GOOPER Request For Prayers........................

[Nonno]

"http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/economy/republican-on-sanfords-stimulus-denial-im-asking-you-to-pray-for-us/

"And now for a bit of late afternoon comic relief.

The antics are getting pretty crazy today in South Carolina, where GOP Governor Mark Sanford, a steadfast stimulus opponent, has come up with a new way to refuse his state’s stimulus cash on the eve of tomorrow’s deadline: Say that tomorrow isn’t a deadline at all.

Sanford’s claim is so startling that the Republican Speaker of the House blasted his “nonsense,” and another local Republican official asked folks to “pray” for South Carolina as the loss of the much-needed money looms.

Virtually every legal analysis — including one done by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service — has concluded that Sanford’s deadline to accept his state’s $700 million in stim money is tomorrow. But Sanford — an apparent contender for the 2012 GOP primary — held a press conference today in his office, where he announced that the deadline was, in fact, bogus.

The local Post and Courier has all the action and an explanation.

It’s hard to overstate how flabbergasted this latest maneuver has left even some Republicans. “We are at the 11th hour of this debate,” said Republican speaker Bobby Harrell, a conservative Republican, in a statement sent over by his office. “It’s time for the nonsense to stop.”

According to the Post and Courier, another local official, also Republican, actually said: “I’m asking you to pray for us, because that’s about all we have left.”

Come to think of it, maybe this isn’t so funny. It’s sad."