First Inez, now Samuel. Hey, if he can get a full-time job, so can I. There’s hope:
COLUMBIA, SC – June 25, 2009 – Retired businessman and philanthropist Samuel Tenenbaum has been named president of Palmetto Health Foundation. He replaces Cary Smith who has led Palmetto Health Foundation since 2005 and is now retiring.
Seriously, I’m please for my good friend. And Palmetto Health now has one ace of a fundraiser.
This morning at breakfast at my usual location, a wag suggested that soon someone would be selling bracelets saying WWJD, for “What Would Jenny Do?”
I sort of hate to pass on something like that said in a jocular manner, because the state of mind of the state’s chief executive — and the inevitable impact it has on his family — is no laughing matter, and it’s getting less funny day by day.
But you know what? I seriously think that after what we’ve seen the past week, someone ought to have a bunch of those bracelets printed up and distributed to political wives. I say that because Jenny Sanford has been a class act from the beginning. I don’t think she’s trying to be a class act; I don’t think she gives a rip what the chattering class think about her. I think she’s just trying to do the right thing, with some self-respect and most of all with the welfare of her children in mind, and that’s what makes her a class act.
I dropped by the offices of the Palmetto Family Council today. I had seen the story about their support-Jenny movement, and since I was stopping by Starbuck’s on Gervais anyway, I thought I’d walk up and say hi to Oran Smith and the gang. I had never seen their digs before. (That’s a great, cool building they’re in, which is owned by my friend Hal Stevenson.) I mentioned the bracelet idea to them, just sort of half-seriously at the time, and when they showed a little interest I said if they followed up on it, they needed to give my friend who thought of it credit.
Something that not everybody realizes about Jenny Sanford that makes her “let-him-take-his-own-medicine” stance more remarkable: She was in her own way sort of the Republican version of Hillary Clinton. Electing the Sanfords, the state got a two-fer. I’ll never forget the time, at the start of the 2002 campaign, when Sanford asked to come present his economic plan to our editorial board. We said fine, and when I went downstairs to bring him up to the board room, there was Jenny. She was holding out a basket of cookies to me, which I took as a very conscious effort to say, “I’m not Hillary Clinton, even though it may look like I am once we get upstairs.” In the board room, Mark Sanford kept deferring to Jenny on the economics theory, letting her explain the pie charts and other stuff on the Powerpoint presentation.
She managed his campaign, and was a tough manager. I remember Tom Davis — who lived in the Sanford’s basement during that campaign — talking about “going to the hats” when he’d done something wrong. If he’d screwed up, Jenny would ask him to step with her into a part of the house where there were a bunch of ballcaps and such belonging to the boys hanging on the wall. “Going to the hats” was an experience to be avoided.
In other words, one would be forgiven for assuming that Jenny was every bit as politically ambitious as Mark. Yet she didn’t do a Hillary (or a whatever-Spitzer’s-wife’s-name-is). She didn’t do a Tammy Wynette.
And women everywhere should bless her for it, as many are doing.
It’s one thing for Jake Knotts or even Hugh Leatherman, neither of whom are particularly fond of Mark Sanford, to call for the governor’s resignation — or even Glenn McConnell, for that matter.
It would be another if Tom Davis, the governor’s close friend and former chief of staff — a guy who lived in the governor’s basement during his first campaign in 2002 — issued a similar call. Which is why Tom is weighing the decision so carefully. The interesting thing is that this situation has become so extreme, the governor has gone so far outside the realm of the acceptable, that a serious, good, loyal guy like Tom Davis would even be talking about thinking about it. But he is, as evidenced by this statement he has posted:
Statement from Tom Davis July 1, 2009
Posted on July 1, 2009
FOR RELEASE ON JULY 1, 2009Statement by Tom Davis re: Governor Mark Sanford
I came to Columbia today because I have a responsibility to the taxpayers of Beaufort County and the people of South Carolina. Obviously I have tremendous concern for my friends, Mark and Jenny Sanford and their family, but I also have a job to do as an elected official.
Before any important decision I make comes due diligence, and I owe it to my constituents to perform that due diligence before taking a public position on an issue as important as whether to call for the resignation of a duly-elected statewide official.
Accordingly, I have met today with the governor and members of his staff; I have had telephone conversations with my friend, Jenny Sanford; I have talked with the governor’s legislative supporters and opponents; and I have talked with key reform leaders who have been fighting for the issues I believe in – fiscal responsibility, limited government, market principles and individual liberty.
I am also planning on speaking today with Attorney General Henry McMaster and SLED Chief Reggie Lloyd, and am I particularly interested in learning the outcome of SLED’s review as to whether the governor has ever illegally used any state funds. I am told that review will be completed by tomorrow.
Again, this is a critical decision for the State of South Carolina and I want to rely on firsthand conversations, not media reports, rumors, political pressure or speculation.
Based on these conversations, I expect to form my official position very shortly. But I can assure you that whatever official position I ultimately reach will be one that I truly believe to be in the best interests of the people of Beaufort County in particular and the state of South Carolina in general.
In the meantime, I would encourage all South Carolinians to keep the Sanfords in their thoughts and prayers.
Things have come to such a pass, the governor has seemed so out of control, that I was actually hearing from liberal Democrats today who, when they heard Tom was coming up to see the governor, said that was a relief, because he needed someone trustworthy to be checking up on him. They were actually worried about the governor’s safety, or they said they were. I had the same thought — I was glad Tom Davis was checking up on him. If I were in trouble, I’d want a guy like Tom checking up on me. (I’ve written in the past about what a good guy he is.)
But it wasn’t until I read the above statement that I realized just how far Tom’s own thoughts had gone.
Glenn McConnell has joined the resignation chorus, in his own 19th century manner. Rather than come right out and demand the governor quit, he has summed up the situation, and said as a gentleman that he expects the governor to do what a gentleman ought, under the circumstances:
STATEMENT BY SENATOR GLENN McCONNELL
Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell issued the following statement today:
“The Governor’s personal failings have become widely known in the last week. Those personal failings are his alone and we should allow him and his family to deal with them privately. However, the Governor has offered up details about his indiscretions very publicly and they have been widely reported. Those admissions and the reaction of the public have raised in my mind whether the Governor can effectively lead the state in the days, weeks, and months to come. The Governor does not need to be a paragon of virtue, but the people need to know that he is trustworthy and he is committed to serving them.The Governor has admitted he lied to his staff in order to travel out of the country. In doing that, he left the state with no leadership for five days and with no ability to handle an emergency if one arose.
Now, after his latest admissions, we must wonder has the Governor come completely clean. Each time the press uncovers a new issue or the Governor volunteers new details, both he and our state are embarrassed.The Governor is to the citizens of this state, the people of the United States, and those around the world the face of our state government. For people who seek to bring new business or expand existing business in South Carolina, he represents South Carolina. He can either be a great asset or a tremendous liability.
Neither I nor my colleagues in the General Assembly can require that the Governor resign. That decision is his alone. I do believe, however, that the Governor has lost the support of the people that is needed to govern. Therefore, I would ask the Governor to look in his heart and decide whether with his family situation and the public uproar over what he has done and said locally and nationally whether he can lead our state for the remainder of his term.This is not about Mark Sanford the person. This must be about the government of South Carolina and making sure it operates effectively for the next 18 months. He needs to decide immediately if he is an asset or a liability for our state.
I would beseech the Governor to do the right thing for himself, his family and our state. I believe he knows what the right thing to do is and I hope that he will do what is right.”
###
Last night while channel-surfing and finding nothing good, I stopped for a moment on an old “Roseanne” episode. The plot was about as tacky as you can imagine: Roseanne was concerned about her daughter’s sex life, of all things, and was nagging her husband (John Goodman) to talk to the daughter’s husband about it (at least, I hope he was her husband).
Goodman, of course, refused. Under the Guy Code, that was not a permissible topic. Sports, cars, whatever, but not personal relationships. Roseanne was disgusted with him, but he was adamant.
Next scene, Goodman is in the breakroom at work, and another guy (I’m gathering he was Roseanne’s sister’s husband) starts trying to get a conversation going about relationships and sex. Finally, he’s so obvious about it that the daughter’s husband storms out, realizing the topic is his own sex life. Goodman reproaches the guy who brought up the topic, saying he knew Roseanne had put him up to it.
This causes an argument in which the other guy reveals something intimate that he knows about Goodman and his wife, and Goodman counters with something equally personal and inappropriate. Then he stops, shocked, and says something like “We know way too much.” A shocked pause, then he says (more or less), “There’s nothing to do now except to look down at our shoes and quickly walk away.”
Both men simultaneously break eye contact, jerking their heads downward to look at their feet, and walk quickly from the room via separate doors.
Which is what any man with any self respect would do. And it’s what Mark Sanford should have done some time ago — certainly before that bizarre interview that came out yesterday.
This morning, The State wrote about how politicians were backing away from calling for Mark Sanford’s resignation.
But that was before he, for whatever bizarre reasons (I can’t imagine what possessed him), decided to give interviews in which he:
Well, that tears it, several GOP senators evidently decided at that point. They put out this release this evening:
SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN STATE SENATORS CALL ON
GOVERNOR MARK SANFORD TO RESIGNColumbia, SC – June 30, 2009 – South Carolina Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman, and four other Republican State Senators released the following statement today calling on Governor Mark Sanford to resign his position as Governor of South Carolina. Earlier today Republican State Senators Kevin Bryant (Anderson) and Larry Grooms (Berkeley) also called on Governor Sanford to resign.
“Crisis requires people in leadership positions to act decisively, with as much dispassionate wisdom and judgment as possible.
Governor Sanford has imposed a crisis upon our state. As members of the Senate, we have a duty to the people of South Carolina to do what is in their best interests.
We therefore have concluded that Governor Mark Sanford must resign his office. He has lost the trust of the people and the legislature to lead our state through historically difficult times.
South Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Tens of thousands of South Carolinians cannot find jobs.
Necessary budget cuts have weakened public education and other vital services.
We must have strong leadership from a Governor who is focused and trusted.
Governor Sanford is neither.
We did not reach this conclusion in haste and we did not base it on his personal failings, but events since his news conference have forced us to act.
The recent revelation that he used taxpayer money to visit Argentina demonstrates that our state crisis will not recede while he is in office.
His own Commerce Department acknowledges the Governor requested additional economic development meetings in Argentina while on a legitimate trade mission to South America.
The Governor, through his spokesmen, deceived the media and public about where he was and what he was doing for several days.
He abandoned his office and the people who elected him with a premeditated cover-up, launching a constitutional crisis that was dangerous and reckless.
These disclosures indicate a pattern of abuse of office. Most disturbing is our belief that the Governor only admitted to these transgressions after he was caught.
The Governor’s family crisis is private and tragic. But the crisis the Governor imposed by his abuse of office is the people’s business and must come to an end.
We can only put this crisis behind us if he does the honorable thing and resign immediately.
The bottom line is that the Governor’s private matters should remain private, but his deception and negligence make it impossible for us to trust him, and for him to govern in the future.”
Harvey S. Peeler
Majority Leader, South Carolina SenateHugh K. Leatherman
Chairman, Senate Finance CommitteePaul Campbell, Jr.
Senator, Berkeley CountyJohn M. “Jake” Knotts, Jr
Chairman, Invitation CommitteeLarry A. Martin
Chairman, Senate Rules CommitteeWilliam H. O’Dell
Senator, Abbeville County###
A story in The State this morning touched on this, and yesterday I was debating with Cindi Scoppe about it. Count Cindi among those who don’t want Mark Sanford to resign because becoming governor now would give Andre Bauer a leg up on being elected governor in 2010.
Just for the sake of argument, count me among those who believe the opposite: That becoming governor now would put Andre under public scrutiny far more intense than he would experience as just one candidate among several for a few months next year.
You have to understand — the lieutenant governor of South Carolina is about as close to a non-entity as you get for a statewide elected official. That’s no reflection on Andre; it’s an observation about the job. It’s supposed to be part-time. Andre’s friends in the Senate gave him that Office on Aging gig just to make it look like he’s doing something.
There simply is no reason for the press or anyone else to pay much attention to the Gov Lite — which drove Nick Theodore nuts back in the day, because he craved attention so.
If Andre were suddenly elevated to governor, particularly after this one collapsed so spectacularly under the weight of scandal, the spotlight on him would be as intense as the noonday sun. And while I think he’s matured a good bit in recent years, and learned to present himself far more capably than in the early days — the impression he made on us at his endorsement interview in 2006 was as different from my previous encounters with him as the night is from the day — I just don’t think he’d hold up well under such examination.
In the past, Andre had to do something pretty spectacular for people to pay any attention to him. And he was irresponsible enough to oblige. To repeat a laundry list I posted in 2006:
Wednesday, 07 June 2006
What would YOU ask Andre?
Andre Bauer is coming in for his interview at 4. I’m reviewing a few questions for him between now and then. I’m curious: What would you ask a lieutenant governor who:
- When stopped speeding down Assembly Street, charged so aggressively at the cop that he felt threatened enough to draw his weapon?
- When driving 101 mph on a wet highway, got on the police radio frequency to tell the patrolman pursuing him that “SC2” was “passing through,” and when he was stopped
anyway, asked, “Did you not hear me on the radio?”
- Lying to reporters about that incident, then saying you “forgot” about it when confronted with the evidence?
- Showed up to negotiate with the Department of Transportation a price for land he owned — with a member of the transportation commission in tow?
- Has his own Myspace site?
- Seems almost certain to win the GOP nomination again?
But once he was governor, right away, all that stuff in his history would be re-examined, and a lot more import would be given to such shenanigans.
And every misstep going forward would be played and replayed with the same sort of focus as every stumble of poor old Gerald Ford.
By the time the 2010 campaign got into full swing, the other candidates would have an advantage just by virtue of not being Andre Bauer.
That’s what I think, anyway. What do you think?
Just got back from the Statehouse. I covered the governor’s press conference on a freelance assignment for The New York Post. I didn’t have much to add, since it was broadcast live.
As media mob scenes go, that one may have set a record for SC. There were some big ones during the presidential primaries, but nothing like this. And once it started, well, it was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The governor said it would be painful, and it certainly was. God Bless his family.
If you heard somebody yelling at the end, asking whether he was going to resign, that was me. I asked him, then I asked Joel Sawyer. Silence from both. An ABC guy said he’d asked it earlier — when others were yelling at the same time and I couldn’t hear it — and he said “No,” three times.
By the way, I listened in on a press confab with Jake Knotts afterwards that you probably did NOT see. Jake gave the gov credit for being “man enough to stand up and say what he said.” He said he “saw a governor who took responsibility” and apologized to all he had done wrong. “I accept that and I forgive him.” Jake declined to express an opinion as to whether the governor should resign.
Anyway, here’s an excerpt from The State‘s story. Add your comments as you see fit:
S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford admitted today that his secret trip to Argentina over the Father’s Day weekend was to visit a woman he has been having an affair with for the past year.
In an emotional news conference, Sanford said his relationship with the woman in Argentina would not work, but would not say if it was over. He did not name the woman, but said he met her eight years ago, although their casual friendship evolved into a romantic relationship about a year ago.
“The bottom line is this: I have been unfaithful to my wife,” the two-term governor said before a mass of press in the State House outside the governor’s office. “Let me apologize to my wife Jenny and my four boys … for letting them down.”
Finally, my browser is working again!…
Believe it or not, with the biggest South Carolina political story of the year (perhaps the decade) breaking, I’m busy this morning on a consulting project that I’ve got to get done today, while I’m busting to explore the implications of this morning’s startling news.
I’m sure all of you were just as stunned as I was to learn that the Appalachian Trail leads through Buenos Aires. I mean, who knew?
There are a thousand questions to raise. Someone asked me if the governor would be impeached. For what, exactly? His staff lying to the press? Grand theft auto involving state property? Gross irresponsibility (not sure that’s covered in the constitution)?
One thing we DO know for sure is that this puts an absolute and welcome end, post paid and that’s all she wrote, on all the ridiculous, irresponsible, utterly moronic talk about Mark Sanford being presidential timber.
I’ve got to get back to work. Anyway, here’s the latest, and I thought I’d go ahead and get this up to give y’all a place to discuss the implications. I’ll be back with you as soon as I can:
By GINA SMITH – gnsmith@thestate.com
ATLANTA | S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford arrived in the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this morning, having wrapped up a seven-day visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, he said. Sanford said he had not been hiking along the Appalachian Trail, as his staff said in a Tuesday statement to the media.
Sanford’s whereabouts had been unknown since Thursday, and the mystery surrounding his absence fueled speculation about where he had been and who’s in charge in his absence. His emergence Wednesday ended the mystery.
Sanford, in an exclusive interview with The State, said he decided at the last minute to go to the South American country to recharge after a difficult legislative session in which he battled with lawmakers over how to spend federal stimulus money.
Sanford said he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail, an activity he said he has enjoyed since he was a high school student.
“But I said ‘no’ I wanted to do something exotic,” Sanford said “… It’s a great city.”
Sanford, in a brief interview in the nation’s busiest airport, said he has been to the city twice before, most recently about a year and half ago during a Commerce Department trip.
Sanford said he was alone on the trip. He declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline.
Sanford, who was wearing a blue and white button down shirt and brown denim pants, said he left for Buenos Aires on Thursday night from Columbia International Airport and had originally planned to come back tomorrow.
The S.C. Democratic Party put out this release today in reaction to the governor’s disappearance, which, let’s face it, is pretty silly:
Columbia, SC- In anticipation of Governor Mark Sanford’s return to the state, the South Carolina Democratic Party will host a virtual town hall meeting today. The meeting is open to all residents who wish to ask questions to the governor who has been out of town (and out of touch) since last week.
“South Carolinians have been very concerned about Governor Sanford’s actions over the last eight months. They have a right to ask the Governor about our state’s unemployment rate, the stimulus and his reasons for abandoning the state. This virtual town hall meeting will give these concerned citizens a real opportunity to ask these questions,” said SCDP Chair Carol Fowler.
The town hall meeting, which will be held on the SCDP website, begins today at 4 p.m. and will end when Sanford responds to the questions. Residents wishing to participate in the SCDP meeting should visit http://www.scdp.org/governor/.
Tell you what, Democrats: Concentrate your energies on nominating someone better for governor in 2010. And Republicans, you do the same. THAT would be worthwhile. Stuff like this is not.
Now his office is saying the governor will be back on Wednesday. I will believe that when I see him, or when reliable third-party witnesses report that they have seen him, and not before, given the bizarre ways in which this has unfolded.
His staff, and some of his few remaining supporters, now that they’ve come up, very belatedly, with the “somewhere on the Appalachian Trail” explanation, are now trying to make like this is the most natural thing in the world, and that if there’s anything wrong with anybody, it’s with the people who are saying Where the hell is the governor? Spokesman Joel Sawyer put it this way to the AP, about a call the office had received from the boss this morning: “It would be fair to say the governor was somewhat taken aback by all of the interest this trip has gotten…”
Oh, come on. Whatever else might be said about all this, the idea that those asking where the governor is are acting oddly, to the point of being a source of bemusement to the imperturbable Gov. Sangfroid, is a decidedly specious line of reasoning, appealing only to those who really, really want to believe in it. Let’s review the way this has unfolded. This sequence leads to the conclusion that this is one of the strangest gubernatorial developments in South Carolina in decades. Not the biggest or most important or anything like that; just one of the strangest:
Tomorrow, they promise to produce him. I hope they do. I hope he’s OK, despite all the indications to the contrary.
But folks, even the very rosiest scenario you can paint from the available facts, you are still left with this: Mark Sanford is the kind of guy who would disappear like this, and then act like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Which it is not.
Now folks, all of those bullet items up there are pieced together from a number of unsatisfactory sources — from people who don’t like the governor, or people who aren’t speaking for attribution, or people who don’t particularly want to be forthcoming.
And if you’ve got better information that refutes any of it, it will be welcome. I just hope it’s better than the sudden, reluctant announcement after four days that the governor is taking a hike.
From my files -- Jake Knotts at his endorsement interview in '08.
Tonight I dropped by a Lexington County GOP confab at Hudson’s BBQ (last time I was there, it was to see Mike Huckabee when he still had a shot at the presidential nomination), and pretty much every member of the county delegation was there except for the two Nikkis (Haley and Setzler).
It was very hot — SO hot that even a seersucker suit was too much, so I went out and left my coat and tie in the car. Then, when it was all over, and the lawmakers had answered constituents’ questions about legislation and such, I went up and asked Jake Knotts about our missing governor.
I asked Jake because, near as I could tell from the reporting at thestate.com, he was the one who raised the hue and cry about the governor running off to who knows where in a SLED car last Thursday — leaving his security detail behind.
The senator said “when he didn’t show up the next day or the day after that, I called Chief Lloyd” at SLED. He said he raised to Reggie Lloyd the idea that it seemed improper for Jake — a former cop — to be driving around in a cop car equipped with blue lights when “he’s not a sworn officer.”
The senator also kept returning to the point that the governor was gone “on a Father’s Day weekend, and his wife says she didn’t know where he was.”
Further, Jake believes the governor was remiss in his constitutional responsibility by not notifying the lieutenant governor of his absence. And unlike the folks in the lt. gov’s office, the senator is completely unsatisfied by the governor’s chief of staff, who is not an elected official, saying he knows where the governor is.
Jake says he and the governor have had their differences — which may count as his understatement of the evening — but the gov had never done anything to concern him to this extent. “I’m really serious about his mental state,” he said, adding that he knew that the governor had had a rough time — with the stimulus battle, with seven years in office “with little to show,” with having gone 0 for 10 on his recent vetoes — and if he “wants to go on a sabbatical, I have no problem with that,” if “he turns the helm over to the lieutenant governor.”
Just FYI, folks, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, unlike the governor, is a political ally of Sen. Knotts. He kept praising Andre for not bucking his security (security which the governor believes the lt. gov. shouldn’t have, but that’s another battle he keeps losing). I said something about how I certainly feel better knowing someone other than Andre is driving. That wasn’t exactly the point Jake was trying to make, but he didn’t argue with me about it.
Jake made the point a couple of times that, if only for sake of emergency preparedness and Homeland Security issues, someone official should know where the governor is, which is one reason for him to have SLED agents with him. “The people of South Carolina’s security shouldn’t be jeopardized because the governor doesn’t want security.”
When I asked Jake to give me his updated contact numbers in case I needed to reach him later, he gave me four of them, adding, “And I guarantee you my wife knows where I’m at.”
Summing up the situation, Sen. Knotts said of the missing governor, “He’s suffering from the same thing he suffered from with the Senate — lack of communication.”
The senator added some remarks about how he’d like to see the governor turn things around and be more successful with lawmakers in his last years in office, but expressed doubt that will happen: “He’s done built that fence too high now.”
Anyway, for what it’s worth, that’s what the guy who was apparently the first official to ask, “Where’s the governor?” had to say about it tonight…
Having been busy today polishing my new material (fortunately, my thumbnail had already been polished for me), I just now picked up on the thing that has S.C. blogs buzzing today.
So no, this one was NOT a scoop for me.
So I refer you to the piece at thestate.com written by John O’Connor and Clif LeBlanc:
The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford have been unknown to state officials since Thursday, and some state leaders are questioning who is in charge of the executive office.
Neither the governor’s office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, has been able to reach Sanford after he left the mansion in a black SLED Suburban SUV, said Sen. Jake Knotts and three others familiar with the situation but who declined to be identified.
Sanford’s last known whereabouts were near Atlanta, where a mobile telephone tower picked up a signal from his phone, authorities said.
First lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press today her husband has been gone for several days and she doesn’t know where he is.
The governor’s personal and state phones have been turned off and he has not responded to phone and text message since Thursday, a source said.
Jenny Sanford said she was not concerned….
I don’t even know what to add to that…
Here’s another scoop (to follow my earlier one on Twitter today about Lourie’s being sold): Inez Tenenbaum has been confirmed to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Lindsey Graham had this to say:
“I’m pleased the Senate has acted quickly on the nomination and confirmed her to this important position. I know Inez and am confident she will hit the ground running. She will look out for American consumers and provide the agency with the leadership it needs.
“I also want to thank President Obama. He made an outstanding selection in choosing Inez Tenenbaum for this job.”
I’ll add my own “Thank you, Mr. President” to that. Good one there.
Stay tuned to bradwarthen.com, always first with the burst, and on the spot while it’s hot. Etc. (I stole those zippy taglines from Heinlein, by the way — in the interests of full disclosure.)
Totally apart from the fact that Samuel and Inez are friends of mine, her quick approval is a feel-good story all around. She’s a positive, capable person whose admirable qualities easily overrode partisan considerations, and that is something to celebrate.
S.C. unemployment in May rose to 12.1 percent, compared to 9.4 percent nationally — officially. This leaves us tied for third-worst nationally, again (Michigan and Oregon are worse). And one economist notes that the true picture is worse than that:
Coastal Carolina University economist Doug Schunk said the true unemployment picture is around 19.9% for the state and 16.4% for the nation, when factoring in people who have given up looking for work and people working part time for involuntary reasons.
Encouraging, huh?
I found it interesting to learn that I live in the county with the lowest unemployment rate in the state — Lexington, at 8.1 percent. Of course, when you’re one of those who have been laid off, that’s not much comfort.
And oh, I just found a more complete version of the story, by AP’s Jim Davenport, at Forbes.com.
This came in from Samuel Tenenbaum earlier in the evening, forwarded from Inez:
Was approved by the Committee unanimously this afternoon!
Congratulations! Although I’m not a bit surprised.
So where was my virtual front page Tuesday? Hey, I’m not getting paid to do this, so get offa my back! Be grateful for what I give you.
Harrumph. You may now join me in harrumphing. Harrumph, harrumph. (I didn’t get a ‘harrumph’ outta that guy…”)
Where was I? Oh, yes, today’s virtual front page:
Got this report from Samuel T. about his bride:
Inez had her Hearing this morning. It was a love-in by both sides ! You often do not see this!!! History is thus made ! Now they have to confirm her which could be a week or two ? Then you can feel safe again !!! You all can call our two Senators and thank them for supporting Inez.
It has really been nice to see the level of support for her from our state’s two GOP senators. I wrote previously about the handsome things Jim DeMint had to say, and today there was this release from Lindsey Graham:
Graham Introduces Inez Tenenbaum at Senate Confirmation Hearing
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made this statement on Inez Tenenbaum’s nomination to serve as Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Graham introduced Tenenbaum at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing this morning in Washington.
“American consumers will be in good hands with Inez Tenenbaum at the helm of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. She has a wealth of executive experience and has been intimately involved in consumer advocacy issues as an attorney.
“The Chairman of CPSC holds the public trust and I could not think of a better person to hold this position. Inez is someone everyone respects, whether you agree with her or not. She will look out for American consumers and provide the agency with the leadership it needs.
“It is a big honor for South Carolina to have her nominated for this position. President Obama has made an outstanding selection in nominating Inez Tenenbaum and I look forward to seeing her confirmed by the Senate.”
####
It’s good to see South Carolinians sticking together. Of course, Inez is a super-capable person, and everyone involved knows that, so that helps.
In any case, a very UnParty day in Washington, from a Palmetto State perspective. And that’s always worth celebrating.
I mentioned on Facebook that I might watch Inez Tenenbaum’s confirmation hearing (to head Consumer Product Safety Commission) today if I knew when it was.
So one one my Washington friends and ex-colleagues, Jeff Miller, answered with the following helpful info:
“You can watch streaming video of the hearing through the Senate Commerce Committee’s Website. The hearing begins at 10:30 a.m.”
Don’t you just love the “Wondering Out Loud” feature on the Web? You wonder out loud, and someone gives you the answer.
You know what? Now that I think about it, I think the first time I met Samuel was over lunch with Jeff. Jeff was covering the 88 presidential campaign, Samuel was of course involved in that somehow, and I was Jeff’s editor. Journalists used to lunch a lot in those days.
Well, I’ve got to run to a business meeting now…
Not having provided you with a “top stories” post for Sunday, here’s what I would have chosen for today: