I know it’s none of my business, and I know you are a politician in another country, but I spotted you today on a news site and I just had to find out why you were
still looking so forlorn.
Oh, I see. Another revealing media interview.
Somewhat foolish. And no, you just can't put the genie back in the bottle Governor. That notion belongs in
fairytales.
What did you think you were doing exactly? Revealing all that
extra stuff on top of
the stuff you had already revealed in a previous press conference.
I know love is blind but in case you
weren’t aware of it, it
doesn’t mean it also has to be deaf and dumb!
As Shakespeare said, the better part of valour is discretion. What he meant is, please shut your mouth before it’s too late!
There is nothing sadder than another middle-aged politician publicly confessing his sins. And then confessing more and more to the point you would easily get a walk on part on the
Bold and Beautiful and not look out of place.
Telling everyone you are committed to reconciling with your wife, even though you love and have a strong emotional attachment to another woman and that you would die happy knowing you had met your 'soul mate', was a clear signal you need to be committed to somewhere quiet for a while.
Do you think it was necessary to also reveal that there were at least a handful of other women you overstepped the 'marital boundaries' with, on your frequent overseas trips?
Given you are a politician, we might have expected you to say that you got a little confused about what bi-lateral relations actually meant
(although in your case multi-lateral relations may be the more appropriate term), so you took some creative license and made it your public duty to conduct a handful of foreign affairs. All in the line of duty.
You didn't. You told the truth.
However, you should have spared the entire world all the juicy details and just said, I, Governor Mark Sanford, misused public funds for personal use. I can no longer be trusted. I resign. Good bye.
No, I don’t think you can even call it a mistake or a lapse in judgement. Even though you found what you were looking for. A mistake is choosing the wrong tie to wear with your suit, or going to the wrong restaurant for dinner, or buying the wrong book, or hiking the Appalachian Trail and going in the wrong direction
(oh thank you Governor for that euphemism). Using public money, no matter how small the amount, to fly off to see your lover is, is just plain wrong.
Perhaps you need to make a commitment to yourself first. Stay away from the press. Leave public office. Then allow your wife and children the opportunity to retain a shred of dignity. Finding your soul mate has got to be worth that sacrifice surely? For everyone’s sake.
Lilly
Readers I am curious about your views on this.
I am not judging this guy for his affairs, that's between him and his wife. I am judging him on the way he chooses to confess more and more each day to the media without a care in the world for the impact of what he is revealing. It's hard to conceive of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Julia Gillard or any other high ranking female public or private sector official holding a news conference to say they had been conducting an affair, disappeared to another country to call off an affair or visited a male prostitute.
Why are there so many middle-aged male political officials who feel the need to publicly confess their sins in this way? Is it because men who have been in power for so long feel they are above the rest of society and they are sorry they got caught? Or is it because they have acted so piously towards others when they themselves are doing far worse and feel guilty? Or does power distort one’s moral compass and self awareness? Or are these men just normal blokes who are trying to do the right thing (after they get caught).
All comments go into this month's giveaway drawn on Sunday night mid-night.