During breaks, and times the training moderator wasn’t watching, I watched with fascination loathing on Twitter the saga of Mark Sanford. Yes, I’m sure everyone knows all about this by now, but, bear with me
Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina, said he had conducted an extra-marital affair with a woman in Argentina, ending a mystery over his week-long disappearance that had infuriated lawmakers and seemed to put his rising political career in jeopardy. He apologized for the affair and the deception surrounding his trip in a rambling, nationally televised news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Way to go, you idiot. You know, there is a part in the book Do As I Say (Not As You Do) about when Conservatives are hypocritical, they tend to hurt themselves, but when Liberals are hypocritical they hurt many others while profiting. What is meant by “hurt themselves” is that they tend to hurt themselves individually as well as possibly friends and family. In this case, it wasn’t just his family – and good for his wife for saying “see ya!” unlike so many political spouses – he has hurt the Republican/Conservative cause. Thanks. Preciate ya.
But, just to step back a second from the outrage flowing around the blogosphere from conservatives, let’s not forget that he broke no laws. To repeat, he broke no laws. Being an a.. um, jerk, is not a crime. We should not “circle the wagons,” as one typically unhinged site is wondering if that will happen. But, neither should we go overboard in condemning Sanford for being an unfaithful spouse. He does need to go, because, if he cannot be trusted to be faithful to his wife of 4 children, how can we trust him to serve in government. Let’s also remember, most politicians are not the best of people.
But, I do find it highly amusing, and hypocritical, that the same folks on the left who have told us for over a decade that what happened to William Jefferson Clinton was no big deal, because it was just about sex, and should remain private, but, Sanford is a big deal to them, despite it being just about sex. Of course, as most who live in the Reality Reality Based Community understand, it wasn’t about sex, it was about lying to a federal grand jury about said sex, plus some of the same other charges Scooter Libby was nailed on. Perhaps using the word nailed in this discussion should be avoided.
So, just remember, while Sanford is still an as… jerk, there are bigger fish to fry. Amazingly, the Credentialed Media has still pretty much ignored all the land deal chicanery by Harry Reid, barely mentions William “Cold Cash” Jefferson, and can barely raise an eyebrow over the possibly illegal firing of an Inspector General, among other Democrat hits. Go easy on the outrage at Sanford. We do better when our folks do stupid things, but, again, he broke no law.
