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Sounds to Me Like Another Republican Spending a Few Days In the Closet
One of the odd bit of news right now is that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has gone missing.
He ditched his security detail, he's turned off his cell phones, and no one can find him.
The interesting quote in the above story is from his wife:
She sounds to me like someone who is studiously avoiding trying to find the answer to this.
The real issue here is not Mark Sandford's personal life. It's the concern that self-hating individuals, and the closet does imply self-loathing, do not make good decisions on the public policy.
Here is a question, how many straight Republicans who practice marital fidelity does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Either one can do it themselves.
Update:
The governor has been located.
He has been hiking along the Appalachian Trail....Yeah, sure, I believe that.
A commenter on the 2nd link nails it:
Cross posted from 40 Years in the Desert.
He ditched his security detail, he's turned off his cell phones, and no one can find him.
The interesting quote in the above story is from his wife:
Neither his wife, nor the state's lieutenant governor, nor police officials know where he is, South Carolina newspapers reported.(emphasis mine)
But Jenny Sanford told the Associated Press she wasn't worried.
"He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids," she said while vacationing with the couple's four sons.
She sounds to me like someone who is studiously avoiding trying to find the answer to this.
The real issue here is not Mark Sandford's personal life. It's the concern that self-hating individuals, and the closet does imply self-loathing, do not make good decisions on the public policy.
Here is a question, how many straight Republicans who practice marital fidelity does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Either one can do it themselves.
Update:
The governor has been located.
He has been hiking along the Appalachian Trail....Yeah, sure, I believe that.
A commenter on the 2nd link nails it:
brads77 Jun 23, 2009 7:28:12 AMBrads77 owes me a screen wipe.
The only reason this guy would have hiked the Appalachian Trail is because he wanted to visit the Home of Deliverance--thinking that the movie was a love story.
Cross posted from 40 Years in the Desert.
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I could be wrong. Maybe he's looking for Aimee Semple McPherson.
June 23, 2009 10:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't know if it is a gay thing, but seems likely it is a sex thing. Ted Haggard destroyed himself while ostensibly secluding himself in a hotel in Denver to write a book/books remember?
At best the whole situation is just weird. The average spouse cannot ever go anywhere, let alone a destination unknown, for an indeterminate period of time and also be incommunicado without a PI or lawyer getting involved. In the case of a Governor there are many more considerations over and beyond simple courtesy/decency to one's spouse that would seem to require that his whereabouts be known. I am confident that at least one person on his staff knew at all times precisely where he was and what he was doing and when inquiries were made they realized they hadn't thought of a plausible response.
June 23, 2009 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
?????? He goes hiking and does not inform his wife? Yea, right! Only if he is crazy or having an affair. Course, it could be both! LOL
He did not inform his staff? Not even the LT Gov??? Would he abandon his post if he were POTUS??? Me thinks the GOP just lost a potiential nominee for 2012.
June 23, 2009 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dude, he's not going to a pizza joint or the movie theater.
He has been gone for 5 days and incommunicado.
June 23, 2009 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to give Sanford's staff credit for coming up with what is probably the best conceivable lie. I had wondered what Sanford's excuse would be, but I didn't imagine anything as creative yet pedestrian as this.
June 23, 2009 7:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now we know that he was in Argentina. Some thoughts:
This is the guy who turned down stimulus funds for his needy state, and he goes, according to him, on short-notice to another country. Anyone ever bought an airplane ticket to Argentina (or anywhere else) on short-notice? I just did a search on Expedia (asking to leave Atlanta 6/27 & return 7/7 and did not specify what class I wanted, but I'd be surprised if the Gov likes to fly in the back of the plane) and got an amazing variety of prices: $885 on Delta to $6,177 on Mexicali Air, with lots of choices in between.
How many South Carolinians could do this kind of thinking: "Gee, will I hike on the Appalachian Trail...or will I go to Argentina? Hmm..,trail/argentina, trail/argentina. I guess I'll drop a few thou on Argentina!
How many adults can just go away for a week without telling anyone where they're going? This guy is a governor of a state, for which there is a system set up to replace him if he dies or is incapacitated, and he just pulls a walk?
He is a husband and father, although from the way his wife spoke about him, it seems that the former is probably in name only, but even so...Father's Day, and he didn't even call?
What if one of his children, or his wife had gotten sick or injured?
I don't pretend to know if he bought 2 tickets instead of one, or if he was in a fast re-hab, or if he was meeting a guy, but something really stinks in South Carolina, and it just got back from Buenos Aires!
Can't wait to hear about the standing ovation he gets the next time he speaks to his fellow miscreants...er republicans.
June 24, 2009 9:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Didn't his office say they spoke to him and he was hiking in the mountains? It seems that Sanford must have planned on being back on Monday so not to be missed, so the question is why wasn't he? And does he always carry his passport on him so he can just drive to the airport and leave the country on a whim? Unlikely he even keeps his own passport, I'm sure his secretary keeps it for him.
June 24, 2009 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let's see if the MSM will ask your important question. Did Sanford lie to his staff, or did the staff lie to the public?
June 24, 2009 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink