Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Politics When The Governor of South Carolina Goes Down Argentine Way...
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 12:01 PM
...he really goes down Argentine way. Mark Sanford—a conservative Christian Republican and a defender of "family values"—admits to cheating on wife "with a dear, dear friend from Argentina." Sanford was the head of the Republican Governor's Association. He's resigning—as head of the RGA, not SC as Goob. He apologizes to wife, kids, supporters.
Sanford had been considered a prospect for the Republican nomination in 2012. Uh... that's over. Unless the GOP decides to go with a no-skeletons-left-in-our-closets ticket: Sanford/Ensign 2012!
Remember... these clowns are leaders of the party that wants to micromanage your private life.
UPDATE: Fox News IDs Sanford—head of the REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION—as a Democrat.
If Fox News didn't exist Jon Stewart would have to invent it. And I agree 110% with Urgutha in comments...
Mark Sanford and Rod Blagojevich should do a reality tv show together. Just the two of them doing unpredictable wacky shit.
I'd watch.
UPDATE 2: A follow-up question for Gov. Sanford: as a member of Congress you sponsored legislation to make English the official language of the United States. Was English the official language of your extramarital affair? Or did your Argentine mistress beg for your cock in Spanish?
Share via
2
So this either means that his poor wife knows that he's cheating but stays with him for appearance and then needs to lie for him, or it means that they have just opened up their relationship. I don't know Sanford's stance on open relationships, especially in marriage, but maybe he's all for it!
What do you think, Dan?
What do you think, Dan?
3
Well, that shows what I know for thinking Rob in Baltimore’s “plastic surgery in a foreign country” theory was somewhat plausible.
What an idiot – did he really think that no one would notice if a governor disappeared for a week (plus, um, did his staff know about it and lie for him with the whole “hiking” story)? They should seriously teach a class for aspiring politicians: Avoiding Sex Scandals 101.
What an idiot – did he really think that no one would notice if a governor disappeared for a week (plus, um, did his staff know about it and lie for him with the whole “hiking” story)? They should seriously teach a class for aspiring politicians: Avoiding Sex Scandals 101.
4
Good thing the Repubs are the 'family values' party, can you imagine how many affairs they'd be having if they weren't?
5
It's always the coverup that's the problem.
Oh, by the way, proof today that the Saudi Royals attacked the US on 9-11 ... let's do a blockade!
Oh, by the way, proof today that the Saudi Royals attacked the US on 9-11 ... let's do a blockade!
8
but hey, he's resigning not because he committed adultery but because he LAID with some brown woman. right? BROWN. jesus.
9
And here I thought he'd be found in a sling in the nearest bathhouse with empty meth vials all over the place and his ass in the air.
Silly me.
Silly me.
10
3, Yeah, I should have stuck to the "keep it simple stupid" method of developing my missing republican governor theory.
11
For srsly, you just cannot make this shit up.
A book editor would laugh you outta their office if your novel featured Republicans who were such cartoonish buffoons.
A book editor would laugh you outta their office if your novel featured Republicans who were such cartoonish buffoons.
12
I'm sure the party of Family Values will now seek to outlaw the slippery slope of "innocent emails." Clearly, the internet is ruining families, and must be stopped in the name of protecting kids and families.
13
Also, it's either really horrible because he did it on Father's Day, when you should probably be with your children, or it's a pretty awesome father's day gift from the fam
14
@9 Yeah, I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't more scandalous than it is. Although here's hoping that "dear, dear friend" is revealed to be "cheap, cheap hooker" in the coming weeks.
15
He's passed the 1st test for the GOP presidential candidate. He cheated on his wife.
As a native South Carolinian, I find this whole debacle in addition to everything else that's recently happening in SC (idiot state GOP officer saying Michelle Obama's related to a gorilla and the whole economic recovery package fiasco) fucking funny as hell. The state GOP has been on a downhill slippery slope since Strom Thurmond died.
As a native South Carolinian, I find this whole debacle in addition to everything else that's recently happening in SC (idiot state GOP officer saying Michelle Obama's related to a gorilla and the whole economic recovery package fiasco) fucking funny as hell. The state GOP has been on a downhill slippery slope since Strom Thurmond died.
16
God, you've got to love these fucking dildos. The level of hypocrisy is just fucking stupefying. Do they really think we're that dumb?
17
@8
They're actually not so "brown" down in Argentina. Pretty white actually - Buenos Aires is basically like Europe. The "dear dear friend" is likely a pretty rich white women. Holding for pics... keep the trash coming, Dan!
They're actually not so "brown" down in Argentina. Pretty white actually - Buenos Aires is basically like Europe. The "dear dear friend" is likely a pretty rich white women. Holding for pics... keep the trash coming, Dan!
18
The real scandal isn't the affair, it's that the governor of a state can (a) disappear for five days and (b) gallivant around a foreign country without telling the US embassy at the very least. What if he was killed or kidnapped? No one would have had a clue where to even start looking. They'd have had to send the fucking military in to comb the Appalachians. Ultra-ultra bonehead move.
Note that he's resigned as Governor's Association head, not Governor. He still gets to sign legislation, unless he left his pen in Argentina too.
Note that he's resigned as Governor's Association head, not Governor. He still gets to sign legislation, unless he left his pen in Argentina too.
19
15? Downhill since Strom Thurman? The racist, segregationist who fathered a child with his black housekeeper, Strom? The guy who all his life denied this child, Strom?
20
I keep seeing CNN, ABC, LA Times, etc. reporting that he was having an affair with an "Argentinian woman." And yet, the quotes only mention a "friend" -- the governor's language is very gender neutral. Has he actually said his friend was a woman?
22
Mark Sanford and Rod Blagojevich should do a reality tv show together. Just the two of them doing unpredictable wacky shit.
23
@14
If it were a hooker, he wouldn't have gone all the way to Argentina for it. He could've easily paid for a "dear dear" latina stateside. No doubt we'll get all the juicy details in the coming days though.
...I mean, *hiking*?? Idiots.
If it were a hooker, he wouldn't have gone all the way to Argentina for it. He could've easily paid for a "dear dear" latina stateside. No doubt we'll get all the juicy details in the coming days though.
...I mean, *hiking*?? Idiots.
25
yeah. thurmond was the grandfather of the SC repub party. Since he kicked the bucket (and I so partied when he died), Arthur Ravenel's son got busted in 2007 for selling coke. his son worked on the Juliani campaign. All the racist shit said against Obama and his wife, the drama behind stimulus package, and other things.
as for thurmond's racist tirade while he fathered an interracial black child, people are now thinking that he probably had this racist façade since someone was probably blackmailing him to keep saying that shit or have his "private" life exposed and his family's name and "heritage" ruined. Because in the late 80s and 90s, he started reaching out to the black community in many ways. I know it's fucked up but South Carolinians are all about forgiveness.
as for thurmond's racist tirade while he fathered an interracial black child, people are now thinking that he probably had this racist façade since someone was probably blackmailing him to keep saying that shit or have his "private" life exposed and his family's name and "heritage" ruined. Because in the late 80s and 90s, he started reaching out to the black community in many ways. I know it's fucked up but South Carolinians are all about forgiveness.
27
I'm going to go out on a limb and say I feel sorry for this guy.
Yes, this goes against so many of the things he personally pushed as a politician. So are we going to feign surprise that humans are double-sided for some stupid fucking reason?
We demonize the shit out of any politician that cheats to such a ridiculous degree. John Edwards, despite fucking an ugly woman while his wife was dying, pushed the entire 2008 debate to the left by being loud and unapologetic about his passion for the workers. To have his voice complete absent from politics leaves a giant void in the fight for workers' rights and ideas like the living wage - ideas that haven't been talked about since he dropped from the race.
Yeah, I get that this is hypocritical. I get that he should have made better arrangements for the state he is fucking in charge of.
But to say that you couldn't expect this from a bible-thumping man who lives in South Carolina, scared shitless about having fucked up like a human being going up against a mob of people who would watch him burn because he found out sex with a non-South Carolinian is GOOD... is just immature and not true.
Yes, this goes against so many of the things he personally pushed as a politician. So are we going to feign surprise that humans are double-sided for some stupid fucking reason?
We demonize the shit out of any politician that cheats to such a ridiculous degree. John Edwards, despite fucking an ugly woman while his wife was dying, pushed the entire 2008 debate to the left by being loud and unapologetic about his passion for the workers. To have his voice complete absent from politics leaves a giant void in the fight for workers' rights and ideas like the living wage - ideas that haven't been talked about since he dropped from the race.
Yeah, I get that this is hypocritical. I get that he should have made better arrangements for the state he is fucking in charge of.
But to say that you couldn't expect this from a bible-thumping man who lives in South Carolina, scared shitless about having fucked up like a human being going up against a mob of people who would watch him burn because he found out sex with a non-South Carolinian is GOOD... is just immature and not true.
29
According to Huff Po, Sanford actually said: "I spent the past five days of my life crying in Argentina," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFuaYHZxa…
AmericaBlog did this first though.
AmericaBlog did this first though.
30
From the CNN story:
""I'm a bottom-line kind of guy. I'll lay it out, it's going to hurt, and we'll let the chips fall as they may," Sanford said... ."
I honestly read it first as "I'm a bottom kind of guy. I lay it open, it's going to hurt, and we'll let the chaps fall as they may".
God, I'm such a fruit fly... .
""I'm a bottom-line kind of guy. I'll lay it out, it's going to hurt, and we'll let the chips fall as they may," Sanford said... ."
I honestly read it first as "I'm a bottom kind of guy. I lay it open, it's going to hurt, and we'll let the chaps fall as they may".
God, I'm such a fruit fly... .
31
I'm shocked by two things: he did not play the "eatin' ain't cheatin'" card, and he outsourced when there are plenty of out-of-work whores from sea to shining sea right here in Murka.
Why does Sanford's dick hate American pussy?
Why does Sanford's dick hate American pussy?
32
From the CNN front page:
"I'm a bottom-line kind of guy. I'll lay it out, it's going to hurt, and we'll let the chips fall as they may," Sanford said... .
I honestly read it through the first time and read "I'm a bottom kind of guy. I'll lay it open, it's going to hurt, and we'll let the chaps fall as they may."
God. I'm such a fruit fly... .
"I'm a bottom-line kind of guy. I'll lay it out, it's going to hurt, and we'll let the chips fall as they may," Sanford said... .
I honestly read it through the first time and read "I'm a bottom kind of guy. I'll lay it open, it's going to hurt, and we'll let the chaps fall as they may."
God. I'm such a fruit fly... .
33
@ 27,
No. It's the fact that he and his ilk feel they have the divine right to make everyone else's lives a living hell by forcing us to adhere to their conservative religious and social beliefs--while they can't even hold themselves to their own standards--that that make Sanford & Co. worthy of scorn and ridicule.
Defense of marriage, anyone?
No. It's the fact that he and his ilk feel they have the divine right to make everyone else's lives a living hell by forcing us to adhere to their conservative religious and social beliefs--while they can't even hold themselves to their own standards--that that make Sanford & Co. worthy of scorn and ridicule.
Defense of marriage, anyone?
35
Another "Christian" pig who has spent all his time condemning everyone else's behavior. Gawd they make want to PUKE!
36
This bastion of family values blew off his 4 very young sons on father's day to go whore it up in the other hemisphere. What a great dad he is.
37
Are you kidding me with the Fox News "Democrat"?! Jesus, and you know that at least half of their viewers are too dumb to know any better (or that Fox News is the only news source). Didn't they do this with another Republican sex scandal? Was it David Vitter? I forget...
38
@27
I agree with you to a point. I'm not sure how crazy we should all get about a politician cheating, because it happens all the time with all sorts of different people. The issue I have is that it shows a poor lack of judgement to cheat, even when you know the consequences. Had Edwards been the nominee and that would have come out, no way he's President. Clinton's legacy was basically ruined for a while, if not permanently.
So yes, we have other issues that are more important, despite the hypocrisy, but in today's world, cheating when the stakes are that high shows a lack of sense.
I agree with you to a point. I'm not sure how crazy we should all get about a politician cheating, because it happens all the time with all sorts of different people. The issue I have is that it shows a poor lack of judgement to cheat, even when you know the consequences. Had Edwards been the nominee and that would have come out, no way he's President. Clinton's legacy was basically ruined for a while, if not permanently.
So yes, we have other issues that are more important, despite the hypocrisy, but in today's world, cheating when the stakes are that high shows a lack of sense.
39
People who live in 787-stealing glass houses shouldn't be throwing stones at Obama's stimulus dollars while whoring it up on Father's Day and being a proponent of "family values" (aka Cheaters-Anonymous).
40
Hey look at it this way. Stephen Colbert's going to have so much fun with this over the next couple of days/weeks. He's also from South Carolina.
41
I should also take responsibility for the fact that my "homos only" domestic partnership destroyed his opposite marriage 3,000 miles away like a glitter-covered ICBM.
Srry!
Srry!
42
@40 - Yes, definitely watching Colbert tonight. Last night he declared himself the new governor of SC (for 40 seconds, until he found out Sanford was coming back to the office). Should be good...
What I want to know is, what did his staff know. He at one point (when the trip to S. America was "innocent"), said that his staff contacted him and told him his absence was creating a stir, so he came back. But, his staff supposedly thought he was on the AT hiking with no cell phone...
What I want to know is, what did his staff know. He at one point (when the trip to S. America was "innocent"), said that his staff contacted him and told him his absence was creating a stir, so he came back. But, his staff supposedly thought he was on the AT hiking with no cell phone...
43
@42
The wife clearly knew what was going on, so I bet some of the staff knew as well...
Once again, pretty low to do that on Father's Day, that's gotta have some weird effect on his boys
The wife clearly knew what was going on, so I bet some of the staff knew as well...
Once again, pretty low to do that on Father's Day, that's gotta have some weird effect on his boys
44
Jesus Christ! He should've claimed that he thought the southern end of the Appalachian Trail is in Buenos Aires!
45
@20, I had the same reaction/questions as you, but then found a video of the press conference, and sure enough he refers to his friend at some point as "her."
46
as an avid hiker, let me lay out a scenario in which gov. sanford would have gotten away with it.
1. actually go backpacking alone.
2. have your argentinian paramour fly TO amurka.
3. she hikes in from a different trailhead.
4. fuck at a pre-arranged campsite.
it's kinda brokeback-y, but straight.
1. actually go backpacking alone.
2. have your argentinian paramour fly TO amurka.
3. she hikes in from a different trailhead.
4. fuck at a pre-arranged campsite.
it's kinda brokeback-y, but straight.
47
@37 It's Fox. They have a sign in the studio that says "Any politician that does anything wrong is, by definition, a Democrat."
48
Hey, at least he didn't have a GAY affair. Everyone knows t3h sekrit ghey is 10 bazillion times worse than some Argentinean hussy.
49
Ay, no tuvimos razon!
Claro que el sangre latina es demasiado caliente.....no pusieron resister la fuerza del amor.....las caracterizaciones estereotpicas de latinos deber ser validas....y ademas, el pueblo Argentino tiene el 50% de parte italiano.....
mama mia!
Pues, no es un Juan Peron de todos modos.
Claro que el sangre latina es demasiado caliente.....no pusieron resister la fuerza del amor.....las caracterizaciones estereotpicas de latinos deber ser validas....y ademas, el pueblo Argentino tiene el 50% de parte italiano.....
mama mia!
Pues, no es un Juan Peron de todos modos.
53
So my question is will what is currently known as a "Brazillian Wax" become known as the "Appalachian Trail"?
54
So my question is will what is currently known as a "Brazillian Wax" become known as the "Appalachian Trail"?
55
One more for the perv album! Grand Old Perv party.
Republicans are the kind of degenerates that would destroy their families just for sluts, transformers named Tango or anything else with a pulse that tickles their fancy and what's between their legs.
Republicans are the kind of degenerates that would destroy their families just for sluts, transformers named Tango or anything else with a pulse that tickles their fancy and what's between their legs.
56
How quickly we judge & forget for that matter. The truth is cheating isnt party related nor defined. I recall Edwards claiming ingorance abt his affair/child while his wife battles Cancer. Or who can forget "I DID NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMAN".... minus staining that dress!! I personally think they are all dicks that deserve public humiliation and ridicule just be sure we ridicule their actions not use it as a cheap shot to the party....
I agree with all those who point out his Father's Day mishap...he should be ashamed for missing it with his children
Sincerely,
Independant for those sure I'm Republican :-)
I agree with all those who point out his Father's Day mishap...he should be ashamed for missing it with his children
Sincerely,
Independant for those sure I'm Republican :-)
57
Just because he had an affair with a woman doesn't mean he went down on her. Puh-leez. WAY too many men STILL do not go down on women. Way too many.
58
You know, I'm actually kind of relieved when these Republicans are revealed as total hypocrites.
It scares me to think that they might actually practice what they preach.
It scares me to think that they might actually practice what they preach.
59
Speaking from a broadcasting background (both TV & radio), I was highly pissed when FOX labeled Mark Foley as a democrat when his scandal hit the air. I can see the mistake happening once, but they continued with the footage, as is, which is no mistake... FOX does this on purpose.
Most Commented on Slog
-
Life and Death in a Recliner in South Carolina by Dan Savage
-
Health at Every Size by Dan Savage
-
"Let his days be few... Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow." by Dan Savage
-
$2,600,000,000 by Dan Savage
-
All The Best Men Are Taken by Dan Savage
-
I Hate You, Garrison Keillor by Jen Graves
-
SL Letter of the Day: Hot & Drunk by Dan Savage
-
Becoming a Man by Dan Savage
-
Pit Bulls! by Dan Savage
-
Unreal Americans by Dan Savage
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (59) RSS