sanford

When I thought Mark Sanford's disappearance was, well, just a guy ducking out of being governor for a week, it was amusing. It was fun to speculate on just what took this guy to Argentina and how he would go about ditching his security detail. Now that I know it was about an affair, it's gone from being a funny story about politicians run amok to being sordid in the worst possible way. I can't help but feel sorry for all involved and angry about a culture that requires repentant confessions from public figures without really listening to them. Gail Collins had a great column on this when Eliot Spitzer made his confession last summer, and thank you Sanford for not putting your wife on camera with you to share in your public humiliation. Sanford's political career is probably over, and I kind of miss the blase guy I had in my head who said "see you suckahs later" and hopped on a plane to Buenos Aires.