Mark Sanford’s affair
What the hell is with all these politicians and their extramarital affairs? Is it just me, or do pols engage in this activity disproportionately to other high-profile people? It seems like we don’t even hear about as many incidents among professional athletes or Hollywood celebs. Governors, senators, representatives, and even presidents commit more than their fair share of adultery.
But this latest scandal, which involves Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina, is one of the strangest I’ve read about. Apparently, Sanford just disappeared for an entire week, without even telling his wife or staff where he was going. A spokesperson for his office said that the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail by himself, which would have been odd enough.
But it turns out that Sanford was in Argentina — visiting his mistress, a woman he had known for 8 years. Sanford claims that their relationship turned sexual only a year ago and that they’d only been together 5 times or something, and that now it’s over.
Today Sanford had a press conference during which he confessed to his sins.
I didn’t see the conference, but in reading the transcript, I thought he came off like a big ol’ selfish jerk. He wasn’t really taking the blame so much as he was trying to justify his actions or brush it off as a huge mistake.
Republican or Democrat, governor or congressman, these politicians are all slimy as hell.