As a general rule, I am not too fond of Republicans, although there are always exceptions, especially when a person forges their own path, rather than following their party straight down the line. Though I never heard his name before this week, I am going to have to add South Carolina's Mark Sanford to my "cool" list.
For those who are not abreast of this minor hullaballo, Gov. Sanford went MIA for four days, from last Thursday through Monday. Apparently, neither his staff, nor his wife, knew his exact whereabouts. In reviewing this story from the Associated Press, it is said that the Gov is a little offbeat in general, known to take solo excursions after particularly draining legislative sessions. So where's the problem? Apparently, Governor Sanford's staff, out of a misguided notion of "saving face" erroneously informed the press that the man was hiking on Appalachian trails. In reality, he made book for Argentina, allegedly to "write and drive along the coastline."
I would say this must be a slow news week, but that's not true. Obama is battling it out over health care, the flare ups on the streets of Iran are still at the forefront, and Jon and Kate are divorcing for God's sake! So why is this getting so much attention? Well, in my opinion, it is simply because we expect our politicians to behave in a buttoned up, predictable way. When they go off the rails and show they are not just sound bite drones, it is intriguing. The good people of SC, or at least other State officials, are "angry" that Governor Sanford's staff purposely mislead them as to his whereabouts. A political staff lying? Shocking!!!
Further research shows that Governor Sanford is far from afraid to irritate members of his own party, and frequently does things that are a bit unorthodox. This quote from the AP story makes this point clear:
"The governor has long been known as a loner — bucking GOP leadership during three U.S. House terms and casting the only dissenting vote on Medicaid coverage for some breast and cervical cancer treatment. He clashes often with the Republicans who control both chambers of his state Legislature, once famously carrying two piglets to the door of the House in opposition to what he said was pork-barrel spending."
Call me cynical, but I suspect Gov. Sanford's real "crime" is his failure to be controlled. Bravo sir!
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I was starting to write a long post pointing out all the ways in which Sanford is an asshole, but I figure you have Google and can see it yourself. Whatever token fights he's picked with members of his own party shouldn't obscure the fact that he was willing to screw over the citizens of his state (particularly the poor black child citizens) in order to raise his standing with the kinds of people who vote in GOP primaries.
ReplyDelete(And I know I've kind of been polluting your comments threads. But current affairs get me motivated. Sorry.)
Becky, there's a lot more to this story than Sanford's "failure to be controlled."
ReplyDelete1) His staff willfully lied to the public.
2) Sanford was apparently out of touch for almost 4 days straight.
3) He snuck off to a foreign country (where kidnapping, by the way, is prevalent), didn't check in with the embassy, nor did he apparently tell anyone how he could be reached there.
4) He's probably cheating on his wife, as early reports are saying that there's evidence he wasn't alone on this little excursion.
There's more over on my Open Salon blog:
http://open.salon.com/blog/mad_typist/2009/06/24/sanfords_whereabouts_part_2_electric_bugaloo
Consider me schooled, Sanjiv and Mad Typist! I am not afraid to be wrong, and welcome any and all learning opportunities. Sanjiv, no such thing as "polluting" my comment threads. Keep the debate going.
ReplyDelete