The TMI Governor

Bah bah bah . . . and another one bites the dust . . .
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I’m actually surprised, for the same reason I was surprised by John Edwards: if you honestly think you might be running for the Presidency, WHY NOT JUST KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS?!?
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At this rate, who’s gonna be left to run for the GOP nomination in 3 years?

You’re right, Amy, it’s as refreshing as a nice cold Fresca on a hot summer’s day. Palin/Sanford/Gingrich ’12!

Are we supposed to buy it? And are we supposed to buy that he just happened to get busted as he was breaking it off with her?

This has so become the commonplace that, at 2:56 EDT, both CNN and MSNBC have gone to other stories.
Man bites dog = news.
Self-righteous Republican in sex scandal = not news.

HE GOT CAUGHT!!!!
He was not confessing because it was heavy on his heart. He confessed because his lies caught up to him. I don’t care how much you cry. He cheated.

Now someone on MSNBC is trying to say he was brave. What woulda been brave was to RESIST the temptation to cheat…

Sorry this guy ain’t no different than John Edwards in my book

Don’t worry, Flown . . . it will live on on the Interwebz.

May we assume this “Tom Davis” of whom he speaks at length is not Al Franken’s former comedy partner?

Maybe this is a good thing for the Republicans. It’s a long time until the next Presidential election. This is a way to clear out the weeds.

lamh – Resisting the urge to cheat is not called brave, it’s called basic morality. I guess the GOP is surrendering the high ground on that issue . . .

This just once again highlights the mistake the Republicans have made in being the party that touts itself as moral and family oriented. When one of their members’ falls down, it just makes the resulting scorn that much more.

Sarah Palin has been pallin’ around with some sinners.

“This just once again highlights the mistake the Republicans have made in being the party that touts itself as moral and family oriented. When one of their members’ falls down, it just makes the resulting scorn that much more.”
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Oh, I get it. Hypocrisy is a charge that the GOP has to deal with, but when I mention hypocrisy in here, I am a troll. Got it, KosKidz.
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By the way, any party which lionizes Ted Kennedy has zero business pointing out the peccadilloes of anyone in the other party. Sanford has done wrong. He didn’t leave a woman in a car to drown.

lamh31,
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I hear what you’re saying, but when was the last time a state governor of either party said “I’m busted, and now I’m going to take my medicine”?
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It doesn’t undo what he did, but it’s a cleaner aftermath than we usually get.
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. . . assuming, of course, that this is all there is to the story.

spob,
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go f yourself. Yarr!

“scorned”? She said that she was OK with his absences.
Or are you trying to remind her to feel scorned? Isn’t incitement-to-feel-scorned a sin, bible gal?

Ya see though, Spob, Ted Kennedy never claimed to be the paragon of morality. Mark Sanford, John Ensign, David Vitter, Mark Foley, Larry Craig, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Newt Gingrich frequently claim to be members of the Moral Majority, and it just ain’t so. I’m not knocking them on spec, I’m just saying maybe the GOP should drop the act. Lately, the Dems have been running on policy; those policies aren’t always good, and when the policies fail the Dems lose. It’s a pretty simple system.
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The GOP would do much better if they stuck to what they know. Low taxes and low spending can be winning issues in the right political climate, whereas legislating morality doesn’t work and sets them up for failure.
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Just a little free advice.

Maybe his wife is also missing – on a trail somewhere while thinking about this whole thing.

Isn’t incitement-to-feel-scorned a sin?
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The most interesting question I’ve heard posed all day. I will assemble The Committee. We might be awhile.

The GOP would do much better if they stuck to what they know. Low taxes and low spending can be winning issues in the right political climate, whereas legislating morality doesn’t work and sets them up for failure.
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The problem is they’ve wedded their fortunes to a certain segment of the population (the religious right) that insists upon moral purity. So they HAVE to play the game of virtue and righteousness or else the religious folks will go back to their churches and stop voting for them. Trust me someone will make major political hay out of this, I’m thinking there’s a few slobbering sharks in the SC Republican party just drooling right now.

Actually, if we want to calibrate our hypocrisy meters, we should concentrate less on how many people cheer for ‘family values’ while they’re busy breaking up their own families, and look very carefully at how many want to deny the very right to even form a family to a large class of their fellow Americans.
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That’s where the real hypocrisy is to be found.

A Republican was caught in a sex scandal. How refreshing!

May we assume that, if anyone makes a joke about this, Moose Woman will accuse the joker of attacking the Sanford children?

Also, what Friar Tuck said on Pirate Wench’s behalf. Also.

I was only half joking earlier when I said his constant trips overseas in secret sounded more like sexual tourism than a straight up vacation. But frankly, his willingness to do a mea culpa so fast even before there is a hint of a smoking gun tells me that we should be checking the age of this so called mistress, because rarely can’t you find a more accessible mistress within driving distance of the state house.

So is he always so incoherent? The stuff about how he used to travel around the world with a $100 in emergency money and try to find work was hilariously irrelevant. Before the Confession I was thinking he’s like Palin, only without the charisma and good looks.
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But I wish him and his family and the woman in Argentina well. And Tom Davis of course.
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And someone should have stopped him from being so honest: he owes SC an explanation for why he went AWOL, but he doesn’t owe anyone information best revealed to a therapist.

Yutsano,
I hear ya, and I guess the “religious” types won’t see reason . . . even though their own camp is riddled with sin. I just don’t see how the group that claims Jim Bakker and Ted Haggard, not to mention the list of “Christian” Republicans above, thinks shouting about morality is gonna work for them. That kind of blatant, institutionalized hypocrisy is begging for failure. It just doesn’t make any strategic sense for the party as a whole . . .

But frankly, his willingness to do a mea culpa so fast even before there is a hint of a smoking gun tells me that we should be checking the age of this so called mistress, because rarely can’t you find a more accessible mistress within driving distance of the state house.
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Age and/or gender. Wayyyy too much fishy that he needed to leave the country just to get his sausage polished.

Dee, well she has two sons so she can’t be that young.
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Which is another thing he shouldn’t have talked about. Seriously, did he anger his staff so much that they decided to not protect him at all?

Yes, honest and forthcoming.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Personal trainer and self-labeled ex-prostitute Mike Jones, whose allegations regarding disgraced Baptist megachurch preacher Ted Haggard led to the latter’s resignation, says he spent the weekend in a Colorado hotel room with missing South Carolina Republican Gov. Mark Sanford. And he has a plane ticket receipt with Sanford’s name on it that he says proves it.

A spokeswoman for Sanford’s office called the allegation “beyond ludicrous; shameful,” adding that Sanford is a “married man who is deeply committed to his wife and children, whom he loves very, very much.”

“Governor Sanford would never engage in the incredibly immoral acts Mr. Jacobs has alleged took place,” the spokeswoman said. “Governor Sanford believes homosexual acts are a sin and violate the Bible and the sacred institution of traditional marriage, which is why he fully supports South Carolina’s Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being between only a man and a woman.”

The spokeswoman wouldn’t say if the governor plans to sue for defamation of character, only that “Mr. Jones should be very, very careful about what he says about Governor Sanford in the future. And we’ll be praying for his soul at this clearly troubling time in his life.”

Just to clarify my earlier comment; by scorn I meant the scorn of the general public regarding the fall of yet another promoter of family values. I was not referring to Mrs. Sandford in any way.

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I don’t really give a sh*t about Stanford’s personal life…but what the hell would’ve happened if there was an emergency in the state? This moron was AWOL and put his entire state and its citizens at risk. It’s great he stood up to face the music today, but he should resign right now or be impeached tomorrow.
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Whoever you are reading this comment, you’d be canned from your job in a heartbeat if you just vanished for 4 days.
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well, then vast, perhaps, just perhaps Dem hypocrisy other things is fair game, see, e.g., Michelle Obama and the Urban Health Initiative.
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Or maybe Cruz Bustamante and racism?
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Or how about every time some Dem gets favors from connected people like Countrywide?
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Or Justice Ginsburg not hiring any minority clerks.

PNNTO – Ding ding ding, we have a winner! “Sacred institution of traditional marriage,” which apparently involves a man, his wife, and his mistress in Argentina.
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This is the kind of stupidity I’m talking about: if you’re gonna defend marriage, maybe you should get your own fixed first.

[...] Swampland Blog calls Sanford “the TMI [...]

In another Amy Sullivan post earlier this p.m. Sevenoaks07 hinted as much. It must be tough for Mrs S and the lads.

Has anyone else registered the fact that towards the end of the news conference, when asked if his wife knew he was in Argentina, he said “yes she knew”. Which then begs the question, did his wife lie to the press when she said she had no idea where he was. And then there’s a host of other questions such as how many times has he done this before?? Remember that trip to Turkey he took?? One of his many so called “adventures” no doubt.

I think he did it because of the gays.

I think he did it because of the gays.
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Yeah sure blame the gays what the heck we’re easy targets. I mean seriously, is there anything we’re not responsible for ruining anymore?

Spob,
I’m with ya that hypocrisy is hypocrisy, regardless of what party commits it. However, there’s a lot of gray area. You see, Ruth Bader Ginsburg not happening to have any minority clerks is a little different from Mark Sanford’s infidelity. There are a few possible explanations for not having minority hires, and some of them are innocuous. However, unless Mark Sanford slipped on a banana peel and fell into his good Argentinian friend, he’s pretty much a douche.

Isn’t incitement-to-feel-scorned a sin?

Yes, it’s called schadenfreude-trolling.

spob pollutes the thread with a random list of chaff under the rubric of ‘hypocrisy’ and wonders why people call him a troll.
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Dishonesty and Distraction.
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If he gets anyone to respond he’s succeeded in changing the subject.
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a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.[2]
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I guess Mrs Sanford lied. She would have been beseiged if she offered any explanation. I think she has had enough to cope with these months past while Mr Oppose the Stimulus was allowing himself to be stimulated long distance.

Yutsano,
If the gays didn’t want to get married, Mark Sanford wouldn’t have had to plow his good friend in South America. Oh, and there wouldn’t be riots in Iran. Or world hunger. Or “Jon & Kate Plus 8.”

At least Governor Spitzer had the decency to resign.

Sanford during the Clinton impeachment:

“And I voted to impeach, because I think that, you know, moral legitimacy is one of the precursors to a legitimate legacy.”

And PD: you’re right. I forget that some people thrive off of negative reinforcement, and trolls only grow when you feed them.
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Thanks for the eye-opener.

Tired of Republican attacks on the sanctity of marriage.

So will Sanford follow his advice to Clinton and resign as governor?

This is “very damaging stuff,” Sanford declared at one point, when details of Clinton’s conduct became known. “I think it would be much better for the country and for him personally (to resign)… I come from the business side,” he said. “If you had a chairman or president in the business world facing these allegations, he’d be gone.”

Explaining his decision to back impeachment articles against Clinton, he added, “I think what he did in this matter was reprehensible… I feel very comfortable with my vote.”

Alri’ crew – STOP feedin spongy now – he were already gettin’ th’ gfy fr’m friar (thank ye, friar!), so now anyone else who be engagin’ ‘im be just askin’ fer th’ thread t’ be spammed.
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An’ if th’ thread starts bein’ spammed, th’ wench mi’ need t’ be steppin’ in t’ do some slappin’ round ag’in, which be bloody tirin’ work!
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Just let ‘im starve, me hearties, just let ‘im starve!
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An’ thank th’ good Lord this not be a thread o’ any consequence, o’ course!
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Arrgh!

Remember th’ code, mates, remember th’ code !
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Arrgh!

PD, I wasn;t the one who brought up the “republicans are bad because they are hypocrites”–my comment was in response to that. I fail to see how that is trollish–responding to a comment. Guys, you’re gonna have to explain the rules a little better. I just want to play well in the sandbox.

spob wrote
…………Or Justice Ginsburg not hiring any minority clerks.
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Are you willing to stand by that statement? Are you including African-American, Latino and Asian?

rmrd –
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DON’T!
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Arrgh!

Yes, rmrd . . . think of the children!!
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DON’T!

pirate wench,
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I give you permission to put your “boot” up the troll’s “booty” (so to speak) when the time comes.

rmrd, I believe that the percentage of black and latino clerks hired by Ginsburg over the years is precisely 0%.

I be thinkin’ that be no way this endin’ t’ th’ affair (sorry, mates!) could’a possible been a surprise. Me best guess be tha’ most Republicans just be heavin’ a huge sigh o’ relief tha’ it were HETERO!
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YARR!

spob
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Well we all can have our beliefs. But then there are facts. In a book about the influence of Supreme Court law clerks entitled “Courtiers Of The Marble Palace” by Todd C Peppers, a section addresses Black law clerks up to 2004. Justice John Paul Stevens had had the most Black clerks at three (3). Bader Ginsburg was listed as having had one (1). Again the data only goes up to 2004.
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Your belief about Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in error.

afguy –
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Me boot be needin’ t’ go up rmrd’s booty!
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YaRR!

gee, rmrd, she had one . . . . really rebuts my point about the hypocrisy . . . .

We went from…Sanford to Ginsburg?

yeah apollo–seems people in here think that the greatest sin in the world is not the cheating, but the hypocrisy–well, hypocrisy is certainly bi-partisan, and I like to point that out.

“I’ll give Mark Sanford this”
Amy, do not make me defend your honor. I’ve criticized you in the past, but you really can do better. I’m ready to throw my MIL between you and Mark. Don’t make me do it. She’s turned more than one man gay. She’s also turned more than one into stone.

sacredh-
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So, on a good day, she could turn Silvio Berlusconi into a statue that goes about saucily abusing men?

It appears to me that certain individuals here believe themselves to hold a monopoly on discourse. Any opinions or statements which they do not agree with or they deem as off-topic are discarded as ‘trollish.’ This is an open forum for debate. Anyone and everyone may say what they want, when they want. If you choose to ignore an individual or his/her post, that is your prerogative, however you should refrain from ranting in a dictatorial manner about what you deem relevant for others to post…
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Pirate:
I have seen endless off-topic rants and statements from individuals with whom you generally agree with. Is their off-topic ranting less trollish than that of, lets say, Spob, who in fact was responding to another’s off-topic statement with a rebuttal of his own. I am not speaking to the particular content of anyone’s post, however, the combative nature of you and others attempting to dictate the terms of the discussions is getting a bit abusive. Chill the f*ck out and let people carry on whatever discussions they desire. If someone wishes to engage Spob, so be it….
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Christ, woman, you’re spinning wildly out of control. Relax. Breath. Go read a book or something if you find this discussion so utterly mind-numbing…

FT: Do not underestimate my MIL. Silvio might have some protection because of the sacred blue pill. Already hard as stone. And just as thick headed.

I used to dream of playing with puppies and watching rainbows. I now dream of chasing her with a chainsaw.

neo, I think that the issue is that some of these guys actually think this blog is all that influential on what is going to get done. So when I go off message, it’s perceived as a hinderance to getting healthcare reform done or whatever policy o’ the day is being discussed.
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It’s kind of funny actually. You can almost taste it. They’ve wrapped up their hopes and dreams in the blog. Instead of me being a distraction to the echo chamber, I am a hinderance to their dreams. Thus, I am “evil” etc. People in here have actually whined about my tactics, as if whatever I post in here is going to actually impact legislation in this country.
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You can see just how much this means to them–take a look at the post about not having any compassion for Bristol Palin. Guys, Bristol’s an 18 yr old girl who hasn’t done anything to anyone. But it’s acceptable to dump on her, what, because she’s the daughter of the GOP VP candidate, who, by the way, doesn’t run around telling people that she’s more intelligent than they are.

[...] Amy Sullivan thanks Sanford for an honest, if meandering, presser. [...]

pirate wench
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Kick received. I’ll stop. But, he’s such an easy target

I have no intention of giving up on this story. As long as they’ll post a thread on this, I’m there. I’d like to devote my time and energy to a meaningful thread that helps to make this a better country, but anytime we get a chance to kick the ass of a right wing hypocrite…the knockles get cracked and the fingers fly. Too easy, too much fun and I’m not passing up the opportunity. I’m just sorry he wasn’t banging Courtney Love or Amy Winehouse.

sacred –
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I’ve me no problem a’tall wi’ anyone wantin’ t’ enjoy themselves a’ the expense o’ some ri’ wing hypocrite – go to ‘er (poor choice o’ words, bu’ wha’ th’ hell)!
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I just had me so much fun yesterday slappin’ th’ snot out o’ spongy (speakin’ o’ right wing hypocrites); I be ri’ worn out t’day so needs t’ be givin’ it a bit o’ a rest. It kind o’ feels like some sort o’ hangover, but it’ were worth it! It were most satisfyin moppin’ th’ floor up wi’ ‘is sorry ass, so I knows wha’ ye mean!
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Tomorry be another day, an likely I’ll be sailin’ back into th’ fray.
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Arrgh!

rmrd – tha’ be ok, laddie – ever’ time I see ‘is name, I be havin’ t’ restrain me ownself!
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An’ as ye can see, after standin’ firm all day, I were slippin’ meself.
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Arrgh

Sacred-
I’d like to devote my time and energy to a meaningful thread that helps to make this a better country…
Not to be cynical and pessimistic, but is that what this forum is? Do you really believe that the Swampland forum at time.com in any way can affect anything in this country? Minus maybe a few fellow commentators here who may occasionally be swayed by articulate rhetoric, what impact does this have? I’m sorry to say that while blogging may be handy for disseminating information rapidly, the actual significant impact, e.g. legislative influence, grassroots inspiration, is entirely negligible. There is a Time staff of 5 journalists who post daily. There are a hand-full of regular commentators here. Then, maybe another 100 or so who post once in a blue moon. I simply do not see the relevance or influence of this crowd, myself included…

Poor old spobbly-wobbly. All that effort to get attention, and the world just finds him boring. Really, it’s like a eunuch trying to masturbate – lots of effort, clenched jaw, lurid fantasies… and the result: nothing to write home about.

Must…not…tell…sanctimonious neorationalizationist…go f ‘imself…
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YARR!

Well hello there Ms. Pirate. Wonderful evening isn’t it?

junius –
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neo appears t’ admire ‘im – they be two peas in th’ pod.
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Arrgh!

I don’t admire anyone here. I am simply advocating for open discourse. If you like not what someone says, either debate them or ignore them. No need to rant your way through the thread dictating who may say what, when, and where.

neo: We’re relevant only to ourselves and maybe a few who can be influenced. I blog here because television sucks and my place is air conditioned. I also get a better handle on the actual news and not the spun version. I have a really comfy chair, a pretty nice stereo system and a huge selection of music at my fingertips. I agree the impact is minimal, but it allows me to make a more informed decision. I have learned more about healthcare here than I ever would by listening to the drivel on the tube. The big plus is that the people on here can be hilarious.

Good evening, most excellent pirate. I have to say that neorationalist is at least capable of intelligent discussion, which is several light-years ahead of Rush.. I mean spob. And it is true that these comment threads probably don’t matter too much in the great scheme of things. But then, the same is probably true of all endeavour, be it human or spobish.

Ah, see there’s a much more reasonable and admirable answer. Idealism and a change the world mind-set will get you nowhere these days, especially online. I appreciate the response.

neo –
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Ye weren’t ’round fer th’ blood-bath yesteray lad…let it be.
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Arrgh.

neo: You’re welcome. When I was your age I thought we could change the world. The sad truth is that the world changes us. About the only thing we are in control of is what we change into. I feel this poor old world is going downhill fast. I can’t change it but I can try to enjoy the ride and take potshots along the way. It may not be what I want, but it’s pretty much what I think I’ll have to settle for. Those of us who want change the world aren’t in a position to do it. Those who are in a position to change the world won’t. We’re f@#ked.

neo
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If you are going to complain about open discourse, you might go to a Conservative site like RedState and see what they think about voices of dissent.
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The monitors here do not block or erase commentary. The frustration that leads someone to advise people to avoid communication with one poster or another is short lived.
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Relax and enjoy the flow.

pirate wench: I’m much better today. I almost feel human.

PW, wow, I am impressed, a big multi-syllabic word. Taking a break from servicing the fleet? I’m getting a picture of you–ever see “Sudden Impact”? Remember the lead female antagonist. Crude, ugly, stupid and a drunk. That’s my picture of you. By the way, those bumpy things down south, they can treat them, you know.

Sacred-
The world is always going down-hill. Wars, natural disasters, social unrest, government oppression, ect, ect. Yet, people will always contend it was better in the good old days.
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There is always some global catastrophe “threatening” the livelihood of us all, some new fear-mongering pandemic, birdflu, SARS, West Nile, swine flu, ect., global warming, AIDS, Soviet invasion, international terrorism, nuclear war, overpopulation, and on and on. But guess what? The earth is still here. I think the mentality that the we’re on our last legs has been proven irrational given the history of mankind and what we’ve survived thus far. I don’t worry about such things that no one can really change anyway. Might as well just ride it out, see what happens. As for domestic issues, sure we all have our grievances, but things are in fact comparatively better now than they were 50 years ago, no? Maybe not for all. But certainly for many, especially historically disenfranchised groups. I don’t know. Everything just appears to to be blown way out of proportion. Always has. Probably always will. No need to have an aneurysm over the natural vicissitudes of life.
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RMRD-
If I were posting on RedState I would take issue with any dictatorial monopolization of discourse there as well. But I am not. I post here, so I will advocate open discussion here. On a related not, I do not know if you were one, however several posters today took issue with referencing Democratic hypocrisies in response to the accusations of Sanford’s hypocrisy, arguing two-wrongs do not make a right. By those standards, should I be any less opposed to the sordid oppression of minority view-points here simply because it occurs elsewhere as well?
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Pirate-
While you are certainly entitled to your personal vendettas in regard to yesterday’s occurrences, of which I am unaware, I must say this: regardless of personal feelings about one another, it simply makes no sense to me to reply to someone’s comments with a “Go f*ck yourself!”, nor do I see any rationality in deeming anyone with opposing view-points as a troll simply for deviating from the thread’s initial content. These discussions tend to take on a life of their own. They morph, adapt, and evolve into entirely different discussions irrelevant to the initial post. I see it all day, every day. This wandering discourse is generally induced by random statements from your fellow ideologues. When you agree with the statement, you see no problem. But when someone veers off course in a manner than upsets your political philosophy, than it is immediately “Don’t feed the trolls! They’re intentionally hijacking the thread for their purposes!” Well, the same could be said I suppose for anyone who deviates off-topic.
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The point of these forums is to discuss. Let us do that. No one has any right to delegate the path of debate. There is always the option of ignoring people and allowing several to partake in a side discussion within a thread without it affecting you or I or anyone else. Civility. Civility. Civility.

That goes for Spob as well…

Neo, if you did take issue with the Red State junta’s lack of free speech, your comment would be deleted, you would be banned, and you would have no recourse. Red State is the last Maoist state on earth. And your discussion of yesterday’s threads and spob is simply silly. Spob doesn’t do conversation or debate. He trolls, obviously, crudely and persistently. 90% of what he says consists of childish and misspelled insults, plus assertions that he “won”. You will have to look long and hard to find a more obvious and tedious troll. What pirate wench does is a perfectly natural response to spob’s babbling, and makes more sense than defending him on the basis of not having read the threads in question.

Junius:
I was not present yesterday, so I do not know what transpired. However, based on today’s discourse, I did see Spob responding to specific statements made by others and than discredited as ‘trolling’ the thread. This I do not understand. It appears that trolling is simply synonymous with voicing an opposing view-point here. While he may be guilty of lowly insults, irrational tendencies, or down-right irrelevant postings, I have seen some to the contrary.
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Despite all that, though, I myself having been accused of trolling for simply offering an opposing view-point or bringing up an off-topic issue which I would like to discuss. I see no harm in debate. This forum would not be the slightest bit entertaining if everyone agreed all the time. Nor do I see any harm in offering a new discussion on a over-kill thread parroting numerous other related postings. The Time focus is extremely one-tracked and dull. We could use some livelier discourse on more relevant issues.

neo –
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Actual, a’ times, it be makin absolute bloody perfect sense t’ be replyin’ wi’ a hearty go f yerself! In spongy’s case, it be makin’ absolute perfect sense every time ‘e be openin’ ‘is scurvy rottin’ hijackin’ blow hole.
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B’sides, I’d rather be bein’ indulgin’ meself bein’ a pirate than a puritanical, self-righteous, know-i’-all, finger-shakin’ scold!
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I be restrainin’ meself now, me lad…consider yerself lucky!
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YARR!

gimme a break junius–why don’t we go upthread a bit–out of the box, Sanford is being held up as your typical GOPer–a hypocrite deserving of scorn. And then we have the obligatory, well, this is only really bad because Republicans are such scolds.
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So, after you guys make comments about the larger hypocrisy of the GOP, I point out that Dems can be scolds and hypocrites too and that the outrage is selective. And this makes me stupid, trollish. No, it just means that you don’t like what I have to say, so you try to muzzle me.
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My point about Ginsburg, I think, is a fair one, and despite the error, the reality is that one black law clerk over a decade’s time doesn’t make her chambers the paragon of diversity. Yet she wouldn’t be all that sympathetic to a “pool problem” defense. And on global warming, Dems are really scolds. Ffrom the president on down, and last I checked, Al Gore was a pretty big hypocrite.
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You guys expanded the conversation to the GOP–I made the thread bi-partisan.

Look on the brighter side: No one can accuse Sanford of seeking millions of tax-dollars in stimulus money – to spend recklessly. He knows where to go for stimulus.

Look on the other side: Can’t he spend his money in America? Can’t he buy American? Hey, what is wrong with American * ?

Look on the bad side: America has hit rock bottom if one has got to run for the border to get stimulus.

neo–every person I insult has insulted me first–every one of them–I am pretty scrupulous about responding in kind.
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And PW, please give it a rest, your shtick is plain boring. And if you think that bringing up the First Lady’s history of dumping patients is wrong, then I can’t do anything for you. But don’t forget, you guys routinely toss invective at ANYONE who may have a differing viewpoint on healthcare–Michelle Obama has actually done the things you decry, and you’re strangely silent. When you toss bombs at your ideological opponents, it’s hard not to expect people not to point out your side’s hypocrisy.
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And as for the general point, i.e., that the GOP is a bunch of perverted scolds–when you say that kind of stuff, we get to say, “Gee guys, our perverts didn’t leave a young woman trapped in a car . . . .” We also get to point out your VP’s plagiarism. You can’t hide behind the argument that the conversation is only about Sanford when you’re making larger points about the GOP.

Meanwhile, they continue to look on the wrong side…

Spob-
I hear you, man. But I still don’t see the necessity or practicality of responding in kind. I’ve received my share of elementary insults on this forum, since I never retaliated they have pretty much ceased. Its counter-productive to sling mud back and forth, that is if your intention is to actually debate. In my case, it is, so I steer clear of childish playground antics, no matter who may originally be at fault.

hear ya too, neo, but the reality is that it’s fun to toss around zingers here and there, plus, it’s even more fun when one of these guys clowns himself by trying to defend Obama’s “Austrian” Quayleism
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And most of these folks aren’t interested in rational discourse–the idea of “deservedness” (which IS an issue when the government is allocating scarce resources) is so alien that I am accused of simply wanting to let people die. It’s a caricature of debate. Or if I simply quote the Canadian Supreme Court, wow . . . . And even more, try to talk about the possibility that Obama is a bit of a bigot, and OMG, you’re a racist hater.

hey guys, take a look at classy John Kerry’s take on Sanford–what an ass:
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http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/24/john-kerry-on-sanford-too-bad-palin-didnt-go-missing-too/

I see love is developing between spob and neo, assuming that they aren’t just two halves of the same unhappy ego. When do you guy(s) plan to head for Iowa? Or are you just going to be friends with benefits?

not that there’s anything wrong with that . . . .

JR-
Don’t confuse fairness with friendship.
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I was simply attempting to get people to debate substantively; however, given that Pirate and Spob both are of the view that it is not only acceptable, but entertaining, to hurl insults, I am forever removing myself from their discourse.

jilted at the altar . . . . oh well, Iowa is nice in the summer

How dare you make me laugh!

Neo, sorry that it wasn’t meant to be for you and spob. Still, you’ll always have Argentina…