Sarah Palin Defends Nikki Haley Against S.C. Blogger's Affair Claim

Sarah Palin leaped on Monday to the defense of Nikki Haley, one of her "pink elephants," by phoning the South Carolina legislator and gubernatorial contender to offer her support in lighting accusations that the married Haley had an affair with a conservative blogger.

Will Folks, former spokesman for Gov. Mark "Soulmate" Sanford, wrote in a blog post Monday morning, "Several years ago, prior to my marriage, I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Nikki." Folks claimed he was simply heading off Haley's political opponents, hoping to deflate their accusations by publishing them first. But Folks also went underground, noting he would "not be discussing the details of that relationship, nor will I be granting any additional interviews about it to members of the media beyond what I have already been compelled to confirm."

Haley immediately denied any affair Monday morning, and sister Palin had her gal's back. True to her "pit-bull-with-lipstick" form, Palin lambasted Haley's detractors in a Facebook post.

"Well, whaddaya know?" Palin wrote. "South Carolina's conservative candidate, Nikki Haley, recently zipped to the front of the line in her state's race for governor; and lo and behold, now accusations of an affair surface."

Palin refers to Folks as "a political blogger who has the gall to throw the stone, but then quickly duck and hide and proclaim he would not comment further on the issue. Quite convenient."

Perhaps Palin -- and Haley -- should consider calling Folks by the nickname he uses on his blog, FITSNews. That'd be Sic Willie, and based on his Web site bio, he's not just talkin' typos here. "Sic is . . . a sensational dancer, despite completely unfounded rumors that he 'thrusts too much' and doesn't have enough 'side to side,'" his bio reads. It also mentions his "many TV anchor girlfriends" and that his "antics . . . have been the subject of much discussion and controversy."

Then there's the domestic violence charge. Folks pleaded guilty in 2005 to shoving his fiancee during an argument, though his bio notes, "He swears to this day he didn't do it." And needless to say, that former fiancee is not the wife to whom Folks apologizes in his Monday-morning whopper of a post.

But the people at FITSNews appear to be enjoying their moment in the sun as a result of that whopper, virtually boasting of the national media coverage about the affair allegation. The site also points out it has been a Haley supporter and questions Palin's references to "a liberal rag" in her Facebook post.

Of course, FITSNews may be doing a bit of what it accuses Palin of doing -- taking a few words out of context. Here's Palin addressing voters in her post: "South Carolina: don't let some blogger make any accusation against your Nikki if the guy doesn't even have the guts or the integrity to speak further on such a significant claim. And don't believe anything a liberal rag claims or suggests unless the reporter involved has the integrity and the facts to report to you so you can make up your own mind."

Palin said she called Haley on Monday morning to tell her to "hang in there."

Haley faces three candidates in South Carolina's Republican primary on June 8.

In the meantime, South Carolinians are left to contemplate how a man convicted of domestic violence who liberally peppers his political Web site with photos of scantily clad women actually defines an "inappropriate physical relationship."

FITSNews slogan is "Unfair. Imbalanced." No disagreement here.