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Forgive Mark Sanford
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Sex scandals like Governor Sanford’s and John Ensign’s are private matters that don’t affect public policy and shoot down rising political stars. It’s time to end hypocrisy in America.
Plus: Read more of The Daily Beast's coverage of Palin's resignation and the GOP implosion.
When I first heard about Governor Sanford’s sex scandal, I was flooded with disappointment for many reasons. Particularly since his admission of an extramarital affair came so closely after Nevada Senator Ensign made a similar confession. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I am younger, or that just have a more open-minded view of politicians and sex, but it’s of very little concern to me who elected officials sleep with. Frankly, I think all of that is a private matter between a husband and wife, even if it is made public. Beyond that, life is complicated. And I can’t even imagine how complicated it must get after 20 years of marriage and four kids.
Of the times I have spent with Governor Sanford, I remember his family being absolutely beautiful in that way Southern families often are. I remember my dad describing his boys as “all looking just like Huckleberry Finn.” In other words, theirs was the very definition of a picture-perfect political family. It never crossed my mind that there would be any kind of scandal one day, but, especially in politics, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
The GOP is struggling right now to find anyone who looks to be our next leader. Going forward, I suggest that the party concentrate less on what goes on in the bedroom and more on what is going on in policy.
But what goes on in Governor Sanford’s personal life, I believe, just isn’t relevant to his role as a public official. The problem I see, like most problems I have with politics, goes back to the same thing—the hypocrisy of it all. One thing making everyone so mad, myself included, are the clips being played of Governor Sanford publicly blasting former President Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. It looks horribly hypocritical. And it is. We have to stop requiring that our politicians live at such a high level of moral superiority, as if they are infallible creatures. Let me assure you, they are not. Because when these same politicians fall from grace—especially in the South—we demand that they leave office immediately. (Unlike, say, Eliot Spitzer, Governor Sanford didn’t do anything illegal. If he were to be convicted of misusing state funds for traveling to Argentina, then, of course, it is a different matter entirely and he should step down. )
Now I do not condone Governor Sanford’s actions. Far from it. I am a big believer in the sanctity of marriage. And how the entire drama played out was far too intimate for me. Those excruciatingly personal emails. His strange and emotional press conference. Jenny Sanford’s long, Gospel-quoting press release. All of it is an uncomfortable glimpse into the inner workings of a political marriage and we as Americans eat it up with a spoonful of schadenfreude. Was Governor Sanford wrong to have an affair? As a husband, of course he was. But should we burn him at the stake and make him leave office? I don’t believe so. Because sex and politics are two very different things, even if sometimes they seem hopelessly entwined. What he does in his personal life, I believe, would have nothing to do with how he balances his state’s budget or conducts business.
Above all, the Sanford scandal just makes me sad for my party. The GOP is struggling right now to find anyone who looks to be our next leader. Those who have been anointed so far have ended up falling completely short. Going forward, I suggest that the party concentrate less on what goes on in the bedroom and more on what is going on in policy.
France—home of my absolute favorite foreign first lady, Carla Bruni—perfected the laissez-faire attitude toward the sex lives of its public leaders. Not here. We hold our politicians to impossible standards. We elect them, put our hopes and dreams for a brighter future on that one person, and then expect sainthood. Republicans—and Democrats—should forgive these private sins and move on. Life happens. People—especially politicians—make mistakes.
I, for one, lean more toward compassion and understanding—yes, even if Governor Sanford had been a Democrat—because I know from personal experience the pressure of perfection that is put on politicians and their families. At the end of the day, a politician’s job is to fix our country and take care of the states and constituents they represent. Yes, sex is an issue but it shouldn’t be the only issue.
Meghan McCain is originally from Phoenix and graduated from Columbia University in 2007. She is a New York Times bestselling children's author, previously wrote for Newsweek magazine, and created the Web site mccainblogette.com.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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Jeff Madrick is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and a former economics columnist for the New York Times. He is editor of Challenge Magazine, visiting professor of humanities at Cooper Union, and senior fellow at the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. He is the author of Taking America, The End of Affluence (Random House) and The Case for Big Government.
Do Sex Tapes Matter?
Meghan McCain is a columnist for The Daily Beast. Originally from Phoenix, she graduated from Columbia University in 2007. She is a New York Times bestselling children's author, previously wrote for Newsweek magazine, and created the Web site mccainblogette.com.
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Meghan McCain is a columnist for The Daily Beast. Originally from Phoenix, she graduated from Columbia University in 2007. She is a New York Times bestselling children's author, previously wrote for Newsweek magazine, and created the Web site mccainblogette.com.
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Meghan McCain is a columnist for The Daily Beast. Originally from Phoenix, she graduated from Columbia University in 2007. She is a New York Times bestselling children's author, previously wrote for Newsweek magazine, and created the Web site mccainblogette.com.
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Perhaps I, too, could forgive him if he and the Republican Party do take the oath suggested in totallyDilapidated's comment above. It should be in writing, with all currently elected Repubs signing the contract.
Exception is that not only 'intention' but think a stronger term like mandate or will, as in he will... should be used.
Megan doesn't get it yet. We don't normally care about his personal life, but he cared about Clinton's personal life to comment on it publically. He held himself to a higher standard, (not us), and he failed miserably. People in the public eye must be what they say they are or suffer the consequenses.
Megan, you're too young to have known how the Repbulicans exploited the family values rethoric, which led them to be hijacked by the Fundamentalists who don't see through the smoke screen. Now that it has been exposed as the hoaks it really is, now the Repubs want to change the emphasis of their platform. Whom Stanford sleeps with, I could care less but his Hypocrisy is not to be ignored and as a Christian I resend his self promoting use of the Bible, did he miss the part where adulters get stoned?
Yeah but take just a second to appreciate the irony (or hypocracy) then move on. Because we're not hypocrites, we can maintain that its not our business and won't affect policy making. When Megan was on real time Paul Begala was on too and said we should forgive him then maybe they'll learn something from it.
Bill Clinton did not do anything illegal either and it was the Republican Party that became obsessed with his impeachment.
If Sanford hadn't been so vocal about President Clinton, and if he hadn't been so mouthy about "family values", he might get a bit of understanding, but those who live in glass houses ........ and Sanford threw the first stone ..... and many thereafter.
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Newswoman is right. It's none of my business what they get up to on their own time. But they have spent the last two decades sticking their fingers in where they don't belong. I remember the gleeful way the Republicans went after Clinton. Until the Rebuplicans get it they will flounder on the sidelines until the Democrats screw it up. Then we go around again.
It's not the sex.
It's the fact that he went AWOL for 5 days without telling anyone where he was or when he'd be back. What if there had been some crisis while he was gone?
Sanford let his personal life completely hijack his professional obligations. THAT'S why he should step down.
I agree with smileycreek.
The affair isn't the reason he should leave office.
I'm a citizen of SC, and I felt absolutely betrayed that he left our state without any regard to who should be in charge of the state in case of an emergency.
What he did shows that he was too selfish to even care about the safety of South Carolinians.
if a crisis had occured while he was gone. i submit the state was in better hands.
It is absolutely amazing to me at the depths of depravity this country has fallen to. With every single generation personal integrity is disappearing, truth means less and less, commitment is becoming a byword on the way to the top. My God! Whatever happened to our word being just that, our word. And not jus what we say to allay fears. I am ashamed at what we have become and greatly fear what we will be. Shame on you Miss McCain, I would have thought better of you coming from such a great man of integrity.
margent7
Young Ms. McCain's has not had children quite yet and, intelligent as she is, would be wise to recuse herself from commenting on this issue. And her father, admirable as he is, was not a good example for her - and he's been honest about that. At this stage in his life he knows that his behavior should have been defined by what he would want his children's behavior to be under the same circumstances. The degree to which children replicate parental behavior is a trans-generational phenomenon that still baffles mental health professionals. But think imprinting. And think about how you want your children to raise your grandchildren, and behave accordingly. Everything else you see and hear about this issue is without substance.
Sorry, but when was McCain admirable. Not during the last election cycle he wasn't. And don't forget, he let his people pick Sarah Palin.
"With every single generation personal integrity is disappearing, truth means less and less, commitment is becoming a byword on the way to the top."
Bullocks! People have always cheated, it just didn't make the papers as often. I can't stand people harkening back to the 'good old days' - you mean the days when minorities couldn't even go to the same restaurants, women were told how to dress and how to act and were shunned as "hussies" if they so much as wore a pair of pants. There were lots of lousy things about those days. Per capita murder rate was also lower...
Watch Steven Pinker's presentation "The Myth of Violence" http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence.ht ml
And I don't think your generation has any more of a hold on the truth either. Think of Nixon, the Vietnam war and the incredible amount of lies surrounding that, and so on. As for people's personal lives, I doubt people really are much worse now days. Lose the rose coloured rear view mirror...
Rubbish. We are not in anything remotely resembling "depths of depravity."
"Our word" has never been any more nor less than what it is.
There's a lot of ugliness in our past, there will be some in our future, we need to be alert for that but we need to remember that we are going forward, and not back to the "good old days" where every woman in my life had a different prescription to keep me from contracting polio.
Yes, I'm 65, but somehow I've great faith in the generations to come.
Shame on Ms. McCain? Shame for condeming hipocrisy on the actions of both parties? Shame on her for speaking her mind and doing so with inteligenece and perhaps a little wisdom? Truth still counts for something and the truth is the GOP is sadly fractured. McCain is speaking a truth in that regard and in many others. Whatever goes on in the bedroom should stay there and not become a matter of policy. Things like this on both sides distract from some very serious issues facing this nation.
man of great integrity...i argued this during the election with people...do we not remember john "integrity" mccain was quoted either in a book or an interview that he "felt he needed to catch up on old times" (not with his family though) when he finally returned from vietnam and "his first marriage ended because of his selfishness and immaturity". his first wife was badly injured in an accident, put on some weight and would probably need help in the future since she was in a wheelchair at the time. she was thoughtful enough to not burden him with her problems while he was being "tortured" and kept it a secret. so what does she and their 3 kids get in return...a nice dose of divorce from senator John "integrity" McCain...no wonder meghan mccain is on the forgiveness band wagon this would make her a hypocrite or maybe she does not care because it was not her who had to go through the heartache of divorce or adultery.
No we don't silly!!
Meghan forgets that, a decade after Bill Clinton's White House scandal, school children believe that oral sex is not a sexual activity. Are we really to believe that the way that politicians act does not influence our culture? That in order for Meghan's eventual marriage to have sanctity, that it be respected by our society and not dragged through the mud by the people who are in charge of our world?
Cute language, intellectually vacant.
Cute language, intellectually vague.
Perhaps the only legitimate argument for demanding a higher moral standard......
You have a Wife (or Husband) and young Children.
You decide to forgo your vows and place everyone at risk.
That risk.....that you will disrupt and possibly permanently
damage the lives of the people you are responsible for.
You take this risk for the gain of something incredibly small,
an orgasm.
Now, place this decision making process into one of our elected leaders.
When elected, you take an oath, a vow so to speak.
That oath, to uphold and protect.
And whom are you responsible for? A large group of strangers,
people you have never met.
And depending on your elected post, you may in fact be directly
responsible for the very lives and safety of millions of people.
Now, if you're not willing to uphold a promise you made to the people you Love,
how can we trust you to make decisions affecting people you don't.
Unfortunately there have been many instances of politicians IN BOTH PARTIES, that have failed to uphold the superior moral stances placed upon them. By either themselves or others. contemplating what ifs is a useless exercise after the fact.
Meghan McCain totally misses the point as usual. The Republicans (as a whole) miss the point. I don't believe there is any real thought to Meghan's statements on Sanford, or anything else for that matter. She is very shallow. It is poetic justice that Sanford got caught (which is really what he's sorry about), and that he had to admit to leaving his job and responsibilities. His state is in terrible shape, 12% unemployment, 39th in education, to name a few. Oops..now he can't maintain that high moral ground anymore, no more stones to throw at others. Maybe separation of church and state might be his next platform (like our forefathers) since his current political life is in the ...well you know.
Ms McCain states in the above article that Sanford statement at the time of the Clinton scandal IS HYPOCRITCAL! In my opinion, and sorry to say for all those hurt by this but (considering his actions during the Clinton scandal) it is karmaic justice. mazie45 you are right about a lot said in your comment concerning Sanford. You have however, missed her point. Your comment that she is shallow is uncalled for and opinionated. What might say that you are just as shallow to go tit for tat on the political sex scandal front. For me to claim you are shallow would be wrong without knowing you personally and would be an assumption, and you know what they say about assuming. Attacks on anyones character on either side is again distracting and detriementel true exchange of ideas. I recall a certain president who during his campaign refused to stoop to that level.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/20/paul-begala-schools-megha_n_218469 .html?page=5&show_comment_id=26037745#comment_26037745
I'm with Ms. McCain on one point: I don't care who politicians sleep with. Gov. Sanford's affair isn't the reason he should resign. His deriliction of duty to his office is. What would Alaskans do if Sarah Palin disappeared for five days, leaving only vague hints about where she might be going, with or without an accompanying sex scandal?
I also find it interesting that it seems that a lot of the most moralistic Bible-thumping, "save marriage" politicians seem to be falling under the weight of their own hypocrisy...
Great article Meghan. I think Mr. Sanford has had a very sound career politically, and is still capable of doing his job. I don't like the double standard that Dems are rewarded as "you sly fox" for having extra-marital affairs, but the GOP are condemned for the same acts.
This is a ridiculous discussion. Megan McCain has the right to voice her opinion but she is simply advocating what has turned our once respectable society into a cesspool. LOWERING OF OUR STANDARDS. We hold our politicians to too high a standard !?!? REALLY ?!?! We've had no standards for politicians ever since we let Ted Kennedy off the hook for murder. Sanford proved he is un-trustworthy, un-predictable, un-stable, and un-fit to govern. He should step down immediately.
Ms. McCain,
Your opinions and actions of Palin and Sanford are what is wrong with the Republican Party. I do not like lukewarm people and you and your father are exactly that.
You are willing to give grace to a liar and cheat like Sanford but love to trash Palin, you and your father are pathetic.
We need a new party and your family is not it.
I must diagree with you about the American taxpayer/voter/citizen /soldier not being concerned about our elected leaders having a right to privacy.
Sandford, Ensign and the rest of these "holier than thou" anti gay, anti gay marriage, "don't do as I do, do what I say", covert racist, sexist, Republicans passing laws that "restrict" our freedoms are the ones that need to be "watched". It's always easier said than done.
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Then don't read her columns, you pompous ass.
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Spasticula is entitled to comment as the rest of is are. I happen to agree. I saw her on Real Time. I was absolutely so embarrassed for her. She should not have gone on and made a fool of herself.
Yea I was embarassed for Meghan, but now I'm embarassed for Spasticula. Get it?
Spasticula: with personal attacks like this, I have to question your intelligence too.
Please be more specific than a broad personal attack. What exactly makes her dumb? I'd appreciate a healthy debate and a cogent dissent. OTOH, we have all looked like an ass at one time or another, it just wasn't recorded and put on YouTube. I admire her resilience in that regard.
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Well you certainly showed us your superior intellect. did you have a point about the topic in question or was that it? We should welcome moderate voices and not malign them.
Cheers to that!
She is thinking. That's the scary part.
I agree with SharksBreath and Spasticula. If Megan can't stand the heat, then she has no business writing for the Daily Beast or anyone else. Heck we crucified McKinnon why is she any different.
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Wow, "incorrigible." Your vocabulary is *so* impressive.
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I can forgive him and agree that this is a personal matter btwn Sanford and his wife. I hope you are equally vigilant with GOP leaders who are so quick to condemn others for similar affairs. What is outrageous is how so many political leaders proclaim their Christian values, condemn gays and immigrants while being guilty of the same behavior. Think Larry Craig and Ensign. Unfortunately, these people are mostly Republicans. This is why Craig has to go into denial about being gay while it's accepted in the Democratic Party to be gay.
So I can ignore Sanford's behavior if you can get the message out for more tolerance from the GOP. Good luck on that.
You are so right. The Republicans must separate CHURCH AND STATE, to gain back some credibility. Because Republicans must be anti-abortion, against gay marriage, against global warming, against evolution, they can not be credible to the American people. All these issues are RELIGIOUS and not supported by all Republicans, but if they want to run for political office, they have to pretend to believe in all these things.
If your a super Christian moral scold as a candidate don't expect much sympathy from the public if you screw up.
Let's move beyond the empty hot air criticism's of Meghan's column - she is an intelligent and brave young woman to speak out as she does - and recognize that newswoman and Hawaii 5-0 have hit the nail on the head of the problem with Gov. Sanford, Ensign et al. The source of the hypocrisy and resulting outrage is the Republican combination of church and state through the whole family values platform that the Republican party espouses and can't live up to. If they expect to make any kind of a real substantive comeback they need to address that. It would be a lot easier to forgive Sanford is he hadn't put himself on that high moral ground only to fall flat on his face.
They can't do it. The GOP needs the religious right or they do not have enough votes to win a dog catcher election in Alaska. Meghan McCain is presumptive and vacuous, and should go away until she puts on about 10 years of age and experience. Then, maybe, some might listen to her. Take a lesson from your mother: Shut up once in a while.
As a young republican I can say yes I am against abortion, if a women is raped well I wouldnt have an abortion but I dont begrude her one, I 100 percent support gay marriage, I think climate change is a VALID issue, I totally believe in evolution, and I dont pretend to believe in anything but what I believe in, I can believe in all of this and still be a christian, and think what that man did was 100 percent wrong!! Young Republicans are changing so maybe we should accept that fact and realize being a republican doesnt make you a racist homophobe but someone who has different ideas, some maybe worth listening to!
Exactly! Basically, they preach against 'gay marriage' whilst breaking one of the 10 Commandments. Hypocrisy is an understatement.
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Has Mark "Klingon King David" Sandord forgiven anyone who sinned against him.
Probably not.
Off with his head.
She says that he would be forgiven even if he were a Democrat. I would take her at her word until proven otherwise.
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4,479,800 people who can get along without this guy for 6 days - probably 6 months, 6 years. What, were they going to be invaded?
Hurricanes and other natural disasters are not unknown to South Carolina.
johnjohnson68510, It's not an issue of being invaded. It's not about being out of the state for 1 hour. He didn't relinquish his control as Governor to the Lieutenant Governor. There are strict protocols in the event the Governor is incapacitated. What if he had been kidnapped in Argentina? Ho 'bout his plane crashing? Affair or not, he violated his oath as Governor if nothing else.
Wow, that's really not the point. Leave your job for 6 days without notice and see what happens.
sweetmoses -- The Apocalypse?
Try walking off your job without notice and disappearing for six days. I feel sure your employer would let you know just how well and how permanently they could get along without youl.
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LOL!!!!! So true. Usually in emergencies situations there are protocols to be taken regardless if a certain someone is not around. Let's be honest though if it be Katrina or Sept 11, when shit hits the fan it hits the fan. Now unless he is from Krypton .....................
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And I thought JackJack was an annoying troll. You are terrible. Please go back to the AOL chat rooms.
Liberal09, do you have typing turrets Syndrome?
He did violate protocol and the violation is tied to a personal issue. There is no disputing that and the fallout of all of this may be very much deserved. What this article asks is forgiveness as well as a comentary on the misplaced priorities that distract from more serious issues. He screwed up. He will pay the penality for it. on a professional and most likely personal level. To constantly badger anyone just like what was done to Bill Clinton is in bad taste. Two wrongs don't make a right. It is an individuals right to choose to forgive or not. I advise caution for those without forgivness though, for one day you may be asking for forgivness and may find none.
Meghan, we will "stop requiring that our politicians live at such a high level of moral superiority" when they stop claiming to be morally superior.
This whole forgive-Mark-Sanford campaign reminds me, for some reason, of a great line of dialogue from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
"Please! Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion! Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who.
We are here today to witness the union of two young people in the joyful bond of the holy wedlock. Unfortunately, one of them, my son Herbert, has just fallen to his death."
That is brilliant Gary!
"Meghan, we will "stop requiring that our politicians live at such a high level of moral superiority" when they stop claiming to be morally superior."
Quoted for truth.
It must be a terrible burden to run on a 'family values' platform. A terrible, stupid burden.
Absolutely perfect.
How about this.
When politicians (especially Republicans) stop running on 'family values', 'small town values' and preserving the 'sanctity of marriage' the rest of us will cease caring when they're caught naked with a male intern.
You don't get to blast Clinton for infidelity, support a 'defense of marriage act' and keep a mistress in Argentina all at the same time.
Honestly, I often think you have a lot to contribute and I read your articles with interest. This is not one of those times.
Sweet Lord it's called kosmic justice and it happens you throw your bread upon the water it comes back 10 fold- the republicans rub our faces in the sanctity of marriage and morality when Clinton's infidelity came to light only to suffer from the same thing 10 years later, You can't have your cake and eat it too
My god some of you are no better than the extreme right! Even when someone makes a point of condemning both sides you ignore it. No different than the willful deafness of Rush Limbaugh or Bill O Rielly. How can one deal in such absolutes?
The reason his private life is relevant is because elected officials are trying to legislate "morality." If that's the case, then they SHOULD be held to a higher standard - (the one they want to hold us all to) otherwise they should be embracing a tolerance for all message. There really isn't much middleground to be had.
Actually, adultery is illegal in South Carolina. The relevant code is as follows:
SECTION 16-15-60. Adultery or fornication.
Any man or woman who shall be guilty of the crime of adultery or fornication shall be liable to indictment and, on conviction, shall be severally punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than one year or by both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.
I think it is a silly law, but it is technically illegal.
dsmith42,then he needs to resign. Its a stupid law,but he broke it/and should be prosecuted. We all would be.
He did not break this law within state lines. Hell, he didn't even commit adultery in the country. So there is no way to prosecute him for breaking Section 16-15-60.
I'm not a supporter of Gov. Sanford. Quite the opposite. I think this entire "scandal" is hilarious and the only one who comes out looking good is Jenny Sanford.
That being said this is a crazy "Blue Law" that shouldn't even be on the books. Throwing the books at him for regulating his sexual activities is just as bad as the crap he tries to pull by defining marriage between a man and woman or chastising Bill Clinton for getting a bj.
The only thing that he should be punished for is not holding up the oath of office he took or using tax payers money for personal travel.
If he is no longer able to do his job, because of embarssement, loss of power, or distraction then he should step down. But in my opinion he did not commit an impeachable act purely by cheating on his wife.
The act occurred in Argentina.
How funny and ironic that another lawmaker gets bit in the arse! Technically or untechnically (or nontechnically?? whatever), he should resign.
Not necessarily. Was any fornicating actually done in South Carolina, or did he skirt the law by confining his adultering to South America?
I have nothing to forgive him for, because what happens between him (or any other politician) and any other consenting adult(s) is none of my business. I am more concerned with gross hypocrisy and massively poor judgment, neither of which is against the law.
Johnsonjohnson- It just so happened that there were no massive tornadoes or other natural disasters in SC the week Mr Sanford was incommunicado. If there were a problem of this nature, it would be his responsibility to declare a state of emergency and/or call out the National Guard. I don't believe that the Lieutenant Governor can take it upon himself to do these things if the Governor is busy doing someone exotic.
Stay tuned! Sanford can't wait to tell you who he fornicated, how many times and what states and country. This is one proud fornicator!
It's all but ignored in most States.
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let me assure you, if its a sex act, its illegal in SC. the only legal sex in SC is between a married man and woman, in the missionary posission.
WOW!!!! I love archaic laws still on the books.Although, with the current economic crisis if they could actually charge and fine all those people............................ They might actually only break even though if not guilty pleas are made and forced to go to trial.......or maybe actually lose money.......
Meghan, you're like Ann Coulter, except a little nicer... but you're just as moronic.
All of you republicans are the same. Is it just Arizona that is thick headed or have you just never thought that actions display character?
"We have to stop requiring that our politicians live at such a high level of moral superiority" Great idea, Mini McCain! Because I would totally accept a liar and a cheat as the person who controls my tax dollars.
You said it yourself that if it was matter of breaking the law and "misusing state funds" he should resign. Well, he lied to the entire country about his whereabouts and only came clean when he knew he had been caught. Sanford even said himself that he was planning on staying an extra two days.
Nobody expects "sainthood", Meghan.. except the Republicans. They're the ones crying for people to step down and They're the ones look like complete idiots when they're caught doing the exact opposite of what they believe is morally acceptable(Mark Sanford, Mark Foley, John Ensign, John Vitter and Larry Craig just to name a few).
Your article was full of "i think" and "i suggest"... well i think and suggest that you should probably leave the big huge sinking ship called The Republican Party or stand by while it goes down in flames.
Whether you like it or not, the right only does two things right: scandal/criminal activities and blaming our new president.
Hopefully The Daily Beast gets rid of you like Newsweek when they realize your just and dumb blonde conserative
"I would totally accept a liar and a cheat as the person who controls my tax dollars."
I'm glad you would, because congress (particularly the Senate) is full of them.
Maybe you should use spell check before using the word "conserative" and learn a bit about grammar (like the proper use of "your") before posting. Otherwise, you just sound like a moron.
Republicans and their inability to remember anything. I don't even know where to start on this one.
But if you don't remember the venom spewed by the republicans in the 90s when a certain Democratic president was in office, perhaps you should look it up. And how a certain Republican leader in the house was just as guilty and ended up looking like a big bloviating hypocrite. Perhaps you should look it up.
I could keep going but I'm gonna go right for the most hilarious phrase in this malarkey:
"the Sanford scandal just makes me sad for my party"
Really? This was *really* the last straw? really? THAT makes you sad for 'your party' ? And the other LEGITIMATE stuff? That should have you nearly suicidal. Honey listen.
*The Republican party is no one's friend*.
It isn't a friend to any particular creed or governing philosophy or economic school of thought. These days its little more than the dust of banter. Its anti-intellectualism, its venom towards individual liberty, its mockingly anti-free market (wannabe neo-classical) economic policy, need I go on? - it's a joke. It doesn't even have a positive (albeit cult of personality) message that the democrats have. Here's another lesson:
All republicans have to do is to successfully bring together all the points in why government was actually to blame for the financial (read: housing) collapse of 08 - 09. The information is already there! The Mises institute has already done all the intellectual work, they just need politicians to run with it! Are they really THAT dense? Are they really that lost and so out of touch and foreign to the internet that they didn't even bother to look up anything? THAT is what's sad.
Amen..
Meghan McCain will turn a blind eye to issues of torture, radical pro-life terrorists and misconstrued rhetoric to push us into a false war....
But a republican with a four boys & wife of 20 years has an affair "makes me sad for my party"?
Gimmie a fucking break
Guess what Meghan... I've felt really sad for your party a loooooooong time. And yet, Arlen Spector is that only one smart enough to leave. Funny.
Thanks, for expressing the outrage so clearly picopallasi!
The problem I have with your post is that I could substitute Republican with Left or Liberals, or Democrats and then cite the short comings and mistakes and down right hipocrisy associated with that ideaology. Pointing fingers and the "I told you so" mentality is juvenile.
I've been a fairly regular commenter on select blogs over the past few years and this is how I feel exactly and I end up saying it every time there's another sex scandal. They do happen often nowadays.
Sex lives are sex lives and should remain private. This is true regardless of political stripe. (And mine regularly seems painted left of yours). The only time interest should arise is when politicians use state or campaign funds to hide their indiscretions or otherwise do something illegal. But, if the American public wasn't so intensely interested in in the sex lives of its leaders, there would not be pressure to break laws in cover-ups.
Now I do snicker a bit when the self-described 'family values' folks (be that John Edwards, Mark Sanford, or Larry Craig) fall down so publicly. And of course, none of this means that it wasn't ridiculously irresponsible of Sanford to disappear for so many days, nor does it condone infidelity.
Marriage is a vow between two persons and God. Any failings in one should remain between those three.
But I will not forgive Mark Sanford for he has not wronged me. His guilt lies with his family. I might chuckle at his hypocrisy and vomit when reading his love mail, but I've yet to meet a human who doesn't suffer that condition and (if not yet transformed to ash) I'm sure you could find stacks of similar letters littering hidden nooks in my ex-girlfriends' closets.
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I agree with you on one point: we have to stop the hypocrisy.
Sanford's political carrier is over because he is a hypocrite, not because he had an affair.
Perfectly put MurrayAbraham.
I agree too. But let's HOPE his political career is over. Even more nauseating than the press conference and emails would be the spin manufactured by his political defenders (for whatever reasons), and the soppy sentimentalism of apologists now (as in this article) and in the future (when rewriting history to bolster the next campaign).
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The funny part about thjs is that Gov Spitzer resigned. When Gov Sanford, Senator Ensign, Senator Vitter, and Senator Craig resign, then you can call their transgressions a private family matter. Once again, every time I see your column or see you on television, I'm reminded of the Upper Class Twit of the Year skit by Monty Python.
Very funny.
Spitzer resigned, not because of an affair, but soliciting a prostitute across state lines. Little bit of a difference as far as laws are concerned.
Ms. McCain: Are you obtuse? It's not what they did - it's the hypocrisy.
They bellow about family values and Christianity, and then look. I will NEVER vote GOP. It is controlled by evangelicals who are pledged to nullify the 1st Amendment. I am as afraid of evangelicals as I am of Iran.
From the NYT: "The Republican Party will never revive itself until its sanctimonious pantheon - Sanford, Gingrich, Limbaugh, Palin, Ensign, Vitter and hypocrites yet to be exposed - stop being two-faced."
Evangelicals, who control the GOP, love Israel but hate Judaism and Jewish culture. Their goal is to theocratize the country.
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Nice timing, Meghan. Where was all this sympathy when it was Clinton in the headlines, instead of a Republican?
What's worse than your hypocrisy? You're failure to even recognize it.
Chuckl8
I agree completely. Please, someone with time on your hands and good researching skills -- please put together a list of all the times that Sanford, Ensign, Coburn, etc. very publicly and very loudly condemned others for their sexual (and thus private) lives, especially homosexuals and/or, in the case of Coburn, those daring to use condoms!
We already know what they did to Clinton and other public Dem figures (or in the case of GOP Craig, someone that didn't tow the rigid missionary position line), but I'm talking about all the other sanctimonious, religious posturing on their part.
Please compile this list and then write a column for The Daily Beast so that little Meghan McCain can see how off the mark she is on this one. That is, if she is even sophisticated enough in thought to do so and thus understand all the backlash.
But all of this aside, regardless of his hypocrisy and the fact that he put his penis ahead of his 4 boys, not to mention his wife -- Sanford spent tax dollars on his affair during a time when many in his state are suffering economically; sent his "private" emails via government/work computers -- thus they are NOT private (every office worker in this country knows this standard policy); lied about his whereabouts when he is responsible for an entire state (should an emergency have arisen); and would have continued lying had he not been ambushed at the Atlanta airport by the press upon his return from Argentina.
Hypocrisy is not against the law but the rest of the situation screams ETHICAL VIOLATIONS of a public, not private, nature considering his position as governor, and thus he should resign.
Well, earlier today his spiritual adviser, Cubby, wrote that he shouldn't resign because "the devil made him do it". That one didn't float so Sanford pens an epistle stating he won't resign because GOD told him to finish his term. Now if the governor is hearing voices, he should commit himself and submit to a complete psyche exam, because before this last escapade he has been the worst governor in South Carolina's long history of ineffective governors. The state has record double digit employment, the second highest crime rate in the nation, the schools are crumbling, and he has drown the state in unbelievable debt. Last week, GOP Knotts reported that last year the governor diverted $100K federal grant into his personal PAC but paid it back when he got caught. Is he just hanging on to steal more money from the state he bankrupted? He is a failed politician, a failed spouse and a negligent father. South Carolina deserves better than Mark Sanford.
I think that in 1998 Ms. McCain was somewhere between the ages of 11 and 13.
A couple of points, Ms. McCain:
Actually, aside from the hypocrisy factor, you're flat-out wrong about Sanford "not doing anything illegal". To wit: Adultry is a criminal offense in South Carolina:
While I'm sure that this law hasn't been enforced in decades, it remains on the books as of now. Gov. Sanford should have ensured that this law was overturned before violating it.
Point two: Sanford failed to inform *anyone*, including his own staff, Chief of Staff, head of security, or Lt. Governor, of his whereabouts, nor did he give them *any* means of contacting him. His original flight itinerary was supposed to be for a full 10 days, not the 5 that he was gone for. Furthermore, he failed to transfer power over to his Lt. Governor during his absence (over 10,000 miles away).
What if there had been a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or other major catastrophe? The Lt. Gov. would have been unable to take action. As Gov., Sanford is also C in C of the state National Guard, and was AWOL.
No idea what the S. Carolina constitution says about that, but I'd imagine that it'd be considered dereliction of duty by any judge worth their salt.
He evidently didn't check in with the U.S. Embassy in Argentina when he arrived, which I'm pretty sure a sitting U.S. Governor is supposed to do, although I don't know if it's required or not. Sure sounds wise for security reasons if nothing else, though. Might want to check with the State Department on that one.
In addition (to your credit, as you did note), it's looking very likely that he was financing his affair on the public dime, which is also a no-no. And finally, it's looking more and more possible that "Maria", his mistress, may have stood to benefit from some of the trade deals that Sanford was officially discussing during his visits, though that's still murky.
Most of the above things should be enough for him to resign immediately. Combined, he'll be *very* lucky not to end up serving jail time as well.
Try again.
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with her mother
He will probably use the excuse that he wasn't in So C at the time so it doesn't count...
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sanford's private life would not matter at all if he didn't use it and boast about his personal set of morals to get elected to public office in the first place.
sanford opposes gay marriage because it will destroy the sanctity of marriage... allowing loving same sex couples to marry would do more to improve the sanctity of marriage than the hoards of boisterous republicans found trashing their vows.
I completely agree... how is it that conservatives find two men or two women in love, a bigger threat to their marriage compared to their own cheating spouses and broken homes? Why are they worried about anyone else's marriage gay or straight when we all should just focus on our own?
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Rrrright...let's forgive them.
How about Clinton, Edwards, Spitzer? Do we forgive them, or they are too democratic to be forgiven? How about McGreevey?
Is he immoral or to be forgiven? Your hypocrisy is fascinating.
Did you miss this part of the article: "One thing making everyone so mad... are the clips being played of Governor Sanford publicly blasting former President Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. It looks horribly hypocritical. And it is. We have to stop requiring that our politicians live at such a high level of moral superiority, as if they are infallible creatures. Let me assure you, they are not." And asking about McGreevey obvioulsy shows you don't know anything about Ms. McCain's beliefs... she is a staunch supporter of gay rights.
Yuh, read that part. By 'we' hope she means Repubs. Good luck wiht that Ms. McCain!
Actually we didn't miss that part of the article. What Megan is missing completely is that we don't require our politicians be "infallable creatures," we require they be HONEST creatures. Don't sell yourself to the public as one thing when you're actually something laughably different.
And if you're going to concern yourself with what's going on in other people's bedrooms, it's only fair that those people, in turn, will concern themselves with what's going on in yours.
Actually we didn't miss that part of the article. What Megan is missing completely is that we don't require our politicians be "infallable creatures," we require they be HONEST creatures. Don't sell yourself to the public as one thing when you're actually something laughably different. Not when that public is supposed to decide whether or not it wants you to keep your job.
And if you're going to concern yourself with what's going on in other people's bedrooms, it's only fair that those people, in turn, will concern themselves with what's going on in yours.
To be fair I haven't read anything but your tag on this article. After your last attempt re: Palin/Letterman and combined with that awful appearance on Real Time I realized you are in over your head.
I will state the obvious though...the man left his state for 5 days without letting ANYONE know where he was or how he could be reached in an emergency. It would have been 10 days if not for the national media attention. He made at least one trip to Argentina with taxpayer money against US policy. He made a special request under the guise of propriety to make a stop in Argentina after Brazil...it is quite obvious to everyone now why. He is reimbusing the money....admission of guilt. I won't even touch on HIS hypocrisy.
Meghan stop pretending you don't know why this is a story. It is legitimate and if it was a dem you know the GOP would be having a field day. Good writing takes honesty and it seems you are not willing to bring it....too bad you had some potential.
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My interpretation of Ms. McCain's piece is that it is not a rejection of whether or not this is a worthy story or even that Sanford is not hypocrite. Clearly by choosing to write the piece she's acknowledged that it's worth writing about and in the piece she highlighted the hypocrisy. Apparently when she wrote the piece she was unaware that Sanford probably had broken laws, but did state that she would feel differently if he had.
What Ms. McCain's writing on this issue says to me is that she agrees with many who chide her here. Politicians should not have to make intimations concerning their supposed moral superiority, and that anyone who believes them when they do is probably naive. Understanding and compassion are always better than vicious judgment. That most prominent Republicans do sound off about the integrity of marriage or 'family values' and that their hypocrisy is often exposed in situations like Sanford is not the point. That Ms. McCain seems to feel that they shouldn't have to do so to be considered politically viable is.
Heck, without the political pressure to project perfection and marital bliss, Sanford could have divorced his wife and married the Argentine...following the Giuliani model.
But I do bet Senator Ensign is happy about this...his own sex scandal is much less interesting, and consequently receiving much less national press.
Very well put, rahrah. A lot of people are missing the point here and playing the blame game that she's arguing against. I'm not saying her argument is perfect, but why not take a little step back?
If you take a deep breath and expel some hot air, a simpler message is revealed. She is calling for more understanding, and asking people to think and empathize before they condemn. Can we at least all agree that that's a good idea?
Really? So you have no problem with the fact that Sanford walked away from his job for almost a week without telling anyone? You don't think that's a problem?
I have no problem with him having his little affair. It happens. But really. Couldn't he have flown her up to SC? He's got the money. He didn't need to take a completely unscheduled vacation. What would have happen to any real working person if they just left their job for a week? Would the boss at ANY company have sympathy and compassion? NO. They would say, "You have not done your job and you are fired."
Well, Sanford's boss happens to be the people of SC. If I lived there, I'd say he needs to get his dumb ass out. I'll give an employee a pass for sickness or some serious family problems, but this was just him going to get some ass.
Mark, you're fired. Thanks.
Why should governors be given extra allowances that the rest of us don't? Meghan, will you write to my boss and ask him not to fire me if I just take a week off to fly me and my girlfriend to Mexico for a week of hot sex? Plus can you get the state to pay for my trip? I'm a little tight on cash.
And Meghan, just a little advice: if you want people to take you seriously when you defend someone who is being persecuted by your party's values, make sure you're defending someone from the other party. Otherwise, you really just look like a cheerleader. A blond cheerleader.
TTFN
You say that we should leave Gov. Sanford alone because this is a personal matter and that we are hurting his family. Yet his hate filled speech has hurt thousand of families in his own state and millions of family's nation wide. When he says that gay families bring only bad to their children he hurts not only the parents but destroy the child's view of his family. Why should I be concerned with his children and family when he and his party do not care how much they hurt mine?
We voters choose someone to lead because of something called "character." We want our leaders to be examples for our children, not just sharp bookkeepers. We want them to set the bar for society. And like children, when they say one thing and do another, we need to call them out on it.
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Clinton looked the country square in the eye and lied about it. He wasn't even man enough to 'fess up, and that's what got him impeached.
He's a mealy-mouthed coward.
Angela, Everytime Mark Sanford went on TV and preached about family values in the last year (and more than likely longer) he was lying. So when you speak, maybe you should think first, alas you must be a Republican and unable to think!
"The pressure of perfection"!? or Hypocrisy?
No one here is shocked by your parents adulterous affair, by they not being perfect. We are shocked by the hypocrisy, by the policy of the GOP that makes this a political issue.
Somebody needs to explain to Meghan that we don't hold all politicians to a higher standard, just the hypocrites who like to preach family values while they're either soliciting homosexual sex in a public restroom, fornicating with prostitutes supplied by the D.C. madam, sleeping with the wife of one of their married staffers, or sneaking off to Argentina on the taxpayer dime for a rendezvous with their Argentinian mistress. Sure everyone cared about Spitzer's affair because it was salacious, but nobody spoke about the hypocrisy of it all because we never heard the words "sanctity of marriage" come out of his mouth.
The Republicans' strategy of self-righteousness is coming apart at the seems, but I doubt there will be much fallout from this politically. Christians are simply too stupid to realize they're being used and manipulated by these right-wing politicians to push an agenda of tax cuts for the rich. In many ways it's reflective of their belief system as a whole. They believe in things unseen, and incapable of proof. In much the same way that they believe in the absolute truth of words written thousands of years ago by men who, if alive today, would be committed for claiming to hear the word of God, they force themselves to believe that the Republican hypocrites who have been pushing the right-wing agenda actually believe the garbage they spew. And when they fall, well, they can then trot out King David and highlight God's forgiveness.
Hear, hear! Sanford's private life was not an issue until he made the private lives of everyone else his business. That's hypocrisy and it's rather what I think we've come to expect of people who prate about family values, sanctity of marriage, and the horrors that Ga-wud has in store for those who mock the Christian fascism prevalent in parts of this country.
If Sanford was so keen to lambaste Clinton for having an affair and claim moral outrage, he can hardly be surprised when he's held to the same standard and asked to leave office. There's another Christian value for you: "As you sow, so shall you reap."
Actually, Spitzer resigned specifically because of his own hypocrisy. He had prosecuted prostitution and then turned out to have availed himself of it. He did the right thing.
If voters choose to re-elect such a person with the knowledge of their deceit, then it's fine with me, but they should resign first and run again later. Check out Marion Berry, DC City Councilman.
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NOT MAD AT HIM FOR THE AFFAIR BECAUSE HIS WIFE PROBABLY WAS NOT SATISFYING HER MAN
Check the research, women cheat because of marital dissatisfaction not men. The most common reported reason for men to cheat is sex without responsibility.
Are you saying the Democrats are the party of adulterers? Or, perhaps, the party of Forgivers? Then why not forgive. It was a sin, but we all need love. And now we cast stones at him because he cast stones at Clinton?
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"Christians are simply too stupid to realize they're being used and manipulated by these right-wing politicians..."
Please don't tar everybody with the same brush. After all, Obama pretty much split the Christian vote with McCain.
If you are using "Christians" as shorthand for "Evangelical Christians", you might have more of an argument.
Not all evangelical Christians fit into this mold either. I am an evangelical Christian who totally supports Obama. Some of us use the term Obamagelical. However, when you are talking about evangelical Christians, I know who you mean. Just know there are quite a few of us who don't fit the mold.
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What is wrong with you people?
She's a human being just like you -- with feelings.
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I thought he was going to whip out Kind David to justify concubines and multiple wives. Shame, it was right there in the bible.
I'm really surprised that ANYONE would forgive this lying hypocrite !! Sanford & Ensign continually spout christian bullshit about the sanctity of marriage while all along doing everything they could to destroy it !! Sanford was one of the leading critics of Clinton continually talking up his holier-than-thou bullshit attitude whil criticizing him whenever he could. I'm totally sick of these lying "christian" hypocrites and the only cure for them is to retire from public life and just go away !!! Shame on Meghan for even suggesting this !!!! Sanford, comparing himself to King David = what a farce !!!
I don't give a fig about Sanford's personal life nor the Argentinean affair. The mistake Sanford made was the dereliction of duty to his elected office. None of us can rightfully make a judgement on his affair (I wish he hadn't over shared so much information) but we have to make a judgement on how he conducts himself as Governor. Six days missing wasn't a smart move.
Totally concur. The reason for Sanford to resign was his abject failure to help transition management of the state while he was in meltdown. Failing to turn leadership over to the Lt. Governor and to inform his own staff how to reach him left a bizarre vacuum that only Sanford is responsible for. And paying back the state for travel expenses instead of paying for the trip initially from his personal funds is a Palin-style move. Sanford has ruined his chances for a run at the presidency and annoyed the h*ll out of S.C. residents.
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PLEASE BAN THIS PERSON! HE OR SHE IS CLEARLY TRYING TO MISAPPRORIATE AND MALIGN THE WORD "LIBERAL" BY ASSOCIATION WITH THE FILTH THAT HE OR SHE IS SPEWING!
Thank you.
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