Nobody won anything in last Thursday's Supreme Court ruling ordering Gov. Mark Sanford to obey the law that requires him to request $700 million in stimulus funds from the federal government. Our state simply failed to lose as much as we would have without such a ruling.

This was a wasteful, draining fight that hurt our state in more ways than we are likely to realize for some time. As we have previously noted, Sanford's attempted power grab, exacerbated by his continued pursuit of it in the face of what even he conceded was near-certain defeat, and piled atop his other antics through the years, has likely set back the cause of restructuring our government for years. ...

In the shorter term, the battle the Legislature and the rest of the government had to wage against Sanford cost the taxpayers ...

But even in the darkest night, there are glimmers of light, and through it all, a number of people have demonstrated what it means to be public servants. ...

The members of the Supreme Court went to extraordinary lengths to resolve this fight as quickly as possible. ...

The office of the attorney general, under the guidance of Attorney General Henry McMaster and largely through the work of Deputy Attorney General Robert Cook, correctly and clearly analyzed and explained the constitutional and legal issues at play long before the lawsuit was filed, producing an opinion that guided the Legislature's actions and then making the arguments that formed the basis for the Supreme Court's ruling. This office's steadfast devotion to and defense of the constitution and law should be a model for other legal offices that are led by elected officials.

The (Columbia) State