Sanford has hired Connecticut-based attorney and tricky trial lawyer Ross Garber to represent himself and the Governors office as the South Carolina assembly begin deliberations on whether to impeach (the governor). Garber will be paid the princely sum of $150 an hour by the great State of South Carolina.

"Why Garber?" you may ask. Apparently there were no firms "good at lawyering" in South Carolina or at the very least, none that do pro boner work. His ( Garber's) law firm is described by legal websites as being quite skilled , specializing in "  representing public officials under investigation and white collar criminal defendants."

In other words, he represents Republicans.

If the name sounds familiar, it should. Garber represented the Connecticut governor's office when Governor John Rowland (R) faced a nationally publicized ( excluding Fox News) ethics and criminal scandal in his 2004 impeachment effort.

After Garber's sage advice and counsel, Rowland subsequently resigned and pled guilty to a corruption charge. He is now serving a 5 year prison sentence and is a starter on the Leavenworth volleyball team.

In a prepared statement Garber said he was hired to "protect the institution of the governor's office and to help lawmakers realize the gravity of their deliberations."

"The eyes of the world are on South Carolina," Garber said adding the lawmakers' decision to impeach Sanford will " have ramifications for future S.C. governors and the state."

The irony in Mr Garber's statement was that his hiring was due to Sanford's predilection to ramify things outside the Governors mansion at taxpayers expense.

I wonder if Mr. Garber likes backpacking?