There's too much to do for silly censure stuff

All together now: BAD governor. BAD.

Consider yourself censured, Mark Sanford -- whatever that means.

Now can we get back to work?

So get this: The unemployment rate is still on its months-long vacation in the stratosphere, and the state still doesn't have any money, yet the state House of Representatives wasted 20 minutes this week to give the governor a formal rebuke. Which doesn't mean diddly.

Yep, that showed him.

Just like Sen. Lindsey Graham is losing sleep over all these local-yokel Republican Party types who keep issuing formal rebukes to him because he didn't meet his quota for calling Democrats "socialists" last month.

What's next? Are we going to censure the UConn Huskies for embarrassing the state in the Papa John's Bowl?

There are some people in this state getting so proficient at issuing these prissy, meaningless proclamations that it's only a matter of time before someone dubs the state "South Censure."

Common sense

Admittedly, it's easy to criticize politicians ... sometimes too easy. Hey, some people actually make a living doing it.

Griping about elected officials has become such a sport that some folks now don't even bother picking sides -- they just oppose 'em all.

And then go have tea.

That's why it is important to occasionally recognize those rare elected officials who actually get it. So perhaps it would be a good idea to give a good-ol'-boy pat on the back to Republicans David Umphlett of Moncks Corner and Jim Merrill of Daniel Island, as well Democrats Wendell Gilliard of Charleston and Patsy Knight of St. George.

They are among the 11 House members who voted against this farce.

Merrill said there was no point in the resolution, other than to call negative attention to the state. Congrats, Rep. Nostradamus -- we made The Washington Post on Thursday.

And Umphlett said he -- gasp -- talked to his constituents about how they felt, and even they realized this was a pointless endeavor.

"We don't need to be wasting time on this when the economy is the way it is and we need jobs, jobs, jobs," Umphlett said.

Knight said the governor has been censured enough, and Gilliard said the state should instead focus on unemployment, home foreclosures and crime.

Wow. Maybe these folks need to look into that 1st Congressional District race. Let's export some of this common sense to D.C.

Nonsense

The funny thing about all this grandstanding and hand-wringing is that it will likely never even make it into the Official Record.

That's because the Senate has sent this censure to a committee (aka purgatory). For that, you can thank Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell -- yes, another Lowcountry politician.

McConnell has said he doesn't want the Senate to get bogged down rehashing this stuff when there are so many more important things to do.

You know, like finding new revenue, funding schools, or censuring the House for wasting time and money on pointless proclamations.

Reach Brian Hicks at 937-5561 or bhicks@postandcourier.com. Read more columns by Brian Hicks here.