South Carolina Senate majority leader Shane Massey engaged in a protracted, one-man crusade last year aimed at scuttling Dominion Energy’s $15 billion acquisition of Cayce, S.C.-based crony capitalist utility SCANA.
What motivated him to do that? Good question …
All we know is his crusade didn’t work.
With the Dominion deal now in place (over Massey’s spirited objections), surely the Republican leader is simmering down, right?
Negative …
According to reporter Tom Barton of The (Columbia, S.C.) State newspaper, Massey is continuing to throw bombs at the Virginia-based utility – which as of January 1 is the largest power provider in the Palmetto State. Specifically, Massey is pouring cold water over what Barton described as an attempt by governor Henry McMaster “to repair relationships between legislators and the utility in an effort to develop a working relationship going forward.”
“I don’t think Dominion understands just how difficult of a job that’s going to be,” Massey told Barton. “In some cases, bridges were not just burned, they were nuclear bombed.”
The majority leader is absolutely correct … assuming he is referring to himself.
Remember, it was Massey’s scorched earth campaign against Dominion that raised eyebrows last year – especially given his high-profile public meddling in an internal power struggle at SCANA.
(Click to view)
(Via: SCANA)
Scrolling through Massey’s Twitter feed last year was like reading a hostage demand letter from a radial Islamic militant group. Or perusing the unhinged spleen-venting of a tin foil hat-wearing conspiracy theorist recently abducted by aliens. Or receiving a red-faced rant from a drive-thru customer who got pickles on their Chick-fil-A sandwich after specifically requesting “no pickles.”
Wait … that last one is our founding editor.
Disregard …
The point is Massey’s language toward Dominion was consistently reflexive, hyperbolic, confrontational and … more often than not … wrong.
But now the GOP politician is saying he was the one who was “nuclear bombed?” Please …
Ironically, this news outlet was very much in alignment with where Massey claimed to be coming from throughout this debate … which is why we withheld our support for Dominion’s SCANA proposal up until the very last moment. In fact, we urged lawmakers last spring to adopt a far harsher line than the one Massey was proposing.
We only assented to the S.C. Public Service Commission (SCPSC)’s approval of the Dominion deal once it became clear there was no better proposal on the table to extricate Palmetto State ratepayers from #NukeGate, the botched construction of a pair of next-generation nuclear reactors in Fairfield County, S.C. from 2008 to 2017.
Or at least no better proposal capable of passing constitutional muster …
Bottom line? Massey had (and probably still has) valid perspectives on this particular issue – as well as valid perspectives on the broader energy debate currently taking place in the Palmetto State. That is why we have repeatedly invited him to make his case to our readers.
Unfortunately, Massey apparently prefers to continue throwing bombs … while simultaneously playing the victim card and accusing his targets of being the bomb-throwers. That is intellectually dishonest as well as downright petty, and frankly Republicans in the S.C. Senate deserve better from their “leader.”
If Massey wishes to be taken seriously in the ongoing debate over South Carolina’s energy future, then he needs to begin conducting himself in a manner commensurate with his title … not engaging in the caustic, hypocritical blame-shifting behavior of a common Twitter troll.
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