Philandering Phail

Just when you thought the blog was going exclusively to sports topics, I can't help but chuckle at this Mark Sanford business. At first I was angry at the possibility that Governor Sanford used taxpayer resources for his adulterous trip to Argentina, but the more that comes out about this story the more humorous it is to me.

I am a registered Republican, but I have no personal stake in the success of the party. I'm not getting as worked-up, therefore, as many movement conservatives. I think a lot of the outrage from the Right comes from their hope that he would challenge Obama in 2012, a hope which Sanford has now destroyed. Do I think he is an asshole for lying and deceiving his wife and children? Yes. But come down from the moral high ground for just a minute and read the facts of this story again and see if you can resist cracking a smile. Here, I'll summarize them for you:

1. Mark Sanford is (was) governor of South Carolina.

2. Mark Sanford was unavailable to the media or colleagues for five days, with an explanation from his staff that he was "writing" or "hiking on the Appalachian trail." When asked by the AP if they had had any contact whatsoever with Sanford, his staff replied "no." The media and fellow elected officials openly questioned his absence.

3. After being spotted at Atlanta airport, which is roughly 275 miles from the Appalachian Trail, Sanford was confronted by a reporter who had a hunch at his whereabouts after being sent alleged emails between Sanford and the woman from an anonymous source. Sanford claimed to the reporter that he had suddenly changed his mind about hiking and went to Argentina instead to "enjoy the coast," apparently telling no one including his staff or family where he was going.

4. After the encounter, the newspaper contacted Sanford's office about the emails, leading to a confession from Sanford...

5. Wait for it...

6. Mark Sanford, the Governor of South Carolina, secretly traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for five days where he gallivanted with an Argentinian mistress with whom he had had an extended affair. Emails between the two lovers have been made public.

I can hear Seth Meyers on SNL now: Really Mark Sanford? Really? You thought, as a governor, you could disappear to South America for five days to cheat on your wife and no one would notice? Really? In a time when many people keep the world abreast of their minute to minute activities via "tweets" and status updates you thought you could just, you know, fly down to Argentina for almost a week and get away with it? And then when you're caught red-handed at the airport your excuse is something like "well, I meant to go hiking, but I, err, decided to enjoy the Argentine coast instead." Oh, and didn't you cite "moral legitimacy" when you voted for President Clinton's impeachment as a member of the House?

Some people are calling for Sanford to step down. Uh, yeah?

Update: It turns out Sanford did visit his mistress during official state business during an economic trip to Argentina. That isn't so funny.