LA Times: South Carolina's richness of embarrassments

[marmar]

South Carolina embarrassed by politicians behaving badly
By Mark Z. Barabak

October 21, 2009 | 12:48 p.m.


Reporting from Columbia, S.C. - It's tough these days being from South Carolina. Ask Dick Harpootlian.

He was in Peru, on a train from Cusco to Machu Picchu, when he and his wife began chatting with another couple. Where, Harpootlian asked, are you from? Rio, came the response, and you? South Carolina, Harpootlian replied. Mark Sanford! the couple exclaimed. Argentina!

Later that night Harpootlian returned to his hotel room, flipped on the TV and picked out two words in a stream of Spanish: Joe Wilson. (As in, "You lie!")

"Thousands of miles from home," Harpootlian said with a sigh. "In the middle of nowhere."

Harpootlian is a prominent lawyer, former head of the state Democratic Party and a fierce partisan. Sanford and Wilson are Republicans.

But Harpootlian is hardly alone in his civic embarrassment. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-southcarolina22-2009oct22,0,2541176.story

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. we share a TV station with Spartanburg

Greenville/Asheville in our market, and the few times I see it, I am amazed at the crap that goes on in that state.