The Governor May Need James Bond-like Slipperyness To Keep His Job.
James Bond had a really cool set of gadgets to get out of any jam. Of course, he had Q to develop them for him. They weren't as great as Inspector Gadget's stuff , but it was pretty good. Mark Sanford looks like he is going to need Q, David Copperfield or Dr. Timothy Leary to create a scenario that allows him to keep his job without thumbing his nose at the rest of his party...
I got a call from the Florence County leadership yesterday. The State Executive Committee will be meeting via conference call to decide on whether to ask the Governor to resign his position. Before they attend this meeting, they set up their own meeting to get the local leaders opinions on the tiff. Luckily, I am the Precinct Chair for South Florence 1, so i will be participating. For the record, I want to thank Joe Griffin and Stephanie Rawlinson to allow us to give our opinion. I'm not aware of this going on in other counties, so I'm pretty fortunate.
I have no misgivings about what will occur. I think locally, Sanford will go down in flames, and the SCGOP as a group will ask for him to resign. Of course, there is no legal bearing on the vote, it is the same as a 'no confidence' vote in many foreign countries, most of which are dictatorships or juntas... But, it all starts with me, and others like me, so the end game of Sanford's fate starts with little guys like me. I have 2 minutes, and here is what I will say...
" I would like to thank the Florence County leadership for asking for our opinions on such an important issue before voting on Monday. Like all of you, I was surprised and disappointed with Governor Sanford's conduct two weeks ago. I do not condone him for having an affair, or for leaving the State without notice for days, although I think it has been blown out of proportion. Each state agency has a Department Head to lead their respective agency. I don't think Gov. Sanford actions were a product of him trying to mislead, but more so a byproduct of his affair. Cheating on a spouse makes you start to lie, and it steamrolls from there. I don't pray for him, or ask God to help him. God has far more important prayers to answer than his."
" Last month, I asked the State Chair who is driving the Bus we call the SCGOP, and it seems more prescient than ever. The answer is WE drive the bus as a group. What is best for the party right now? The best thing we have going is a fantastically exciting Governor's Race next year. No one knows who will win, and we have five great candidates to choose from. With no offense to Lt. Governor Bauer, if we impeach or force out Mark Sanford, next year's Governor race is over. The race will have been decided by a small group of politicians, rather than by the millions of voters in South Carolina. I have no dog in this fight, but many deciding this do, and I worry about the politics driving this, rather than the actual offense."
"People worry that the Governor's job will have no power if Sanford stays. The truth is, no one in Columbia listened to Gov. Sanford, and they will not listen to any else that holds the job. That is how the state government is set up. The House and Senate do what they want, the Governor vetoes it, then all the vetoes are overidden. It will not change with Andre Bauer, Henry McMaster, Gresham Barrett, Nikki Haley, Larry Grooms, or Heaven forbid, a Democrat. My wish is to end this, get back to work as a group, and choose a new Governor next year. My vote is NO. Thank You."
I don't expect many of you to agree with me, but I do hope you respect the reasoning. We've really shot ourselves in the foot as a group with this. Hopefully, which ever way it goes, it ends quickly....
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16 comments:
Mike once again you got it right.
The Governor is duly elected and elections have consequences.
Sled has investigated....finding no financial wrong doing.
We as a political party have no right to ask him to step down.
I do not think we should even be voting on it.
We are about to divide the state we just organized.
I have polled the members of my precinct and all of them have stated your concerns in one way or another. The people are much more concerned about continuity, they just want him to shut up and go back to work.
My vote will be NO. BD
I'm usually the sole voice of dissention, but I'm glad to see that I'm not the Salmon swimming upstream again..
Mike--Like many across this state I am both concerned and embarassed by the actions of Gov. Sanford. I still believe that there are still more details to be uncovered. I still am holding my decision on this situation. Little something I learned a long time ago called a rush to judgment, call it my legal opinion...teg
In looking at this from the standpoint of organization management and human resources - as we are the party that is supposed to be all about business - he should have been fired. Had he been the CEO, the board would have fired him already for dereliction of duty and causing considerable damage of the company's image.
So we fire him and move in his replacement, and hope this one works better. If not, he can be "fired" soon enough by the voters.
Tommy, unfortunately, I only have until 700PM tonight to decide. Based on no other shoe dropping by then, I can only decide with what I know now.
I definitely understand your points , Earl, but we are not all about business in the GOP. What we are wanting to fire him for is the POTENTIAL damage that may have been caused, not actual damage to the state. The party image may be tarnished a bit, but I think we've done enough to show it matters to the GOP. Cutting the head off may be doing more damage internally to the party than the exterior damage of keepin him.
See, we don't all always agree on things..
For your information Mike, Christians are praying because the scripture teaches us to pray for those in authority.
1 Timothy 2:1-4
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a
quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth.
Earl,In the business of politics the voters should always do the firing.
I'm probably going to sound like a real Smart Aleck here, but the King James Version of the Bible that most of us read was commissioned by King James for English translation. Any possibility that is why we're asked to pray for a King? No doubt this will PO many Christians, but I sometimes will ask questions in religion, just like in politics..
651, normally they should, but a situation like this ain't normal.
Or would you rather wait to see how much worse it gets. Everytime we think we've got this situation figured out, it just gets stranger.
As the resident Democrat, I vote a big No as well. Keep Mark in, solely for the entertainment and unintentional comedic purposes.
Having said that, I think he's out. Once Bauer and McMaster cut the deal (which I certainly believe Andre will reneg on, unless those pictures Henry has are more damning than we think), Sanford's die was cast.
How was the weekend at Sullivan's Island, P-Luv? Any truth to the rumor that you were standign outside the Sanford compound with a big sign that read 'Go Into the Light, Mark. There is Serenity Beyond the Light" ?
If it was after noon any day, I was not standing. Rather I was laying in a drunken stupor by the pool. One of these days, I will realize I can no longer party like I used to.
Mike we did poll our leaders in Clarendon. All Officers and our EB. We are split dead even 50/50 for and against Sanford. I have the deciding vote and I have not said. Sounds like a movie. I also polled several counties for the SCGOP and the majority of the counties I polled was to dump the Governor. Most GOP Officers within
the counties I have talked to seemed to be neutral or let it play out. The Grassroots people who are not Officers seem to want him gone. Seems like to me the anti Bauer crowd overwhelming wants the Governor to stay. As I look at the McMaster and other supporters they seem to know if Andre gets this early the race for Governor is over for them.
Mike, about your scripture question...Any possibility that is why we're asked to pray for a King?
It all depends upon who you think GOD is. By the way, what you think about him does not effect him at all, but rather it effects you. Is God just a weak grandpa in the sky...a fairytale for the weak minded people to turn to in time of trouble, or is He the all powerful, all knowing Creator of the universe, the one true GOD who knows the number of hairs on your head? If He is the latter and I believe He is... then He not only had the power to protect the translation of His Holy Word but most likely turned the heart of the king to have it done.
Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Mike, I really hope everyone who says they are praying for SC's first family is actually praying...You seem to be bothered by what appears to be a religious show in conversation and I am sometimes bothered too.
But at the same time we in America are rapidly moving toward intolerance for Christians and anything Christian. So I ask that you please not be a part of that. The One true God is never to busy for the prayers of his children. But we should all be very careful of what we ask for, we may just get it. The Jews, God's chosen people, spent 40 years in the wilderness and they asked for it.
I'll try to clarify my thoughts about this, although I will probably cause you to want to pray for me...
I don't have a problem for people praying for others, although askign for God's assistance in a marital affair seems trivial, but to each his own. I was just stating that I'm not full of Christian forgiveness.
I think God is able to do anything that he puts his mind to. However, like a Good Republican, I think he gives us all the tools to accomplish his wishes in life, but it's up to us to fulfill them. Kind of a rugged individualism of faith...
Burn in hell, Reino!
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