Governor Sanford meets his natural constituency.
I don’t know what’s in Mark Sanford’s heart, but I can certainly judge what he’s said and how he’s conducted himself since his affair has been exposed.
The governor said he “never crossed the ultimate line” with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed his once-promising political career.
“This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story,” Sanford said. “A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day.”
During an emotional interview at his Statehouse office with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he’s trying to fall back in love with his wife.
How noble of him. First of all, there’s no such thing as a “soul mate” apart from your spouse. And in the case of a married couple the term has a much different meaning from its everyday use. That stomach-tumbling, heart-skipping, light-headed feeling people get when they think they’ve found their “soul mate” lasts a few months at most, and thank God for that. Who’d ever get anything done otherwise? Your wife is your soul mate, Governor, for better or worse.
Lucy Morrow Caldwell (a National Review intern and new poster at The Corner) reports on what Sanford has been posting on his Twitter page lately:
Immediately after all this unfolded last week I had thought I would resign — as I believe in the military model of leadership and when trust of any form is broken one lays down the sword. A long list of close friends have suggested otherwise – that for God to really work in my life I shouldn’t be getting off so lightly. While it would be personally easier to exit stage left, their point has been that my larger sin was the sin of pride. They contended that in many instances I may well have held the right position on limited government, spending or taxes — but that if my spirit wasn’t right in the presentation of those ideas to people in the General Assembly, or elsewhere, I could elicit the response that I had at many times indeed gotten from other state leaders.
Accordingly, [these friends] suggested that there was a very different life script that would be lived and learned by our boys, and thousands like them, if this story simply ended with scandal and then the end of office — versus a fall from grace and then renewal and rebuilding and growth in its aftermath.
So, his “penance” will be to serve out his term—and run for office again, no doubt. And if he’s so concerned about providing a good example to his boys, why didn’t he keep his pants on in the first place?
You’re not the mayor of Washington, D.C., Mr. Sanford. You actually hold an important position in government. Step aside and let someone with a sense of responsibility take over.
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I think I just threw up in my mouth. WTF is wrong with him? The man is mentally ill or something.
I wrote a little diddy about this at Modcom. Rush was talking about it yesterday and talking about liberal women were like OMG he LOVES HER (Skanky Maria) and saying that he was pathetic and they were as well. He was dead on, so I ran with what he said. Sanford is a pitiful weak fool. An embarressment. if he really did believe in the Military model he would have announced his resignation months ago.
I like what Mark Steyn had to say about this:
“Is politics an affirmative-action program for sociopaths?”
I don’t understand how he can’t see these interviews are killing him publicly. He should she if Amtrak is hiring engineers.
Forgiveness is important in situations such as this, but there must also be a repentance too, on his part.
Are those pigs Argentine?
Let me put one silver lining on this. There was serious talk of Sanford being a contender for 2012. Could you imagine if we chose him as a nominee for Pres or VP and THEN this stuff came out?
Interesting how he described the affair as “forbidden” rather than wrong or indecent. In other words, he is trying to remove the blame from himself for cheating on his wife and abandoning his family. Instead society is to blame, for forbidding him from doing so.
While I think there is a serious error in his judgement, I have to ask why there is difference between a Republican and a Democrat making a similar error in his personal decisions. More of an outrage is made toward a Republican who has an affair than a Democrat. Is it because a Republican is held to a higher standard based on the values they hold? Is it ok for a Democrat because they basically have no morals? What is it? Once in a while a Democrat will get hammered, like Blagojevich. But then I ask why is he singled out? He’s no worse than a Ted Kennedy.
Realistically, there is no oversite of politicians other than voting. And the system is obviously flawed. The way to win an election is to be articulate, have a great ad campaign, and raise and spend a lot of money. And raising money in the first place is the inherent reason for political corruption. About the only way to minimize the effect of political corruption is to limit government to a small area of responsibility…totally opposite of what is ocurring now.
I guess I’m not surprised by anything in politics any more. My expectations at this point are very low.
I don’t know why there’s a difference, G-MAN. You’d have to ask some Democrats. I feel the same way about all of them.
I’ve stated this on quite a few posts and comments before, but most all of these politicians have egos that are literally beyond our comprehension. We keep getting shocked because we refuse to understand and accept this. Sure, we all play occassional mental games of, “If I were President, or Governor I would do such and such…” But do not ever forget these people wake up every single day and believe, BELIEVE, that they are the one and only person capable of rescuing us all from whatever calamities they think we face.
This misunderstanding on our part is one of the reasons we fail to comprehend what President Obama is doing. He really, truly believes he knows what’s best for us more than we do. So did George Bush. So did Bill Clinton…
Do any of us even have the ego to ask someone for $10 to help us get a job? “Hey, there’s this job I know I’m ideal for, but I need money to get it, money I don’t have. Why don’t you give me $10 so I can do this job?” It’s absurd. I’d be embarrassed beyond measure. Every major candidate who campaigns for President has no problem asking millions to donate their hard-earned savings to help them get a job. They have no problem asking thousands to donate countless hours of their personal time to help them get a job. Imagine the ego that requires. It’s a level that is literally, clinically dangerous. These people are not grounded in reality.
Look at this clown Sanford. It’s all about him; his journey, his soul mate. His paramour, wife, kids and constituents are all characters in his life story. In his mind he’s starring in a sit-com titled, “The World, Featuring Mark Sanford.”
Hey, I hope the guy figures out what a screw-up he is and does right by his wife and kids, I sincerely do, but I wouldn’t bet a dime on the likelihood of that happening based on his recent actions. I see no indication this guy understands what hubris and humility are.
Overall, I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, Rufus, but even objectively speaking I have seen a lot more “team effort”-style leadership from Republicans. Egos beyond description? Sure, though ultimately far less about them, especially when compared to Presidents Clinton and Obama. Jimmy Carter’s head much better in the proper direction, though he was in way over his head.
I suspect if we replaced 90% of Congress and the current administration with random people selected from an asylum, we’d be better off.
“I would rather be governed by the first two thousand people in the Boston telephone directory than by the two thousand people on the faculty of Harvard University.”
-William F. Buckley, Jr
This is my opine: If he remains Gov. till his term is up, fine. But then Mark don’t go away mad, Mark just go away. Don’t darken our doors. Take your boys to football practice and be at dear Wife’s beck and freakin call. YOU OWE HER!
Look he killed the hopes and dreams of MILLIONS with this crap. He was part of the Tea Partys, he was standing up to Obama and telling that scumbag to take the stimulus money and shove it. The only reason why SC took the money is because their Surpreme Court forced them to. But its funny, Sanford made a statement not too long ago on Beck or Cavuto before that troll from Argentina took center stage that is prophetic in retrospect: He was speaking about the SC supremes forcing him to take the blood money from Obama and he said if this is what they want why even have a governor. Interesting in light of these reservations.
Last word on my post should be revelations. Geez……….
Do I have permission to make some more Mark Sanford jokes?
Well put Rufus, I couldn’t agree more.
Sanford and Sons Marriage Salvage.
“Enjoy your stay in the Sanford Arms.”
Eric,
We should expect more, and I agree that we occassionally get leaders who do not fit the stereotype, but we must understand the caring, unselfish ones are the exception, and ALWAYS will be! Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Is there the occassional, rare bird like George Washington who can lead a successful revolution, guide his constituents to the right path, then hang up his sword and step down from the Presidential podium? Yes. But douches like Castro, Che, Mao, Voltaire, Khan, Alexander, Caesar, Xerxes, Trotsky, Saddam, Pol Pot and Chavez are much, much, much more common.
I will be publishing a post soon that explains this all in more detail, but never forget what Albert Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” We are literally insane if we believe we will ever have a majority of elected officials that care more about their constituents than themselves. I could go on for days listing elected officials who have abused the sacred trust they were entrusted with. The list of those who truly governed unselfishly would fit on a postage stamp. What is that number, as a percent? 1%, 5%? Give me any culture, any system of government and date in human history and the result will be the same.
Our founding fathers understood this and that is why they labored so hard to design a government of limited powers, checks and balances. We have the document that tells us how to do this. As long as we ignore it we will have insanity.
With ya all the way…
“We should expect more, and I agree that we occasionally get leaders who do not fit the stereotype, but we must understand the caring, unselfish ones are the exception, and ALWAYS will be!”
And yet, somehow, we ended up with a generation of statesmen who did just that. Providence? The odds that were defied in the success of the American Revolution would tend to suggest it.
By all means,Kit…just don’t be too HARD on the guy.
Gotta love the fact that Mrs.Sanford didn’t humiliate herself by standing by her man.
David,
I too have marveled at the odds of that many men with those unique talents appearing in the same place at the same time. It does seem outside the randomness of chance.
Rufus, there were a lot of things at play at the time of the Founding Fathers that don’t exist in today’s world. For one thing, most who obtained even an 8th grade education back then were really well educated. For another the general populace was a kinder, gentler (morally speaking) group of people than you’ll find today. I’m not saying that there weren’t bad folks then, just fewer of them. Television and the internet have also hurt, even though they allow us the priviledge of conversing as we are right now, across thousands of miles of distance. They have, to varying degrees, hurt the younger generations in doing away with inspiration, inventiveness and imagination. The younger generation then had their truthful schoolbooks and the Bible to read, and much work to do. Now that young group sit around in their foil hats and hack into other’s computers. There are no thoughts about the future of our country. Indeed, they most likely spend the most time thinking about their belly and their crotch. Please forgive the crudity, nevertheless true.