Why wait until adjournment at 5 pm to hand out some end-of-session awards? Here, then, we present the Leggies, honoring "outstanding" legislative and political performance during the 2009 session of the S.C. General Assembly.
The Dim Bulb, given in honor of the legislator most likely to do stupid stuff despite a misleading last name. And the Leggie goes to:
Sen. Lee Bright, for wasting the Senate's precious last few hours trying to force votes on making rape victims go through a 24-hour waiting period before undergoing a legal medical procedure and a non-binding "soveriegnty" resolution aimed at telling that uppity negro in the White House where to get off.
The Mary Lou Retton, for most astounding flip-lop. The Leggie goes to:
Sen. Shane Martin for changing his mind three times - and his actual vote days later - on an amendment to use federal stimulus funds.
The Nervous Nelly, for most tortuous decision-making and most creative explanation for casting a vote. The Leggie goes to:
It's a two-fer for Sen. Shane Martin for that stimulus vote and his explanation that in a fit of nerves he forgot both which way to vote and to correct that vote on the spot instead of waiting until the Senate Journal was published.
Outstanding Cross Dressing, for, well, that's self explanatory, isn't it. The Leggie goes to:
Rep. Nikki Haley, for transforming herself in a single session from pragmatic, non-idealogue to Sanford-in-a-dress.
The Iron Fist, for exercising raw, naked power in an effective and entertaining way. The Leggie goes to:
Speaker Bobby Harrell, for banishing Rep. Nathan Ballentine to the Siberia of legislative committees - Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs - for daring to require House members to cast a few more recorded votes.
The Golden Thumbs, for most obsessive use of Twitter. The Leggie goes to:
The aforementioned Rep. Nathan Ballentine, for recording not only nearly every single minute of the House session, but also kept us up-to-date on his dry cleaning, his children's daily activities and his growing love affair with Moe's.
Most Likely to Get Drawn Into a Twitter Fight With A Communist-Loving, Baby Killer, Homosexual Loving Blogger. The Leggie goes to:
Rep. Joey Bag of Donuts Millwood for getting drawn into a Twitter fight with a communist-loving, baby killer, homosexual loving blogger.
Under the Influence of, um, Love, for imitating a drunk frat boy. The Leggie goes to:
Rep. Thad Viers, for this photograph and for telling the Lite Guv to "go hand out blankets to old people."
Of course, we can't just honor legislators. We also have awards for other branches of government and bloggers.
Best Sissy Fight, for - you guessed it - fighting like little girls. The Leggie goes to:
Conservative blogging icons Will Folks and Adam Fogler for peeing on each other's shoes every other day.
Tempest in a Teapot, for waging the most ill-informed protest utilizing a beverage-making apparatus and/or ingredient. The Leggie goes to:
Every single teabagger in South Carolina whose biggest aim is to tell that uppity negro in the White House where to get off.
And our most prestigous award, Le Cul d'Or, for outstanding achievement in asshattery (with a tip of the hat to the irrepressible Waldo for reminding us of what a perfect descriptor that word is). The Leggie goes to:
Mark Sanford, for being the biggest rear end in the history of South Carolina, and that's really saying something in a state that's produced Ben Tillman, that girl from the Miss Teen USA pangeant and Jim Demint (who, sadly, is not eligible for a Leggie because he holds federal office).
State Rep. Dennis Moss (formerly D-Gaffney) is now a proud member of the Grand Old Party.
With House Speaker Bobby Harrell and SCGOP Chairman Katon Dawson by his side, the District 29 Rep announced Friday that he is switching to the Republican Party.
"This was not an easy decision," Moss told the crowd. "But as my State House voting record indicates, I find myself serving with and siding with Republicans on the issues important to my constituents."
The Cherokee County legislator said he is joining the SCGOP because he feels that state and national Democrats no longer represent his conservative values on issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion, and gun ownership.
"[I]n the words of Ronald Reagan many years ago," Moss concluded, "'I did not leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.'"
Moss' decision to swap teams was likely influenced by the recent election of Republican Steve Moss (no relation to Dennis), who won the neighboring House District 30 seat formerly held by the late Democratic Rep. Olin Phillips. Both districts have been trending Republican for many years and Moss would have likely faced another tough GOP challenger in 2010.
For those of you keeping score at home, Moss' defection and last month's HD 30 special election bumps the GOP's majority in the House back up to pre-election '08 levels - a commanding 73 to 51 seats.
*Special thanks to Brian Frank for sending us the above video of Moss' announcement.
*Seeing Red - read the SCDP's response to Moss' switch below the break.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell has been so busy suppressing mutiny and flogging junior Republicans that he hasn’t taken the whip to Wallace Scarborough. Harrell owns an insurance agency, so you would think he understands what it means to limit liability. Katon Dawson and Mark Sanford, competing for most telegenic, won’t reign in little Wally, even though they both have the Ward Cleaver hairdo. This begs the question, where is the Republican leadership in this state?
Scarborough picked a bad time to go rogue given that two of the state’s biggest media gluttons are actively campaigning for higher offices. It’s kind of hard to sell your leadership abilities to the rest of the country when you can’t control the guy who lost. Just ask John McCain.
Any number of powerful South Carolina Republicans should have nipped Wally in the bud, and now he’s going to bite you all in the asset.
When we first launched, I tried scanning the editorial pages of South Carolina newspapers to point you toward articles you should see. Yeah, I've shirked that duty a bit in recent weeks, but today I haven't even looked at anything else, because The State has four must-read pieces.
POLITICS CAN be a brutal sport, but we in South Carolina rarely see the type of retribution that Lexington Rep. Nikki Haley says she’s experiencing because of her campaign to force the Legislature to take recorded votes on all bills.
House leaders say she’s seeing plots where none exist, and some have suggested that her vision is deliberately skewed — the better to make herself a victim to advance statewide political ambitions.
At issue is a proposal floated this month at a House Republican Caucus meeting to let the speaker appoint committee chairmen, rather than having them elected by committee members; it could come up for a vote in the full House during the Dec. 2 organizational session. Ms. Haley charges that Speaker Bobby Harrell wants the change because he’s “very angry with me” over her recorded-voting campaign and this is the only way he can stop her from being elected to chair the powerful Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee.
House leaders are selling the idea as a way to keep Democrats from wielding too much influence in the House. The situation is making for strange bedfellows. Most Democrats respect the Speaker, although he angered many with his floor speech against the cigarette tax last session. Democrats also love seeing the spats between their Republican colleagues and Governor Sanford, largely because that gridlock keeps some of Sanford's most radical ideas - especially on vouchers - in check.
With Haley lately seeming to cozy up with Sanford, the SC Policy Council and - by extension - the Howie Rich Caucus, Democrats are relunctant to partner with her now. But Democratic members I've spoken with would love to see more roll call votes and are fearful that giving Harrell the power to directly appoint will in face diminish their influence even more.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell has been so busy 
