THIS WAS ONE WAY TO HANDLE A CRISIS AT YOUR AGENCY …
We’re still trying to wrap our brains around the driving under the influence case of Robert St. Onge, S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s director of the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT).
Well, former director now …
In case you missed it, St. Onge – a 66-year-old former Army general – was pulled over at 8:00 a.m. on Friday after police officers observed him driving erratically on Interstate 20. After failing a field sobriety test, St. Onge was arrested and booked at the Lexington County jail. Prior to being booked, though, he blew a .20 on a breathalyzer machine – more than twice the legal limit.
And we’re guessing that was at least an hour after he was pulled over …
Yeah …
That’s what they call “tore up from the floor up,” people.
Look … we’re not trying to kick a man when he’s down. We’ve been there before (in our twenties, but …). Seriously, though … we feel bad for this guy. There’s seriously something going on in his life and we hope he gets it worked out.
But let’s put this in perspective …
Just last week, St. Onge told state lawmakers they were being “emotional” in calling out his agency for its utter failure to prioritize taxpayer highway money.
(Click here for more on that failure …).
And when St. Onge was pulled over, his agency was in the midst of a full-blown transportation emergency in Charleston, S.C.
In fact, here’s a question we suspect Haley will have to answer in the very near future: What was your transportation director doing while thousands of Lowcountry commuters were stuck in traffic three days in a row?
Good luck with that one, governor …
Of course the real problem with St. Onge wasn’t his dismissiveness of legitimate criticism. Nor was it the fact he was three sheets to the wind (again, at 8:00 a.m.) during an emergency situation.
The real problem is St. Onge’s agency – like the rest of Haley’s cabinet – has been making bad government worse from day one.
Don’t worry, though … Haley’s college roommate is on the job now.
42 comments
“The real problem is St. Onge’s agency – like the rest of Haley’s cabinet – has been making bad government worse from day one.”
and yet FITS will ultimately endorse Haley for re-election, explain that logic.
Are you insinuating that Fits is,no it couldn’t be,could it,oh what the Hell,Ill say it,
A Republican?
She’s running against Graham. Maybe she is an independent?
he told me he wasn’t a Republican. Right to my post.
No riposte?
What was your transportation director doing while thousands of Lowcountry commuters were stuck in traffic three days in a row?
TBG is going to guess:
[Many, many] Shots of Rumplemintz.
…he was three sheets to the wind (again, at 8:00 a.m.) during an emergency situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OywFCxlw-wE
1. Was he in a State vehicle?
2. Is it true that top high paid SCDOT employees drove him around because he couldn’t drive due to drinking?
3. Did top people at SCDOT know he was drinking on the job and driving drunk but said nothing?
4. Was he drunk on the job before this?
5. Is he going to get State retirement?
6. Did he terminate anyone at SCDOT for drinking on the job?
7. Why have two retired Generals had to resign, and is Haley going to appoint another one to head a State Agency?
8. Was he pulled over by State Troopers in the past and given special treatment?
These and a lot of other questions should be answered since “Orange” was making over $150,000 a year of our tax money but the media is essentially burying the story. Columbia media is a total joke and reminds me of North Korean news that hides stories and lies to people.
I posted the same things on WIS and WLTX and they were deleted. I don’t think Fits will delete it but who knows?
9. Haley, once again, gives a friend a job they don’t deserve.
I’m down with that!
My comment here was not deleted, I was wrong, I admit it. I guess Fitsnews is the only REAL news source for Columbia.
This is one more nail in Haley’s coffin. She is the absolute sorriest person ever elected in this state to be governor.
Nifty screen name.
WIS chose its call letters from Wonderful Iodine State.
Totally useless information.
On an UP note, Ray Guy has been elected to the Hall of Fame.
When Nikki removed Darla from USC, and replaced her with Nikki spunk. Anyone in SC should of known that she is a worthless individual.
That was being vindictive.
I’m sure Triki was there pouring Jim Beam down the
drunken dumbass’poor unfortunate diabetic with a stone bruise on his foot.If this is another nail in her coffin, does that mean SC will raise the dead in November? Because she’s going to win. We all know it.
TBG goes all Miss Cleo… an sheet……..
St. O’s lawyer will use the “mouthwash-cold medicine-couldn’t possibly be an accurate Breathalyzer reading because he would’ve been snoring defense.” Might throw in sleep deprivation because of all the pressure applied by WS Leon….or some previously undiagnosed “medical condition”.
In spite of his insistence that he was not DUI, St. O enrolls in rehab.
Charges will be reduced.
Did I miss the part where the city manager came to his aid?
Although he exercised very poor judgment and put lives in danger as he drove drunk, he did the rightful and honorable thing by resigning. Obviously, Mr St. Onge is an alcoholic and needs serious help. Hopefully he gets it.
On the subject of alcoholism: South Carolina has several circuit court judges who are known to drink heavy (even, perhaps, SC Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeal Toal). Alcohol, as we all knows, affects people’s behavior, their judgment, and many other things. With that said, it is long overdue that we the people force our state government to put in place mandatory and strict alcohol and drug testing for all of our judges, politicians, and the rest of the entities who work for “we the people.” If must be done on a monthly – unannounced – random basis. And it must be done by a company with absolutely no ‘political connections’ to anyone in our government. An out of state company would be best for South Carolina.
When we have judges ruling from the bench who drink alcohol every night, and evenings before the next morning when they decide cases, those chemicals in their system do, in fact, have an effect on their thinking and actions. And we wonder why some of our judges are cantankerous? Moody? Belligerent? I have seen my share of them. Think “under the influence” or the effects of the previous nights drinking. Or worst, possibly drinking on the job. It certainly do not put anything past that actually going on.
Any legislature opposing a bill to mandate strict and monthly alcohol and drug testing as I mentioned above …. well … it would speak volumes. Put them on the spot. Present the idea and gage their reactions. Lets see what they say. Especially those who have a substance abuse problem.
Enforce a Color Code…..
I know you’re as hopeful as a kid w/ a sniffle, about missing school. But the voters do not strongly tie agency heads to the governor’s re-elect chances.
Political philosophy, liberal vs Conservative, will take election day….and Haley is opposing Common Core, rejecting Obamacare and fighting Obama at every turn. That is all she needs to do…as long as she is not busted for DUI…
Hope as you will…but you will just be left holding your @$$ in your hand when Sheheen takes the gaspipe…
As long as South Carolina stays an asylum, Nikki and any dumbass with the Repuglicunt brand will unfortunately get elected.
But the voters do not strongly tie agency heads to the governor’s re-elect chances.
I actually agree.
I don’t defend our current structure of government, I do think the governor should have more power, but for every single person who thinks that such a change would promote accountability in our state, the above is exactly why it won’t change one damn thing.
Haley can and has picked absolutely terrible people to run various agencies and many of them have been absolute failures in their own right, and SC will never, ever hold her accountable for it. Instead, the voting populace cares more about making sure incumbents keep their jobs, no matter how terrible they are at it.
And in four years, the people who support term limits for every politician will find out why term limits never work; while the incompetent voting populace is forced to choose someone else, no one ever said they had to choose someone better. Haley replaced Sanford, imagine how terrible Haley’s replacement will be.
Agreed: Look at Obama’s agency heads and cabinet. It’s a cast of incompetent clowns that rises to a criminal level, yet no one bats an eye.
I remember when Hodges was Gov. the level of irresponsibility was beyond disgraceful. He made it easy for a Sanford to get elected, just by saying he was NOT Hodges.
Hodeges got elected because he wasn’t Beasly.
Sanford got elected because he wasn’t Hodges.
Haley got elected because she wasn’t Sheheen.
We don’t so much vote for people as we do vote against someone else.
And that, my friends, is just sad.
/ross perot voice
Your compliant is common and in lockstep w/ the mis-guided FITS types.
No offense, but you seem to have fallen into the same rut of idle and absurd discontent, as so many others.
Haley has been great fighting Obama on his bad healthcare policies, the NLRB and his hate-based, politically driven “Justice” Dept.
She even recovered from the stupid advice FITS gave her, and welcomed the jobs of Amazon w/ open arms. She has been pretty good on economic dev. as companies flee the liberal Rust Belt States and come to SC.
The chance for Charter schools has expanded, too and Haley has come out against the leftwing Common Core initiative, and wants to repeal it…..I VOTED FOR those things…
The whining class operates under the impression that any politician who does not follow their very small-minded and limited view of policy, is hated by all.
It’s why you never seem to get your guy, or gal elected….and walk around moping, disgruntled, all the time…
It sounds real cool to hate everything and everybody..but it’s very immature and counter-productive. You actually have far, far fewer real solutions, than the people you continually bash.
Out of place, but one of you wanted the joke about “yellow snow” —
————————————————————————————
Barack Obama steps out onto the White House lawn in the dead of winter. Right in front of him, on the White House lawn he sees “THE PRESIDENT MUST DIE” written in urine across the snow.
He storms into his security staff’s HQ and yells “Somebody wrote a death
threat in the snow on the front lawn! And they wrote it in urine! Son-of-a-bitch had to be standing right on the porch when he did it! Where were you guys?!”
The security guys stay silent and stare ashamedly at the floor.
Obama hollers “Well dammit, don’t just sit there! Get out and FIND OUT WHO DID IT! I want an answer, and I want it TODAY!”
The entire staff immediately jumps up and races for the exits. Later that
evening, his chief security officer approaches him and says “Well, Mr.
President, we have some bad news and we have some really bad news. Which do you want first?”
Obama says “Oh Hell, give me the bad news first.”
The officer says “Well, we took a sample of the urine and tested it. The results just came back, and it was Joe Biden’s urine.”
Obama says “Oh my god, I feel so… so… betrayed! My own vice president!
Damn. …Well, what’s the really bad news?”
The officer replies “Sir…it’s Michelle’s handwriting.”
+3
A state that re-elected Mark Sanfraud is stupid as fuck and will try to put Haley back in office.
Look on the positive side.
The ‘state’ did not put Mark Sanford back in office.
SC1 did that all by themselves…The district where the population was overwhelmingly born outside of South Carolina.
But, overall, South Carolinians, native or carpet bagger, have not demonstrated that they have the mental capacity to rationally evaluate any candidate’s life or career before they cast their vote based on the R next to the name.
The only thing that the SC voter is good at is doing what their massa tells them to do.
Agreed.
I liked Sanford. Haley is a joke.
If Gandi was a democrate and Hitler was a republican the stupid Teabaggers in this state would put Hilter in office. Our state is so screwed unless people smarten up and remove Haley so that she cant continue to milk our state and use it to launch to higher office.
At least Hitler was a Christian.
He shot guns, too.
. . . blew a .20 on a breathalyzer machine — more than twice the legal limit. . .
Not a problem!
If he’d just sideswiped another car, driven home without stopping and claimed to be listening to “loud music on the radio,” he would been fine!
Works for me!
I don’t think Haley will be answering the question: “What was your transportation director doing while thousands of Lowcountry commuters were stuck in traffic three days in a row?” Who will ask it? The tame media of SC? This has received virtually no coverage in the Upstate. She’ll just dismiss the question, if it’s asked, and there will be no follow up.
Like father like son.
I’ve written numerous posts to Fits about St. Onge being a terrible DOT choice.
For those who complained I was out of line, and you know who you are: STUFF IT WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE.
LOL…..(clap, clap, clap)
I watched the SCDPS video. Street Orange starts out real nice and then turns into an arrogant A-hole. He was never qualified for the job he had and I will never understand why Haley gave him a $30,000 a year raise over the person he replaced. The HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL trooper in the video should be promoted but I am sure he will be punished for doing the right thing.