Video: Congressman preemptively apologizes for extramarital affair
posted at 7:20 pm on June 24, 2009 by Allahpundit
To cleanse the palate, an oldie but goodie reposted by the Onion this afternoon in honor of Governor Happypants. Few people realize it yet but there’s a fascinating rift opening between those who think Sanford’s a pure scumbag for cheating and those who sympathize with a guy who pretty clearly has fallen in love. The boss is firmly in the first camp, and for once she has some lefties on her side: Witness this piece at Trueslant by Michael Roston, bowled over by the eloquence and dignity displayed this afternoon by Sanford’s wife Jenny. In the second camp: No one yet, but given some of the cooing I’m seeing over Sanford’s love letters to his mistress and the obvious depth of affection he has for her, it won’t be long before he has his qualified defenders too (e.g., “He shouldn’t have cheated, but…”). Which is more forgivable, a roll in the hay or an affair of the heart? The latter’s a graver threat to his marriage but it also suggests that he wouldn’t have hurt his wife unless he felt very, very deeply.
Exit question: So we’re all agreed that “hiking the Appalachian trail” is now officially sexual slang, yes?
Update: Here’s our first member of that second camp I mentioned. “I feel awful for Sanford’s wife and kids. But compared with all the cheaters who have gone before him, I don’t think less of him for genuinely loving the other woman or for admitting it. It beats the hell out of seducing somebody, kicking her to the curb, and pretending she was nothing to you—or really meaning it.”
Congressman Offers Preemptive Apology For Extramarital Affair
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Jenny Sanford soon to be smeared by feminists.
SouthernGent on June 24, 2009 at 7:25 PM
I cant decide if I like the video or not…..strange
marktarheel on June 24, 2009 at 7:26 PM
See what happens when a guy lets the little head think for the big head.
GarandFan on June 24, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Most definitly. “That sparking thing” will go down in history as well…
Emily M. on June 24, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Depends on the woman.
boomer on June 24, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Oh, brother! That’s naive! Some guys justify their adultery by pretending to be in love. It’s just another way to rationalize bad behavior.
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Ugh. That should be *definitely.
Emily M. on June 24, 2009 at 7:28 PM
If his wife had been fighting breast cancer, he’d still be a viable candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination, right?
trubble on June 24, 2009 at 7:29 PM
Yes , both men and women do that. Taking a break from a boring and stressful life.
the_nile on June 24, 2009 at 7:29 PM
Did he say he’d be on the Appalachian trail? He meant the Argentinean tail…simple misunderstanding.
TheBigOldDog on June 24, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Funny video, and yes, my vocabulary has now expended. ;-)
itzWicks on June 24, 2009 at 7:32 PM
Thanks for trying AP but it will take something a little stronger than that to “cleanse the pallet”. I’m bummed, really bummed.
Amadeus on June 24, 2009 at 7:33 PM
Yes. Which has now officially replaced my usual, “Honey, let’s go have a cloture vote.”
myrenovations on June 24, 2009 at 7:33 PM
er, expanded. Gads, time for me to hit the Appalachian Trail!
itzWicks on June 24, 2009 at 7:33 PM
In order to fall in love, you have to get close to someone. People who are married generally don’t get that close to other people. Did his wife know about their frequent email exchange? Would he have been ok for his wife to see what they were talking about? Probably not. He knew what he was doing, what the possibility was of his interaction with this woman. He chose not to care.
Karol on June 24, 2009 at 7:33 PM
The people that are “cooing” wouldn’t be so sympathetic if THEY were the wife. Gross.
Keep these two things in mind:
1) Don’t cheat on your wife. You said some vows. How would you feel if the role was reversed?
2) If you want to be with someone else, divorce your wife. At least have the guts to tell her and not sneak around and lie. Disgusting.
3) Ladies, if a guy cheated on someone else to be with you, more often than not, they’ll cheat on you someday also.
yellow_railroad on June 24, 2009 at 7:33 PM
Most definitely.
And the bonus – if he cheated on one woman – odds are he’ll cheat again.
tru2tx on June 24, 2009 at 7:35 PM
Those emails are about as seductive as an Air Supply cassingle. Still, the guy sure sounds crazy for her, and I feel weird judging that. Kinda reminds me of the recent story about the mayor from Texas who went to Mexico to live with his illegal immigrant boyfriend, the heart wants what the heart wants and all.
On the other hand, hard to feel too tenderly toward a hypocrite who cheated on his wife. I don’t see any hypocrisy in the fact that he said Clinton should be impeached, after all, Clinton lied under oath. But the sanctity of marriage folks have something to answer for.
Siobhan on June 24, 2009 at 7:35 PM
Damn I cant spell today. Palate, I meant Palate, not Pallet.
I Quit
Amadeus on June 24, 2009 at 7:36 PM
Yeah. Though he could have been honest and said he was just boning up on his foreign affairs.
malclave on June 24, 2009 at 7:36 PM
It amazes me that there are people who still don’t get that.
Siobhan on June 24, 2009 at 7:37 PM
You know, I almost was going to say that having an emotional affair is less toolish than meeting a hooker in a hotel room, but it really isn’t.
In fact, the whole emotional component of this just pisses me off more. The guy should have gotten a divorce, when you start to fall in love with a woman other than your wife, it’s not overnight. You had every chance to talk to your wife and say, hey, I feel like we’re drifting apart. Instead, you said nothing, disregarded your family, and wrote cute little emails.
What a tool. And because of him, we’re out a guy who seemed solid, and we’re thrown off message on pressing the hell out of Big Brother’s magically fading agenda.
Thanks, jackass.
John_Locke on June 24, 2009 at 7:37 PM
you’ll have to excuse him. he only imagines affairs.
I_C on June 24, 2009 at 7:37 PM
Here’s an idea:
Let’s douche out the entire political system and vote in fresh new faces. Then let’s enforce term limits. Problem solved.
ErinF on June 24, 2009 at 7:38 PM
Naked hiking the Argentinian Trail.
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 7:40 PM
Sorry, that was horribly written.
Another thing that drives me nuts: Sanford looks like a total moron. The grammar in those cute little emails is horrendous. Also, he can’t spell lightning right. Come on.
John_Locke on June 24, 2009 at 7:40 PM
Like minds… you beat me to it!
tru2tx on June 24, 2009 at 7:40 PM
Naked hiking the Argentinian Tail is even better.
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 7:40 PM
The majority of these people are in politics not to serve but for the power and what they can steal w/o being caught. They pick a side based and use the rhetoric of the side on which they think they can win based on local conditions. They are all inherently untrustworthy. We need REAL change and by the time Obama is done, people will be ready for it.
TheBigOldDog on June 24, 2009 at 7:40 PM
I love hiking the Appalachian trail.
…I mean…I lived there…so….
Mommypundit on June 24, 2009 at 7:41 PM
Apparently Argentina is the place to go.
Mommypundit on June 24, 2009 at 7:41 PM
Epic win.
rogue780 on June 24, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Beats driving the Hersey highway — in Hersey, Pennsylvania.
rbj on June 24, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Maybe Nixon was right, maybe we do need hot women in the GOP, they don’t seem to have as many marital issues as male politicians.
John_Locke on June 24, 2009 at 7:42 PM
OK – One Republican and one Democrat who can’t keep it in their pants. I guess it’s a wash.
RobCon on June 24, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Sanford enjoys jumping on the Argentinean Tail.
TheBigOldDog on June 24, 2009 at 7:43 PM
So many nights I have stood in the moonlight
Watching it fade with the dawn
Wanting her with me, warm in the moonlight
Fearing that moment was gone
Out of mind, out of sight,
Till the moon rose tonight
Then all at once, I felt a chill
In a spill of moonlight, she was there
Though we both held very still
There was something pulling in the air
When she whispered through the dark
I tried hard to hold my ground
I believed I had a choice
Till the music in her voice
Turned my whole world around
PercyB on June 24, 2009 at 7:46 PM
One? There’s many of each.
Darth Executor on June 24, 2009 at 7:47 PM
I don’t think less of him for genuinely loving the other woman or for admitting it. It beats the hell out of seducing somebody, kicking her to the curb, and pretending she was nothing to you—or really meaning it.”
Yeah, Maybe his wife is a real bitch! (sarc)
faol on June 24, 2009 at 7:48 PM
He took a vow. he broke it. Doesn’t mater why. Once the trust in a relationship is gone, it can never be rebuilt. Never.
Anyone who cheats on their spouse is a scumbag. The destruction that follows such a thing can cause grief as deep as a death. It will tear a family apart, and can have deep ramifications for a child who trusted the parent.
You wanna play the field? Get a divorce first.
respects,
AW1 Tim on June 24, 2009 at 7:49 PM
Tell you what, I couldn’t see Bubba ever writing anything like that to Lewinski. Bang, zoom, off to the next meeting.
Jim Treacher on June 24, 2009 at 7:50 PM
Jim Treacher on June 24, 2009 at 7:50 PM
Yes, but at the time he was a man of power and men of power often have affairs so it was O.K..
faol on June 24, 2009 at 7:52 PM
How about “my third leg will be dancing”.
the_nile on June 24, 2009 at 7:53 PM
-
Fits in well with… doing a tick check…
RalphyBoy on June 24, 2009 at 7:58 PM
Yes, I bet that was the last straw with Mrs. Sanford.
myrenovations on June 24, 2009 at 7:59 PM
AP gets a very sexy come on via Twitter:
AP’s reply:
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 7:59 PM
LOL!
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 8:00 PM
You know that “very sexy come on” was from a guy, right?
Allahpundit on June 24, 2009 at 8:03 PM
Yes. Don’t be so damn picky!
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 8:07 PM
I dunno about that. Today and tomorrow Leno and Co. will do the jokes, by Saturday everyone will have moved on. By next week nobody will even remember who he is.
angryed on June 24, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Many of histories greatest men have had the same weakness, but unless Sanford is the next Ben Franklin or Einstein the scale doesn’t tip in his favor.
FloatingRock on June 24, 2009 at 8:08 PM
I’m sure if we took a ladies poll only, they would all agree with your twitter admirer.
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 8:08 PM
See, I might have an ounce of respect for the man if he could admit to his wife that he had fallen in love with someone else, and began the process of ending the marriage before sleeping with this new gal.
That would at least be being honest, without trying to have one’s cake and, *ahem*, eat it too.
As it is, screw him. And good riddance.
Hawkins1701 on June 24, 2009 at 8:08 PM
The jokes will be about Sanford, but they won’t be joking about the Dumocrat who did the same thing.
TruthToBeTold on June 24, 2009 at 8:09 PM
Anyone who’s been married for more than 5 minutes can understand that temptation is out there. But alas, it’s a commitment, and the word “commitment” means you stick with it even during times you don’t feel like it, including when you’re tempted. Anyone can stick with a commitment like marriage when it’s easy and fun, but the true test of whether or not you really meant those vows is when it’s not easy and not fun.
thirteen28 on June 24, 2009 at 8:14 PM
As long as he is hot and maybe Argentinian, we’ll accept you.
myrenovations on June 24, 2009 at 8:16 PM
I have to admit that I think a little better of him knowing he actually cares about this girl. It doesn’t make me feel better about the affair and doesn’t at all make it alright. If he felt that way about her, he should have divorced his wife. Unless she was somehow forcing him to stay married, nothing excuses cheating. If they were in love, they could have waited.
I also think it was a double offense to his wife, cheating not just physically, but emotionally as well, so it also makes me more sympathetic to her and their children.
Esthier on June 24, 2009 at 8:17 PM
Why the insistence that loving someone requires you to experience orgasm in there presence (usually with their assistance)?
Count to 10 on June 24, 2009 at 8:18 PM
Are you kidding me? He should’ve manned up, forgotten about it and continued to fulfill his marital vows. Leave following your feelings no matter who you hurt to the liberals.
Darth Executor on June 24, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Oh, how I dearly miss those “high altitude” excursions.
Rovin on June 24, 2009 at 8:25 PM
I’m gonna hike that Appalachian Trail all the way to Malkin Hollow.
LimeyGeek on June 24, 2009 at 8:29 PM
R.I.P. fool………
Rovin on June 24, 2009 at 8:31 PM
Well, there you have it. Yet another democrat/liberal with no morals or integrity.
pitter43 on June 24, 2009 at 8:34 PM
I’m just thinking like a wife. If my husband is in love with someone else, he’s already hurt me more than a divorce ever possibly could. I wouldn’t want that kind of charity and can’t imagine any woman would.
Would you really want someone to stay with you even if you’re not the person they love?
Esthier on June 24, 2009 at 8:34 PM
Lessons in life from Mr. T
LimeyGeek on June 24, 2009 at 8:35 PM
Yes. For the sweet, sweet smell of revenge…..and imminent ‘gun cleaning accident’.
LimeyGeek on June 24, 2009 at 8:36 PM
I’m tellin’ ya, those South American cuties are smokin’ hot! I don’t begrudge the brutha for chasin’ the Latinas…because they are wise dontchaknow.
Besides, sounds like the nuptuals were long since dead and buried anyways…
Wyznowski on June 24, 2009 at 8:39 PM
I hear those things get awful dirty.
Esthier on June 24, 2009 at 8:40 PM
I wonder if Sanford’s wife feels like she was kicked to the curb and that she and their children meant nothing to him.
ProfessorMiao on June 24, 2009 at 8:40 PM
If you’re doin’ it right…
LimeyGeek on June 24, 2009 at 8:45 PM
If I’m Sandford’s wife, after hearing that remark about the dear, dear other woman, and how he had to consider his fiduciary duties, and what was right for his children, I’m thinking not only did this dirt bag who I have given 20 years of my life too and 4 sons just cheat on me and publicly acknowledge pretty much that he is in love with another woman, but I’m thinking I’m about to become his worst, worst nightmare.
church on June 24, 2009 at 8:50 PM
This guy should be run out of politics just for being so stupid.
church on June 24, 2009 at 8:52 PM
You’re asking “if”? You don’t know? No wonder he found love elsewhere! I wouldn’t be dipping my quill into an indeterminate inkpot, why should he?
You crazy hatstand. Blah! Tish pshoo and nonsense!
LimeyGeek on June 24, 2009 at 8:53 PM
You’re asking “if”? You don’t know?
I know I’m not his wife. But I do know IF I were he would be in for a long and miserable divorce battle.
church on June 24, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Are we related????
Dr Evil on June 24, 2009 at 8:56 PM
Quick what’s your mother’s maiden name LOL!
Dr Evil on June 24, 2009 at 8:57 PM
“He took a vow. he broke it.”
-
Might one equally apply that to ‘Preserve, Protect and Defend the Constitution…’ ?
.
/just askin’
CaveatEmpty on June 24, 2009 at 9:01 PM
If you have a dear friend that you share your deep dark secrets, wishes and desires with and it’s not your spouse, you need to spend less time nurturing that friendship and more time working on your marriage.
For the most part, there aren’t arranged marriages in this country. You married that person by choice and, in most cases, vowed to stick with them in good and bad till death do you part.
Bad doesn’t just mean 5 minutes when they interrupted your game watching and asked you to take out the trash. It also includes the 6 months of working through the fact you’re ‘just not feeling the marriage’ anymore. It includes the fact that he never remembers your birthday and she is constantly ‘nagging’. In the absence of abuse, you work on your marriage.
He may not have started out emailing her with the intention of cheating, but, there were many moments early on where he probably thought, “She really gets me”, “It’s so much easier to talk to her than my wife”, “This is wrong…but…well, we’re not really doing anything but talking”. As the person that took the vows, he had a responsibility to end that friendship to save his marriage and he chose not to.
It’s not more touching that he seems to genuinely love her. All that means is that he spent more time working on the illicit relationship than your average ‘motivated by lust’ cheater.
JadeNYU on June 24, 2009 at 9:05 PM
At least he didn’t cheat on his mistress with someone else. He’s a philanderer, but a monogamous philanderer.
JDwinston on June 24, 2009 at 9:21 PM
He’s a dem. He will win his next
erectionelection.JeffinOrlando on June 24, 2009 at 9:26 PM
I think the part of the vow..”for better or worse…” covers that. Sometimes you don’t get everything you want, and you have to honor commitments you made.
Okay, maybe I will always think I loved this other woman, but you are the mother of our kids, I have spent far more time with you in this life and I made a commitment to do my best by you regardless of what it costs me. Life isn’t perfect, nor is love. Man up, as the comment went, and do your duty. God is not somebody you break faith with lightly. I suggest you have really good reasons. It costs me a lot to tell this woman to go away, but that is what I said I would do.
And possibly at a future point you may get really lucky and find that the call you made when you were young and relatively stupid was actually the best decision you ever made, and the other lady was pretty, but my real love is beside me. If you aren’t lucky, then maybe you have to set things aright and divorce.
You marry someone, live and grow with them for decades and toss it all for someone you have spent, relatively, a tenth of the time with? Doesn’t sound like a good bet to me.
I am quite appalled with Sanford and Ensign. I am glad they are resigning their positions rather than pretending nothing happened, but it really is a bummer to see two “pretty smart” guys on our side who can’t keep it zipped and honor the most holy commitment (IMO) a guy can make.
Maybe the world has gone nuts after all…
Harry Schell on June 24, 2009 at 9:27 PM
Sanford’s does. And anyway, I was commenting on what Sanford himself should do. His wife gave him the opportunity, even though she had every right to ditch his ass.
Darth Executor on June 24, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Well, for the record, I do think the sumbitch is a scumbag…but it’s not just because he cheated on his wife.
See, cheating on her was bad enough; it was a betrayal of his vows to her, as well as a slap in the collective faces of those four precious boys of theirs. I’m sure he’s “sorry” – sorry he did it? Sorry he got caught? Sorry he was so sloppy in the execution of his little hiking trip? Nobody knows the answer to that except Gov. Sanford.
No, I give Gov. Sanford additional scumbag points because, despite his position within the public eye and the responsibilities that go with the office that he sought and was elected to – he couldn’t control his case of “hot pants” long enough to consider the potential fallout, for him, his wife, his family, and his state. The intelligent course of action would have been to resist the urge to take a secret trip to Argentina – or the Appalachian Trail, for that matter – and to behave like the husband, father, and chief executive he claimed to be. Instead, he brought a lot of unwelcome attention to a situation that should have been dealt with behind closed doors, and caused his wife to issue a public statement that no woman wants to write.
I don’t care if he “genuinely” loves the Argentine woman. He hasn’t done anyone any favors here. I’m no angel in this regard, believe me, but I do know that the way a relationship begins has a great deal of influence on the way it continues. A man who will cheat with you, will cheat on you. And a man who cheats – especially when the whole world is watching – will have a hard time being trusted by anyone, ever again.
uncivilized on June 24, 2009 at 9:33 PM
I’m getting a special feeling.
kahall on June 24, 2009 at 9:47 PM
Hey, anybody game for the Pacific Crest Trail?
Sapwolf on June 24, 2009 at 9:50 PM
I’m the most cynical. I doubt the special friend is going to really find him all that alluring once he’s out of a job, has no future in politics and no real skills to speak of, other than politics, which he killed, is now available 24-7, and looking to be supported by her.
Methinks the bloom will be off that rose.
AnninCA on June 24, 2009 at 9:58 PM
Why is it ONLY the man’s fault? Why not nail him with book 1, and then nail her with the second book (spanish version)?
I don’t understand. I was taught that adultery is a sin commited by both people.
Sapwolf on June 24, 2009 at 10:05 PM
I guess my husband and I do this more than once a year now.
KelliD on June 24, 2009 at 10:07 PM
The reason everyone laughed at the Appalachian Trail b.s. is because Sanford looks like someone who would rather spend 4 days in a library than hiking. It would be like Britney Spears spending 4 days at a museum.
Speedwagon82 on June 24, 2009 at 10:18 PM
She probably showed up for her job. :)
AnninCA on June 24, 2009 at 10:18 PM
He came from money, has an MBA, and has become both successful and wealthy on his own. He has many skills outside politics.
Blake on June 24, 2009 at 10:31 PM
Wonder how much of that money the wife will keep? He better have some authentic business skills. MBAs are a dime a dozen.
AnninCA on June 24, 2009 at 10:35 PM
1. You mean like he did to his WIFE?
2. So, what makes the Argentinian hussy think she’s not going to someday have the same happen to her at the hands of this little boy?
Send_Me on June 24, 2009 at 10:45 PM
The Onion piece needs to have the wife step to the microphone as the husband leaves and state how she premptively forgives him and will give him a second chance in the morning, maybe after a medical examination for STDs.
Yes, I do think spouses should get a second chance, but I’ve not heard enough remorse or repentance from any of the offenders, though that conversation might have been in private.
AnotherOpinion on June 24, 2009 at 10:54 PM
Age. He’s getting too old. The next wife will be the one to take care of him.
AnninCA on June 24, 2009 at 11:02 PM
I agree with Michelle.
It takes a long time to hike the Appalachian Trail but swarmy Sanford was off the beaten path for 8 years…that’s too long.
HellCat on June 24, 2009 at 11:05 PM
He never struck me as a major contender, really. Just another guy.
AnninCA on June 24, 2009 at 11:11 PM
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