Sanford: the gift that keeps on giving

Can this guy do anything right?

Sanford harped for years on state spending for travel costs, making a big deal about him going on trips and forcing state employees to fly coach and doubling up two to a room. Nothing wrong with that.

From Politico.com:

So far so good, right? Hah!

But wait, there's more: Sanford also used the state-owned jet:

Oh, and one of the trips to see his mistress? $8,687 on the taxpayer dime. (He did eventually pay back about half of that after he was caught).

Ka-ching!

So, who wants to take bets on when ol' moneybags resigns?

Shoulda put it on eBay.

Maybe he can borrow Sarah Palin's basketball speech to say he was being picked on by the gubbmint owned media and he's resigning to spend more time with his tan-line.

On the contrary, I ask, "can he do no wrong?".

Governor Sanford's actions to date are those of a remarkable hypocrite - a shining beacon of bold duplicity and unashamed avarice for future generations to follow.

I can't help but believe it takes a special sort of man who can pshaw and "tut-tut" a presidential blow job, then proceed to "slam it in, harder!" with his mistress, and do it with a straight face.

Well played.

Cheaper hotels and airfare if you must, but I'd never take a job where the travel was forced to two to a room. And if I wouldn't do it, you can bet there's tons of people who are actually, y'know, talented and qualified who wouldn't do it.

EDITk, I might take a job at a place with a two to a room policy, but I doubt there's anything in that office I would.

His scandals shall not be overshadowed by any celebrity death! Kill them all and Sanford will still make sure his name is on the top of the headlines.


The republicans need to come out publicly and say that hypocrisy is part of their campaign platform. They are different from regular people so regular rules should not apply them.

Mr Rove is you are reading this I want $1,000,000 if you use this idea.

Sanford's communication chief quit yesterday. I don't blame him.

Palin/Sanford 2012!

Ha! If only!

Palin/Sanford/Ron Paul 2012?

I didn't know you could run a trifeca of douche.

And now he's saying that God will make him better. Needless to say it's being taken with a gallon of salt.

But . . . but . . . God also created those tan-lines!

I'm so confused

You can in 'Merica!

You mean Freemerica

Well, someone has to step up when Palin quits halfway through the campaign.

Ugh.

Here's a better tactic: resign.

Jesus.

Come now: Jesus is not a good example. Did Jesus quit after getting caught porking Mary M? Of course not; such persecution merely reinforces his moral and ethical righteousness, because otherwise for the forces of Temple Pharisees would not be trying so hard to tear him down.

Go forward Governor Sanford! Forward to the GOP primaries in 2012! Wash away your sins by amusing the living hell out of us as you crash and burn in the public gaze.

Financial shenanigans aside, I'm still amazed that we live in an age where people can fly through the fucking sky to Argentina but can't manage an understanding of human relationships and sexuality more complex than husband + wife = forever.

If we as a culture could get our heads around the idea that sex isn't weird, we wouldn't be dealing with this or any other instance of politicians behaving like actual human beings with normal sexual needs. Sanford would have his wife and his family at home and his hot broad down south and no one would give a shit.

I mean, am I reading that wrong, or did he not actually misuse any government money when he visited his mistress? He went on a trade trip, hung out with her while he was down there, then came home as scheduled. The expensive tickets he got were in line with his usual policy of being a moron, and weren't used for anything outside his normal business commitments.

It seems to me that him fucking around on the side is wholly irrelevant to this story, and the big deal being made of it is -- just like every other political sex scandal -- a mere symptom of our fucked up culture forcing people to lie about things we still have our collective panties in a bunch over.

I think it's a big deal because it's politicians like Sanford, who frequently espouse family values and traditional marital standards, that become embroiled in these extra-marital sex scandals. Not to mention that they frequently blame homosexuals for ruining marriage in America.

As with the hypocritical spending, how much can you really trust a man who frequently undermines his own moral standards, standards that he flaunts ad nauseam?

To me it's pretty much the same as pop stars talking about still being virgins: Certain jobs in the public eye currently require you to not be human, which is insane.

The family values / anti-gay / etc stances that politicians constantly have to push are so obviously wrongheaded that even the people pushing them won't follow them, but they're not optional. There is currently no way to have Sanford's job and not say things that are patently false.

I guess my argument here is that while he is certainly an idiot, there's a part of this story where the idiocy is ours as a society, not his.

Hopefully you're not implying that politicians and pop stars have the same amount of responsibility to the public (pop stars don't even have a constituency!). I'm not saying anyone is perfect, or that to err is certainly not human. I'm just saying that when an elected official has shown himself to be a habitual hypocrite, that disingenuous behavior is not an ideal attribute, especially not when that official is entrusted with important decisions and critical state-level operations. There is a way to have Sanford's job and not say things that are patently false. Why is it that honesty is something we don't expect from people? What, because it's too hard? Because that's how I'm understanding your argument.

I think the most important issue that you're ignoring is that he left the state for a week without properly notifying his staff, nor designating an interim Governor. Abandoning his duties and continuing on this trail of self-pity and insincerity is not helping matters at all. It's not like we're expending any energy asking him to resign, but he's certainly wasting a lot of time and energy foolishly trying to put this ordeal behind him.

It's bullshit. This isn't society's fault. It's his own god damned fault.

Actually, I want to know how Andrew WK feels about infidelity and it's moral implications.

what you guys don't understand is that Obama made Sanford have sex with that woman. when will all of you commu-liberal hippie morans wrap your heads around that fact!?