500 Days

... of Mark Sanford, as of tomorrow. Once he was Mr. Conservative-- sandwiched between outgoing Larry Craig and incoming Paul Ryan-- and the hopes of secessionists everywhere who craved... well, you know what. Now he's desperately trying to stave off impeachment, impeachment, in fact, that Democrats haven't been even remotely involved with.

South Carolina House Republicans met at an open door meeting Saturday in Myrtle each to discuss beginning the process of impeaching embattled Gov. Mark Sanford.

The result of the meeting, which was meant to set the upcoming legislative agenda, was conflicted. No one defended Sanford, but there was nowhere near enough of a consensus to move forward with impeachment prior to the start of the legislative session in January.

“Is there anybody in this room that feels the governor should not resign?” asked Rep. Harry F. Cato (R-Greenville). “I don’t hear anybody defending him.”

Of the 56 GOP members on hand, not a single one said a word in defense of Sanford. And with Republicans controlling nearly 60 percent of the State House, that lack of support could prove costly for the governor.

“Can anybody in here give me one good reason, one positive thing, that’s going to occur by him remaining in office?” asked Rep. Greg Delleney [R-Chester], who is drafting impeachment articles against the governor. “How can you defend the indefensible?”

I'll give the pack of hypocrites that is the South Carolina Republican Party enough benefit of the doubt to assume "the indefensible" is not his adulterous fling per se-- which, in the end, really is between himself and his wife-- but his use of taxpayer dollars to carry on his adulterous fling. I mean for a man who refused to accept federal money to extend unemployment insurance because he didn't want to waste taxpayer dollars-- or, at least, because he wanted to position himself as someone able to say he didn't want to waste taxpayer dollars-- this guy sure did spend a bundle on some fancy trips when he went a-courtin' down in Buenos Aires. And spending all this time writing hideously banal poetry instead of fighting death panels and plots to give health care to everyone in Mexico and Guatemala... South Carolina Republicans are steaming.