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2.21.2003
Editorial critical of Sanford's handling of the auto park process An editorial
in the Greenville News is critical of Sanford's
handling of the auto research park negotiations this week. Excerpts include: Sanford and Faith, both of whom have backgrounds in development, have
not been specific, at least publicly, about their concerns. Sanford began
his remarks Thursday by stating he had a fiduciary responsibility "to
watch out for the little guy." He does, and he and Faith have a
responsibility to "ask questions," too. But they also have a responsibility to deal directly with Greenville's
leadership about a complex arrangement that has been in the works for
three years, involves several major parties, and most importantly, could
significantly improve the economic base of this region and thus improve
the economic base of the state. Part of the problem here is a new administration has come on the scene
at the time many local business and government leaders thought long-term
negotiations were winding down. Sanford and Faith must be careful not to
jeopardize a critically needed economic development project as they go
about completing their "due diligence." The new governor and his team should be open and very specific about
their concerns in what should be direct meetings with Greenville's public
and private leadership. That process finally started on Thursday, and
people involved in the meeting reported that it had been productive for
all parties involved. Rice's Religion Christianity
Today includes an article on Condoleeza Rice's religious beliefs that
includes the following: Saddam and Jacques, 1975 From WorldTribune.com: 2.20.2003
Sanford has to clarify auto park position even further After all
of the discordant spin over the past few days, Governor Mark Sanford
had to make a trip to Greenville today and hold a
press conference to quash the rumors that he wants to move the
proposed Clemson University auto research park away from Greenville. Robert Heinlein on Peace and War Robert Heinlein
comments on war and peace in Starship
Troopers, through a character named Mr. Dubois: More information on Sanford staffer's involvement with reporter  As we
reported earlier this week, there have been numerous rumors that a
Sanford staffer who has worked for Sanford since the campaign has been
involved in a relationship with a reporter who covered the Sanford
campaign during the general election. The rumors indicated that Will
Folks, currently of the Governor's Office, and Meredith
Land, a reporter and morning anchor at WCBD (Channel 2) in Charleston were
involved starting at some point around or just after the Republican
primary and runoff last summer. Numerous sources have confirmed the
relationship.In fact, these sources indicate that her car was parked outside of his
Sullivan's Island garage apartment next to his car nearly every night
during the campaign and that the couple was seen in numerous bars and
restaurants east of the Cooper River and on the peninsula. Land, who we
have heard has a boyfriend in New York, covered the gubernatorial campaign
extensively during this time and also covered Sanford's victory party on
election night in November. In fact, it has been rumored that Folks left
the Sanford transition team, only to be rehired when Sanford took office,
because of potential embarassment related to his relationship with
Land. After our
original story mentioning a relationship between a Sanford staffer and
a Charleston-area reporter, we received massive numbers of visits tied to
the servers of Media General,
the broadcast company that owns WCBD. After our
last report, indicating that the reporter in question was from an NBC
affiliate, these visits only intensified. This whole relationship would appear to be built on mutually beneficial
access for the couple involved which raises all sorts of questions related
to journalistic ethics and bias. In fact, the American Society of
Newspaper Editors has a Statement of
Principle which says, in part, that "Journalists must avoid
impropriety and the appearance of impropriety as well as any conflict of
interest or the appearance of conflict. They should neither accept
anything nor pursue any activity that might compromise or seem to
compromise their integrity." WCBD has, in the past, forced out reporters who appeared to be biased -
most notably one accused of providing video footage to the campaign of a
congressional candidate in the 2000 GOP Primary in the 1st Congressional
District race. Another notable case was that of Laura Ingraham and
then-Congressman Lindsey Graham. News reports in the Washington Post
indicated that the pair was seen in an apparent date at The Palm
restaurant and that they were holding hands. Ingraham was quick to jump
all over the story with numerous denials in an attempt to protect the
appearance of impartiality as a journalist then working for MSNBC. Another
example occurred in 1998 when Nina Brook, who covered the Hodges campaign
for WIS before the election was hired by the Hodges administration,
causing questions about her partiality during the campaign to arise. Brook
then went back the other way when she was hired by The State as an
editorial page writer. So, expect vehement denials of this report from Land and Folks. Anyone
interested in their side of the story should click here to send Folks e-mail or click here to send e-mail to Land.
Further updates will be published as more becomes available. Sanford spin cycle out of sync on Greenville auto research park? First, Commerce Secretary Bob Faith told Street Talk in Sunday's Greenville
News the following: "We've been hearing all this, you know, 'Uh oh, a couple of
Lowcountry boys, and they don't care about the Upstate.' And that's just
not true," Faith said. "We're in this to win, and we're not going to
ignore one of our biggest assets. We're very focused on making sure
Greenville, the whole area, thrives." Then Faith told the Greenville
News that: "It is a laughable rumor that we may be moving to Charleston," Faith
said. "We are committed to the Greenville area. That is where the
resources are." Then another article appeared in today's Greenville
News where Sanford attempted to clarify things even
further: "That isn't the way I operate, or have ever operated," Sanford said. "I
couldn't care less about which developer does the project. I don't have a
dog in the fight. My only dog in the fight is the taxpayer getting the
most bang for the buck." 2.19.2003
James Earl Jones on Iraq From Rantburg: Jones, a former Army officer, drew perhaps the biggest round of
applause after the subject turned to America's showdown with Iraq. He said
that war is sometimes necessary. "All people have to be prepared," Jones
said. "If we are going to be the police, we also have to be the guardians.
We can no longer play games. I was not against the war in Bosnia. I was
against it taking so long. I was not against the war in Somalia. Again, it
took too long, and we didn't finish the job. We should've stayed and
finished the job. About this pending war, I just think we should've
finished that war the first time." More on Sanford staffer involvement with reporter Following yesterday's
story, we can now say that the reporter in question works for a NBC affiliate. We
have received a high amount of traffic on PalmettoJournal.com from servers
registered to the station's ownership group since yesterday. Any reader
with further information on this subject should send e-mail to
mail@palmettojournal.com. Wednesday Statehouse Preview The day starts for both chambers with a legislative breakfast from 8-9
a.m. at the Capital City Club. This event is sponsored by the SC Nursery
and Landscape Association. The House
will convene at 10 a.m. They will honor the Dorman High School Football
team and Girls' Golf team for their state championships last year. The House Calendar
includes uncontested second and third readings of local bills before
getting into the statewide portion of the calendar. H.3589,
a joint resolution of dealing with the Statewide Adoption Assistance
program will come up for third reading. H.3198,
which deals with personal information obtained from government agencies
for commercial solicitation, will come up for second reading. Another bill
up for second reading is H.3628,
a joint resolution that would allow school districts to furlough personnel
before the end of the school year. The NAACP Annual Legislative Day luncheon will be sponsored upon
adjournment in 221 Blatt. The SC Baptist Convention will sponsor a
barbecue luncheon on the grounds of the Statehouse from 12-1:30 p.m. House
meetings start off early with the NAACP Annual Legislative Day from
8-10 a.m. in 221 Blatt. The Freshman Caucus meets at 8:30 a.m. in 318
Blatt. FFA Day is at 9 in 101 Blatt. The Legislative Black Caucus meets at
9 in 305 Blatt and at 4 in 221 Blatt. House Ways & Means will meet at the call of the chair. The Banking
Subcommittee of LCI will meet at 9 in 403 Blatt and again 15 minutes
after the House adjourns. Subcommittee
V of 3-M meets at 1:30 in 426 Blatt. At 2 p.m. in 433 Blatt, the Education
committee will meet. Starting at 2 p.m., The Senate will
consider second and third reading of several
bills. Senate meetings start 8:30 when the State House Committee meets in 209
Gressette. The Senate
Education Committee will meet at 9 in 207 Gressette. The Judiciary
Subcommittee on S.47, S.88, and S.49 meets at 9 in 105 Gressette while the
Fish,
Game and Forestry Committee meets at 10 in 308 Gressette. The
Judiciary Subcommittee on S.85 and S.102 will meet at 1 p.m. in 209
Gressette. Both chambers will close the day with a reception at the Embassy Suites
sponsored by the SC Association of Counties. 2.18.2003
CDC Evacuation a False Alarm? Earlier news reports indicated that the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta was evacuated after an
alarm sounded. One report indicated that there may have been an explosion.
However, WXIA
in Atlanta reports that Dekalb County officials are saying it may have
been a false alarm. Apparently, a halon
fire suppression system was triggered by a chemical in the air. Fox News
now reports that the alarm was related to ongoing construction in the
building evacuated. Sanford staffer involved with reporter? We've been hearing rumors that a current member of Sanford's staff in
the Governor's office has been involved with a Charleston-area reporter
(who has a significant other out of state.) The rumor indicates that this
relationship started when the staffer was working on Sanford's campaign
staff and that it has already caused problems for one or both of them in
the past and has raised eyebrows for ethical reasons. Further confirmation of this matter will result in more of the details
being published here. More on Common Voice advertising Click here
to see SC
Hotline's response to the events
of yesterday. Jonathan Pait's caterwauling over this shows what a
small-minded, thin-skinned person he appears to be. At no point
yesterday did we make any criticisms of any of the information we pointed
out. We simply pointed it out in a factual manner without making any
negative or positive commentary on it. We saw no need to mention his
advertising with Knight-Ridder either (click here for a screen
capture.) Either Pait jumped to the conclusion that we were attempting to
bash him, or he was truly upset that this information came to light. We didn't criticize Common Voice's Google
Ad Words nor did we criticize their current advertiser. However, now
that the can of worms has been opened by Pait, we will give an opinion on
the matter. We are glad that SC Hotline has no problem with the Google Ad
Words (and purchased a few of their own), especially in light of their
continued success (including a mention in Campaigns
& Elections.) However, it would appear to us that Pait was
attempting to piggyback off the success of SC Hotline. Note that we just
said that it appeared that way, and that we still made no editorial
comment on whether or not that was appropriate. Pait has been a controversial figure in the past, but, at this time, we
see no need to detail any of these facts or any of the criticism we've
heard of him originating in the BJU community. 2.17.2003
Common Voice buying ads on SC Hotline searches Google
has a program called Ad
Words that enables website owners to pay for ads on the right side
when certain words are searched for. Clicking on that
ad link costs money to the advertiser. Click
here to see the search results for SC Hotline via Google or click here to see a
screen capture. This advertising enables Common Voice to try to go after
internet users who are actually looking for SC Hotline via an ad in the Google
engine. The only advertiser on Common Voice's page now appears to be BJU
Press, which is affiliated with Bob
Jones University, full-time employer of Common Voice editor Jonathan
Pait. More letters to the editor critical of Sanford on military service Last week, we told you about this
letter and then about this
letter related to Gov.
Mark Sanford's Air Force Reserve service. After finally receiving a letter
to the editor supporting him (albeit one from a former Sanford
transition team member), two other letters to the editor critical of
Sanford appeared in today's Greenville News. One
letter, by John Landers of Liberty, includes the following: The second
letter, from Edith Wade of Pickens, includes: I voted for Sanford, but never again if he double dips the taxpayers.
If he only receives reserve pay and the fill-in receives his pay that will
show me he wants to serve his country. Washington's Birthday, not President's Day
From the OPM
website: 2.16.2003
Congressional assassination attempts expected - attacks still imminent? BlogsOfWar.com
mentions an article in Time
that includes facts that reinforce what Tom Ridge said on This
Week earlier today. As we pointed out earlier,
Newsweek reported that some CIA analysts think there is a 59% chance of an
attack featuring WMD before March 31. Time's story mentions that Tom Ridge
told members of Congress that the odds of an attack in the the coming
weeks were "50% or greater." Time also mentions that the Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police warned
members of Congress about potential attempts on their lives, based on a
phone tip that "unnamed members of Congress could be the targets of
assassination attempts." Daytona 500 over after 109 laps due to rain Michael
Waltrip declared the winner after 109 laps and 2 rain delays. Send care packages to the military Gannett
News Service featured an article, that ran in today's Greenville News,
discussing care packages for American troops who have deployed overseas.
Included in the article is a list of places to order care packages
from. These include CheapCarePackages.com,
YouGota.com and SendCare.com. These are all reminiscent of a site we first discovered at BlogsOfWar.com (who was nice enough
to include a link
to our O'Rourke article) that allows people to send pizza (and other items) to the
IDF. E-mail can be sent to American troops overseas via Operation Dear Abby. Daytona 500 red-flagged with 2nd rain delay
Daytona 500 start moved up to 1:00 p.m. EST Due to looming bad weather, the start of the Great American Race has
been moved up to 1 p.m. Full coverage at NASCAR.com and Jayski's Silly Season. Go to National
Review Online for an interesting opinion piece on the race and
racing's role in American culture. Google goes Blogging Via InstaPundit
(and also seen elsewhere), reports
indicate that Google purchased Pyra Labs (the owner of Blog*spot) this
week. Fabricated dirty bomb informant? This
Week pointed out Newsweek is
reporting another fabrication from an informant (in
addition to the first one reported by ABC.) Tom Ridge told George Stephanopholous on This Week that the change to
orange was not based on one or two sources alone. Commenting down again... thanks to HaloScan HaloScan is reporting server errors yet again. Bear with us as we
explore changes in our hosting service as well as a change from Blogger to
Movable Type in the upcoming days and weeks. Harpootlian "muzzled" by DSCC, "controlled" by Hodges campaign From a Charleston
Post & Courier article on SC Democratic Chair Dick Harpootlian's
decision not to run for re-election: "I would have been more effective and provided more assistance if I had
not been limited in what I could do and say," Harpootlian said. The State gets ideas from WyethWire? Consider the following lines from an article by Aaron Sheinin in The State
today: Sanford has come under fire not just for closing his meetings,
but for closing them in light of his previous pledges of openness. On Feb. 4, for example, Sanford signed an executive order requiring all
state agencies to provide lawmakers with information. The order came in
response, Sanford said, to complaints from legislators who said agencies
sometimes stonewall their efforts to gather information. "Government needs to be more open and accountable on every level,"
Sanford said at the time. "And not just open and accountable to its
citizens, but open and accountable within its own branches." Then compare those lines to this
post which we reported on here. P.J. O'Rourke on Europe
Back in London, I was having dinner in the Groucho Club - this
week's in-spot for what's left of Britain's lit glitz and nouveau rock
riche - when one more person started in on the Stars and Stripes.
Eventually he got, as the Europeans always do, to the part about "Your
country's never been invaded." (This fellow had been two during the Blitz,
you see.) "You don't know the horror, the suffering. You think war is
..." I snapped. "A John Wayne movie," I said. "That's what you were going to say wasn't
it? We think war is a John Wayne movie. We think life is a John Wayne
movie - with good guys and bad guys, as simple as that. Well, you know
something, Mister Limey Poofter? You're right. And let me tell you who
those bad guys are. They're us. WE BE BAD. "We're the baddest-assed sons of bitches that ever jogged in Reeboks.
We're three-quarters grizzly bear and two-thirds car wreck and descended
from a stock market crash on our mother's side. You take your Germany,
France and Spain, roll them all together and it wouldn't give us room to
park our cars. We're the big boys, Jack, the original, giant,
economy-sized, new and improved butt kickers of all time. When we snort
coke in Houston, people lose their hats in Cap d'Antibes. And we've got an
American Express card credit limit higher than your piss-ant metric
numbers go. "You say our country's never been invaded? You're right, little buddy.
Because I'd like to see the needle-dicked foreigners who'd have the guts
to try. We drink napalm to get our hearts started in the morning. A rape
and a mugging is our way of saying 'Cheerio.' Hell can't hold our
sock-hops. We walk taller, talk louder, spit further, fuck longer and buy
more things than you know the names of. I'd rather be a junkie in a New
York City jail than king, queen and jack of all you Europeans. We eat
little countries like this for breakfast and shit them out before
lunch."    |
According to the U.S. 
109 laps have been completed and Michael Waltrip is in the
lead. The race could be stopped now (since 100+ laps are complete),
completed later today, or finished tomorrow. Keep up with 
The following is an excerpt written in a chapter about the 1986
American bombing of Libya in 
