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Sanford Press Conference Leaves Unanswered Questions
Red-faced luv guv Mark Sanford has followed up on his amazing press conference by issuing a formal statement asking for forgiveness.
It's true that the philandering chief exec deserves some credit for "standing up and being a man," as Sen. Jake Knotts -- heretofore his loudest critic on the issue -- put it just now on CNN. But the forgiveness Sanford is looking for might come more quickly if there weren't still so many unanswered questions about what really happened.
Here are just a few of the more obvious ones:
1) What prompted Sanford to come clean? If he hadn't been caught at the airport by that reporter for the State, would he have stuck to the Appalachian story?2) Speaking of which, did he voluntarily tell the State's reporter that he had been in Argentina? Or did she find out by looking at his luggage tag, or some other way? And what about that report that the paper had the goods on the guv already, and used this trip to nail him?
3) Why did it take a six-day trip to break off the affair? Not to sound cold, but couldn't a difficult phone call -- or at least a one day trip for a face-to-face conversation -- have done the job?
4) If the trip really was just to break off the affair, and Sanford's wife had found out about it five months ago, as the governor suggested, why couldn't he tell her where he'd gone?
5) It looks like Sanford has in the past been to Argentina on the taxpayers' dime. Did he see his girlfriend on any of those trips?
The press conference gave the immediate impression of a cathartic full disclosure. But upon a bit of reflection, it seems like something far less.
Late Update : Another obvious question we missed (h/t reader JJ): Sanford said he "misled" his staff about his whereabouts. But he never said explicitly that he lied to them. Did he? And if so, how did an aide come to be at the Atlanta airport this morning to meet the governor when he got off the plane?
Josh
Zachary
Boy, you said it. There's a lot less there, there.
June 24, 2009 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regarding #4, I didn't believe for a second his wife didn't know where he was. She knew, but she couldn't very well spill the beans, so she just went with the story. The fact that her husband was missing for several days, she claimed not to have heard from him and not to know where he was and didn't seem the least bit concerned was the first great big waving red flag in this whole episode.
June 24, 2009 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was my thought, too. She knew where he was, or had an idea.
June 24, 2009 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
If she found out about the affair five months ago, why did it take five months for him to break it off in the first place?
Five months?
And it took 5 days to break it off?
I appreciate Governor Sanborn speaking candidly about the situation, and all that sparkin' stuff, but something still doesn't seem plausible. . .
June 24, 2009 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sanford, not Sanborn. Sorry, David.
June 24, 2009 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hispanics tend to live at a slower pace than we do.
June 24, 2009 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, apparently, she didn't know and wasn't concerned, because had asked him to leave...
http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/839461.html
I think Sanford is still seeing the person in Argentina. He didn't exactly say that the affair was over.
June 24, 2009 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
He hadn't been living at the house for two weeks. That makes it a lot easier to disappear for a few days without her knowing specifically where he was going.
June 25, 2009 8:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
GOP motto....
`You gotta have WAR for peace,and a Affair in the name of Family Values!
June 25, 2009 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
If he used state funds to meet up with his honey, he's toast. I'd give him a week, two tops.
June 24, 2009 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, now Letterman et al. have their lead in...
The Governor said he wanted to "do something exotic..."
June 24, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
2:30 PRESS CONFERENCE, I can hear the sound echoing thru halls at CBS... REWRITE, REWRITE, REWRITE.
June 24, 2009 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll add another question. WHO OUTED HIM?
I'm guessing this was a very poorly kept secret, and it seems like some of his staff helped cover. So - who tipped off the reporter?
June 24, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is the kind of horrible public airing that discourages anyone with brains from going into politics. We wonder why so many of our elected officials and representatives are chuckleheaded egomaniacs...well, duh. Who else would need the limelight so badly that they'd leave themselves open to this kind of nightmare?
June 24, 2009 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad it isn't the kind of horrible public airing that discourages politicians from screwing around on their wives.
June 24, 2009 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or keeps holier-than-thou politicans from passing judgement about other people's private lives.
June 24, 2009 5:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed
June 24, 2009 6:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, it isn't, and the reason it isn't is what I said: the constant scrutiny of political life draws only exhibitionistic buffoons, so that's what we have in politics and running the country. Maybe if we respected their privacy a little...
June 24, 2009 8:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
So you're saying that if we all just respected his privacy everything would be fine? The fact that his family and his office had no way to get a hold of him in the case of emergency doesn't matter? That his office lied about his whereabouts?
Yeah, well, if we respected the privacy of thieves and murderers there would be a whole lot less noise, and prisons wouldn't be crowded. What a concept! The victim here is poor Mark, and the bad guys are those who found out what he was up to.
If I just disappeared without notice from my job I would be fired. Forget the infidelity -- that is between him and his wife -- no one would know about it anyway except for his terrible judgment in taking a walkabout without notice. This guy is falling apart, and it is his own behavior that is causing it. If he cared about his privacy he could have brought his gal pal to the states and checked into a no-tell motel.
June 24, 2009 8:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
You use an often stated argument of why more quality politicians aren't in the arena; the by now cliche of how the American press and public and too quick to make public any privacy you had hoped to retain.
Yet, the idealism and irrelevance that spurts from such drivel just seems silly. Only one look at Berlesconi's re-election in Italy by a landslide should be enough to quell such fantasies. The Italian press and people generally respect the private affairs of politicians to not pry or care, they are Romans after all. But Berlusconi's serial womanizing in the face of being married in a country of Roman Catholics became fodder this time around for both foreign and locally independent (meaning not owned by Berlusconi) media after his visit to the birthday party of a just turned 18 year old model at her parent's house where he gave the girl a gift of a $12,000 necklace and huge questions when she told the press that she hasn't even shared with friends that she calls him 'daddy'. Whether that meant this girl was one of his very young conquests or daughters was enough for his wife to publicly announce divorce proceedings.
The pursuit of power will always be crowded by the uber-egotistical that believe they are entitled to do anything they wish without consequence. This doesn't make infidelities any sign of their capabilities to lead and govern. If our press and public didn't care as much about the private lives of politicians, it would only draw flies of the more rancid and depraved variety to the trappings of power. Look no further than Billo Reilly, who when asked why he hasn't tried his hands at politics, responded with precisely the myth you perpetuate, that because the press comes after you and your family it prevents otherwise excellent characters like him from entering the fray.
Get that? There's no mutual exclusivity to respect of privacy and increased quality of the politico pool. A better argument can be made that the overall quality would get worse.
June 24, 2009 9:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Point taken. There's just something, though, about the glee with which we pounce on politicians that's a little sick. Especially when there are matters that really SHOULD be front and center in our minds and in the press.
June 25, 2009 1:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
only the ones who cynically and recklessly posture themselves as holier-than-everyone-else(such as Sanford and Foley and Private Idaho hypocrite Craig, and Spitzer, et al, et al, et al, mostly and especially the skin-crawling so-called family-value Republicans) deserve the full treatment of exposure and shunning, because their shameless egregious exploitation and usage of evil persecution politics is ruinous to a civilized society and has likely polarized ours beyond repair. to shame those dangerous creeps is the only potential for a cure to the tawdry sickness of blaming-the-victim that foments the very prurience that the public and news media are accused of practicing.
again, don't blame the victims. blame the hypocrites who ruin our discourse and hinder our ability as a nation to rule ourselves fairly and honestly, with their lies and persecutionary victimization of those they profess to be better and purer than.
anything else just panders to their highly manipulative intentional misuse of office and access to public media.
June 25, 2009 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Again, I can't disagree with a word you say. Of course, the other side can do it, too -- thus we were faced with the media crucifixion and congressional impeachment of Clinton, a president who did NOT hold himself up as holier-than-thou. All I said in the beginning was that we get the leadership we deserve; while we don't have mullahs deciding who our candidates can be, I firmly believe the smart kids self-select for careers outside of politics because who the hell wants to live in a fishbowl where your simple humanity could some day be turned around to humiliate you and your family in public?
June 25, 2009 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
And when I say, "simple humanity" I'm not conferring innocence upon hypocrites. Again, from the point of view of a young brain deciding whether he/she would like to go into public service: we all know we're going to make mistakes in our lives, the question is, do we want to make them in an environment where human piranhas are going to eat you alive for them, or would you rather be in business or the law, where one's peccadilloes are much more likely to remain the province and concern of one's friends and family?
June 25, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or telling your hospitalized, cancer-ridden wife that you want a divorce.
Or calling under-age pages, and emailing them.
Or trying to solicit sex with your toe-tapping in the Minneapolis airport men's room.
This is just the latest edition of sordid things the moralizing "holier than thou" Republicans do. And I can't help the schadenfreude!
June 24, 2009 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love that under the TOPICS: tag you put "Mark Sanford, Sex"
Hahaha....
June 24, 2009 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am kind of surprised that Josh was so easily taken in by a skilled liar and complete sociopath...
I guess he must have missed the part when Sanford dropped the teary pretense, and reverted back to his old self just before his staff dragged him off...
June 24, 2009 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
This guy is an incredible liar. He was a full 7 minutes into the presser before he said why he was apologizing. And his initial spinning about his past hiking trips like he was looking for something to stick...What a cad!
My theory is that he went down there looking to declare his undying love and she rejected him. That's why it took 6 days and that is why he still spins, lies and speaks glowingly of his lost love.
June 24, 2009 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
"looking for something to stick"? I don't think that makes sense; are you saying he was measuring the response, and wouldn't have gotten around to the truth if the press had "bought it"?
fact is, the press conference was wrapped around a painful revelation. he wanted to set the scene but also was reluctant to get to the real embarrassing part. that's not unusual.
June 25, 2009 8:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Couldn't he just send an e-mail? We know he had her e-mail address.
June 24, 2009 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think telling the love of your life that you no longer want to see her by sending an e-mail would be the absolute zenith of tackiness. Not to mention that it would also be cowardly. That's something that needs to be done, if not actually face to face, at least over a live voice connection.
Ideally, though, it should be face to face. And I don't mean in a video teleconference.
June 25, 2009 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I live three miles from the state capital of SC word gets around quickly. Rumors of his affair had been floating for a while, and more than a few people knew about this.
June 24, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, I'm surprised to hear that because there was no mention of affair rumors while everyone was speculating over all of this. I mean, of course, we speculated about it but there didn't seem to be any previous evidence to support it.
June 24, 2009 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Spending time in restaurants and bars in five points, and along Gervais St. you hear stuff.
Politics is local, as is the news on the ground.
June 24, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am also very curious about the degree of his staff's involvement. Did he ask them to lie or did they do it on their own?
And kind of related to that, what was with the two cars? Was his staff involved in dropping off a car for him?
June 24, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Five days to utter the words, "I'm sorry, it's over" is so improbable as to be laughable.
The fact that this couldn't be done over the phone is so laughable as to be ludicrous.
I am quite sure he didn't go there to break it off. Otherwise, he'd have been home by Saturday.
June 24, 2009 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's not much to talk about after, "It's over," is there? Kinda makes things awkward.
June 24, 2009 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did he lie to his staff about the Appalachian trail story?
What would have happened if there were an actual emergency that need the Governor's immediate attention?
That last question alone should be grounds to remove his ass from office ASAP. That is gross incompetence of the highest order. Imagine a full-scale emergency/disaster in the state, and nobody knows where the Gov. is, chaos in the chain of command, etc. Gross negligence and gerunds to be removed from office.
Focus on the substance, and not the puerile (though amusing) aspect of this shit.
June 24, 2009 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I keep coming back to this:
If you're going to "break off a relationship" with someone other than Your Wife, why would one pick:
(a) Father's Day; and
(b) not tell your wife, who allegedly knows about the affair, where you're going
I think TPM is way too willing to cut slack for Sanford "coming clean". He hasn't remotely come clean.
John
June 24, 2009 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
He didn't even come clean, exactly! He got caught.
June 24, 2009 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
My understanding was that when his wife asked him to leave, that he not contact them during the period of the trial separation. (No idea how long that was anticipated to be.) Supposedly, it was to honor her wish not to hear from him for a while that he said nothing about the trip. (Still, if he was really going down there to break it off, it seems to me that was one thing she might have wanted to know about, unless what she had said to him when she asked for the separation was, "I don't want to hear from you again until you have broken it off with that other woman.")
As for the Father's Day timing: Maybe he figured why not when it's Father's Day and you are not allowed to see your family. But it really was a bad weekend to choose to disappear. He might have gotten away with it if the trip hadn't been so long. Like many others here, I do have to wonder why it should have taken five days to tell someone you are breaking it off with her.
June 25, 2009 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think he has a child with his mistress. He missed Father's Day with his kids for a woman in another country? No, I think with Father's Day approaching he felt guilty for denying his love child and went to Argentina ease his guilt.
Hey, my theory is no wilder than his story.
June 24, 2009 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a good hypothesis. Unless it's another man (which I mentioned as a possibility, below).
There's definitely more to the story. (Where's Paul Harvey when we really need him?)
-- ARG
June 24, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
In a crazy way, it actually makes more sense...
June 24, 2009 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's an even bigger question:
How much of a connection is there between his wife finding out about the affair five months ago and Sanford's grandstanding - starting a little after that - about the stimulus money? A little distraction from emotional turmoil, a little anger displacement, ego fulfillment? - How much of what passes for government is just emotional immaturity parading as something else?
June 24, 2009 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
aha, good one!
riffing from your question, I'd postulate that his Argentine adulteress is a rich right-wing kook who supports the more fascistic elements of Argentine society, you know, the local nazis who tormented the entire country in the 1970s with mass disappearances and murders of anyone opposed to their totalitarian regime (supported by the U.S. at the time, natch).
if this is the case, then Sanford's stimulus posturing was to gain her approval and was with her encouragement, as in egging him on.
that would turn the whole affair into the likes of screwing Eva Braun.
I mean, after all, what else could we expect from a crypto-segregationist like Sanford from the great Confederate state of South Carolina.
hell, Sanford is a one-man confederacy of dunces.
June 25, 2009 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Vast numbers of South Carolinians will be surprised to learn that "paramour" isn't something you sit on to mow your lawn.
June 24, 2009 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha!!!!!! A good 'un!
June 24, 2009 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wish I'd said that!
In fact, I think I will...
June 24, 2009 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I brought my 82 year old mother in here to read that and she about wet herself. She said that was really funny. I moved home from Charleston, SC and I have some friends I HAVE to send that to. Thanks for making my mother laugh and ME too!
June 24, 2009 7:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks. Y'all have made my day.
June 24, 2009 10:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think the state of the fair is clear. Sanford didn't exactly say that it had ended.
(Interesting side note: Sanford wasn't wearing his wedding band during the press conference. That may have a few different implications.)
June 24, 2009 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
sorry... The state of the AFfair is not clear.
June 24, 2009 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, what about those previous trips?
MSNBC online has the following:
Why didn't he have to "go hiking" on each of those previous trips? And was that three trips including this latest one, or three romantic trips prior to this latest one (which, you know, was to break it off).
And was it really a woman? How can we verify that unless we find out who the woman is? I mean, not that there's anything wrong with it, but these right wing holier-than-thou politicians who get caught with their pants down more often than not are closet homosexuals.
My immediate reaction to the latest story was to wonder what the real story is. This guy's a serial liar. Why would we assume he's telling the (whole) truth now?
-- ARG
June 24, 2009 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
"go hiking"...LOLOLOL!
I think this press conference just raised a whole new set of questions that Sanford probably couldn't have anticipated at this point, and things are going to deteriorate.
We've all been in relationships, and it never takes five days to end it. Perhaps he went down there to "chill out", "go hiking", "cruise the coast" but then decided to end it after the growing flap in the State. Who knows? But there's something still not plausible about his explanation.
June 24, 2009 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
serial liar, yes
I was thinking the man thing too, yesterday, and especially after the Argentina thing came up
I was just hoping the "other" was over 18
June 24, 2009 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Crying in Argentina" sounds like the name of a country song.
June 24, 2009 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, let's do write one!
We could have it up on YouTube in a day or two and become famous for 15 minutes.
-- ARG
June 24, 2009 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Writing a truly bad country song is more difficult than it may seem. But, I think I have the chorus ready:
"Yes, I've cried in Ar-gen-teeeee-nah,
Another woman held my weeeee-nah,
I have caused my own sweet wife,
No end of grief and strife,
So now I cry in Ar-gen-teeeee-nah."
[Everybody, sing along..]
"Yes, I've cried in Ar-gen-teeeee-nah,
....
June 25, 2009 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
I noticed he didn't use any gender specific personal pronouns to refer to his paramour until very late in the statement. Perhaps he was trying not to lie again by misrepresenting his lover as "she" when it's really a "he".
June 24, 2009 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
In the email Sanford wrote about enjoying watching her hold herself, I assumed he was referring to breasts, but now I suppose he could have meant testicles . . .
Le gusta a los huevos, Governor?
June 24, 2009 7:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
perhaps his press conference and incomplete apology was a little more heartfelt and real than many we see these days (a la Rod Blagojevich) but I felt like Josh was waaaayyy too soft on him. this guy is a pious, self-righteous prick who only fessed up, to something, after he was caught
had he not been caught, he'd be all too happy to be stepping on our backs today, or the backs of SC schoolchildren, while waving a cross or the US flag all around the air
June 24, 2009 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
well , Sanford gets a few points , (or maybe his wife gets the points) for not dragging her ( or not allowing herself to be dragged ) out for the adoring wife shot as she stands by her man. the vitter spectacle was particularly painful to watch so at least that element was missing.
June 24, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I thought the very same thing. That's likely largely a result of their being separated (though Sanford seems not to want to admit that to himself -- something about they weren't formally separated), but it was refreshing that for once the wife wasn't dragged out and forced to stand in the spotlight and look like she was trying valiantly to "stand by her man."
June 25, 2009 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, here's another question -- How can you get a tan like his in Argentina -- in WINTER?
June 24, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, where there's only about 9 hours of daylight, to boot!
June 24, 2009 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know, and that tan is really deep - I don't think he was in a tanning booth. I'll bet he and his gal pal went elsewhere -- like a sunny beach -- for their "breakup" session.
June 24, 2009 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, yeah, my first thought when it first broke that he had been in Argentina was that he wasn't in Buenos Aires, he had been spending his time at Mar del Plata.
June 25, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rub yourself againt Congressman Boehner before you go.
June 25, 2009 8:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now if it had been a gay affair, well lets just say he would be run out of town on a rail.
I saw the shadows of the Jimmy Swaggert slobber...I have sinned against you...
June 24, 2009 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Given that it keeps getting worse the closer to the truth we get ... and he is shading the truth to favor himself... by friday we will probably find out he was buggering the womans young son and shooting heorin, he got for passing information to the Chinese.
June 24, 2009 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
HOW LONG WAS I ASLEEP?
June 24, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was startled by Josh's instinct to give Sanford the benefit of the doubt. What, precisely, distinguishes Sanford from all the other pols who can't keep their junk in their pants? What was it about Sanford's presentation caused Josh to surrender his usually clear-eyed skepticism?
I mean, this guy went boinking over Fathers Day, for heavens sake, leaving his wife to say exactly what to their children? As far as I'm concerned, this is the worst of the worst.
June 24, 2009 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think that Josh is unfamiliar with that kind of emoting and actually thought that Sanford was crying real tears.
I guess he missed the spectacle of Susan Smith..who also fooled a lot of people, too.
June 24, 2009 5:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
What happened with the cars? Why at two airports, and what's the deal with the other car parked next to his SUV? I assume all those were results of jumping the gun?
Six days without telling the wife suggests either he wasn't cutting it off, or was working a deal (why'd it take so long to clue into the story breaking in the US?)
Also, his staff went into full cover mode. If they had some idea of what was going on, I think they would have instinctively started suggesting Obama had him "disappeared" or something. If your boss disappears, you don't pretend he's still in the office unless you think he's somewhere you don't want to know about.
June 24, 2009 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
If it was all above board, with him moving out to end it, in a last ditch effort to save the marriage... why couldn't his staff know?
If he takes off without ANYONE knowing, there was nothing above board and honest about it.
June 24, 2009 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's another point that hasn't been mentioned in any detail...
Adultery is a crime in South Carolina.
Now, given the definition in the SC statute, I'm sure there's wiggle room--especially in the undefined term "habitual sexual intercourse"--but one wonders if, since Sanford has admitted adultery, we'll see noise about potential prosecution...
June 24, 2009 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
AHA! That's why he left the country! So he could do it legally!
His rambling, crock of shit, camping, god's law, lip trembling meltdown was disgusting. It also shows what a terrible leader he is -- what a buffoon!
June 24, 2009 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Was Sanford "hiking" up his "dear friend's" skirt, or is he a swishbuckling shirtlifter?
Either way, he is just another on a long and growing litany of self-righteous, supercilious, finger-pointing conservatives who have no business telling anyone how to live their lives.
The hypocrisy makes me physically ill.
June 24, 2009 5:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Aw, you're just saying that because it's true.
June 24, 2009 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's Amazing! No, not that a high-profile elected official had an affair, just that it's becoming a weekly item.
This is another example to prove the old adage wrong: "What the Democrats do to their secretaries, the Republicans do to the country."
Perhaps it's now time for EVERY elected Republican office-holder to announce that he (she) has had/is having an affair, all at once, en masse, to get it over with. Might be healthier for the republican party as a whole, instead of this "water torture" of a regular news item of "Another one."
OK, Repugs, who's next?
June 24, 2009 5:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is a little tidbit still floating out there: the state police said that there was "another car identified" next to the governor's, and that the other shoe would drop soon. That really doesn't play along with the "met a chick in Argentina". Seems to be more of a "throw them off the scent of my local girlfriend, who went on a boondoggle with me."
The lack of Argentinian frequency also bothers me, since he was having marital troubles for the past 5 months... How often did he go south-of-the-border in the last 5 months (while his budget and stimulus package issues got near-daily national attention)? Doesn't add up.
My bet goes for a state or local political figure he knows and was sleeping with. Better explains the late-night jaunts without the security detail discussed previously, also. Argentina doesn't.
June 24, 2009 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/839350.html
Sandford's emails to his dear, dear friend.
June 24, 2009 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
very nice find/link, thank you. looks like potential for ex governor.
June 24, 2009 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
And ex-husband.
June 24, 2009 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't Cry for Me (in) Argentina, the truth is ... The truth is ... oh screw it!
My wife's a Christian;
She doesn't do it.
I kept my promise:
Turned down the stimulus.
I kept my promise...."
June 24, 2009 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
A few things:
Although SC law may state that adultery is illegal, I believe that it is now legal in all states thanks to the same Supreme Court case that made sodomy legal in all states. Could be wrong...
Besides his being AWOL as governor, he has caused the waste of law enforcement resources in at least two states. His cell phone was tracked in Atlanta. That means somehow someone got a warrant in Georgia, I presume. That is not done in a matter of moments, unless the Feds were involved and they used one of those magic FBI letters.
Also, one of his vehicles was tracked to the Atlanta airport...again use of police resources. Ditto with tracking down the vehicles in SC.
So who are the law enforcement officials involved and what did they know, and when? If they tracked his cell phone and car to Atlanta, they sure as hell knew he was on a flight out of the country. And who instigated the search?
Also, note that he referred to his lover in Argentina as "this person" many times before finally using "she." Kinda suspicious...
June 24, 2009 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, going on the email, I kinda think he was referring to breasts at one point, no? I'm pretty sure his paramour is a female; both emails sound that way to me, but I'm just going on my own instincts.
June 24, 2009 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like I said above, I originally assumed the same thing, but in retrospect, he could have been referring to testicles. Or buttocks. Who knows what he's into?
Now I really have digressed beyond the scope of this discussion.
June 24, 2009 7:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well I had been saying the women that I now think he be tall, dark and hansom. They must have been right.
He has probably committed a crime by aparent mis use of a state of SC car. When I worked for the state you just didn't do that and keep your job
Oh coarse his replacement would be Andre Bauer, who tavels and get caught at very fast speed on our roads and darn near got killed in a small plane crash a while back.
June 24, 2009 6:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Frankly I've felt that TPM's coverage and Josh Marshall in particular have really acted unprofessionally.
I hate the man, I really do, but the baser focus of the blog on this issue has really been a turn off.
June 24, 2009 6:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, there you are...
Josh has been on top of this story...was able to separate the lies from the untruths...
and pretty much has been excellent source of accurate information on this story.
But of course, there were people who didn't think the Terry Schaivo story was much of an issue either.
June 24, 2009 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly, it wasn't. The woman should have be allowed to die with no national media or Republican circus.
To me, TPM dived into sleaziness in it's practices (as opposed to just what it investigates) and that's all there is too it.
June 24, 2009 10:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was all just one big misunderstanding. Mark said he was going to go hump some Argentinian tail. And his staff though he said he was going to hike the Appalachian Trail.
June 24, 2009 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Um....word?
June 24, 2009 6:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does anybody really believe a man takes five days to end an affair? This story and his wife's statement are just lies and more lies to cover up a politician getting caught. But the real story is his lack of accountability as a governor during this episode. I hope he is forced to resign.
June 24, 2009 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Day 1
Disclosure
Tears
Breakup sex
Day 2
Makeup sex
Talk
Tears
Break up sex
(Rinse and repeat three times)
June 25, 2009 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Follow-up thought, as I am not the first to think it...
Other sites (DailyKoz) have referenced his "chosen successor", who took down her pictures with him from her website overnight.
Wait--When? Advance warning from Argentina?
State Rep. Nikki Haley is her name, and she is, frankly, a fine lookin', married mother of two who hoped to be the next governor. With lots of mentoring, perhaps. So where has she been for the last few days?
Also, when folks are stressed and lying, they tend not to use pronouns as letting their guard down a little may lead to a name slip or attribute that could unravel the whole tale. By "sticking to the script" and depersonalizing, it's much easier to lie. Hence the "her" reference so late in the presser. Interesting to see if he has any microexpressions afterward; a wince, pause or look away while he gets himself back under control. Remember, "I did not have sexual relations with 'that woman"."
So while a small army of reporters are heading to Argentina, I really wouldn't be surprised if the returning plane had a stopover in Miami (no customs or passport checks)where they joined the flight returning(even separating flights now that it's a big national deal), and used the ruse.
The littlest things, like the side-by-side cars, can throw off the whole thing. The cop who spoke before knows the car was registered to a woman, and likely a closely-tied woman, else it's just another coincidence that cars get parked together at airports.
June 24, 2009 6:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
And as long as we're into the sleuthery--
1. His staff said he was calling and emailing them. Did he have global calling/email set up? By who, since that isn't a permanent thing based on high cost to the taxpayer. He may have had a CDMA carrier (only works in US, like Verizon Wireless)without special provisions ahead of time.
Plus with modern whizmo like caller-id, out-of-country shows up that way, tough to hide it.
2. When did the car-next-to-his leave, if at all? Maybe it's still there??
3. Somebody said somewhere (maybe fiction...) that Haley and his kids go to school together? Don't really know about that, but if so, the stickers become more relevant as they may also be identical.
June 24, 2009 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
global email? I email all over the world, and don't have to set anything up.
June 24, 2009 7:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps you do, but not from a cell phone or blackberry while in that foreign country.
June 24, 2009 7:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
From my iPhone I do. Anyway, it doesn't matter. This guy is pathetic, and I don't care what communication system he was using.
June 24, 2009 8:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Governor Sanford has coined a new pickup line I earnestly look forward to using on Republican women:
"Hey baby, wanna go hike the Appalachian Trail?"
There is a second part to it, but this is mostly a family blog, so . . .
June 24, 2009 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think we should be tearing the guy apart for this affair and speculating on what sort of affair it was. That's not important. We got angry with the GOP for doing this to Clinton during the Lewinsky affair. He had an affair and has apologized. We shouldn't judge his political capabilities just because his moral judgment was lacking. Yeah, he was gone for a few days w/o telling anyone. And for that he should be held accountable. But forget about the affair. Let's move on. Holding the Reps to a different standard for the Lewinsky affair than we're exhibiting now makes us hypocrites.
June 24, 2009 7:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
You must have missed all the yucks on this site when the Edwards affair came to light.
June 24, 2009 7:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did you hear him talking about god's law, and sinning before he even got to the affair? How he was talking to his christian men's group about this?
I think this guy is a total shit, but I also think he is in love with Maria. He shouldn't have let it start, but once he did, he lived a lie for how long? And he hasn't stopped lying. Where did he really go to get that deep tan, when it is winter in Argentina?
June 24, 2009 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not sure the tan thing is relevant with regard to Argentina; it's pretty sunny in South Carolina and he probably gets lots of sunshine right at home..
June 24, 2009 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
So he got the tan BEFORE he left? I don't think so.
June 24, 2009 9:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Expat- Here's the difference. Clinton never said it was bad and wrong to sleep with Interns, he just did it.
We really, really don't care if he has found true love in South America. More power to him. Not enough people have and that lightning bolt is an amazing, world-changing thing. Sometimes it makes you rethink your entire worldview, and that isn't a bad thing at all (unless you are a married conservative governor who as condemned affairs).
This argumentative crux is when people look down on others and become condescending bastards demonizing behavior that, in secret, they commit or condone. This country was founded by people seeking personal and religous freedom. That has not changed, and I personally resent an elected official trying to dictate my morality from the very chair I put him in.
It's not about the affair, it's about the hypocrisy.
June 24, 2009 9:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Aw, I am wrong seems.
His emails to "Maria", who McClatchey has already tracked down...
http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/839350.html
June 24, 2009 7:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know this is naive, but is no email private? How does this work that we are seeing very explicit exchanges? Kind of freaks me out.
June 24, 2009 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Same here. Apparently they were sent to The State by an anonymous source. The reporter being interviewed by Rachel Maddow last night claimed the paper did not know who it was, if I remember correctly what she was saying. They did take steps to authenticate that the messages were genuine.
June 25, 2009 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey guys, do you like dating with a cougar? Or are you a cougar yourself? Okay, no matter you are looking for a NSA, FWB or serious relationship. You'll want to check this out:
--== Cougarster.Com ==--
It's where cougars and younger men can meet(Cougar is the slang for woman who is mature, experienced and want to date with a younger man).
June 24, 2009 10:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
TPM, please remove the post above. I hit the "Report Abuse" button already. You can take down this reply as well. Thanks.
-- ARG
June 24, 2009 11:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
wasn't he vetted for VP by McCain less than a year ago? Did they find this? Did he lie about it? Or is this the reason we got Sarah Palin?
June 25, 2009 12:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
When one of these comes up, I always think about the blackmail argument against gays in the military or similar sensitive fields. Not holding a lot of water today. There's an argument to be made that we'd be more safe with the Stormy McDaniels in charge of the Senate than the David Vitters of the world.
Maybe sanctimonious attitude should be regarded as an instrinsic security threat.
June 25, 2009 8:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
All this theorizing would be very interesting in a soap opera plot, but he is/was a national political figure. All he had to say was: "I made a serious mistake, I abandoned my office for several days for personal reasons, without passing the Governor's responsibilities to the Lieutenant Governor in my absence". Then he should have resigned. The e-mails, the sex and all the moralizing are beside the point and are really no one else's business, except his family's. He, or she, could write the tell-all book later and make tons of money, while the rest of us had a good laugh.
June 25, 2009 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Does anybody really believe a man takes five days to end an affair?"
You have no idea how much sex one has to have to have before ending an affair. It normally takes three day's worth of unbridled carnality before one can even broach the subject, and five if you're a Republican.
June 25, 2009 10:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
If you ask me, this is the most likely scenario:
1. Argentinian hottie grows tired of being second-class squeeze and begins to pressure for a commitment.
2. Ambitious "family values" governor knows this would ruin his political career, and demurs.
3. Said hottie grows haughty and threatens to expose the affair.
4. Said governor panics and dashes down to try to convince her not to.
June 25, 2009 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Unless I missed a comment, if Sanford's wife asked him to leave two weeks ago, did staffers and his security detail keep mum about him not going home for those two weeks?
Maybe he told his staffers and his security detail he was "roughing it" away from home to prepare for his upcoming "Appalachian Trail hiking" trip.
June 25, 2009 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Forget the affair, folks. People from every walk of life--and, most certainly, on both sides of the political aisle--trip over that foible with regularity.
The problem is that he abdicated his responsibilities as Governor, lied to his staff, basically went incommunicado for almost a week AND left the executive authority of his state vacant. THOSE are the points upon which we should focus as we discuss the matter.
June 25, 2009 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink