A sinister picture: SC tries to cover up homophobia? Why bother?

The Palmetto Scoop, its Pulitzer Prize story having been chased from the headlines by Senator Kevin Bryant's more garden variety, Senator Claghorn-style bigotry, tries desperately to pump some air back into his discovery that gays from London might want to come to South Carolina, tour the state, SPEND THEIR MONEY, lie on the beaches, and be left alone:

Stephen Colbert is ‘So Gay’

By Adam Fogle | Wed, Jul 23, 2008 - 10:31 am | Posted in Executive

COMEDIAN COVERS STORY, GIVES SANFORD CREDIT FOR PULLING AD

Comedian Stephen Colbert last night covered The Palmetto Scoop’s story about the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism’s attempted taxpayer-funded ad campaign targeting gay tourists.

On The Colbert Report, the South Carolina native told millions of viewers that he was “flaming… flaming mad” over the incident.

“Sure, South Carolina could lose a few tourism bucks over this,” Colbert said. “But it is worth it to protect our masculinity because South Carolina is so not gay. If anything, it’s not so gay. South Carolina is a state where big strapping straight men reenact Civil War battles and then shower together for historical accuracy.”

Colbert gave kudos to Gov. Mark Sanford, praising him for having “the courage to have the campaign pulled.”

The problem is, new information shows that — predictably — the “low level” employee who resigned over the incident may have been a scapegoat and that certain higher-up officials knew about the campaign.

In fact, I’m currently in the process of chasing down reports of a full-blown cover-up by PRT and possibly the governor’s office. That information, coupled with the results of Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by The Palmetto Scoop when the story broke, will likely paint a very sinister picture about what exactly happened.

Speaking of people huffing big ol' cans of nitrous stupid, it's worth revisiting an April post by Leonardo's Notebook about how SC's commerce secretary tries to block movie companies from filming here when the scripts offend his sense of decency. GMAFB!