I thought I could keep mum on this one.
Wrong.
Wrong because this isn’t the first time. Wrong because it won’t be the last. It is, however, mystifying to me. It seems Mark Sanford is taking a run at Congress, and we seem to be fine with this.
Yes, Mark Sanford, former South Carolina governor of Dastardly Disappearance Fame followed by Sex Scandal and Soulful Mea Culpa, back in 2009. He’s throwing his hat into the political ring in a special election, the first round of which comes up in March.
Am I the only one who recalls his Last Tango Not In Paris?
Political Affairs
What goes on behind closed doors – bedroom doors, that is – is not my business. At least, if you aren’t trying to impose your morality on my life, and your decisions don’t concern my future. For me, the particulars of who, what, when, and where are a private affair, as long as consenting adults are involved.
But when a governor drops out of sight for days, and lies about his whereabouts (badly, I might add) – to cover up a foreign fling, I say – different thing. And while four years have passed, all is not “forgiven.”
Ah, you might say. Is this any different than Bill and Monica?
Damn straight, it is. Bill didn’t go AWOL on the country’s dime.
But it was an affair of the heart, you say. He called his mistress his “soul mate.”
Uh huh.
He’s engaged to the woman! It’s true love! He has his ex-wife’s blessing to run for office and if she forgives him, shouldn’t we?
I’m pursing my lips. I’m gritting my teeth. This isn’t about forgiveness; it’s about judgment. Don’t care who he sleeps with. Do care about hypocrisy!
Second Chances, Forgiveness Culture
Apparently the former governor is hoping for a second chance. Americans are kind and compassionate people, aren’t we? Don’t we love the concept of forgive and forget – or at least forgive?
According to the Daily Beast on Sanford’s run for Congress,
Before the scandal, Sanford was known as an unusually honest and self-effacing politician, and he says he understands the obligation to rebuild trust from the ground up… He peppers his conversation with phrases like “If I’m afforded this second chance,” acknowledging the need to admit to his mistakes if he ever hopes to move on.
Ah, but let’s not leave it there. Shall we throw some good old American godliness into the mix? Our pop culture propensity for misbehavior followed by earnest forgiveness?
The Daily Beast continues:
“I’m a sinner,” he [Sanford] said simply. “If you live long enough, you’re gonna fail at something… I failed very publicly, and yet what I learned in the wake of that failure is that there is a tremendous reservoir of God’s grace on a personal level and citizens’ grace on the public level.”
Uh-huh.
Do we think it’s okay that Mark Sanford wants back into politics because enough time has gone by for us to forget his misguided meanderings? Because it was love, and we all love love? Because we know that politicians lie and that’s part of the game?
I’m weary of our cultural tolerance (and encouragement?) of Same Old, Same Old, when it comes to hypocrisy, to self-interest in extremis, to using God and forgiveness as manipulative mantras, and discarding the tenets of reason (much less ethical behavior) when convenient.
And Arnold’s second coming? Are we waiting with baited breath?
Short Memory?
It’s the memory loss that afflicts us as a nation that worries me most. How is it that we have such short memories when it comes to politics? Or the news in general, for that matter? For example, Sanford wants to”turn the spending train around” in Washington, D. C. and show his smart penny-pinching ways when it comes to government. But wasn’t he sanctioned for spending state monies to fund his travel expenses as he pursued his love life?
Oh right. We forgot.
More memory loss?
Hello, guns?
Yes, of course I’m thinking of last December’s horrific events at Sandy Hook, and all the events that preceded. I’m worried about our ability to remember – as a nation – that senseless violence requires that we reason, that we feel, that we speak out – and that we act.
I’m wondering about President Obama’s powers to persuade, much less our lengthy and convoluted political process. I’m concerned about his gun control agenda announced January 16, 2013 – and its chances of anything resembling eventual enactment, as proposals fight their way through Congress.
I think about that Congress. It all comes down to individuals and how they live their lives. Their ethics. Their beliefs. Their interests. These are individuals we vote for – by virtue of pushing a button, or letting others decide when we don’t show up. Individuals like Mark Sanford who references the Founding Fathers in his remarks on gun control, expressing that he prefers we be reticent and “slow” on this matter.
Should I check my cynicism or my hat – for the next spectacle that flashes across my not so silver screen?
Shall we all rise and gather hands? Shall we change that dial? May we return to our regularly scheduled programming, featuring anything but “Short Memory, Bad News,” sponsored by Politics as Usual?
Time for the old timers to retire and get some new blood in there.
Right.. Another bad person who thinks that by throwing himself at God and the altar he can regain the power he treated so shabbily in the past! Geez……
High among my worries is our widespread inability to judge political candidates through their meta-messages. I don’t know whether to judge Sanford as a simpleton due to his public use of the term soul-mate, or as a cynic due to his seemingly manipulative use of simplistic but constituent-appealing concepts (including “soul-mate”). In any case, he isn’t anyone I would trust.
BigLittleWolf Clinton was multi-tasking as he was “engaged” with Monica and on the phone with Arafat, if you believe the reports. Sanford was missing in action.
All joking aside, in my opinion, it is not that he had an affair, although that is probably what will decide the electorate. What is important is that he lied, then lied, then lied; left a job he was given and was awol. Usually people are fired when they just leave their job for days without explanation.
He broke the public trust. He seeks forgiveness and kindness yet seems lacking these qualities when it comes to others. His actions all make sense when viewed through the rose colored glasses of “what’s good for Sanford.” Americans should not care if Mr. Sanford has relations with garden gnomes, but rather if he is representing them and acting in their best interest.
BUT what about that little concept of “We The People”? The position of Governor and Congressman do not exist for the self-indulgence of the privileged and those that feel they are entitled. They exist to represent and lead the American people. I think Mr. Sanford is confusing the concept of “We the people” with “I am entitled”.
God? No, “what the dickens” is more apropos.
Multi-tasking. Ah yes… Always useful in leadership positions, Curtis!
Appalling it is even possible for him to run again. Aargh.
There was a reason Dante placed hypocrites in the ninth circle of hell. Enough said about this despicable man.
The worst part is the hypocrisy “Do as I say and not as I do” coupled with the standard, self righteous, hiding behind “God’s skirts.” It’s appalling. I cannot stand the bible belt behavior, it is the one thing Europeans find most ridiculous about the American “culture”
I had European in-laws for many years, La Bergère, including during the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. They were stupefied at American responses – the do as I say, not as I do. Yes, it’s the hypocrisy.
Does he deserve to be forgiven? Yes, if he’s truly remorseful. But I have my doubts. My jadedness is going to show now because I believe most politicians have fed at the public trough so long that they want or know little else. And let’s admit it, few if any in Washington can cast the first stone when it comes to morality, ethics and integrity. God may have forgiven him, but that certainly doesn’t mean he should be entrusted with any more taxpayer money.
Turn the spending train around in Washington…how many times have we heard that one? And we always fall for it. The sad truth is none of them really want to stop the spending. They only want the other party to stop spending on their pet projects. My guess is he’ll try and run, but in the end, the people will not have forgiven or forgotten. But then again, our current administration is still basically intact despite evidence of their hypocrisy and misconduct in so many areas. I guess we only really have ourselves to blame for being enablers!