Oran Smith

Should He Stay or Should He Go? The Palmetto Family Council Can’t Decide

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 7/1/2009 12:12 pm

While a majority of Americans believe that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford ought to resign following his decision to go AWOL and the subsequent disclosure of his infidelity, one group is not so sure.

And that group is the Focus on the Family affiliate and pre-eminent Religious Right organization in the state, the Palmetto Family Council:

Palmetto Family Council president Oran Smith says his group has not yet called on Sanford to resign, but is monitoring whether the governor is earnestly trying to reconcile with his wife.

"We really haven't reached a conclusion," Smith admits. "I'll have to say there is a lot of strong support on our board of directors for asking the governor to resign -- just simply because of some of the things that happened that were not related necessarily to the affair, but that involved him telling some untruths and trying to be evasive in a way that was not good to establish trust in the office of governor."

Just out of curiosity, what do you think the PFC's position would be were Sanford a Democrat?

But frankly, it's not surprising that the Palmetto Family Council would be reluctant to take a stand against Sanford (just like all the other Religious Right groups) considering that his endorsement of the organization is featured prominently on its website:

And, for those who are so inclined, here is an address Sanford delivered in which he gushingly praises the organization, though most of the speech is an introduction of former Rep. Steve Largent, whom Sanford credits for introducing him to C Street.

But just because the organization is unsure of what to do about the state's hypocritical governor doesn't mean they can't try to rally support for his wife, which it has done by setting up a webpage asking activists to send her messages of thanks and support:

The people of South Carolina, particularly the wives and mothers of the Palmetto State, feel the hurt of this scandal most deeply, and refuse to let this moment pass without taking time to thank and encourage the one person who has been a rock in this crisis: First Lady Jennifer Sullivan Sanford.

Friends of Palmetto Family Council are saying loud and clear that Jenny Sanford deserves our thanks and our support ... By doing so, you can encourage her and thank her for her strength, her courage, her commitment to her family, and her example. Please help us collect as many signatures as possible to show how deeply the people of South Carolina (particularly wives and mothers) appreciate her and what she represents.

Get Your Facts Straight Before You Threaten Revolution

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 6/9/2009 2:08 pm

Last week, the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered Governor Mark Sanford to apply for some $700 million in federal stimulus money.  Despite his objections, Sanford has complied with the court order, but his right-wing allies in the state are now absurdly claiming that this is somehow a violation of the principles of federalism: 

Oran Smith, president of South Carolina-based Palmetto Family Council, says Thursday's ruling violates the notion of federalism.

"And it's particularly a problem in this case because it's related to money," he notes. "So the question is: Can the federal government just simply buy off a state? Or use the power of the purse to manipulate a state into doing what the federal government thinks it should?

"...[T]hat's a very dangerous precedent," adds Smith, "and I think it's really the reason why we fought a certain war in 1776 or so to fight against this type of thing."

Smith obviously has no idea what he is talking about.  Last month, the South Carolina legislature passed a budget that required Sanford to apply for the stimulus funds but Sanford didn't want to and so he sued rather than accept the law.  And last week the state Supreme Court ruled against him:

The S.C. Supreme Court also took the rare step of issuing a writ of mandamus, which orders the governor to apply for the money.

Chief Justice Jean Toal and three of the four other justices — Donald Beatty, John Kittredge and John Waller — said a state law passed last month requires Sanford to apply for the money and doesn’t conflict with the federal law providing the stimulus funds.

“Under the constitution and laws of this State, the General Assembly is the sole entity with the power to appropriate funds, including federal funds,” the four justices wrote. “Therefore, the General Assembly has the authority to mandate that the Governor apply for federal funds which it has appropriated.”

The state legislature passed a law requiring Sanford to apply for the funding and the state Supreme Court upheld that law as complying with the state constitution.

So how exactly is that evidence that the federal government is coercing the state? 

You'd think that Smith would at least try and understand what had actually happened before spouting off. Instead, he decided to just start threatening revolution against the federal government over something that was exclusively a state matter.

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Oran Smith Posts Archive

Should He Stay or Should He Go? The Palmetto Family Council Can’t Decide
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Wednesday 07/01/2009, 12:12pm
While a majority of Americans believe that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford ought to resign following his decision to go AWOL and the subsequent disclosure of his infidelity, one group is not so sure.And that group is the Focus on the Family affiliate and pre-eminent Religious Right organization in the state, the Palmetto Family Council:Palmetto Family Council president Oran Smith says his group has not yet called on Sanford to resign, but is monitoring whether the governor is earnestly trying to reconcile with his wife. "We really haven't reached a conclusion," Smith... MORE >
Get Your Facts Straight Before You Threaten Revolution
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Tuesday 06/09/2009, 2:08pm
Last week, the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered Governor Mark Sanford to apply for some $700 million in federal stimulus money.  Despite his objections, Sanford has complied with the court order, but his right-wing allies in the state are now absurdly claiming that this is somehow a violation of the principles of federalism: Oran Smith, president of South Carolina-based Palmetto Family Council, says Thursday's ruling violates the notion of federalism. "And it's particularly a problem in this case because it's related to money," he notes. "So the question is: Can... MORE >