NOW … HOW DOES SHE INTEND TO USE IT?
By FITSNews || Last week we addressed the palpable political buzz surrounding S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) director Catherine Templeton.
In our post we referenced the mounting speculation surrounding the presumed aspirations of this Lowcountry lawyer – who has been running (and cutting) the state’s largest bureaucracy for the past two years.
“Templeton is a bit of an enigma in Palmetto politics in that no one is exactly sure what sort of political future she’s angling for … if she’s even angling at all,” we wrote. “We hear talk of her possibly running for Congress (or for governor in 2018), but obviously a statewide campaign would be a long way off … and we’re told that 2018 gubernatorial field will be exceedingly crowded.”
Templeton’s name has also been bandied about increasingly in the wake of the latest implosion of U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford – who continues to eschew leaving well enough alone (more on that in a moment).
One thing is clear, though: Whatever field Templeton enters, it had better get ready … because “girl got game.”
At the invitation of one of our “Republican” friends, we attended a gathering of young professionals in downtown Columbia, S.C. this week – an event at which Templeton was the featured speaker.
Our founding editor has spoken previously to this group, which in addition to its well-placed up-and-coming regulars is also known for its influential attendees – including current and former cabinet members and (on this evening) the heir apparent to Bobby Harrell as Speaker of the S.C. House.
How’d Templeton do? Well, it wasn’t quite a Jed Bartlet in Nashua moment (all you West Wing fanatics will appreciate that reference), but it was close …
At one point during her remarks, Templeton was questioned by former University of South Carolina football star (and current S.C. Commerce Department official) Moe Brown regarding the disconnect between the needs of the Palmetto State’s population and the policies pursued by its legislative leaders.
“Everybody raise their hand,” Templeton said by way of response, instructing her audience to “put your hand down when you disagree with me.”
“You wanna be safe,” she said. “You want to make a living. You need a good education to make a living, you don’t want to give that good living to the government for a bunch of wasteful stuff – and you pretty much want to do what you wanna do when you want to do it until it hurts somebody else.”
Here’s the clip …
(Click to play)
(Video: SCDHEC)
“It’s easy to identify what we want,” Templeton continued. “The basic things. And if we could all just row in the same direction on some very basic things that the government should be doing for our state, it would be enormous.”
That, ladies and gentlemen, is “the message.”
It may not have been perfectly scripted (actually we’re told it was totally unscripted), but there it is nonetheless …
In her “raise your hands” litany, Templeton is channeling that elemental, imperturbable and increasingly dangerous realization we wrote of recently – the one in which people of all backgrounds realize that “all the myths they’ve been sold – myths aimed at fomenting division along ethnic, racial, sexual and socio-economic lines – are wrong. And all the myths about government healing those divisions – and doing everything else under the sun to ‘fix’ the country – aren’t true either.”
It is the message Libertarians have struggled for years to make relevant … and the message Democrats and “Republicans” (both enablers of big, unruly government) have struggled for years to suppress.
And Templeton just nailed it …
Also of interest to political observers (especially those in the first congressional district)? The 43-year-old mother of three tossed a few gentle jabs in Sanford’s direction – referencing his penchant for across-the-board cuts as being “the wrong way to cut government.”
“Let’s cut the things we don’t need,” Templeton said.
We agree … and when/ if she runs for public office we hope Templeton brings with her a laundry list of unnecessary agencies and programs to eliminate.
Which brings us to our final point …
Templeton clearly has the message down pat. She also clearly has the right resume, the right ideological underpinnings and the intellectual breadth and depth necessary to make an immediate impact on the statewide stage. Additionally, her years as a union-busting attorney have given her an extensive network of financial support to draw from. And it goes without saying she’s drop dead gorgeous – and unafraid to rock some killer boots.
(Click to enlarge)
Yeah …
Take those , Nikki Haley …
As far as we’re concerned, the only question left to answer about Templeton revolves around policy: Specifically, whether she will commit to an aggressive reform agenda on the economy, on education, taxes, spending, ethics, etc.
If she’s able to add an ambitious agenda to her list of attributes, it’s not a stretch to start considering her as a potential frontrunner for whatever office she wants …
50 comments
Sure! Lets put another politician (not yet) on a pedestal. That way we can continue to exalt our “leaders” and pour enormous amounts of faith, trust, and confidence into the well. Then, once we realize that they are corrupt (or the power has corrupted them)…then we can tear them down.
Next, we will all go looking for the next person. [Repeat Cycle]
That is the problem with the super majority.
“palpable political buzz”
That’s cute. More like FIT$ buzz…Nancy Mace, Tom Davis, Mick Mulvaney, Kirkman Finlay, Thomas Ravenel. Not a group with which I would want to be associated.
don’t forget I lie about sleeping with them and beat the ever living FUCK out of them if they anger me … you’re slipping, troll. you’re slipping.
Profile pic = Nailed it!
leak the tape!
I will gladly stand alongside this group of conservatives.
Lame.
Drop dead gorgeous? Nah, but certainly fetching enough to be taken to pound town.
Or as has been uttered on the banks of the Reedy in southern Greenville county:
“Git in da back of the truck bitch”.
What could have caused our founding editor’s dramatic change of opinion re Ms Templeton?
PCB’s, out of state waste, lee county landfill, redirecting rural water protection money to “pet” projects in columbia, continued trashing of rural lands (industrial waste and sludge waste). Not to mention the failed attempt to defund CON get rid of folks who worked on it, only to find out later that this move was sorta illegal.
And who could forget the fumbling of the TB issue in Ninty Six? O, and did you know that SC is amazingly deemed a “TB Free State”. Go read up on the history of TB and how embedded it was in our food system (beef, pork, milk). Go ahead….I’ll wait.
This is leadership? Really? Leadership that should be applied to whole state?
Will, you are surgar coating a turd.
He used to say she was a sot.
The SC legislature has long molded DHEC to reflexively say “yes” to them and to their own masters, those of economic power. DHEC is also molded to take the blame for these decisions, shielding politicians and influential businessmen. Toadies widely infest career management in DHEC, selected for their their ability to buckle and “carry the water” and distort requirements to achieve same. Blaming the top person and team, especially a relatively new top person and team, misses the mark on the many chronic underlying problems.
Incorrect.
Listen to that message- “until it harms someone”.
The problem with environmental regulations is typically the damage is so immense that it cannot be undone. PCB’s are long lasting environmental damaging substances. How many thousands of acres of farm land where your food is grown is now contaminated? How many miles of streams are now contaminated? How many thousands of fish- fish eaten by those of poor folks who do not understand fish advisories….
Those at the top were long ago alerted that sludge spreading needed to be curtailed and regulations were insufficient.
Templeton knew. The board knew (I’m looking at you Ann Kirol).
They did nothing.
And even today, the PCB emergency regulations dont *LIMIT* PCBs – no – they just put a limit on the threshold that DHEC has to be notified that the junk contains high level of PCBs. This new regulation was probably blessed by Templeton herself.
The old saying “the buck stops here” applies, but these assclowns in charge refuse to take any responsibility. Instead they parade around in hookerboots pretending to give a flying fuk about the “little people” while their policies are the exact opposite.
Although i agree the toadies coddle to industry, its the responsibility of those in charge to balance these influences with what is right for the entire state.
Unfortunately this is not happening, and I do not see any change any time on the horizon.
Politics wins, the people of South Carolina lose.
Personally, I don’t blame someone who has been there two years for something that has been going on for well over two decades.
Especially when the health side took the attention of the first two years.
But here on out, that is the real question.
Also, I am not sure but I think that any detection of PCB in sludge now sends it to a landfill, not to fields. And I think to her credit that she pushed that.
Incorrect again. There is no restriction on placing PCB sludge on farm fields. Go read that “emergency” regulation. Now the well financed waste industry only tell DHEC where the toxic waste is going when PCB arochlor levels >20 ppm. Original regulation had limits, but after McNair and the WEF cronies were tipped off by DHEC’s Jeff DeBessonet, the regulation was changed so now they only need just tell DHEC that the material is hot.
“after McNair and the WEF cronies were tipped off by DHEC’s Jeff DeBessonet, the regulation was changed so now they only need just tell DHEC that the material is hot.”
Now that I could easily believe
I’m in the hazardous waste disposable business and this woman hasn’t done SHIT.
It’s been in react mode since the shit hit the fan in Lyman,SC over a year ago.
The limit is 50ppb or 50 micrograms per liter accepted into a landfill and that is AFTER PCB’s were detected after YEARS of land application to farm fields.
it is only due to a routine check of PCB’s last year after the dumping began in the Upstate.
Templeton has been asleep at the wheel and would not know a PCB from a PC if it hit her in the face
All the while FITS eats the peanuts out of her stuff
Templeton is totally inept when it comes to technical issues
But then again, technical/scientific matters are neither FITS or
Templeton’s forte – to their detriment and they sadly brush them aside
It will come back to bite them (and sadly the state of South Carolina) in the ass in due time.
Just who is technically competent that you could you talk to at that agency regarding sludge?
Don’t bother, it’s a rhetorical question.
But personally, I don’t expect the head of a diverse 4000 person agency to be up on all the technical matters. Who could?
“The problem with environmental regulations is typically the damage is so immense that it cannot be undone. PCB’s are long lasting environmental damaging substances. How many thousands of acres of farm land where your food is grown is now contaminated? How many miles of streams are now contaminated? How many thousands of fish- fish eaten by those of poor folks who do not understand fish advisories….”
Where were you before it was in your side yard? That’s the problem, where is the ongoing demand for better environmental management everywhere in SC? Nowhere, that’s where. Scattered skirmishes, no actual campaign. Citizens have largely surrendered the state except for some special places near and dear to them.
Ditch the boots = 6″ high heels would be…fabulous!
And… and plunging neckline with double-sided sticky tape to hold it closed.
Possibly shapely, tight calves..? Hmmmm….
black nylons with that line going up the back…
I just returned from buzzing through town and at Kmart parking lot met a lovely girl in an SUV who had this sticker on her back window—
——————
IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE ON MY ASS – AT LEAST PULL MY HAIR!
Yeah baby! I got something for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbyAZQ45uww
Sounds like trite pablum to me. Therefore, her future in the GOP world is very bright indeed.
A GOP fashion tip – do your eyes like Spongebob.
I fail to understand how looking at shoes can make your dick hard. Will, have you been been banned from a Payless Shoes store?
Pay Less? You really are from SC aren’t you …
I shop at GB
You want to make a living.
But employers shouldn’t have to pay you a minimum wage, affordable access to health care shouldn’t be pretty much guaranteed to all workers, you shouldn’t be guaranteed sick days, vacation days, etc., you shouldn’t have public safety nets there to protect you if something bad happens, you shouldn’t be able to rely on Social Security or Medicare when you grow old…
You need a good education to make a living
But we should take taxpayer money and blow it on private schools that don’t have to meet certain standards or be necessarily held accountable for things, public universities should be thrown out to become private institutions so they don’t have to actually be expected to give an affordable education, and only people who can afford a “fair” market value price for a degree should be allowed to get one, and they better hope it isn’t a worthless degree from a for-profit diploma mill.
you don’t want to give that good living to the government for a bunch of wasteful stuff
But what we deem as wasteful is stuff that actually helps the people, and what we don’t deem as wasteful is all of the spending that goes to our cronies and subsidizing massive corporations that snuff out the small businesses we claim we’re for.
and you pretty much want to do what you wanna do when you want to do it until it hurts somebody else.
Unless, of course, the only way to keep it from hurting someone else entails government regulation, taxation, enforcement of laws, bureaucracy, protections, enforcement, etc. How can you expect a multi-billion dollar oil company to survive in a business climate full of harsh environmental regulations such as “don’t spill a fuckload of oil in the ocean or you’ll be expected to pay for its cleanup” or “don’t build a huge fucking pipeline over a giant source of drinkable water used by millions”? Think of the poor shareholders slaving away at, uh, holding shares, or something.
Don’t worry though, the Invisible Hand of the Free Market™ will totally fix any problems, and if it doesn’t, well, at least you’ll have your bootstraps.
You want to make a living.
Employers should be able to pay a wage that reflects current business conditions. With health care savings accounts and 401K’s you won’t need SS and Medicare.
You need a good education to make a living.
Tax credits for school choice would let the money follow the student not the other way around. There is nothing wrong with state supported higher ed. But it should reflect the capacity of the student’s parents to pay. Hand up not hand out.
You don’t want to give that good living to the government for a bunch of wasteful stuff.
$17.5 trillion in debt should wake someone up to the fact that the “war on poverty” hasn’t worked. By the same token the “war on drugs ” isn’t working very well either. Less govt. interference in our lives is always a good thing.
And you want to do what you want to do when you want to do until it hurts someone else.
Like I said; Less govt. interference in our lives is ALWAYS a good thing. When our county was getting zoning shoved down our throats by the bureaucrats my county councilman told me “it for your protection” to which I answered ; The only thing I need protection from is the govt.” I still stand by that statement.
The free market will solve most of the problems of society if the do gooders in govt. will just stay out of our business.
Glad you feel that way when they build a new landfill next to you. Wouldn’t want any pesky regulations or zoning to get in the way
You don’t want to give that good living to the government for a bunch of wasteful stuff.
—–
Trillions for wars in the Middle East that lead to trillions for MORE wars in the Middle East.
In other words, “We pay 9.50 an hour and give you a 1099”.
Good ole Smirks, always super compassionate with other people’s money.
This lady seems to be on the right track. I’ll have to look and listen some more but so far so good.
That’s no lady – that’s a POLITICIAN!
I can’t believe she missed the opportunity to bash the union problem is the state.
Templeton is a lieing scum bag. The staff at DHEC hate her for all the bull shot her and the Fab 5
Not a few staff are wishing she had chopped a bit more of the mediocre middle management.
Give me a break. Another unqualified lawyer as a cabinet head. Templeton, Reames, Stanton, Stirling, etc etc etc. They are all interchangeable and robots for the status quo.
I thought she was the drunk that never went to work, and when she did, drove a state gubment car full of gubment paid gas and drove to Columbia from Charleston. How ha$ M$. Templeton changed so quickly?
She’s got “big hands”
She was taught those hand gestures by Nikki — fer’ sure!
The subtlety of hiding one’s assets in plain sight, while drawing attention to them at the same time, is evidence of political adeptness.
She is a fraud. And just plain mean.
This blog and only this blog spread everything we have ever read about this woman as an alcoholic, pool boy loving, never go into the office maggot on the taxpayers, and now this 180 degree.
So, is she Tom Davis’ pick or is there money involved in all the publicity?
Don’t know how good she is on the job. Don’t know if she’s conquered the bottle. But, she does look like she’s been doing some crossfit, the guns are showing. If she up on the wagon, hope she can stay there. Crossfit is sort of a catharsis, but the fall can be hard and fast.
I may be way off base, if so, apologies, but, sincerely, good luck. Don’t worry about the gov, just do what we need you to do… signed, SC citizen.