Payback for GOP Mavericks?

Splendidly slanted reporting (or more appropriately, editorializing being passed as journalism) from the Free Lance-Star:

Howell, who voted against the plan, had promised not to retaliate against Republicans who supported the $1.4 billion in tax increases, and said removing Bryant and Oder from those commissions does not violate that promise.

“Retribution’s such a strong word. I make hundreds of appointments, maybe thousands of appointments, to commissions and committees. You’re always going to have people moving around from one to another,” Howell said. “It’s not retribution. I told those members of the body that went their own way that there would be no retribution for voting for a tax increase, and there won’t be.”

But Howell did not promise there would be no retaliation for helping engineer the tax-increase plan.

“I think everybody would realize sometimes there’s going to be consequences for your actions,” Howell said.

Speaker Howell is doing the right thing and should make no apologies. “Payback” would constitute removing Bryant and Oder from a variety of positions and appointments.

What I love is the embedded editorializing done by the reporter:

Privately, sources say Howell is under pressure from anti-tax conservatives in his caucus, who fought hard against the tax bill, to punish the renegade Republicans.

But if commission appointments are part of a punishment, not all those who supported the tax increase appear to be targets. Del. Bobby Orrock, R-Caroline, introduced his own bill increasing the cigarette tax, and in the end voted for the tax package supported by Bryant and the others.

Wonderful. This reads more like a whiny 10 year old asking why their sibling isn’t getting the same punishment as they are. Hopefully the article is transparent enough to be read as opinion rather than journalism.