Friday, June 26, 2009

Blame It on Rio

Or in Mark Sanford's case, Buenos Aires. The man is an embarrassment. My initial reaction to a politician being caught in an extra-marital affair is that it's none of my business, nor anyone else's outside of the main actors - the politician, his spouse, and family. But as we learn more about Sanford's behavior during this episode the more I believe the man is unfit for office. Having an affair is one thing. I'm not one of those conservatives who believes a man must be morally upright to be effective in office. There are too many examples from history that prove otherwise. But Sanford's betrayals went beyond the merely private realm. He lied to his staff about his whereabouts, who then repeated the lie to the press. He went incommunicado for six days and was prepared to stay that way for a full ten days had he not learned people were asking questions. When he arrived home he did so with the apparent intention of covering up his behaviour with more lies if necessary. His behavior throughout these past few weeks are those of a man who has lost control of himself, one who has fallen so helplessly in love that he has now thrown caution to the wind. Further evidence of this loss of self-control are the emails he wrote to his lover. I started to read them but stopped after the first one. It was too much - I felt embarrassed for him. I'd feel embarrassed for any man who would write such dreck, never mind a middle-aged high-profile governor in whom much has been entrusted. Clearly the man has lost interest in his life and career and is ready to give it all up for his lover. He should resign and go away.

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