Yesterday, I wrote a little article revealing Gov. Nikki Haley’s e-mail address, nrh@gov.sc.gov, which has been treated like it was a closely guarded state or something. As many in the media have learned, getting any interview time with the governor has been next to impossible.
See, Haley’s much more comfortable issues edicts and the like than she is with answering questions, particularly those from pesky reporters probing into the governor’s questionable decisions.
The Post and Courier’s Renee Dudley knows this all to well. In fact, she wrote a really great piece on it today. But now, we have video of Dudley hallway confrontation with Haley. It’s awesome.
But before I get to that, I want to post the letter that I had yesterday I promised to send to Haley’s address. Here goes:
Hey Nikki,
It’s Chris Haire.
I don’t know if you know me or not. I’d like to think you do, but I fear that you don’t. I mean, as a journalist, I really don’t get paid much. In fact, it’s a hell of a lot closer to the $22,000 salary you told Uncle Sam you earned in 2007 than the $125,000 salary that dreadful phantom put down on your application to Lexington Medical. So about the only joy that this job brings me is pissing off a politician from time to time.
But that’s not why I’m writing today. I don’t want to piss you off. I want to help you. And judging by the shitstorm that’s swirling around you right now, you need all the help you can get.
Now, I can’t keep that “little girl” Renee Dudley from asking you questions you don’t want to answer. There’s nothing anyone can do about that — you brought it on yourself. What I’m interested in is helping you grow as a person.
Here’s the thing, Nikki. It didn’t have to be like this. It really didn’t. Once you had a bright political future. All you had to do was pick a few principled fights with the General Assembly and you were all but assured a second term in office. After all, you’re a proud member of the GOP, and ,barring a big misstep (See David Beasley and the Confederate flag flap), we like our governors to be Republicans, not Democan’ts.
And there was no reason that your political career had to come to an end with the close of your second term. You were destined for the big time. And I’m not talking about an ambassadorship or a cabinet post or a spot in the U.S. Senate. Nope. You were destined for the White House, either as the VP or the President of the United States of America.
All the cards were in your favor. You were a woman. And a minority — but not one of the troublesome ones. And you were from the South, the heart and soul of the Grand Ole Party. You were everything that Karl Rove wakes up in the middle of the night feeling sticky about. You were a sure shot. But then you had to go and blow it by being a thin-skinned, narcissistic, paranoid debutator, a little homecoming queen Gaddafi.
You fired Darla Moore and then lied about the timing of it.
You claimed that someone else filled out an online job application for you even though the company said there was no way anyone else filled it out.
You then claimed that there was no password to the online application and then immediately said that if it was it was your high school.
You took a lavish trip to Paris on the state dime.
You called a television station tabloid news.
You appointed one campaign contributor after another to key government positions.
You repeatedly flew on private planes owned by said campaign contributors.
You claimed that half of South Carolina’s workforce was high on drugs. And the other half was too stupid.
You engineered a deal to sell out the state you represent so that another state’s port could get a business boost.
You began destroying public records.
And finally, you refused to answer questions from the aforementioned Renee Dudley regarding public records that you had failed to turn over as required by state law.
If you hadn’t done all of those things, Nikki, great things would have been ahead of you. Fabulous things. Wonderful things. But that’s not what you did. You screwed up and you screwed up bad. Again and again and again.
Now, I’ve learned enough about rehab from watching Dr. Drew to know that if an addict is ever going to change his or her ways, he or she has to hit rock bottom. And believe you me, that’s where you are right now. But even more than hitting rock bottom, an addict has to face what they have become, to admit their flaws and failures. And when that is done, they have to ask forgiveness of those who they have harmed. But most of all, they have to learn to forgive themselves.
Nikki, dear, take it from someone who thinks about you night and day. It’s time for you to do just that. Free yourself. Let it go. Quitting may be hard for you to do, but it’s ultimately for the best. You’ve been addicted to lies for far too long.
Chris Haire
I’ll let you know if Nikki writes me back.
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