an hour drive from Columbia to Aiken. So, why the plane ride? I mean really?
Again, that's probably more piddly shit.
What they're going to hang him on are either the improper reimbursements out of campaign money OR the fact that he used some of those state-paid first class tickets to visit his mistress in Argentina.
Now, I don't know if the trip mentioned was the one that got this whole thing in the news (back when he was ostensibly hiking the Appalachian Trail), but it really doesn't matter. He fucked off (quite possibly literally) on the taxpayer's dime for an affair.
Of course, the Republican party has been a lot quieter about this then they should have been, because hey, he's one of own. They're not nearly the pack of baying wolves that they were when Clinton was getting a knob shine in the Oval Office. But then, Clinton didn't fly Air Force One out to Hooter's for some ribs and pussy.
Still, I fully expect our state legislature to make a complete mess of this. These are the same asshole who took years to get rid of the mini-bottle law in this state and debated more about whether tattoos should be illegal then they did about predatory payday lending.