1 Boring Old Man

Sanford, invoking Palin, vows to fight on
Washington Times
September 02, 2009

^{Embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford acknowledged Tuesday that he has been shaken by the failure of a single fellow Republican to back him in his fight to save his job, but vowed to fight on for conservative causes and for "what God wanted me to do with my life." The governor, trying to survive a scandal involving a widely publicized extramarital affair, also compared a new ethics probe over his travel and personal expenses to what he called the baseless complaints brought against former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin…}

^{Mr. Sanford vowed not to quit despite growing pressure from South Carolina lawmakers and Republican Party officials to resign or face impeachment. He said he intends to complete his term, not to hold on to power but to fight for conservative principles of governance. "I feel absolutely committed to the cause, to what God wanted me to do with my life," he said in an interview. "I have got this blessing of being engaged in a fight for liberty, which is constantly being threatened"…}

^{Republican members of the South Carolina House, at a private retreat over the weekend in Myrtle Beach, agreed to ask Mr. Sanford to step down. Days earlier, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, also a Republican, called on the governor to quit. "The consensus was for the governor to resign, and nobody in the room said the governor should not resign," House Speaker Pro Tem Harry Cato, a Republican, told The Times on Saturday…}

^{Adding to Mr. Sanford’s woes, a poll released Friday found that 49.5 percent of South Carolina voters now want Mr. Sanford to go, compared with 36.6 percent who say he should remain in office. The result stands in sharp contrast to a similar poll shortly after the affair was revealed, when a majority of state voters said he should stay.}

^{Mr. Sanford said his lack of support stems in part from the resentment arising from his efforts to challenge the status quo, including tort reform and a battle all the way to the state Supreme Court to kill a spending measure loaded with political pork for special interests. "We have really changed the way things have been done in this state for a long time, and that produced bruised feelings" among legislators in both parties, Mr. Sanford said.}

^{Mr. Sanford acknowledged being jarred by the total lack of support from fellow Republicans in recent days, but said his isolation had only increased his focus on the fight to save his job. "What happened is that you take your eye off the ball and have the moral failing that I did," Mr. Sanford said, "and suddenly you are off the playing field. Then you realize how blessed you were to have been on that playing field"… After the affair was revealed, his wife moved out of the Statehouse with the couple’s four sons. "Never again," he said in the interview. "In many cases in life, you never fully appreciate your blessings until you lose them."}

First, in case you’re not from the South, South Carolina is one of the most conservative places on this planet. The notion that Sanford is being opposed because of his conservative values is ludicrous. Nor are people thinking he took his eye off the ball. His marital duplicity was done under the nose of his very credible wife who was trying to help him stay in the ball park. And his notion that God called him to be Governor is fanciful. The people of South Carolina called him to be Governor by voting for him – and they’re not calling anymore. So as for his being one of the "Chosen People," everyone around him is questioning that – they want to "unchoose" him.

One thing is clear. Mark Sanford thinks he’s "special." He thinks he ought to be able to do whatever he wants to do. If he messes up, he feels entitled to be forgiven. He reminds me of Ted Haggard, who also feels like he’s an injured party. They both complain that they "slipped" and ought to be forgiven. They both evoke job pressures as causative factors. They both want to avoid acknowledging their lies. In my humble opinion, the operative principle is simple – don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. People want Mark Sanford to go away because he’s an embarassing, self righteous, lightweight who looks sillier and sillier every time he opens his mouth. The operative scripture for Mark Sanford is Job 1:21.

The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away…