The Mark Sanford Rundown
The South Carolina governor has some more splaining to do.
Stop me if you've heard this one before. Here goes, there's a very charming governor. And one day, this man (an up-and-comer in his political party) decides to stray from his wife. Things were swimming right along and BAM he up and gets caught. This time around there were no hookers involved (nor any Arkansas highway patrolmen). There was just a guy who ditched his security detail, made up some cockamamie story about hiking, forgot to transfer power to his Lieutenant Governor and took the express train* to Argentina.
As you likely know, this guy's name is Mark Sanford. He's the governor of South Carolina and really let a lot of people down, including his family, the GOP and the taxpayers of the Palmetto State (ironically, South Carolina produces more peaches than it's Peach State neighbor Georgia, peachy and irony).
Because he bungled his duty to the great state of South Cackalacky (full disclosure, I went to college in SC and think it's pretty swell as far as states go), his resignation is being called for by some of the state's biggest newspapers, some of his political rivals and even some GOP supporters. But the governor, who was more or less separated from his wife when he went down to Argentina, refuses to quite because it would be the wrong message to his sons. "Whaaa?" is reaction that would be appropriate. Adults do a lot of crazy things (particularly in the name of love and lust) but the idea that you can condone keeping your job after so betraying the trust of your constituents and coworkers is a sticky wicket.
While infidelity is evidently illegal in SC (though they probably don't have jurisdiction given that the carnal knowledge took place away from her "Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places"), it's not why the governor should consider quitting. Obviously, his marriage to Jenny Sanford (whom Wowowow is really behind) was all but over when he made his way down to Buenos Aires, but his dereliction of duty and waste of taxpayer funds could be too much of a breach of conduct to continue. And only a narcissist wouldn't think that, sometimes, falling on your sword is the most valorous solution to a problem. That press conference has to rank as one of the all-time worst Father's Days on record (wait, what day did Oedipus kill Laius?) Read: What We Learn From Gov. Sanford's Love E-mails
Discussion
I don't really buy that Sanford's marriage was already over when he took off. For one thing, he told his wife he needed time to think and agreed not to visit his girlfriend. His wife seemed to think he was still trying to work things out.
Besides, Sanford had been cheating with his girlfriend for a long time before he separated from his wife. I suspect it affected his relationship, too - every time he had a fight with his wife, he probably thought, oh Marie wouldn't do that, Maria understands me, if only I could be with her instead of my wife. That's the danger of affairs.
The crazy thing is how Sanford can believe that this woman he barely knows is his "soul mate" and not a lustful crush. If a friend told you he was about to marry a woman he'd met a few times for hot sex and corresponded with, you'd probably tell him not to be insane, he couldn't possibly know if this was the right woman. So why do people break up marriages for someone they don't really know that well?
When You Vote Republican You Get Immorality
Newsvine.com... Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:41 PM EDT
Republicans never tire of making public displays of how concerned they are with America's moral fabric while supporting their own adultery and fornication at the same time. This while they judge others, deny equal rights to gays, plunder America's treasury on illegal wars, support torture and discriminate against anyone who does not agree with them. Americans been barraged with laws, programs, sermons, demagoguery, the religious right, right wing bigots and all sorts of moral demonization from a Republican political movement whose most powerful pundit is a multiple-times-divorced drug addict who flamboyantly cavorts around with a new girlfriend every few months.
The GOP harbors these deviants and why Americans seem oblivious in caring is beyond words! Americans get more upset over two men kissing in a movie than they do murder, rape or soliticious sexual affairs by Republicans. Perhaps it is their own self righteousness that dictates a gross misjudgment of immorality.
After all, even now that this conduct has been exposed, their instinct, all the way to the highest levels, is to excuse and defend those leaders and offer up the most disgusting defenses, all because preservation of their political power depends on it. This is not some bizarre aberration. This is how they operate and it is who they are.
Republicans and the religious right talk a lot about threats to marriage and families, especially when scaring Americans about gay people. They do this to control, manipulate and raise money in an obscene hypocritical manner; however these right-wingers have the market on breaking up families and marriages, creating orphaned children and hurting people and destroying the moral fabric in America.
The Republican Party nor the right-wing, religious right preachers who claim "family values," and "pro-marriage" platforms in the context of their Party and their religion in order to propel themselves to power and who cannot remain faithful to their own families and churches, demonstrates the PURE hypocrisy of the right wing and the so called "Christian/Religious Right".
I must admit I always get a good laugh out of witnessing another one of these "family values" type politicians getting caught with his pants down. I say if a man cheats on his wife, he will cheat on anyone, his wife, his children, his political Party, his church, his congregants and his country.
The truth is that on a personal level these solicitous sexual affairs are none of my business however when elected leaders, taking taxpayer money, stand on their soapboxes and judge others, when they condemn gays and deny equal rights to all Americans, when they destroy the lives of their families and their children, when they use their political power to deny rights and benefits to others and use taxpayer money for self-righteous and religious right agendas then it becomes my business, it becomes Americas' business.