[Blue Lion]

As some people were aware, South Carolina Gov Mark Sanford went away earlier this week. Vanished. His wife and kids didn't even know where he went.... for Father's Day.

So before I spoil the rest of the story.......


SC Gov. Sanford admits affair after going AWOL
 

By JIM DAVENPORT, Associated Press Writer Jim Davenport, Associated Press Writer – 34 mins ago

COLUMBIA, S.C. – After going AWOL for seven days, Gov. Mark Sanford admitted Wednesday that he had secretly flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he was having an affair. Wiping away tears, he apologized to his wife and four sons and said he will resign as head of the Republican Governors Association.

"I've been unfaithful to my wife," he said in a bombshell news conference in which the 49-year-old governor ruminated aloud with remarkable frankness on God's law, moral absolutes and following one's heart. He said he spent the last five days "crying in Argentina."

Sanford, who in recent months had been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012, ignored questions about whether he would step down as governor.

At least one state lawmaker called for his resignation. As a congressman, Sanford voted in favor of three of four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, citing the need for "moral legitimacy."

The affair is now over, Sanford said, describing the woman who lives in Argentina as a "dear, dear friend" that he's known for about eight years and been romantically involved with for about a year. He said he's seen her three times since the affair began, and wife found out about it five months ago.

"What I did was wrong. Period," he said. His family did not attend the news conference, and his wife Jenny Sanford said she asked the governor to leave and stop speaking to her two weeks ago. The governor says he wants to reconcile, and his wife's statement said her husband has earned a chance to resurrect their marriage.

"This trial separation was agreed to with the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage," she said.

Sanford denied instructing his staff to cover up his affair, but acknowledged that he told them he thought he would be hiking on the Appalachian Trail and never corrected that impression after leaving for South America.

"I let them down by creating a fiction with regard to where I was going," Sanford said. "I said that was the original possibility. Again, this is my fault in ... shrouding this larger trip."

Questions about Sanford's whereabouts arose early this week. For two days after reporters started asking questions, his office had said he had gone hiking on the trail.

Cornered at the Atlanta airport by a reporter from The State newspaper, Sanford revealed Wednesday morning that he'd gone to Argentina for a seven-day trip.

When news first broke about his mysterious disappearance, Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press she did not know where her husband had gone for the Father's Day weekend.

Sanford emerged Wednesday afternoon at a news conference, where he mused openly of his love of hiking and how he used to guide trips along the Appalachian Trail, and eventually tearfully apologized to his wife, his staff and his friends — but without yet saying what he was apologizing for.

"I hurt a lot of different folks," he said, occasionally choking up throughout the news conference that lasted about 20 minutes.

With those watching still wondering what he was admitting, Sanford said: "The odyssey that we're all on in life is with regard to heart."

Several residents said they were disappointed.

"He shouldn't have lied to us. He should have been up straight," said college student Gerald Walker, 19, in downtown Columbia. "It's very embarrassing for someone in a leadership role that we are supposed to respect, especially me being a young guy."

Glenn Mitchell, of Columbia, said he felt Sanford's absence showed a lack of concern for the state.

"He left the state unattended," said Mitchell, 54, out of work recuperating from surgery. "He just hasn't been there for us."

State Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, called for Sanford's resignation.

"There is nothing left to save," Rutherford said. "There is no reason for him to remain as governor."

Sanford, a former three-term congressman, was elected governor in 2002. He has more than a year remaining in his second term and is barred by state law from running again.

The libertarian-leaning Republican was seldom a firebrand. But he was known for salting tales of family life into policy discussions.

He criticized the $787 billion federal stimulus law and efforts by legislators to claim a share of it by saying in tough times a family would sit around the table and find ways to cut spending.

His vocal battle against the Obama administration over the stimulus money won praise from conservative pundits, but ultimately, a state court order required him to take the money.

Jenny Sanford, a millionaire whose family fortune comes from the Skil Corp. power tool company, has been central to Sanford's political career. She ran his congressional campaigns and his first race for governor. She was an almost daily fixture at senior staff meetings, and often could be seen driving a minivan away from the Statehouse in the mornings.

The two met when Sanford, who has an MBA, was trying his hand on Wall Street. She was working at a brokerage house when he entered a training program.

As governor, Sanford has had seemingly endless run-ins with the GOP-dominated Legislature, once bringing pigs to the House chamber to protest pork barrel spending. He also put a "spending clock" outside his office to show how quickly a proposed budget would spend state money.

Sanford's announcement came a day after another prominent Republican, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, apologized to his GOP Senate colleagues after revealing last week that he had an affair with a campaign staffer and was resigning from the GOP leadership.

And just for giggles

[Galemp]

**** you Fox news. How the Republicans can still claim to stand for 'traditional family values' and 'the sacred institution of marriage' blows my mind.

[Ford Prefect]

BOOOOORING. I just wish our politicians had affairs with style like they do in Europe. Did Berlusconi apologize tearfully for having nude teenage girls sunbathing at his place? No-- he demanded that his wife apologize to him for being angry about it. That's entertainment.

[Blue Lion]

Airport bathroom toe tapping doesn't do it for you?

[Turambar]

why do they keep switching the letters when one of their politicians does something bad.

isn't that a lie? and isn't that also illegal to do on the news?

[Inquisitor]

Fox News isn't news

And, before we get some GOP talking points about its no worse than Clinton: At least Billy had the courtesy to be available, in the country and in his office while he was getting blown

[Ford Prefect]

Airport bathroom toe tapping doesn't do it for you?

No, because it didn't involve 18-year-old girls having sunbathing parties at mansions.

[Blue Lion]

Airport bathroom toe tapping doesn't do it for you?

No, because it didn't involve 18-year-old girls having sunbathing parties at mansions.

Well that's less the desire for scandalous news and more your desire for 18 year old topless sunbathers.....

....

excuse me a moment.

[Ford Prefect]

But again, the Larry Craig scandal culminated in a sheepish, humiliating public apology. The only recent American scandal I can think of where the perpetrator had Berlusconi-level balls was the Blagojevic fiasco, which was actually pretty awesome because for once, an apology was actually owed. (Please don't apologize to me for cheating on your wife; I don't give a ****. Apologize to her.) But not only did the Blagojevic scandal not involve attractive women, it didn't involve sex at all. So, y'know, big minus. Sarkozy's day-to-day life is more interesting than most of our scandals.

[Kosh]

What I'm wondering is where did Obama disappear to last summer during the campaign.

[Blue Lion]

What days did he disappear? If they found this guy in an Atlanta airport I'm sure we can find Obama.

What days was he gone and we can check his schedule.

[Kosh]

June 6

[Blue Lion]

It says right in the article where he went.

[Turambar]

What days did he disappear? If they found this guy in an Atlanta airport I'm sure we can find Obama.

What days was he gone and we can check his schedule.

Obviously he was in Afghanistan in secret muslim terrorist training camp.

[Liberator]

The biggest problem I have with this as a Conservative is that he didn't man up and resign.

He has a lot of soul searching and penace to make to his wife, assuming they're marriage is at an end, to endure the distraction of the Governor's Office.

As too why he should have resigned:

Most politicians in the USA run as upstanding happily married men.  At the very least he lied to his constituents and at most he commited some mild form of purgery by implication.

Also, I will admit that Fox runs a lot of editorial type programming.  But they're actual news programming is typically fairly honest and reliable.  I suspect the people who don't like it, wouldn't like CNN if Larry King didn't let Liberal/Democrat operatives control the talking points and flow of the interview.  That's the main reason O'Reilly is hated by the left, he won't let them get away with clouding the issue, he asks a direct question, usually yes or no, and gets 5 minutes of prevarication on a completely different topic.  And when he tried to pin them down, they run off at the mouth like a toddler.  As the sub-title says, "The Spin Stops Here".  Is he always right?  no  Does he allow prevarication to cloud the subject at hand?  no  Lastly, like any respectable newsman, of which there are few left, he very clearly labels commentary separate from news.

[Rodo]

he's crazy.. at this time of the year coming to Argentina is just stupid with all the flu' outbrake we are having.

[iamzack]

Also, I will admit that Fox runs a lot of editorial type programming.  But they're actual news programming is typically fairly honest and reliable.  I suspect the people who don't like it, wouldn't like CNN if Larry King didn't let Liberal/Democrat operatives control the talking points and flow of the interview.  That's the main reason O'Reilly is hated by the left, he won't let them get away with clouding the issue, he asks a direct question, usually yes or no, and gets 5 minutes of prevarication on a completely different topic.  And when he tried to pin them down, they run off at the mouth like a toddler.  As the sub-title says, "The Spin Stops Here".  Is he always right?  no  Does he allow prevarication to cloud the subject at hand?  no  Lastly, like any respectable newsman, of which there are few left, he very clearly labels commentary separate from news.

OMG. Bill O'Reilly, respectable newsman? "BABY KILLER BABY KILLER BABY KILLER YOU HAVE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS"

Bill O'Reilly is a hypocrite and a moron. He doesn't "cloud the issue?" Are you serious? He doesn't ask questions, he tries to trap people. When they decide to explain to him why the question is just a trap and not a proper question, he starts yelling over them like a child. "LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU DO YOU WANT BABIES TO DIE OR NOT LA LA LA"

Fox News is the GOP's pet monkey. They lie constantly, and most of their reporters are hypocritical ****s.

CNN is retarded too, but for other reasons. (Jon Stewart explains my issues with them pretty good.)

On topic: The guy is a ****ing ass. If he believes having an affair makes one ineligible for office, ****er needs to leave. I'm so sick of the GOP being all "MORALS MORALS MORALS MORALS" because we can't go two weeks without one of them being a fag or a cheater or a pedo or some other thing they claim to abhor. How about some goddamn honesty for ONCE from the GOP, EH?

Oh, one last thing, Ford Prefect: Berlusconi is not 'cool.' I know it seems really cool to publicly humiliate your wife and then do it AGAIN by threatening to sue her for her reaction to public humiliation, but, well, it's not, and I don't know how to explain that one to you other than "How would you like it done to you?" My guess is that your response would be something like "IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN TO ME BECAUSE BLAH BLAH BLAH." 

[Blue Lion]

Shep Smith is the only human being left at Fox News

[NGTM-1R]

Oh, one last thing, Ford Prefect: Berlusconi is not 'cool.' I know it seems really cool to publicly humiliate your wife and then do it AGAIN by threatening to sue her for her reaction to public humiliation, but, well, it's not, and I don't know how to explain that one to you other than "How would you like it done to you?" My guess is that your response would be something like "IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN TO ME BECAUSE BLAH BLAH BLAH." 

Get down off your damn soapbox. Berlusconi is cool, if for no other reason then the man knows how to do epic levels of Refuge In Audacity. And you clearly don't know Ford, who would demonstrate grudging respect (as he does here) if it did happen to him.

This doesn't, of course, make him good at governance, but it certainly makes him amusing. I'll take amusing and hypocritical over contrite and hypocritical any day.

*snip*

Putting aside your insanity about O'Reilly, which Zack summed up pretty well, that's not even relevant.

The man was in a posistion of ****ing power, and he just wanders off and nobody can find him. Great! What the **** do we do when the major disaster hits the state? He abdicated his responsiblites over personal issues, he wasn't even capable of planning well enough to say "Hey guys, this ****'s been kinda heavy lately, I need to clear my head and think, I'm gonna take a few days leave." and now he comes back and goes "ohhai. i can haz power back now plz?"

[Mongoose]

The man was in a posistion of ****ing power, and he just wanders off and nobody can find him. Great! What the **** do we do when the major disaster hits the state? He abdicated his responsiblites over personal issues, he wasn't even capable of planning well enough to say "Hey guys, this ****'s been kinda heavy lately, I need to clear my head and think, I'm gonna take a few days leave." and now he comes back and goes "ohhai. i can haz power back now plz?"

Yeah, that's what really threw me about this whole story, even when it was just an "Appalachian Trail hike" instead of a sordid Argentinian affair.  The head of a state's executive branch, the person responsible for issuing orders to state agencies, the person who has authority over the state's National Guard units...is off completely out-of-contact somewhere.  It just boggles the mind that someone would see that as being a suitable course of action, no matter what the reason.

And more in general, I fail to see what relevance the little letter next to the guy's name in parentheses has to any of this.  Last time I checked, people with any number of little letters next to their names have been pulling stunts of equivalent immorality, no matter what they professed to believe publicly.  Hypocrisy and disingenuousness don't have party loyalty.