Mark Sanford: No Longer Missing. Will He Be Missed?

At DailyKos there is a screencap where Fox, once again, falsely identifies a disgraced pol as a Dem instead of a Republican.

“Don’t cry for me, Argentina!….”

KT – I’m telling you this story blew up and overs way too fast. this guy is covering up something that is so much more devastating to himself and his family. The only way to protect himself is to stop you’ll from digging and to do that he had to give you’ll something that juicy enough to make you’ll go away immediately.
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I know you might think my suspicion is driven by partisanship but it really comes from doing research about sex trafficking and discovering the prevalence of American men going overseas to indulge their sexual appetites. It’s commonly referred to as sexual tourism others call it freaks on release — I say somebody ought to get some proof that this mistress has actually reached the age of consent. And this so called confession isn’t a cover-up for something far more sinister.

Why is it hard to imagine him running for president? I mean, other people with equally or more questionable backgrounds have been taken seriously at the national level. Sarah Palin? Gary Hart?

KT:
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Did you “know” this whole time, or are you unable even now to answer that question?

Further to my previous post: these scaliwags cry their crocodile tears on Fox, are granted absolution by Rush and Anne Coulter, and then proceed to the fast lane of high-level politics where they’re greeted as “serious people.”

[...] Swampland Blog calls Sanford “the TMI Governor.”  Karen Tumulty writes that the GOP will likely “put Sanford behind it” and try to move [...]

SZ: Nope. I sure didn’t.

Let’s see, Patterson, McGreevey and Spitzer–Dems seem to have the problem too. And don’t forget about Kwame Kilpatrick and Mayor Villagairosa.
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And there was Stabenow’s husband too.

But really, can Dems really say anything about GOP peccadilloes–last I checked, Janklow had to resign and Ted Kennedy is a lion.

“His picture-perfect family–a smart, pretty wife and four adorable sons–had been very much a part of his image.”
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Open letter:
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It is time to retire the above myth. There is no such thing as picture-perfect. People are ordinary. We have ordinary feelings, emotions, problems and vices. All of us. We can not live up to a picture-perfect myth. And we need to stop pretending.

Americans on the other hand are free to talk all they want about politician’s peccadilloes.
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Recasting it as an intraparty competition is actually a good example of trollery. It’s so basic that children are taught it – two wrongs don’t make a right.

vw, Ginsburg’s lily-white clerkship classes are jarring when you consider that her view is that lily-white anything is automatically suspect.

Yeah, but PD, I am not pointing it out to defend Sanford, but to point out that your outrage is pretty party-specific. And that calls into question the weight to be given your comments. Come on, PD, certainly you can do better than that.

Krist,every thread is Groundhog’s Day.

And PD, take a look at the first sentence of this post. Mentioning Dems who have gotten caught seems pretty germane under any standard. Dude, you’re getting clowned.

u want some to, PNNTO? Come on. Pay your quarter and take me on. Read the first sentence of the post. That invites comments about all the Dems who have been caught recently for straying.

KT:
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Thanks for the honest answer; I really appreciate it.
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The list of items that “everybody knows” in political press corps circles (but of which we rubes in the sticks remain stupidly ignorant) keeps getting longer with every anonymously sourced quote.
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Please forgive me for my suspicious mind.

Where’s Pirate Wench when we need her?

Whatever, FO, we’re still waiting for you to explain how the states’ power to disenfranchise criminals emanates from the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause. Consider yourself pwned.

This…
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His picture-perfect family–a smart, pretty wife and four adorable sons–had been very much a part of his image.
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…is why the government is filled with closeted gay people who vote against or work against civil equality.

Recasting it as an intraparty competition is actually a good example of trollery. It’s so basic that children are taught it – two wrongs don’t make a right.
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This is evident.

I not outaged because Sanford or anyone else had an affair. I’m am outraged because I have to listen to how marriage is an institution, how its between one man and woman from people who seemed to believe that its actually between one man, one woman and another woman. And these same people go out of their way to make sure that others they disagree with can’t have the same rights as they take for granted constantly. That’s outrageous. If you can’t live by the same rules you opposed on others than have the common decency to STFU!

our outrage is pretty party-specific
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I have no outrage whatsoever. Another politician got caught with his pants down. BFD. The only reason I might care is that he’s on record wanting to deny gay’s the right to form families when he obviously has little to no concern over the health of his own.

Sorry need an editor.

stuart, I replied to your post on the other thread.
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It’s actually kind of interesting to trace how stories develop.
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Dee, sorry but that’s kind of paranoid. Why would he develop this ornate lie about her being married, knowing each other for 8 years and her having two sons?
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Married people fall in love – think they’ve fallen in love – through emails all the time. It’s the most ordinary story.

PD, you really need to be a little more sophisticated. The “I’m not outraged” but because he has X political views, I care about his personal morality is not a very big figleaf.
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And SZ, perhaps, just perhaps, you could read the first part of this blopost–aw, hell, I will just quote it:
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“The sagacious Don Fowler Sr.–former chairman of both the South Carolina and national Democratic parties–notes that the old joke used to be that when Democrats got into trouble, it was over sex; when Republicans did, it was over money. That’s the reason, the punchline went, that there were so many more Democrats than Republicans. But with South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s tearful confession of marital infidelity coming on the heels of Nevada Senator John Ensign’s, and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in the soup for allegedly trying to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat, “I think this is getting to be reversed these days,” Fowler told me.”
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And I point out some Dems who have been caught with their pants down, and I am a troll. Hmmmmmmmmm. Come on, guys, this is too easy.

The traditional view of marriage has always been one man, one woman, and one mistress. I’m only half joking. So of course that’s consistent with DOMA.
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I guess Sanford now actually qualifies as “news.” And yet, somehow I still don’t care.

Spob – You just don’t get it do you? It’s not that Democrats are any better. But when you have guys like Vitter, Ensign, and now Sanford who have consistently got on their moral high horses about DOMA, gay marriage and it being the downfall of “traditional” marriage and “family values” in general and then they go off and pull their anything but high morals stunts. You have hypocrisy and if you cannot see it then you sir are blind.

“If you can’t live by the same rules you opposed [sic] on others than have the common decency to STFU!”
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Kind of like that scold Michelle Obama–telling us all that some people are going to have to give up some of the pie to help others, but she sure operated to protect her hospital’s piece of the pie did she not. Funny, gunny, I don’t think you’re going to apply your STFU standard to High Priestess Michelle.

Throwing chaff. Change the subject. Derail the Conversation. Yes you are a troll.

Au contraire, jsfox, I get it. First of all, my comments are germane, given that the post led with the roles being reversed. Nope, there are plenty of dems involved in sex scandals. Second of all, the hypocrisy angle is awful convenient–it is a cover for selective outrage. Third of all, two can play at the “it’s the hypocrisy, stupid”. When I do it, I am a troll. Gotcha.
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Guys, this is too easy.

I feel really sorry for his family and wife, but dear god, why do the wives in these situations never leave their spouses. I take some small comfort that his wife wasn’t at the presser. At least we were spared that sight.

Rose:
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I also replied, the short version of which would be “thanks”.
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How much national attention does this story now deserve, since we’ve cleared up our Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew mystery?

OK, PD, let’s review, shall we.
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Look at KT’s post–it talks about the roles being reversed. I was simply showing that there are enough Dems involved in this that the role-reversal observation ain’t exactly accurate. That’s germane under any (double)standard.

Well if it’s an honest apology it’s about the classiest one I’ve heard. But Dee’s caveat isn’t so much paranoid, I think, as the natural result of Sanford having lied so many times already. Why should we assume the lies end now just because he’s confessed to an affair?
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The reason, of course, for Democratic schaudenfreude, is that it’s the Republican party that has thrown a mantle of family values over its frail shoulders. As Andrew S. posted: But it’s important to remember at these moments that we’re all human. I just wish the GOP leadership would apply that lesson to everyone else.

“Kind of like that scold Michelle Obama–telling us all that some people are going to have to give up some of the pie to help others, but she sure operated to protect her hospital’s piece of the pie did she not.”
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spob-I get it you hate Michelle Obama, you hate her husband and probably her kids too. I think everyone gets it. And its okay. But, Michelle has nothing to do with Mark. As far as I know no one is talking about Michelle here, except you. There are no other aspects of Mark’s behavior like leaving his state the people he was elected to serve with no one legally in charge for a week? That does not bother you a little.

/sigh
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“I think this is getting to be reversed these days,” Fowler told me.
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No one said Democrats stopped being in sex scandals other than yourself, spob. If these comment sections were more like normal forums, I would report your posts for trolling. I’m really starting to miss textee and rusty for the primary reason that they did not also spam the thread with their garbage – they usually contained it to a single post.

Larry Sabato said it well: “…Republicans are especially vulnerable here because they simply won’t stop telling people how to live their private lives.”

Rose 83, Why do you always have to question my motivations. Why do I have to be paranoid, couldn’t my reluctance to take a liar at face value be based on the fact that I’m dealing with a confessed liar.

First it was Ensign ,the stand up guy who came clean right away to get in front of the story. Now I find out that he doubled the mistress’ salary twice and put her son on the payroll until they broke up and he fired everyone. And I’m supposed to be paranoid?
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I’m not paranoid. Hundreds of thousands of American men go overseas every year for exotic sex. Oh yeah “exotic” was Sanford’s word not mine. Ask the state department. Who exactly do you think these men are? do you think they are poor, unconnected, every day average individuals?
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Now I only pose the question because before this story broke (see post at 1:28 with my Sullivan) From the outset it sounded like sexual tourism. Argentina is a pretty long way to go for a mistress. And leaving the country let alone the state is pretty risky considering you are trying to keep something secret.
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It seems to me that he was just a little too quick with the mea culpa, nobody had begun to go there yet and it appeared that the confession was designed to shut down any investigation before it started.
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I’ve got to get married, it seems married guys get laid alot more.
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I can’t speak for everybody else, but I have no outrage for this sort of thing. I just think it’s funnier when people who rail against specific “sins” end up committing those sins themselves. No party is immune. So this little game of “but, they did it too” is really pointless.
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If men have the opportunity to plow a hot chick, they will almost always take it. Unless your Larry Craig, of course.

Though the total now stands at 7 posts in 2 days (including Amy’s), though I criticized KT yesterday for just this type of scandalizing tripe, I’d be an utter and absolute hyprocrite to say I didn’t just awake in the land of the rising sun, and spook my wife w/cackling laughter at the headlines.

wow, gunny, maybe, just maybe, if you’d read, you’d understand something. My point is not to yap about Michelle (although that IS fun), but to point out your selective outrage. One of the criticisms of the GOP is that it is hypocritical. You yourself said that these “do as I say, not as I do” types should STFU. Well, I am just pointing out that you don’t apply the same standard to people on your side of the aisle. Got it?
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Redraven, are you really that dense? What does “role reversal” mean? Fowler’s story started out as one party did one thing and the other party did another. For a “role reversal”, the exclusivity would have to be swapped. But it isn’t.

Yeah, Larry Craig. Now THAT was funny. I mean, really, “wide stance”? I wouldn’t believe that from my own son.

I have to be with Dee on this one. There are some creepier aspects of sex tourism, and it’s not nuts to ask the question here.

In the past several days we’ve had Ensign talk about his infidelity, seen Pat Buchanan chatting with a White Supremacist about immigration, heard Nixon’s approval of abortion when a Black and a White are involved and now have runaway Governor Sanford talk about straying from his marriage vows.
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Spob is just shell shocked. His rants will only connect with the 25-35% who are his “fellow travelers”. Letting spob blow off steam here is probably saving a life.

A note of thanks to those of you who post trolls’ names at the outset of your replies to them. I was able to soar through the salient portions of this thread in record time!

ah, rmrd, the utter failure to address argument . . . . gotta love it.
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I’d say I pretty much won this flame war. Too easy guys. Way too easy.

You yourself said that these “do as I say, not as I do” types should STFU. Well, I am just pointing out that you don’t apply the same standard to people on your side of the aisle. Got it?
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Must…not…make….point…here…aaarrrrgghhhh…
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Spob, the point is that most of the “do as I say” types are Republicans. So the same standard just doesn’t apply.
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I would like to offer a tearful apology for engaging Spob before I am chastised, to save time.

Spob, why do you pretend you don’t understand why folks take additional pleasure when Republicans get caught out there? You know it’s the hypocrisy, the same reason that Bristol Palin got so little compassion. The GOP loves to wag their fingers at other peoples foibles. Leave our private lives alone and we won’t bother yours either.

I don’t understand why he couldn’t philander with a good American woman. Why did he have to outsource his libido to a foreign national? You’d think that he’d be more concerned about pumping more into this economy.

Apparently Sanford’s wife asked him to leave the relationship three weeks ago. This is sad story, however delicious it is politically, and I have some sympathy for him.

oh really, somepeoplelikeit . . . .
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Does the name Al Gore ring a bell? Or Barack “Heat’s up to 75″ Obama? The hypocrisy on the global warming stuff far far far outweighs any of the sex stuff on our side. And that’s not even mentioning Cruz Bustamante and the “n-word” or Sotomayor with the all-female club (or Ted Kennedy with the all-male club).
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Too easy. The GOP, by no means, has the market cornered on hypocrisy.

oh yeah, some 18 year old girl gets pregnant and you think it funny–whatever, and I dont think she asked for compassion, just common decency. And Sarah is certainly not a scold when it comes to sex etc. She’s pro-life. So what.

I propose that from now on when a politician has an affair we refer to it as “hiking the Appalacean Trail.”

oh and guys, when your fave prez before this one yaps about “people who play by the rules”, ya cannot have as one of your heavyweights a guy like Ted Kennedy . . . .

I just have to horselaugh–the GOP has the market cornered on hypocrisy . . . . That must be some awful good Kool-Aid. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
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Too. Easy.

KT, I am disappointed. There was another serious GOP scandal in SC–this one involving the Treasurer and crack. That needed to be in here for background too, I think.

My marriage to my wife (who is the opposite gender from me) is doing fine. But we are losing fine soldiers everyday in the war to uphold the “sanctity of marriage”. Just this week we’ve lost Ensign and Sanford. We need reinforcements!
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Wouldn’t it be better if we all agreed that turning politicians into role models/heroes is a terrible mistake. They are ALL preening hypocrites whose main interests are money and tail, though not necessarily in that order.
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All that we should care about is how they are spending our money, and whether or not they are starting the appropriate wars. I don’t care if my elected representatives are getting more tail than Frank Sinatra as long as they are voting the way I want them to vote.
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That said, it chafes me when I hear someone drone on about how homosexuals shouldn’t be allowed to get married due to the “sanctity of marriage.” Please. Given how we seem to treat marriage certificates like toilet paper I have a hard time understanding why anyone thinks that getting married is that big of a deal, except for the legal and tax benefits that come with it.
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The States should get out of the business of issuing “marriage” licenses and just issue civil union licenses to any two consenting adults who want one. Either that or we stop granting extraordinary legal and tax rights to “married” couples.

Wouldn’t it be better if we all agreed that turning politicians into role models/heroes is a terrible mistake.
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But then we wouldn’t get to dance on each others’ graves in shameful delight –and the political press corps wouldn’t get to exploit our stupidity.

choska, the issue with gay marriage is a simple one. I really don’t care about what people do in their own bedrooms–not in the slightest. But I don’t think that society is at all required to give its imprimatur to homosexual relationships. Tolerance is one thing, forced approval, quite another. Now, if the society votes to sanctify gay marriage, hey that’s democracy, but I’d prefer that it didn’t.

Don’t…take…that…bait…

The moral of the story today is: Don’t pick at your canker sores, it only makes them worse.

yeah, sz, my comment re: gay marriage pretty much mirrors Barack’s and you make that comment in response–so much for your civility.
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Moral of the story: if you cannot run with the big dog, don’t get off the porch. Too Easy.

Mr. Spob, you defend against being a troll…but look at the posts you’ve made in the last couple of minutes.
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I honestly have no use for you, you have one play in your playbook and that is “oh yea, well what about…” and then you start listing all the other people on the other side who aren’t perfect. Back and forth is not productive, but that’s all you do.
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Global Warming? Off topic much? Up to 75? No clue what you’re talking about, only that it’s not relevant to this.
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Just FYI, I’m no Democrat. I voted for Obama, but the Dems are just as likely to pi$$ me off as the Repubs. So throwing pols under the bus doesn’t really bother me, regardless of which side their on.
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We’re the real hypocrites, we keep voting these tools into office.

Redraven, are you really that dense? What does “role reversal” mean? Fowler’s story started out as one party did one thing and the other party did another. For a “role reversal”, the exclusivity would have to be swapped. But it isn’t.
You must have sailed right by the “I think this is getting to be reversed these days,” Fowler told me. That’s three subjective qualifiers in one sentence. So, again, where did anyone say Democrats have stopped being involved in sex scandals?
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KT, is there a link or email address to where we can complain about trolling, or are these comments an “anything goes, Wild West” kind of thing? Because if its going to come down to unmoderated pigsh!t, we may as well go all the way and roll around in it too.

As KT told me yesterday: “jcapan: nah. the substantive stuff never gets nearly as many comments as this kind of post does.”
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Again, she’s right. The 7 Sanford posts are up to 310+ comments now. God knows how many from/rebutting Spob. The Swamp, what did you call it at one pt. SZ, the most informed/engaging political forum on the web?

SZ…I’m bored….makes….resisting…futile!!

Okay me hearties – remember th’ code – one, person – ONE PERSON – gets’ t’ be givin’ spongy th’ ol GFY, an after tha’ we ignores ‘im complete!
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I’ll be lettin’ someone else do th’ honors, since it hasn’t been bein’ d’livered in this partic’lar thread yet, an’ I were takin’ all th’ thrill o’ doin’ it yesterday – quick – somebody – an’ then let ‘im starve!
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It be harsh, bu’ it be th’ only way!
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Arrgh!

It only takes ONE response, no matter how cutting, no matter how dismissive, no matter how clever, to keep a troll coming back for days.

An’ no fair fer friar t’ be grabbin’ it twice !
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YARR!

“Global Warming? Off topic much? Up to 75? No clue what you’re talking about, only that it’s not relevant to this.”
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somelikeit, do you have short-term memory issues? You yourself said that the “do as I say” types were mostly republican. So I pointed out the global warming stuff, where Dems are the biggest hypocrites ever. I mean really. You get elected telling people that the rest of the world isn’t going to allow us to drive big cars, keep heat up, and then you jack the heat up to 75 degrees. I don’t care what Sanford has said, there simply cannot be any match to that hypocrisy.
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Just to recap–somelikeit–you said that the GOP was the main “do as I say” offenders, and I gave a contrary example, and that makes me a troll? What? I can’t respond to comments now?
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Guys, I really really really want to play by the rules. You just have to explain them to me. I make a comment that takes issue with the characterization of “role reversal” in the blogpost, and that’s trollish. I respond to a comment in here, and that’s trollish. I’m beginning to think you just don’t want me in the sandbox.

“the groundwork to make a bid for higher office” isn’t the only thing Mark’s been laying. The people who scream about higher moral standards are usually those who have the least of them. I feel bad for his family. As for Governor Sanford…laughing and pointing.

“You must have sailed right by the “I think this is getting to be reversed these days,” Fowler told me. That’s three subjective qualifiers in one sentence. So, again, where did anyone say Democrats have stopped being involved in sex scandals?”
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Oh, I get it, because a statement has “qualifiers”, it cannot be rebutted. Redraven, do yourself a fave, stop digging.

“the groundwork to make a bid for higher office” isn’t the only thing Mark’s been laying. The people who scream about higher moral standards are usually those who have the least of them. I feel bad for his family. As for Governor Sanford…laughing and pointing.
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yeah, like Barack’s squeaky clean home purchase . . . .

Who’s happy that Americans revel in such puritan nonsense?
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In no particular order:
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1. The French
2. Opponents of real reform (i.e. “change we can believe in”)
3. Defenders of the status quo
4. The old media
5. Democrats in SC
6. Spob
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In fact, the media’s continued attn. to such matters, it’s continued misinformation campaigns in the face of nearly catastrophic crises facing America, smacks of other unrepentant regimes facing populist backlash. Change or continue to advance your own obsolescence.

Sorry all, I will now return to the duties that my company pays me for and I enjoy. (And very fairly, I might add. In case I’m being monitored.)
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Also, I don’t want to walk the plank.
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and before you guys yap about my last comment about St. Barack’s home purchase being trollish, please consider what it came in response to.
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First, there has been speculation about Sanford WH aspirations, so the current WH occupant’s moral standards are germane, and second, and more importantly, sacredh talked about “people”, i.e., his point was more than just Sanford–thus, Barack is fair game.

The thread is about Sanford double dipping. Nothing else is germane.

So, is it okay to engage in immoral activities as long as you haven’t spoken up for morality in public? Or is it just worse to engage in immoral activities after having spoken up for morality in public? Clarification is needed here.

spob
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You are in error about Ginsburg and minority clerks. See my response in “The TMI Governor” post.

Last troll food – I swear:
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Just because you’re egocentric enough to insist you’ve “won” an argument doesn’t mean anything in the real world. In reality, everyone eventually just gets tired of responding to your narcissistic and wholly unwarranted self-certainty. You’re also wrong if you think you contribute anything to otherwise-enlightening discussions, or that anyone here gives a monkey’s bum about anything you feel compelled to spew. Even Rusty occasionally brings something worthwhile to the table on the health care issue; you, by comparison are here only to piss in the soup. The responses you get are intended to assure only that your fantasies are recognized for what they are, not to invite further ravings or to imply you deserve any personal acknowledgment. No one here is the least interested in your thread-hijacking, subject-changing, false-equivalence-creating, self-aggrandizing crap. Please, please take your pathetic Captain Queeg character disorder somewhere else where it might be appreciated, or at least tolerated – I’d suggest Powerline or Newsmax, if they’ll have you. To quote Smeagol, “Leave now, and never come back!”
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I assume you’ll be driven by your compulsive egolalia to respond, if only to placate the evil spirits that live north of your neck. Please be advised I’ll waste no time reading further than “spob Says:” in this thread or anywhere else, ever again.

sorry, sacredh, not true–first, the post itself talked about the “role reversal”, so contra evidence is germane, then people talked about how GOP hypocrites should STFU, and I wondered if that applied to people on their side of the aisle, then someone said that most political hypocrites were on the GOP side, and I responded to that . . . .
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Come on, sacred, you can do better than that.

egolalia, now that’s a good one. A real good one. But you know, as I recall, you decided to argue with me on Sotomayor’s dissent on felon disenfranchisement. You weren’t very nice about it. And now, after I pwned you there, you get on your high horse about my derangement. Whatever. Admit it moron, you got pwned on Sotomayor with your silly exposition of Due Process and Equal Protection. And, I might add, you got pwned after yapping about holding office hours. So come on, DB, show everyone how stupid I am. Please explain how the power of the state to disenfranchisement of felons emanates from the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. You lose, SFB.
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rmrd, so Ginsburg hired one. But that really doesn’t diminish my point about her hypocrisy. If Ginsburg saw a similar hiring record in a case before her, she wouldn’t be all that sympathetic to a “pool problem” defense, now would she?

Spob:
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You are creating a false narrative to fit your preconceived world view. In your mind, all commentors on swampland are liberal partisans who love to laugh at ornery Republicans and yet ignore the same behavior by Democracts. Im sorry but your perceptions are skewed.
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The Republican party has annointed themselves as the standard bearer for social righteousness. They routinely bludgeon gays, pro-choicers, and the non-religious with the morality stick. They ostracize those who they deem to be of less moral worth. And yet some of their members still fail to live up to those high standards, members who themselves commandeered morality to drive a wedge into the heart of American society, who faulted others for not adhereing to the same standards that they had no intention of meeting.
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Turning the heat up to 75 and purchasing land from a man who would later be indicted are a far cry from alienating an entire portion of society based on a set of false morals. I don’t know about the rest of the commentors here, but if you pointed me towards a Democrat that reeked of similar malicious hypocrisy, I’d gladly thumb by nose at him/her.

G.O.P shunning of Sanford is now in full swing. Sanford has now been uninvited from the much lauded “Values Voter Summit” known for being the “champions marriage and family”. Shave and a haircut… Two bits!!

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/06/sanford-nixed-values-voter-summit

In one word – NO! I live in SC, good riddance. At least he wasn’t caught up in Alaska . . . lol

nathan777 – please. I know it’s infuriating, but a good half dozen threads have been turned into wastelands over the past few days from people engaging in arguments with the guy.
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One thread every once in a while is entertaining. Every single thread is aggravating.

Rose 83, Why do you always have to question my motivations.
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Dee, no one is questioning your motivations. I have no doubt you are being absolutely sincere.
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I just happen to think that the fact Mark Sanford is among the (I’m guessing but this is pretty conservative) 35% of married men who cheat and then lie about it does not suggest he is a sex tourist. Especially given his story about the emails, the 2 kids, the 8 years, etc. which is not the kind of thing one would make up. Also he basically announced he’s in love with her which is another thing it makes absolutely no sense to make up.
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I’m not paranoid. Hundreds of thousands of American men go overseas every year for exotic sex. Oh yeah “exotic” was Sanford’s word not mine. Ask the state department. Who exactly do you think these men are? do you think they are poor, unconnected, every day average individuals?
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No, of course not. No one is denying the problem of sex tourism. But your basic “he’s being suspiciously honest so he must be covering up something horrible like sex tourism” logic is only supported by paranoia.
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How much national attention does this story now deserve, since we’ve cleared up our Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew mystery?
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stuart, Zero. It was fun when it was just an innocent “SC has a crazy governor” story. There is something hilarious about going away to another continent and not telling the government you’re running, but it’s not fun anymore. And it was never important, outside of SC where of course the story has some serious aspects.

Oh, I get it, because a statement has “qualifiers”, it cannot be rebutted. Redraven, do yourself a fave, stop digging.
Umm, yeah. That’s how subjective qualifiers work. You cannot rebut an opinion.
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By the way, spob, do yourself a favor and drop your kids off at social services. Dunno about your wife, but if she’s as “germane” as you then your kids are in a rather bad spot.

JoeB@47: my sentiments exactly–putting the handle first lets me blythely skip the troll post and, with ‘spongy’, prepare to skip his/her multiple posts. Right on, web comments designer!

It seems that Sanford was actually quite happy to have his own package stimulated. I wonder why he felt that the voters of South Carolina didn’t deserve as much? Ah well, another lying Republican hypocrite bites the dust. The most interesting question in all of this is why he admitted to the affair now – and what was he really trying to achieve in Atlanta. If we carry on at this rate, Sarah Palin may just be the last GOP candidate left standing in 2012. it’s a joyous prospect!

Palin/Plunger in 2012. I’ll work for both campaigns just to get the bumperstickers and posters. I’ll work the phones. Hello, I’m calling for Sarah Palin for president. If you don’t vote for her we’ll crash a helicopter into your house and rape your dog. Hello? Hello?

Once upon a time…
Things here in Brazil are different. Our problem is only one: No fair wealth distribuition… Do you know how much a politic makes per month here? It`s about $5000. Do you know how much no politic makes? $250.
Yeah, dear buddy… things in the EUA, could be worse…

There’s no way I’d take a pay cut to be a politician in Brazil. There’s also no way I’d take a pay raise to be a politician here. I do have standards. They’re just much lower than most other people’s.

Flavian, I hate telling you this, but sharing the wealth isn’t exactly common in the US either, although our politicians are somewhat more well-padded than yours on the whole.

sacred@9:22: I think you have too much fun with these, sometimes. Heh heh.

Mr. Nice Guy: I have manned the phones for campaigns and I had a BLAST. I had way too much fun so they made me a driver and a poll watcher because of my size. They sent me to the projects. It was about the most fun you can legally have.

“The Republican party has annointed themselves as the standard bearer for social righteousness. They routinely bludgeon gays, pro-choicers, and the non-religious with the morality stick. They ostracize those who they deem to be of less moral worth. And yet some of their members still fail to live up to those high standards, members who themselves commandeered morality to drive a wedge into the heart of American society, who faulted others for not adhereing to the same standards that they had no intention of meeting.”
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All this, but I am the troll for suggesting that hypocrisy is bipartisan–ok, gotcha.
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“Oh, I get it, because a statement has “qualifiers”, it cannot be rebutted. Redraven, do yourself a fave, stop digging.
Umm, yeah. That’s how subjective qualifiers work. You cannot rebut an opinion.
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“By the way, spob, do yourself a favor and drop your kids off at social services. Dunno about your wife, but if she’s as “germane” as you then your kids are in a rather bad spot.
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Wow, stupidity and bile. Nice mixture, and it’s not even that funny, unlike egolalia (which was good). Redraven, I hope you’re good in the sack because that’s the only way some guy is going to pay much attention to you. If not, the poor bastard who happens to be your SO has to put up with a dumb harpy who’s not even good. Life’s too damned short for that.
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In any event, redraven–the SC political guy said that there was a “role reversal”. It was probably more accurate to say that sex scandals had become bipartisan, and I was just providing facts to buttress that. Now, of course, I do get some pleasure out of showing (a) that only certain hypocrisy tends to elicit howls over her in Kos, er Swamp, -land and (b) taking shots at Dem politicians. So my posts went directly to what was mentioned in KT’s post. Frankly, I am at a loss to figure out what the hell you mean by this goofy idea that you cannot rebut an opinion–but I’ve given up trying to figure out the thought processes of people who think snark is wisdom and who think that utopian ideas actually work in the real world. Doubt any of your friends in here are going to leap to your defense–even they can recognize real stupidity when they see it.

I agree with ‘sacredh’: Politician are just much lower than most other people’s. But, I believe in a few of exception… Brazil’s president is one of them. Lula`s doing a great job since 2002… I think it is the first time that a president looks for the poors. It happens because he came from the lowest social class…
Juniusredivivu, I don’t know a lot about your country, but I lived almost 2 years in California. There, I learned that all people can press the policians about a case and all the time they are in focus. You monitor them in it works. Here we just have this power in the election. Politician don’t care about sharing wealth in Brazil, most of them are just worried about their own welth and their family and friends.

Dee, hate to break it to you, but the age of consent in South Carolina is 16. By state Constitutional ballot. We don’t need to go to some exotic country for the sort of conspiratorial thing you may be suggesting. Odd, hunh? Welcome to Sanford’s back porch …

Will Mark Sanford be missed? Considering he was not only missing in ‘action’, he literally abdicated the Governorship to go to Argentina. I’d say that him being missed is the least likely thing to ever happen in South Carolina politics for the next fifty years. His political career is over, regardless of what his wife says or does.
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Is it ‘fair’ that a Democratic politician can get a by on an extramarital affair and GOP politicians usually don’t? Well, if you consider the politics of the GOP stress family values, and hold themselves up as the last defenders of morality in the US, then, yes, it’s perfectly fair. They drew the line in the sand. If they can’t toe it themselves, the deserve all the grief their misconduct brings.
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One would THINK that after so many of them have been caught between the sheets (as it were) , they’d drop the whole ‘morality’ issue and come to the center where they have a slim chance of becoming relevant on the national arena again. But until they stop letting Huckabee and Rush do their talking and set their agendas, the chances of centrist Republicans are about as likely as, well, as Mark Sanford becoming missed in GOP politics.
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@spob

Hah, you said ‘pwned’ on Time.com

spob is concerned about the lack of diversity in Ruth Bader Gingsburg’s clerks. I’m surprised to see a Conservative like spob arguing for Affirmative Action to get more qualified African-American and Latino Supreme Court clerks hired.

rmrd, the point, obviously, is Ginsburg’s hypocrisy, not the propriety of her hiring practices. I suspect you get that, in which case your post is dishonest in the extreme. If you don’t, well, you’re just another moron.

“You can fool some of the people all of the time….”

Most of them are Republicans.

spob
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…..If you don’t, well, you’re just another moron.
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Reverting to form. Just can’t help calling people names. The sign of a weak mind.
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And once again , you are in error. Perhaps SCOTUS should expend it’s selection criteria to a wider group of schools. there are very likely qualified candidates at those institutions.
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When the NFL forced teams to include interviews with minority coaches who were not on their good old boy Rolodex, we wound up with two African-American coaches competing in the Super Bowl one year. and a young African-American coach leading his team to a win last year.

rmrd, given your comments about me, I’d say moron is an appropriate response. In any event, I was not commenting on the propriety of Ginsburg’s hiring practices, but rather her hypocrisy. So your yapping about expanding the law schools etc. really doesn’t prove me “wrong”–it’s just extraneous. It’s the hypocrisy, stupid.
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I will point out that you say “qualified”. The issue of course is not “qualified”, but “best qualified”.

spob.
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Are you arguing that Ginsburg did not choose the “best qualified” candidates?
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John Paul Stevens has had three African-American SCOTUS clerks up to 2004. Was that number high enough for you? Please set a quota, if you must. How many African-American clerks should Ginsburg have hired?
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Since you made an erroneous statement regarding Ginsburg that I corrected, I realize that my yapping may annoy. I’m sorry if your feelings were hurt, but you were wrong.

rmrd, this is tiresome. Read upthread. You were right about Ginsburg having hired one clerk. But that doesn’t nuke my point about her hypocrisy, does it? Ginsburg wouldn’t be all that sympathetic to a litigant with a similar record as hers. That’s the point. Got it?
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I didn’t comment on her practices at all. The best qualified vs. qualified was in response to you, not her hiring practices. (God, you are painful.) As for the “quota”, I am not advocating that either. Not in the slightest. I am just pointing out the incongruity of Ginsburg’s hiring record with her stated positions on these issues.

spob
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If Ginsburg were judging a Justice, she would find no problem. Rhenquist never hired any African-American clerks. Should we throw out all of his decisions where race was an issue? Were you worried about Rhenquist being biased?