Given that level of outrage, I am surprised (or not) by the lack of outrage over the actions of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford(R). The man, who has been married for nearly 20 years to the woman who helped start and bankroll his political career, ditched his security detail, lied to everyone (including his staff) about his whereabouts and travel plans, and left the country for several days to meet up with his lover in Argentina. He did not transfer executive authority to anyone while he was gone, leaving a potentially dangerous situation should an emergency have occurred. There would have been no one capable to sign or authorize any important orders or documentation. If something had happened to Gov. Sanford, no one would have known, since no one knew where he really was. Without a security detail, in this era of terrorism and international political unrest, he left himself vulnerable to kidnapping or other harm. And then there is the little matter of the fact that he did this so that he could go have sex with his lover, whom he had been sleeping with for a year, made (and lied about) multiple visits to see, and claimed in private emails to be in love with and view as his "soulmate."
His actions, which he freely admitted to, constitute a serious breach of duty, yet where are the loud Republican cries for his impeachment? Where are the conservative pundits crying out for his downfall? Where are the nasty jokes about the Governor and snide remarks about his wife? With relatively few exceptions, most of the Republicans near Gov. Sanford, are expressing their support of him and speaking admiringly about his "candor" in admitting the affair. There are no serious plans in the South Carolina legislature for impeachment proceedings. The local paper in Charleston had copies of the steamy emails being exchanged between Sanford and his lover for months, yet never broke the story or released them until after the news of the trip and the affair came out. What's wrong with this picture?
Let's talk for a minute about the "candid and emotional confession." He didn't freely decide on his own to come clean about the trip and his affair, he was spotted in the Atlanta airport on his way home and the crap hit the fan. He wasn't even sleeping in the Governor's mansion, as his wife kicked him out two weeks prior to the trip after she found out about the affair. He "confessed" because he got caught red-handed, much like John Edwards' visit to Rielle Hunter and the child he still claims is not his. The subsequent revelations and the icky details they contain read more like a tell all expose than an earnest coming clean with the truth. Gov. Sanford is not noble, nor did he act with honor or a sense of responsibility. Where is the retribution? Where is the accountability for dereliction of duty? Given Gov. Sanford presides in a Bible Belt state, where are the moral conservatives and fundamentalist Republican supporters and their public condemnation of Gov. Sanford's morals and ethics?
Is it that we all have lowered the bar on our expectations of the private behavior of our politicians? Or is it that Republicans will take any and every opportunity to take potshots at a figurehead of the party in power while circling the wagons round its own? Given that Obama was elected as a reaction to the sense of dirty dealings of the Bush Administration and leading Congressional Republicans, I don't think it's the former.
The Republicans refer to themselves as conservatives- if that's the type of behavior, hypocrisy, and lack of personal responsibility they want to conserve as the "status quo", then we will have reformers and rebels in the White House and in control of Congress for quite some time.
Laura Bramble
THE RED MENACE
Laura Bramble
Political Simpleton
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