Sanford implodes, admits affair
posted at 2:55 pm on June 24, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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I had written a post about the saga of the curious case of the missing Governor, Mark Sanford, but events have surpassed my original thoughts. It now turns out that the Appalachian Trail story was a ruse to cover a meeting with Sanford’s mistress in Argentina, which makes Sanford the most famous Republican on foreign affairs at the moment:
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford aknowledged Wednesday that he was carrying on an affiar with a woman in Argentina when he disappeared from his office last week, only to resurface this morning.
Sanford said he would resign as chairman of the Republican Governors Association and asked for forgiveness from his wife and four sons.
Safe to say that after having his official spokesman lie to the press to cover the affair, Sanford’s career in national politics has just ended. It’s a shame that it came to this, but Sanford brought it on himself.
Once again, this clip from South Park seems appropriate:
The lesson: If you want to have a career in national politics, keep it in your pants. If you want to conduct affairs, stay out of politics. If you use your public office to lie to your constituents and your family, you deserve everything coming your way. No sniveling.
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Let’s compare and contrast to Spitzer.
RobCon on June 24, 2009 at 4:08 PM
I wanted to but I couldn’t come up with anything decent.
Darth Executor on June 24, 2009 at 4:08 PM
Oh my…that almost makes sense…if it was some ordinary women he would not be so “public” about it…
right2bright on June 24, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Excuse me. I have a call from Colombia…….
Limerick on June 24, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Thanks. OK, the woman is horrible too. What is with people?
That’s true. I often give advice that I don’t follow. It isn’t that I don’t believe in it but that it’s difficult advice.
Esthier on June 24, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Cafepress under anti-obama.
HornetSting on June 24, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Please tell me you’re kidding…what Rudy’s issue, because it wasn’t Sanford’s cousin?
LevStrauss on June 24, 2009 at 4:10 PM
A woman with a gun in Tennessee, how original. I’ll ask my wife to let me bring some of her’s also.
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:10 PM
So is Olbydouche on PMSNBC about elitism. Imagine that.
leetpriest on June 24, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Speaking for myself, and admittedly I’m too old now to worry about it, when I was young, if I found out a guy was married I bailed out–then and there. Not because I’m such a great, moral person or anything but because 1) You can’t trust a guy like that 2) It’s just plain wrong to keep going with him.
jeanie on June 24, 2009 at 4:10 PM
HornetSting on June 24, 2009 at 4:08 PM
:) I saw. Stinger out!
bazil9 on June 24, 2009 at 4:10 PM
There’s also the issue that most people here thought it was a non-story and were mad at allah for posting it and at other people for giving it any traction yesterday. Plus, this is pretty big news since one of the few apparently solid fiscal conservatives went down in flames. Ogabe and the dems have free reign to wreck havoc now.
Darth Executor on June 24, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Free Trade…Open Borders…?
right2bright on June 24, 2009 at 4:10 PM
If it ain’t a big deal for Clinton, all Kennedys, etc, etc, etc, then why the h*ll should it be a big deal for this moron?
He had an affair? You know what? He’s got a penis and he’s in politics. Seems to be par for course for most of those idiots…..
mjk on June 24, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Rudy was the other woman.
Darth Executor on June 24, 2009 at 4:11 PM
If he’d have found a way to keep this quiet until closer to the 2012 elections, some Dem dirt digger would have found it out and this would be an even bigger problem for the GOP. Best we find out he’s got no backbone now rather than in 2012.
The party transcends all members, by the way. No bemoaning the end of the GOP. We WILL retake congress in 2010, Sanford’s infidelities be damned.
Obama’s policies pissing off everyone trumps Sanford diddling some Argentinian. Everyone expect’s men to be dogs. Viola. No one expected Obama to be an imbecile (well, except me and few of you, I suppose).
Thunderstorm129 on June 24, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Oh you are so clever. I bet you could steal away to Argentina for 4 or 5 days and not tell anyone AND get away with it, you sly fox.
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Hey… so am I still a troll for calling it this morning?
BPD on June 24, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Resign. Get out now. Nice knowin’ ya.
mankai on June 24, 2009 at 4:12 PM
I don’t think your blow up doll can carry a gun.
HornetSting on June 24, 2009 at 4:12 PM
So much for Sanford giving Palin a run. Jidal still hasn’t recovered from the ‘Mr Rogers’ rebuttal.
Sarah Palin is in full on 2012 mode.
Go Sarah!
Mr Purple on June 24, 2009 at 4:12 PM
Fixed it.
WordsMatter on June 24, 2009 at 4:12 PM
HornetSting on June 24, 2009 at 4:12 PM
ROTFLMAO!
bazil9 on June 24, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Nothing has changed as far as anyone’s ability to stop Obama. Sanford wasn’t the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike.
Thunderstorm129 on June 24, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Reminder to Democrats: It’s OK to lie about sex.
mankai on June 24, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Why do you Yanks move to states below the mason Dixon line to enjoy little – or in your case – no sales tax, when you propose overtaxation and overspending? Why live there if you hate the culture so much? Why not move back up north where you fit in better?
leetpriest on June 24, 2009 at 4:13 PM
When I heard about the Argentina trip this morning, I thought to myself that a man who doesn’t tell his wife where he’s going for almost a week indicates a marriage in deep trouble. Sure enough.
I’ve heard a lot of people say that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to have some time alone (his earlier story), but there’s a big difference between being alone and not letting any one know where you are.
KyMouse on June 24, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Wait just a minute here … has anyone verified that Palin was not in Argentina at the same time?
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Hmm, I didn’t think Felones could own a gun in TN?
Hmmmmmmmmm
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:14 PM
True. Time to get back to being pissed off for more important reasons.
misslizzi on June 24, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Sanford is bright, a true conservative, and a very good Governor. It’s a damn shame he couldn’t keep his peter in his pants!
GFW on June 24, 2009 at 4:15 PM
You need to stop stealing Palin rips from Letterman’s playbook.
leetpriest on June 24, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Letterman just got a get-out-of-jail-free card
Limerick on June 24, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Don’t know was born and raised in the great state of Georgia. Now, I know it is called the Empire State of the South but I was not aware that it made it a Yankee state.
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:15 PM
She’s overseas, visiting the troops. Thank God someone still cares about them.
BPD on June 24, 2009 at 4:15 PM
BTW, Haley Barbour’s chances in 2012 suddenly look a lot better.
starfleet_dude on June 24, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Damn, are you sure he said that?
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:15 PM
:-)
DarkCurrent on June 24, 2009 at 4:16 PM
Best post yet on this thread full of hyperventilating hyperbole.
hillbillyjim on June 24, 2009 at 4:16 PM
Yes, thank god.
And also thank god for Alaskans that she never appears to be in her home state anymore either.
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:16 PM
You would know, you stalk her every move. Didn’t the restraining order say 1000 feet? Do your binoculars have that range?
portlandon on June 24, 2009 at 4:16 PM
.
Unless of course you are Bill Clinton.
ronsfi on June 24, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Felons can’t have guns in Tennessee; that’s why the guns are in the wife’s name…
ladyingray on June 24, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Just how many democratic operatives are out buying whores for the next set-up? All conservatives beware if the opposite sex (or the same sex) starts taking an interest in you from a sexual point of view.
izoneguy on June 24, 2009 at 4:17 PM
I can see her from my window.
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:17 PM
yeah she’s running for president…and that makes people like you VERY afraid!! obviously…
palin…boo…loser…
right4life on June 24, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Let me educate you.
Here’s the hierarchy in terms of personal character and authenticity:
1) Believe in moral values and honor them.
2) Believe in moral values and violate them.
3) Reject moral values and don’t care.
You and your ilk are the vermin in category number 3, the bottom of the barrel.
jeff_from_mpls on June 24, 2009 at 4:18 PM
At least it was a woman and not some man’s behind like Barney Frank. But it was , no pun intended, a blow to the Republican Party.
MaiDee on June 24, 2009 at 4:18 PM
Obviously you spent too much time in Bankhead, and not enough time working peach farms. Maybe you would have learned the difference between right and wrong.
Being a yank is a state of mind for people in your position, where you had the opportunity to grow up in the South, but pissed it away by listening to whatever talking head you worship from PMSNBC or HuffPo.
leetpriest on June 24, 2009 at 4:18 PM
BTW, Haley Barbour’s chances of
in 2012suddenly getting laid look a lot better.starfleet_dude on June 24, 2009 at 4:15 PM
call me bitter :o)
WordsMatter on June 24, 2009 at 4:18 PM
I wonder if the “other woman” in Argentina will have the decency to give an apology of her own to Sanford’s wife and children. No, probably not.
Gosh, he has thrown away the trust and respect (if not love) of his wife and children; his chairmanship of the GOP governor’s association; and a fair chance at becoming the most powerful man on the planet. I wonder if he still thinks she was worth it.
KyMouse on June 24, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Heh, I am surprised Sanford and Ensign did not come out and say they were imitating Bill Clinton.
izoneguy on June 24, 2009 at 4:19 PM
She’s not blameless of course. I think women owe it to EACH OTHER not to be complicit in wrecking each other’s marriages. That said, I still say as I always have that the bulk of the blames lies with the one doing the cheating. Sanford is the person who made the promise to his wife in front of friends, family and God to not forsake her. Therefore, he’s the biggest tool in this scenario. Not to mention how mindblowing it is that he just took off like he did. Forget the affair; I don’t want someone this STUPID in the White House. At least Barry seems to cover his tracks reasonably well.
It’s a pity. I don’t know that he would have been my first choice, but I would have happily voted for him had he gotten the nomination, or I would have been thrilled to see him in Sarah’s or Mittens’s cabinet. But he blew it. Big time.
And speaking of Mittens, this sounds a lot more like his handiwork than it does the Obamamachine (tho I am sure the latter will be only too happy to help spread the sordid details via the SRM). I mean, what would the Zero have to fear about Sanford at this point? He’s generated some interest, but he isn’t topping polls a la Palin and Romney. He’s not a threat to Obama at this point. The only people with something to gain from outing him now are other Republicans, and given that Mitt’s camp has been implicated (tho it is unsubstantiated) in some of the crap that has surfaced post-election about Gov. Palin, I think my money would be on him. Or not him directly, but his supporters or people in his circle. Gov. Palin better watch her back. Huck, too, I guess tho I wouldn’t really care if someone shook his skeletons out of the closet.
NoLeftTurn on June 24, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Adding #4.
4. Accept indiscretions violated by one party by saying the other party does it too.
You are in category 4.
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:19 PM
As opposed to Frank who blows democrats.
izoneguy on June 24, 2009 at 4:20 PM
I can think of about 37% that might agree with you. The other 63% would tell you that you should tend to your own business.
leetpriest on June 24, 2009 at 4:20 PM
bitter.
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Yes, because it sucks to have her as Governor, right? Alaska is the only state to either not be in a recession or be facing the prospects on an imminent recession.
Oh yeah… she’s been out of the state for approximately 2.5 weeks total since the election.
BPD on June 24, 2009 at 4:20 PM
You are so boring.
Ever read much?
If Sarah runs for reelection, she will trounce whoever is her opponent, in the primary and the general.
That is a fact.
Brian1972 on June 24, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Thank God for Ankle Bracelets.
portlandon on June 24, 2009 at 4:21 PM
You’re up awful early/late…
ladyingray on June 24, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Who are you, Putin?… ;p
starfleet_dude on June 24, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Monkei,
Adding #5 just for you: Enjoy drinking more kool-aid.
WordsMatter on June 24, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Yes, thank god the rest of us pay for that luxury with every gallon of oil we buy!
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:22 PM
bitter
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:22 PM
I wonder if the “other woman” in Argentina will have the decency to give an apology of her own to Sanford’s wife and children. No, probably not.
Gosh, he has thrown away the trust and respect (if not love) of his wife and children; his chairmanship of the GOP governor’s association; and a fair chance at becoming the most powerful man on the planet. I wonder if he still thinks she was worth it.
KyMouse on June 24, 2009 at 4:19 PM
They evidently both believe they still have a “special relationship” *puke*
Now that this has been exposed, they will have the “pleasure” of seeing through the eyes of everyone around them how vile this adultery really is.
It will take a while before they come out of the fog, and realize that IT definitely wasn’t worth it. Nor was IT special.
Marsh on June 24, 2009 at 4:23 PM
The earth is round is a fact.
Palin becoming President is a fantasy.
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Nobody is accepting anything.
Quote the BOSS:
You should stop beclowning yourself, really.
Brian1972 on June 24, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Actually most that post here condemn this action. But they’re just making sure that you understand that YOUR party leads the way on sexual infidelity.
leetpriest on June 24, 2009 at 4:23 PM
well I am off to SC to see if Ms Sanford is receiving visitors.
Monkei on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
Let me be clear:
If you’re a conservative seeking high office but can’t keep your pants zipped, please change your party registration. You’d be far more valuable to us as a blue blood Democrat.
jeff_from_mpls on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
I did not say President, I said reelection as Governor of Alaska. Beclowning continues.
Brian1972 on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
That’s a pretty ignorant statement. What about all the food we buy from farms in the midwest? Why should anyone feel ashamed for actually, GASP, producing something in this country? Perhaps you should direct your anger at the coastal cities that don’t produce a damn thing except credit derivatives.
BPD on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
jeff_from_mpls, you forgot another one:
Say you believe in “family values” to better get elected, but do otherwise.
starfleet_dude on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Vaca santa. Sanford está en la mierda profunda. Adios.
txag92 on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Personal gratification takes precedence over honor and commitment and impacts the lives of everyone in what was a family.
He is scum.
goddessoftheclassroom on June 24, 2009 at 4:28 PM
Off topic, but man, did you ever nail that one on the head … I can’t believe The Corner lets that moron post there. Worst. Corner. Poster. EVER.
thirteen28 on June 24, 2009 at 4:28 PM
I should add that people like you who reject moral values don’t believe in nothing; on the contrary, you’ll believe in anything.
In that respect, Sanford has more character than you and your ilk.
jeff_from_mpls on June 24, 2009 at 4:30 PM
Oh, so this is where all the trolls went.
Count to 10 on June 24, 2009 at 4:30 PM
Wow, Sanford manages to get a 500+ comments thread on HotAir!! Of course, he is not in Palin 1000+ comment territory yet, and he had to blow his political chances for all eternity in order to achieve this.
Norwegian on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
All present and accounted for, Sir!
Matticus Finch on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
don’t use oil..you know its destoying gaia…so why don’t you libs give up your cars, and don’t heat your home with fossil fuels…it’ll make you feel so much better about yourself…if thats possible…
right4life on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
Left: It’s OK to lie about sex… Everybody does it… move on!
Right: Get out, jerk.
mankai on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Teams on 3 continents require guidance
DarkCurrent on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Couldn’t let this thread stand at 666 comments.
Sanford is an effen idiot. He should have changed parties if he wanted to do this and not ruin his career.
LegendHasIt on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
It’s either this or defend Obama’s failed leadership.
To be honest, I’d hover here too if I were a Leftist rabble rouser. These are not exactly people who value hard work. Always the low hanging fruit.
jeff_from_mpls on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
That sounds like something lorien would say.
Count to 10 on June 24, 2009 at 4:33 PM
Yes. They could hardly be on threads discussing Obama’s total failures regarding financial matters or his tossing all of the Iranian citizens under the bus. So when a thread about a (R) doing something indefensible is available…Troll ahoy!
DrAllecon on June 24, 2009 at 4:34 PM
Listening to him he says that he has known the other woman for a long time and it was “innocent” — is this supposed to be mitigating? It isn’t. Also, his wife had to know he was down in Argentina boinking the bimbo. She should have just told the truth.
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 4:34 PM
jeff_from_mpls, Sanford’s personal life is his own and what he and his wife choose to do about their marriage is their business. The problem for Republicans is that, just as you’re doing here now, is claiming that Republicans are moral while Democrats somehow aren’t. Needless to say, that’s rich.
starfleet_dude on June 24, 2009 at 4:34 PM
So this is how those 4 little boys get to find out where daddy was on Father’s Day?
Sad.
AZCoyote on June 24, 2009 at 4:34 PM
Hmm, I didn’t think Felones could own a gun in TN?
Hmmmmmmmmm
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:14 PM
What’s a Felones? :)
I am late to the party and I missed the presser so can someone tell me if he is leaving his wife? I was listening to the radio and heard Sean H and Michelle discussing how Sanford will have to resign due to being out of the country without telling anyone.
txag92 on June 24, 2009 at 4:35 PM
It’s more like Republicans want to equate morality with Republicanism. Again, that’s rich.
starfleet_dude on June 24, 2009 at 4:36 PM
I am moral. I have never cheated on a girlfriend or my wife. The fact that you excuse such behavior says that yes, democrats aren’t.
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Oh, snap, I forgot!
He went to fool around with his mistress on Father’s Day?!
Okay, clearly there is something messed up with this guy.
Count to 10 on June 24, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Listening to him he says that he has known the other woman for a long time and it was “innocent” — is this supposed to be mitigating? It isn’t. Also, his wife had to know he was down in Argentina boinking the bimbo. She should have just told the truth.
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 4:34 PM
Maybe she told her H, “Either YOU tell the truth, or *I* will.”
Marsh on June 24, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Why should you care what I think about your marriage, dude? Life isn’t a holier-than-thou contest.
starfleet_dude on June 24, 2009 at 4:40 PM
You and your ilk believe in nothing and deceive yourselves by bragging as if this were some kind of virtue.
I’ll take someone who believes in moral standards but fails to meet them over an aimless nihilist any day.
This isn’t a hard concept to get.
jeff_from_mpls on June 24, 2009 at 4:41 PM
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