MARIAAAAA, Mark just met a girl named MARIA
and suddenly the name,
will never be the same to him...

MARIAAAAA, Mark just kissed a girl named MARIA
and suddenly he found,
how wonderful a &@#% can be!

I think publishing the emails is not necessary and makes me uncomfortable. It may be OK to have a reporter read them and provide excerpts if there is something newsworthy in them, but publishing private, personal emails is unseemly.

Apparently Politico is going to break a story that Sanford used taxpayer money to travel to see his mistress.

Check it out here.

http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=1926

Maria you know you're my loverrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. WHen the wind blows I can feel youuuuuu throughhh the weather. And even though we are appaaarrrtttttt, it still feels like we're together MARIAAAAAAAAA!!!He went IN!

Ewww. Republicans in love. You ought to have a warning about this.

I might feel some sympathy, except that because of Gov. Sanford and others of his ilk, many of my fellow citizens are not allowed to take the vows that he has violated.

As you sow, so shall you reap. Mark Sanford, you have been sowing the seeds of sexual repression and degradation your entire professional life.

Cosmic karma just bit ya, dude, big time.

I think the emails SHOULD be published since they obviously contradict his statements made earlier today.

If the emails only corroborated what he said, then keep them private. Otherwise, let 'er rip.

And that's exactly what the journos are doing.

I'm curious to know who's giving out his emails, flight info, etc. Since the emails are private, I'd guess the only person who could do it legally would be his wife. Ditto the flight info.

yes, it's karma for these guys....but the voyeurism is a little out-of-control...people just like to watch other people fall...it helps them ignore the stuff they're doing in their own lives that they don't want others to know about.

Call him out on his B.S....but no need to publish the emails, IMO..

kiva

I don't think the attempts at a reconciliation with his wife will work out in the end. The reason is because it seems like Gov. Sanford is deeply in love with this woman Maria. It is no good and his wife, I think, will come to realize that.

Unlike Josh, I can not feel any pity for this man. He presented himself as a man with superior morals to others. He is a hypocrite.

I'm with other commenters. We could do without the e-mails between the two. It's disappointing that The State, which has done yeoman's work thus far, has decided to publish these. It's one thing to go after the facts that he's a liar, that he's a hypocrite, and that he may be facing ethical issues related to Argentina travel, but there is something decidedly cheap & locker room-ish about this aspect of it.

Sanford said he spent “five days of my life crying in Argentina,”

He paraphrases wrongly a TIM RICE LYRIC. Tim freakin' Rice one of the worst lyricist ever. Mark Sanford just another Republican phony. What they say the believe and what they do are polar opposites.

I CRIED A LOT ARGENTINA
THE TRUTH IS I'D LOVE TO F**K YOU.
ALL THE EXOTICS
AND THE NARCOTICS.
I LOVE RESISTANCE.
I LOVE PERSISTENCE.

From Markita: the tackiest Republican Musical of the Week.

Suck it up Larry Craig!

Agree that the e-mails shouldn't have been published but that's not how it works today. But the e-mails have a certain dignity about them, a certain honest agony. Love happens even to right wingers.

I disagree with those who feel that it's wrong to publish Sanford's e-mails. First, he sent them through the taxpayer-sponsored state system. But more importantly, rubbing this in the face of the sanctimonious and hypocritical Republicans is an essential part of bringing their miserable party down. They are the self-appointed moral scolds who have taken advantage of a bogus "family values" platform to win elections and set this nation on a dangerous course. They need to be exposed, embarrassed, and humiliated. I have no interest in perusing every sordid detail of this affair-- but I want to see it used as a club to beat up on the GOP.

If he'd had any dignity left...if he cared about the family he's about to piss away, he'd have announced his resignation at the podium today. Evidently not.

Why do these emails contradict what he said in the presser?? (per several comments above)

Another thing I can't figure out is that his wife stayed with him for close to 5 months BEFORE he actually broke it off? So she let him continue on with the affair without leaving him?? Of course, these things are all deeply personal and I'm confident the blogosphere is not the best place to hash them out. : )

I'd say that Sanford will reap the whirlwind for his actions, but he apparently thinks it's "world wind."

Oh lord, the things a guy will write to get a little cooz! What a mewling puking smazrmy adolescent this Sanford is. And at the same time, too scared of convention to do anything but endorse publicly the most conventional morality.
And between you and me, it does matter. I don't care what a guy does to a girlfriend, but once he gets married, he has taken on obligations, made promises before God, the public, the state, and parents. If he made those promises and those agreements only to break them gratuitously, what won't he do? If that's what his word means to his family, what can his constituents expect?

I can forgive him almost anything but not his writing. That is beyond the frozen limit.
Not to mention his discretion. A real genius, this one.

I've read these e-mails, and really can't see how they impact on the issue of public option in health care reform.

I wonder if Zachary was in a smoking jacket and goofy bow-tie when typing up this piece. Because it is so very....Millbankian.

"WORLD wind???"

I can forgive the indiscretion, Governor. It seems almost endemic to right-wing Republicans. But at least get the phrasing right!

"I'm a bit disappointed that TPM is giving this story so much press."
grits

You've walked in those moccasins too, grits?

TPM, this is below you. You get mad when the WH press corps gets sidetracked by shiny toys and you are doing the same thing.

Maybe said before, but what fool writes this in an email? These are the times and thoughts best left to snail mail.

Remember, this is a guy who thinks gay marriage and even civil unions can destroy "traditional" marriage.

It's not about illicit sex.

the faded glow. yeah. right.

so, depending on how you read certain "parts" of these love sonnets, it's still not totally clear to me whether we're talking XX or XY chromosomes. unimportant except for the recent rampant hypocrisy.

Sanford is obviously a confused and distraught person. whatever his record, despite the fact that he's said some truly idiotic and counterproductive things in the public square, neither he nor this woman (who's identity will almost certainly inevitably be made public) deserve to have their private correspondence made public in such a way. i'm all for Republicans showing off an institutional hypocrisy on "moral values", but leave the guy alone.

i've not said this before, but shame on TPM for publishing this. this isn't news. your organization is better than gloating over someone's personal torment.

A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces,
An airline ticket to romantic places,
And still my heart has wings...
These foolish things remind me of you.

Count me with the "shouldn't have been published" crowd. I have various reasons (which I'm sure no one will be interested in hearing) for thinking that 0% journalistic discretion is as bad a problem as 100% journalistic co-option.

But all that aside, where did these e-mails come from and how were they obtained? I know that if they really were from his work addresses there would be legal channels that would allow them to be subpoenaed, etc., but I don't see anything about that here or in the links. (Maybe I missed something.)

And if they're from a private account, and if the Other Woman didn't leak them, then it starts looking sketchy as hell. I'm aware that there are 17-year-olds out there who can probably read my Yahoo mail any time they want, to say nothing of private investigators and the NSA and whatnot, but it's a good thing that it's illegal for them to do it, and that I can sue them if they print it. (And yes, public figures are public figures, but that doesn't mean the anti-hacking laws shouldn't protect them.) I suspect The State has some legal insulation here if someone else did the dirty work without being asked, but journalists should still hold to an incredibly high standard of public need-to-know before publishing illegally obtained private documents. I don't think Sanford's epistolary lovemaking style comes anywhere near that.

As far as I can see, all the political justifications in the world ("but he's a hypocrite!") don't warrant weakening what privacy protections we have in that regard. The hell with what might leak out from some Democratic politician's computer someday, I'm jealous of my OWN privacy.

Shit those emails are written by someone who reads Barbara Cartland and watches All My Children. BLECH.

"Exploring the Appalachian Trail"?

I wonder if he penetrated the wooded area?

This guy deserves no sympathy whatsoever. It's one thing to engage in a little harmless e-mail flirtation but this little prick went way out of his way to cheat. Fucking Argentina!! Is he serious? That's gotta be some kind of record. I'm as liberal and anti-religious as they come and I managed to stay married 30 plus years without cheating. Never indulged in e-mail flirting either for that matter. Doesn't make me holier than anyone. Except maybe this guy.

My objection to publishing these emails has nothing to do with concerns about Sanford's privacy; after this he really can't expect any part of his life to remain private. But the relevant facts can be reported without publishing the text of the emails. Putting them out there isn't illuminating, it's just gross. And it's certainly not news.

Sanford has made his personal life a public spectacle. Frankly, I'd rather not collude in his exhibitionism.

I can't believe some of the comments I'm reading. I've read many a post here about progressives pushing for transparency. Access to public records, including communications transmitted via government equipment, is one of the greatest facilitators of transparency.

I did not take pleasure in reading these particular e-mails and I, personally, could do with them not having been released; however, I don't speak for everyone and particularly not the taxpayers of South Carolina. Where I don't see value, others might.

The disgusting excess of empathy for Sanford and concern for his family is just too much. Maybe Ty'Sheoma Bethea has a right to know how her governor was spending his time, on his modern taxpayer-funded computer and fancy 'internets', while she was going to school in a freakin shack and he was busy playing politics with her future and telling her it's a hard knock life. As much as I feel for them, I'm sure Sanford's wife and his sons have comfortable accomodations and quality educations under their belts tonight. I wonder how Ty'Sheoma is doing after being deprived of the same for 13 years? Did the Sanford family ever take a moment out of their lives to show a modicum of empathy for her?

I don't think its necessary to publish the full text of the emails, but this is how the game is played these days. I'm just happy the media are not withholding the salaciousness of it all just because he is a poster boy for today's Republican party.

This is hilarious - GREAT reading. I don't feel guilty in the least. Thanks for publishing this!! Sanford deserves the utmost humiliation over this for being such a hypocrite, making other people's lives miserable by his judgemental attitude. His role in the Clinton affair is a great example. Screw him. It's great to see someone like him fail.

What if the emails aren't real? Seems a little over the top. What are the emails covering up? :)

I'm guessing this will bring his family closer together.

the TPM snark-o-meter is at an all-time high (I think we just beat larry-I-have-never-been-gay-craig)

I always find it fascinating how the usual partisan battle lines get blurred with these kinds of stories.

Plenty of conflicting opinions on both sides of the aisle, which is not surprising. As for me, count me as someone who is sad that there is a wrecked marriage and the 4 kids who will deal with the public fallout of this for years. But people are people, no matter what God they pray to or not. This guy fucked up big time, but he's not a criminal (unless there were state laws broken, but I'm not comparing this to Eliot and his prostitute situation).

Who knows, maybe the guy will pull a King Edward and resign to be with this woman. Stranger things have happened.

Not only is Sanford a moron, but he's an illiterate one. "...Beauty Of You Holding Yourself" Puh-lease!

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.C-o-m ==--
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).

Seriously...I have had some pretty mind-blowing sex in my life, but unless there is something these people are doing that is so much better than anything I have experienced, or can even imagine, I just don't get the whole screwing up your whole entire world (not to mention your wife's and your kid's)to get laid thing... How utterly humiliating it must be to be led around by your...well, you know.