- Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina goes down, down, down, to Argentina and then in disgrace. "Hiking the Appalachian trail," right.
- Senator John Ensign of Nevada, active in the Promise Keepers earlier in his life, also had an affair, with a former staff member.
I don't actually give a damn who these guys were sleeping with, though I hope neither got blackmailed as a result. In the case of Sanford, it certainly is a problem that he was out of the country without having made the proper arrangements for a transfer of power in case of emergency. I feel for their families. It's hard enough when a spouse breaks whatever agreements a couple has, whether about monogamy or how money gets spent; it's truly awful when you're a public figure and suddenly your name is in the newspapers for all the wrong reasons.
Democrats do the same things, of course; see Edwards, John; Clinton, William Jefferson; Spitzer, Eliot. It's just that Democrats as a group have spent a lot less time in the last 30 years than Republicans claiming to be the pro-family, pro-morality party. Right.
Update: I also care that Sanford apparently used government funds to pay for his little jaunt to Bueno Aires. He's repaying the state, but, a little ethical lapse there, eh?
My boss and I have been cackling like deranged hens on a meth binge about this all day.
ReplyDeleteThe 7th grader swooning of the e-mails is priceless, plus we have a new euphemism for having an affair: "I went hiking on the Appalachian Trail".
At least he didn't drag his wife and kids in front of the cameras as human shields, I will give the hypocritical scumbag that.
Wait, having your family on screen when you concede defeat in an election isn't human-shield stuff. I mean, everybody does that. (And all of the Obamas were on stage for the victory speech, too!)
ReplyDeleteYes it is. It's a cheap ploy to elicit sympathy and prevent total mockery. I loathe the fact that in this country especially, politician's families are accessories, to be trotted out for photo ops to show what Good Strong Family Men The Candidate Is. Sanford did that all the time and I think it's pitiful that kids who have no say in the matter get caught in the headlights.
ReplyDeleteI mean, Rick Santorum is a heaving pile of scum and when I saw this widely-mocked picture, especially for the son who looks like a serial killer in training, I felt no pity for him. The piece of filth worked tirelessly for years to deny me and other GLBT people our rights, I'm *glad* that little girl is crying, I'm *glad* the daughter in back looks like her cat died, it still doesn't come close to equaling the harm that piece of human filth their father inflicted on GLBT people.
Sorry, pet peeve, obviously.
Yeah, clearly a pet peeve! I am bad, and I laughed at the serial killer line.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Sanford was keeping their four young kids far away from that press conference, as far as I can tell from today's reports.