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Republicans Should Kick Sanford to the Curb
The GOP must resist the urge to excuse or empathize with the philandering governor.
What a public relations nightmare Mark Sanford’s revelations about his affair present to the GOP.
But I suggest that we not concern ourselves with public relations, or with sympathy for Sanford. And we should certainly not follow the path taken by Democrats, whose betrayed wives, like Elizabeth Edwards, go on a book tour or try to rationalize their husband’s affairs, as Hillary Clinton did.
Sanford’s affair proves that one’s personal life — contrary to the claims of the “Clinton lied but no one died” contingent — does affect one’s ability to govern. Sanford’s disastrous press conference revealed that he is a man still torn between his mistress and his wife. That as a governor he could take off for Argentina and place his state in jeopardy proves that the emotional turmoil of an extramarital affair clouds one’s thinking and actions. It gives the lie to the claim that one’s personal life has nothing to do with job performance. It proves that politicians’ personal lives should be the subject of scrutiny. Only a conscienceless person could carry on an affair without it clouding his thinking. Of course, there are the sociopaths, but we don’t want them in office either.
Sadly, this revelation provides fodder for the left-wing attack corps, whose favorite charge is “hypocrisy!” — especially when the cheater promotes family values and has gone after the opposition for the very same sins, as Sanford did during Clinton’s impeachment. There is nothing more that the left would like to do than disprove conservatives’ contentions that high moral values are important. There is nothing better they would like to see happen than a concession to their idea that morals are relative, that such failings are common and therefore not to be condemned too harshly.
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Mary Grabar earned her Ph.D. in English from the University of Georgia and teaches in the Atlanta area. She is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and published fiction writer. Visit her website and get on her mailing list at MaryGrabar.com. Mary blogs at the TheLiterateCitizen.com.
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67 Comments
1. Gary Ogletree:No one really has a problem with Bristol Palin, her mother is always the real target. The girl did the right thing by her baby and she had the guts to weather the media circus to share her experience with fellow teens. I suspect she convinced enough teens to actively avoid pregnancy by whatever methods to make it all worthwhile. But I agree that we should bid Sanford bye bye. He made the choice. I don’t blame him for being smitten by another woman, but sometimes an adult must deny himself for his family and for those who have given him their trust. He didn’t pass that test of character. It may not be a problem for liberals and may be just fine in the popular culture, but conservatives should insist on a higher standard.
Jun 27, 2009 - 3:46 am 2. arhooley:How about Newt? Or does time heal the wound?
Jun 27, 2009 - 4:17 am 3. "progressive"watch:The case is even clearer than this with Governor Sanford. There is ample evidence that he was not doing his duty. His whereabouts was unknown to his staff,and he aparently used public money from the state of South Carolina to pay for his trip to Argentina. For myself like many conservatives,with deepests regrets,but he must go.
Jun 27, 2009 - 4:23 am 4. Bob:While I certainly don’t approve of Gov. Sanford’s affair, I abhor Republicans attacking their own. Remember, we are all less than perfect. Ronald Reagan was the first President to have been divorced, Newt Gingrich doesn’t exactly have a spotless record of fidelity, and Rush has had 3 failed marriages. (There isn’t enough space to catalog Democrat failings.) If Mark Sanford can still do the job he was elected to do, I’d prefer to see him stay to the end of his term than to be disowned and “kicked to the curb” by his own party members.
Jun 27, 2009 - 4:33 am 5. Meryl:I have yet to hear one Republican talking about anything other than the need to brush off their shoes because they have already kicked Sanford to the curb.
What a stupid jerk–on purely human, common sense terms–forget moral and ethical high brow discussions.
“Sanford’s affair proves that one’s personal life — contrary to the claims of the “Clinton lied but no one died” contingent — does affect one’s ability to govern.” Not until now was this understood????? “Proves”….to who?
We peons out here in flyover country knew that by the time we were about 13 years old.
America has either been thoroughly, successfully dumbed down, folks, or else it is just now considered cute to be forever acting like “we just figured it out”. Please.
Jun 27, 2009 - 5:36 am 6. Northern Light:The problem with Republicans caught in sex scandals is that they are supposed to be the party of family values. Sanford was involved with the Promise Keepers and yet he seemed to be breaking some pretty serious promises he made concerning “forsaking all others till death do us part”. Because Democrats are less inclined to trumpet their morality and devotion they are seen as less hypocritical than Republicans when they get caught in affairs such as these.
The other problem for the GOP is that they are the party that is most against the United States emulating the European example. Everyone knows that keeping a woman on the side is a fine old tradition among European leaders. If Sanford isn’t thrown out what other European traits will Republicans embrace? Long vacations? Universal healthcare? Marijuana cafes? Good beer? Accepting a leader with a mistress is the thin edge of the wedge that would lead the Republicans down the path to European socialism!
The problem is that if Sanford is ousted over this it might lead to a domino effect. David Vitter comes to mind as the next domino to fall. Perhaps the GOP would be best off kicking out Sanford without reffering to the sex part. If I walked off the job and my employer didn’t know where I was and I had a lame reason for being away I’m pretty sure I would be fired. Fire Sanford for this and ignore the reasons he was AWOL. Otherwise the number of GOP members who are thrown out of the party could go sky-high
Jun 27, 2009 - 6:12 am 7. Concerned:Sanford is toast. He did it to himself, with no help from anyone else. He is not trustworthy, and his integrity is zero. His political career is over. He needs to gracefully fall on his sword, immediately resign as a political elite. Yes, it will be difficult rejoining the masses, but he needs time to think about his non-political future, and such weighty questions as do I salvage my marriage and ditch the consort, or do I ditch my family, and move to Argentina.
Jun 27, 2009 - 7:10 am 8. TGS:Is it just me, but it seems the most virulent attacks on Gov. Sanford come from women such as this writer and Michelle Malkin. Just can’t resist the temptation to brutally attack a man while he’s down can you ladies?
Jun 27, 2009 - 7:11 am 9. Harry:He should be fired because, once he took a ride in OJs Bronco and wound up in Buenos Aires he became psychologically ufit to hold office.
Conservatives have every reason to distrust Republicans. Here is one more example. If you believe in America you do not betray it; if you believe in family values then you do not betray them either.
Conservatives want leaders who can handle the responsibility of leadership. The Republicans cannot provide them.
Jun 27, 2009 - 7:17 am 10. tanstaafl:Dereliction of duty as governor is the issue, possibly the use of state funds to pay for an earlier trip to Argentina.
I think some curently on the “horrified & outraged” Left who’ve been screaming at us for years that BC’s dalliances in the Oral office were “just sex” should be struggling with split brain syndrome right now from their own double standards & cognitive dissonance.
Anyway, I don’t fault Governor Sanford (about whom I know little but who became sort of a hero for refusing (or trying to refuse) TARP money)…for becoming powerfully attracted. At least he didn’t fudge and lie and try out new defintions of “is” and defile the governor’s personal office for his affair.
The rest is just too bad.
Jun 27, 2009 - 7:25 am 11. sheesh:I’m hearing some pretty “accepting” opinions about Sanford . . . “It’s more sad than anything” . . . “It sounds like it was true love” . . . “He wasn’t hiding anything from his wife, his coverup was the mistake that cost him” . . . “anyone who supposedly spends 5 days crying in Argentina over an affair ‘of the heart’ is not a complete ‘bad guy’ in my books”
Now, to mimic the Republican response to EVERY other development . . . “If it had been a Democrat who had done this, the right wing media machine would have been in overdrive.”
Everybody lies. Everybody has a double standard. Sex and is transgressions respect no party lines. Is it more onerous when a Republican gets caught? Yes. Is that because they have higher values and standards? No. Is it because they claim they do? Yes.
The only thing that really matters is timing.
Jun 27, 2009 - 7:45 am 12. AThinkingPerson:No argument here. Kick him to the curb (and maybe his wife will have the guts to do the same).
Jun 27, 2009 - 7:46 am 13. richard:Sanford missed the newest GOP instructional video: http://bit.ly/24bf6
Jun 27, 2009 - 7:51 am 14. Chuck Pelto:TO: Mary Grabar, et al.
RE: Indeed
There is no better way to demonstrate that they are serious about morality and the Family than that. And no better way to demonstrate the stark difference between themselves and the Left.
And that goes a VERY long way into politics as a whole.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:01 am 15. sheesh:[Those who would treat politics and morality apart will never understand the one nor the other. -- John, Viscount Morley of Blackburn]
By the way, why are Vitter and Ensign still around? I mean, come on, it doesn’t get any sleazier than being diapered by a Bourbon Street hooker.
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:02 am 16. sheesh:How do you explain this . . . Fox News website features “The Week in Pictures” . . . 16 of em. Not one of Sanford.
Any questions?
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:16 am 17. Strawman:Exactly my reaction. If anyone’s trying to defend him, I sure haven’t noticed.
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:22 am 18. TGS:#12 – his wife already has.
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:23 am 19. Chuck Pelto:TO: Northern Light
RE: Another Understanding….
….could be that Democrats have no morals in the first place. Therefore, the ‘liberal’ press can’t hold them to anything when they get blow-jobs in the Oval Office. Or sire illegitimate children on campaign staffers. Or get laid by high-priced hookers.
I loath the likes of Ensign and Sanford, as well as Clinton, Edwards and that former governor of New York, are a bane on society as a whole. And as I stated above, they should be ‘kicked to the curb’.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:25 am 20. tanstaafl:Mrs. Sanford gave an interview yesterday, which seems odd, but there it is.
She hasn’t kicked him to the curb and, at least in comments here, seems to hold out the possibility of reconciliation.
Jenny Sanford discusses husband’s infidelity
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:32 am 21. tom:Committed a sin? What sin? Who says he has to live by your own religious views?
Dereliction of duty? now there you have something.
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:33 am 22. ReConUSMC:As a Conservative ….. This formerly well Though of Gov. of South Carolina was a possible Presidential Candidate but he has shown his lack of Judgement , Principles , Morals and Ethics .
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:45 am 23. mshatto:As I said about Clinton I’ll say here . The Gov. should resign .
If his wife can’t Trust him We sure can’t .
Why is this the headline at PJM? The House just voted to destroy the American economy once and for all and we’re discussing this?
Sanford needs to step down. Now! He was derelict in duty. Again, GO NOW!
What Sanford did was unexcusable but he didn’t drive off a bridge, flee the scene, and leave a girl to die, ala the Lion of the Senate.
He didn’t have a prostitution ring, a gay one in fact, run out of his house.
He didn’t gleefully tell the world that we have lost a war while our soldiers and marines are in harms way.
He didn’t lie under oath about a protein stain while serving as the POTUS.
He wasn’t a Grand Wizard of the KKK.
He didn’t accuse Marines of murder before a trial had been held.
He hasn’t traveled to Cuba and lauded the wonders of a communist, dictator.
He didn’t vote against a law that sought to outlaw infanticide.
This could go all on day but I’d prefer to spend my time railing against the centralization of the US energy sector and the strangulation of US business by the Marxists now running this nation.
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:50 am 24. hangnail:Why would Republicans act differently? in order to be winners they have to emulate the Democrats by imitation. Two piles of shit on the highway are the same, something to be avoided at all costs. The only difference being,quantity,consistancy and smell. The problem is that the stupid public not only keeps stepping in it, but they want to roll and wallow in it also.
Jun 27, 2009 - 9:19 am 25. hangnail:A turd by any other name is still aturd!
Jun 27, 2009 - 9:22 am 26. tanstaafl:good list, mshatto
He didn’t have a prostitution ring, a gay one in fact, run out of his house.
As Mark Steyn (sarcastically) commented, at least that business run by Barney Frank’s housemate was profitable
He didn’t accuse Marines of murder before a trial had been held.
Murtha got some military award after that débacle, hopefully, his financial machinations involving public money, pet projects in Penn. & his relatives will finally do the old boy in.
The Swimmer, Teddy Kennedy, being called the Lion of the Senate is disgraceful.
We could throw in some other minor democrat players to your list, cold cash Jefferson, charlie rangel getting away with his land deals ’cause he scratches Pelosi’s back (or something), the preachy & pontificatin’ John Conyers’ wife who just got nabbed for taking bribes…
Jun 27, 2009 - 9:34 am 27. Cybergeezer:If a President can do it, why not everyone else? Trickle up morality? Funny!
Jun 27, 2009 - 9:47 am 28. Bill Perron:The guy cheated on his wife, big deal. If she had remembered to keep him first as the object of desire he would not have strayed. Most men really want a great woman to come home to, obviously she wasn’t so he diddled, big deal. I am just so tired of the woman always being the “victim” and the man the “villain” when the truth of the matter is she is the one who usually drives him to cheat.
Jun 27, 2009 - 9:52 am 29. Cybergeezer:24. hangnail:
Jun 27, 2009 - 9:56 am 30. sheesh:Right on! If people are buying CD’s, why would anyone try to sell LP’s or tapes?
Right wing scat alert! Again!
24. hangnail: . . . “Two piles of shit on the highway are the same, something to be avoided at all costs. The only difference being,quantity,consistancy and smell. The problem is that the stupid public not only keeps stepping in it, but they want to roll and wallow in it also.”
25. hangnail: . . . ‘A turd by any other name is still a turd!”
Wake up conservatives, hangnail is making a run for the throne!
Jun 27, 2009 - 10:18 am 31. hangnail:#30 sheesh: Don’t go around spreading bs lies like that. The only office I want is Secretary of War. Keep me in mind,when you get to be number one, bubba.
Jun 27, 2009 - 10:53 am 32. Fedora32:By becoming a so-called “public” servant, politicians should realize they have no “private” life. If they get the vote, the power, the money, they better realize we hold them to a higher standard. I have a hard time trusting anyone who breaks trust with his wife. I think we have come to expect politicians to be corrupt. How sick is that in our society? Of course the Dems protect their own because they have no morals at all. But, oh do they love to call out the hypocrites when Republicans do it! If Republicans want to come back, they better get their own act straightened out.
Jun 27, 2009 - 11:03 am 33. Juliet:We have had many great leaders who had shabby personal life.( Jefferson, Lincoln just to name a couple) But just loonking a Gov. Sanford who can see he is drained. Can he still do his job? Yes we all have done jobs under emotional strain. From what I have of SC he cannot do anything without approval so what harm can he do to SC.
Jun 27, 2009 - 11:52 am 34. David Levavi:Ms. Gaber:
“Get thee behind me, Satan” is the tone you strike, Miriam. I’m a Hebrew of the old Pharisee school and a Litvak to boot, so I don’t buy into the existence of existential Evil and the Devil. Morality is founded on choice. We sin or do charitably by our fellow man, each individual child of Adam and Eve by our own volition. Read the Hebrew Bible and you will find no reference to Satan to the Devil. Adam and Eve achieve sexuality and mortality with all their blessings and burdens of their own choice. Each of their children enters the world innocent and sinless and so remains until puberty and the assumption of moral responsibility.
The Governor ain’t evil. He’s just one more moralizing hypocrite who stepped on his dick. Couldn’t keep it in his pants. Followed the little head instead of the big one. Just like those famous televangelists and catholic priests –not to descend to moral equivalence and confuse the seduction of a sixteen or seventeen year old girl to the damaging, degrading and warping of a ten or eleven year old boy.
The Romans, introduced, indeed imposed, monogamy, arguably an unnatural state. And in their world a mistress, indeed a mistress installed in a cocina where a man could entertain his more intimate friends, if he could afford it, was entirely common, acceptable, even expected. There was a public morality and a private morality and the two more or less happily coexisted.
Then Roman monogamy was encoded into Christianity, turned absolutist and puritan and imposed on Judaism. (The Rabbis outlawed polygamy, albeit with a sunshine clause of a thousand years which expired not too many years ago. Only civil binds a Jew to monogamy today.) Polygamy was unthinkable in Christendom until the recent surge in Muslim immigration.
At the bottom line, the governor has offended public morality. Never mind what behavioral research suggests are American norms for extramarital transgression. In a party of the Kultur Kampf and “Family Values” where abortion is the ultimate moral challenge of our time, Sanford has no future.
Anyway, beyond political banishment this is nobody’s business but Governor and Mrs. Sanford. Save for one detail. Who is this woman in Argentina and how did she attach herself to a frontrunner for the upcoming Republican nomination for president?
I hope the CIA is at this moment examining every association in this woman’s life from the time she emerged from the womb. I mean, heck, the intelligence services weren’t ready for the demonstrations in Iran and the opportunity is lost so they surely can’t be too busy for a little detective work in South America.
Jun 27, 2009 - 11:54 am 35. WR Jonas:All who yield to temptation are sinners. Temptation is the craft of the Devil. And when we sin we are the slaves of Satan.
Jun 27, 2009 - 11:56 am 36. Marc Malone:Underline “all” in the opening sentence folks. Thats me and you. We all are sinners and all have sinned in the eyes of God.
So’ in Jesus’ famous remark to the accusers, “let he who is without sin among you cast the first stone”.
Pray for Mark Sanfords and your own soul, and drop that stone..
I am definitely not without sin… but, I am not seeking th epublic rust, either. I expect my leaders to be righteous, or at least somewhat so. I can forgive some weaknesses, but adultery is not one of them.
#11 sheesh – For the first time, I mostly agree with you. If it had been a Dem, we’d all be howling for blood. Just know that many of us ARE howling for blood. However, if we were Dems, and Sanford was a Dem, nothing at all would be made of it. We don’t just claim to be more moral. We are, indeed, more moral.
#8 TGS – Yes, it comes from women more, because they are the ones who suffer most from such things. They know what it means, so pardon them if they speak out from a position of knowledge. It is not kicking a man when he’s down. It is giving him the beating he so richly deserves.
#6 Northern Light – I want the dominoes to fall. I want all the crap shovelled out. I don’t want just pious words, but deeds! The sooner we get rid of all the rot, the sooner we’ll be credible as a party again. Thw reformation of our government starts with us!
Jun 27, 2009 - 12:30 pm 37. tanstaafl:Geez, fire, brimstone, allusions as to the Argentinian paramour’s motives in the very fact of knowing Mark Sanford.
It doesn’t take much to bring this stuff out of the woodwork.
Something about motes & timbers in the eye comes to mind.
And whereas, I’m sure “God” finds me imperfect, I don’t think he construes me to be, factually, a sinner for any past transgressions. I’ve learned from them, which is what living life is all about.
So there
Jun 27, 2009 - 12:41 pm 38. Xixi:Single woman calls for married man to be kicked to curb. Yawn.
Jun 27, 2009 - 12:56 pm 39. Sean Ollech:Dear Ms. Grabar:
Just want to make a few comments. First off, whether the wife satified her husband’s desires fully, we must recall that this is not what marriage is all about. I would say the same for a wife who left her husband. Marriage is an indissoluble bond between a man and a woman. The woman does have responsibilities to her husband just as the husband has for his wife. Both have to take responsibility for their marriage to be a success.
Mr. Sandford did not do so. If he was unhappy in his marriage, then he must, must speak up with his wife, and she must, must listen to his concerns. Cheating is never the solution. What we must remember is that no one, not even our husband and wife is going to make us perfectly happy because we hunger for the perfect connection with God himself.
I am very disappointed in Mark Sandford. I was more then happy to have him run in 2012. I want my leaders to be men of integrity, like he was in refusing the bailout package. I would have Mark Sandford any day over Barack Obama, but I would rather have the simple, quiet representative who holds his everyday values of faith and fidelity over Mark Sandford.
We have a duty to select the best representative possible, and that is not Mark Sandford. I just hope that we can turn away from publicity and look at service, better to have someone thrust into the limelight then cultivated from scratch.
Jun 27, 2009 - 12:57 pm 40. Linguist:Indeed.
Character and integrity DO matter: http://smokebreak.blogshevik.com/2009/06/27/why-character-integrity-matter/
Jun 27, 2009 - 1:44 pm 41. myth buster:tanstaafl, is a felon any less a felon because he has learned from his crimes? Of course not! You need a pardon to have a felony stricken from your record. If you were a convicted felon and you proceeded to deny that you had been convicted of a felony in order to get a job, but you have not received a pardon to expunge it from your record, you would be summarily fired and perhaps sued. So it is with God. You need a pardon to get into Heaven.
And you Livini, if there is no such thing as demons, who tormented Job? Pharisee indeed, you are as much a hypocrite as Caiaphas.
Jun 27, 2009 - 2:28 pm 42. Paul Gable:Let’s consider that Mark Sanford has suffered from what millions are suffering from: the “what the hell, I give up” syndrome that comes from watching everything we hold dear destroyed by an out-of-control, un-American bunch of left-wing radicals who hate this country. “An Alternative View of Mark Sanford” at http://www.brushfires-of-freedom.com/altview.html
Jun 27, 2009 - 2:35 pm 43. rbell:He isn’t excused, but maybe he deserves some ‘empathy’.
This subject has me fired up. I normally just read what other people write. But this Sanford issue highlights why Republican are losers. Mary Garber, with all due respect, we should be ridding ourselves of people like you. Public relations nightmare!! Hardly. This is what gets Democrats elected. They would turn it around and say “After all he is only human – just like the rest of us”. “He is an attractive man that any woman would want to be with.” “Maybe his wife is no longer providing him the emotional and physical support he needs.” They would not be saying “Let’s Kick Him to the Curve”.
We are suppose to be supporting and promoting people who will defend and protect the foundations of this Republic. We are not looking for “Father Knows Best”, the most perfect husband available. Like that would get someone elected. If you were to put that program on today people would just laugh at the title alone. And we are aware of what became of the little actress who was on that show, are we not?
Are you stuck in the 50’s? That was when, if you wanted to get elected, you had to be a WWII veteran and have a wife and 2 kids. (JFK anyone) If you know anything about our founding fathers you know they could not run for public office today. Jefferson was fooling around with one of the servants, Washington with any woman he took a fancy to and Benjamin Franklin with anything that spoke French. They were surrounded by men who were real Christians but they all kept their eye on the prize, not on each others private lives. They embodied the ideals and principles of freedom. They put together something that George Soros and Obama are now destroying.
Whatever room Newt Gingrich walks into, he is the smartest person in that room. Does he have a chance of running and winning? Answer No. Why? Because the Republicans want someone who represents their phony piety more than the principles which have kept us free for 200 years.
Jun 27, 2009 - 2:41 pm 44. Jon:As a conservative, I am disgusted at Gov. Sanford’s actions. He has shown that he lacks the integrity to run for the highest office in the land. He abandoned South Carolina without a contingency plan for five days. That’s five days too long. It’s okay to take a vacation; just be sure to work with your Lt. Gov. on contingency plans BEFORE you leave for vacation. But he must go BECAUSE OF dereliction of his duties as South Carolina Governor, and for allegedly taking public money to finance his trip to Argentina. With the proper counseling and restoration, he can STILL be a valuable member of the GOP.
In my opinion, it’s the dereliction of duty that is more serious than the adultery. If he is that overwhelmed as governor, then he should step down immediately, or just not run for reelection next year.
Jun 27, 2009 - 3:05 pm 45. tanstaafl:You need a pardon to get into Heaven.
Hmmm, a pardon from whom, myth buster ?
Me, myself & I wouldn’t be seeking a “pardon” from any other mortal being, in whatever official or unofficial capacity.
Maybe after due diligence, soul searching & brutal honesty with oneself, “God” grants a pardon and sorrow & confusion are lifted.
A felon can receive a pardon from a governor or a president, I guess, but that is very external and, in my eyes, does nothing to expunge the crime, especially in the absence of true contrition inside the human heart.
In other words, Mark Rich is still a scum bag
Jun 27, 2009 - 3:26 pm 46. Chuck Pelto:TO: Jon
RE: I’m Reminded Of….
…what Harry S. Truman said about something like this….
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Jun 27, 2009 - 6:15 pm 47. Jim Baker:[But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. -- Proverbs]
Who cares what happens to Sanford? What a clown act. Republicans are just slower paced versions of Social Democrats anyway.
Jun 27, 2009 - 6:32 pm 48. Jon:Chuck, either way, both are very serious. It shows the complete lack of moral fiber that Sanford has. Sanford SHOULD step down and forget about running for President in 2012, or any time. I’ll be honest–I had CONSIDERED supporting him in 2012, but it’s now either Jindal or Palin. (I’m leaning towards Jindal at the moment.)
Jun 27, 2009 - 6:54 pm 49. Pat J:I think the whole thing is disgusting. The man was off the grid for five days. And what a hell of a Father’s Day for his sons. Impeach the asshole.
Jun 27, 2009 - 8:16 pm 50. Kimberly Thurman:If Gov. Sanford and anybody else for that matter believes that he continue to govern and deal with this issue at the same time needs a lesson in reality. Sanford is NOT going to be able to say “Kings X”, lets just start over. Undoubtedly he and his wife, the mistress and his children are going to be consumed with it for months and years to come. This is not a minor issue for a family, this is a major fracture. He can not continue as governor.
Jun 27, 2009 - 10:15 pm 51. eor:My thoughts also were with the children. If the governor wants to put things right with himself and God he’d better darned well spend his time with his children. If he was doing what he should with them, he would have no time with a paramour.
Jun 27, 2009 - 11:45 pm 52. Patsy:How about we come up with a better plan than butchering the guy?
He needs to step down. His emotional state has led him to make some less than stellar decisions.
I don’t know what the law in SC is, but governors do not routinely turn over the governance of their state to the Lt. Gov when they go off to say the Republican Governor’s meetings. I don’t think many do so when they leave the country. Communications are a beautiful thing.
This talk of putting his state in jeopardy is insane. Rules are clear that if a governor can’t be reached in an emergency, he’s considered incapacitated and the Lt. steps in. What kind of danger can a governor possibly avert anyway?
But instead of throwing him under the bus or pretending this didn’t happen, how about we encourage him to make some right decisions, continue marriage counseling with his wife and get some personal counseling as to why he decided to self-destruct? Like maybe we behave like a community instead of a pool of piranha?
Jun 28, 2009 - 12:17 am 53. Jon Threlkeld:Why stop at the curb? I have ZERO sympathy for these self-absorbed egomaniacs of either party. Kick his sorry butt out of the governorship. Out of the Republican Party. Out of the US and, perhaps to Argentina…elected office from dog-catcher to president is a public trust and presumes competence and personal responsibility. It is not the place where one sorts out their personal life at the expense of the people who elected them.
Jun 28, 2009 - 4:18 am 54. Leon Ives:I’m always disappointed when I learn of such stories within our own Republican Party. Once again I here in Baghdad observing total chaos. Wondering will America one day be reduced to chaos? I watching friends and good Soldiers die or return home with crippling disabilities while our politicians back home continue to play games with our country and steal our taxes. When I was home last time I wrote, American Tradition & Leadership: Take Back America. I formed a grass roots organization and with a few friends put together a free website, http://www.americantraditionandleadership.org. A website meant to help YOU take control of our politicians and the liberal Democrats Secular and Progressive movement. I just didn’t have the money or means to promote the book and ATL. After the last elections I stopped all personal donations to the GOP, NRCC, NRSC and my national and local level politicians. I believed in supporting them, but they are no longer leading my country and representing our nation. They use their office and position as a means and opportunity for power and greed. Not one of privilege and honor. Most all of them were or became selfish hypocrites. Saying one thing and doing another. Same with many Americans. Too many of our good citizens are just sitting on their butts refusing to fight or to get involved at any meaningful level. We could control the sorry politicians if we stood up to them. Hell, I have seen the Iraqis and now the Iranians with more guts then the average American who is asleep at the wheel. Complacent with what was handed to them only two hundred years ago and not smart or strong enough to take it back. Check out ATL. I did it all for free – for YOU – for OUR country. That’s why my sons and I continue to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. We know the enemy is out there and when we become too weak they will come and get us. Just like they did on September 11. Just like they have done dozens of other times around the world. Wake up people. For the politicians to control this country we must control them Go on line and join ATL. It is free. Write your Representatives, call them on the phone. Go visit them at their office. You would never allow such behavior in your own house. Well, this is your house. It is your country. It is your children’s future.
Jun 28, 2009 - 6:33 am 55. Francis W. Porretto:Are you sinless, Miss Grabar, and therefore entitled to cast the first stone?
Sanford strayed. Many men stray. He shouldn’t have; that’s beyond my power to dispute. But this wasn’t exactly on a par with Bill Clinton’s sodomitic relationship with Monica Lewinsky, now, was it?
I await the day conservatives and Republican partisans admit that, however high our standards, each and every one of us will occasionally fail to meet them. It’s the way God made us. Meanwhile, I remind you of the Eleventh Commandment:
“Thou shalt speak no ill of a fellow Republican.” — Ronald Reagan.
…and reflect on how the Democrats routinely circle the wagons around such scum as Bill Clinton, Barney Frank, Mel Reynolds, Gerry Studds, Jesse Jackson, Eliot Spitzer, Jim McGreevey, et cetera ad nauseam infinitam.
Jun 28, 2009 - 11:55 am 56. Chuck Pelto:TO: Francis W. Porretto
RE: Heh
A Republican is as a Republican does.
As someone put it about 2000 years ago….
Sanford is, by behavior, NOT a ‘Republican’.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. About Clinton and Monica
Actually….
…..it IS. Too bad you can’t recognize that.
Jun 28, 2009 - 1:34 pm 57. sheesh:56 Chuck Pelto . . . OK, you’re right. Sanford is NOT a Republican. Actually he’s a Democrat . . . Fox News says so. Thank god you’re smart enough to follow their lead.
Jun 28, 2009 - 3:22 pm 58. Will:HE SHOULD GO RIGHT NOW !!!!
Jun 28, 2009 - 3:47 pm 59. Meryl:It’s getting tiresome and silly.
Forget that Sanford committed adultery. Even for those opposed to adultery, that is not the problem that should remove him here.
Just think “secular ethics” (since our schools now pretend to be in a favor of “character-building” since they no longer allow “God-talk” about not lying and stuff)….
Secular ethics isn’t real big on:
1. Chief officer of a State disappearing deliberately.
2. Chief officer of a State lying about his whereabouts.
3. Chief officer of a State lying to his staff.
4. Chief officer os a State completely abdicating his responsibilities and leaving the country, for crying out loud, without turning his authority over to his second.
THESE are the reasons he needs to be thrown on his rear end. It has nothing to do with Argentina or Mrs. Sanford or e-mails.
He’s an undependable, selfish, lying, irresponsible individual who is willing to violate his oath of office just because he needs some space.
Just pretend he went backpacking in Peru all by himself, for the same period of time. Everything I have said still applies. It’s not about adultery or personal sin.
Jun 28, 2009 - 3:51 pm 60. larry hagedon:I am a lifelong Conservative and I say Sanford needs to be impeached immediately. Going back to American Family Values is the only thing that will save the Republican Party.
Jun 28, 2009 - 4:19 pm 61. Bad Karma:Which is why we should bounce right back at them. Has Sanford done a decent job? Has he met the expectations of his position? The Democrats are famous for not only letting the exploits of their people slide, but celebrate it. Was Sanford wrong, absolutely, but why is the right always badgered when these incidents happen, yet they celebrate the actions of Ted “the swimmer”, JFK, Frank, and the list goes on. If the people want him to step down, then so be it, if not, move on.
Jun 28, 2009 - 9:30 pm 62. uburoisc:If I tried to take a trip to Vegas to get busy with my girlfriend, and then wrote the trip off as company business, I would expect to be be fired for it. My employers would not be sympathetic to what would clearly be an attempt to defraud them, and would not be placated if I offered to repay them after I was busted for it; they would never trust me again. Can him.
Jun 29, 2009 - 6:54 am 63. David Levavi:41. myth buster:
When you learn Hebrew and are properly equipped to read the Hebrew Bible, come back and talk to me, fool.
Jun 29, 2009 - 3:58 pm 64. David Levavi:41. myth buster:
When you learn Hebrew and are properly equipped to read the Hebrew Bible, come back and talk to me, fool. And the name is Levavi. Translates to Hearty or Hardy in the latter day spelling.
Jun 29, 2009 - 4:00 pm 65. sheesh:There’s no room left at the curb . . . it’s littered with family values conservatives.
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:08 pm 66. WR Jonas:To poster named tanslaafl; I have read many comments by you and I am not sure ,as if one ever is, if you are who you seem to be. You write with a great degree of assurance that your superior knowledge and perspective gives your opinion weight and credibility.
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:35 pm 67. ddc:I wish to correct a mistaken assumption you have expressed. That is that God ( no quotes ) will judge you and he will not judge you harshly.
He will not judge you , for all judgment is placed in the hands of his Son Jesus Christ. It is he whom you should consider, for he is ready to forgive all who call upon him . It is up to you make that decision. It is a momentous thing and requires the surrender of ones ego and pride.
You can receive Him and know your salvation has been assured or you may doubt your whole life. But inevitably you are the responsible party.
I really can no longer be a Republican. I give up trying to support the unsupportable.
The party hypocracy is off the charts. There is nothing to believe in anymore. Boxing themselves into a corner on a Conservative passtime such as watching OTHER’S Families only to find out later how they covered-up the cannibalization of their own young in an effort to “escape” their OWN Family is not what I would call people or a party I can believe in.
The Republican party has become the party of losers. Sadly it deserves it.
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:36 pm