Listening to Bill O'Reilly and I just heard something that I am sure I have heard before but it never resonated with me... Alan Colmes said that yes, Democrats have had affairs, but they don't run on family values platforms.
How simple is that? Just don't talk about supporting what is right and no one will hold you to those standards! Good Grief!
The thing I do not understand is the time line. Apparently the media knew about this affair and did not report it for several months. (Does that mean he came clean because he was being blackmailed into it? You better tell or we are publishing what we know?) Apparently his wife knew about the affair for several months and yet he left his family over Father's Day weekend to spend a last week with the mistress? That makes no sense at all. If you are my spouse, you have cheated and you REALLY want to reconcile, you freakin' pick up the phone and dump the woman long distance. You sure as heck do not get on a plane and spend a final week with her, regardless of your activities!
Here is the deal: The man knows right from wrong. The man messed up politically by not transferring power, and personally by damaging a relationship with his wife that was based on a vow made to God. The man is, face it, a man. Fallible human beings make mistakes. If we are the Judeo-Christian people I believe we are, then we have to forgive. Forgetting? Well I think we leave that up to Jenny Sanford. I doubt Mark will run again for public office, but I think he should stay put and finish his term (unless it is a choice between his office and his marriage).
It is not fair to use the "Bill Clinton did it and didn't have to resign" argument. Each situation is unique. Bill was a repeat offender and we all knew he had been running around most of his adult life. Mark apparently had one misadventure. But wrong is wrong.
Look, if we want perfect public servants we will have to live in anarchy because there are apparently not enough upstanding, moral, wise, perfect men and women to fill the national elected seats in this country. Maybe we need to accept that and move on as a party, because we are not going to find those individuals. But I would rather have someone who knows right from wrong, even if they cannot always live up to it, than someone to equivocates right and left.
I have great respect for Mrs. Sanford. She is doing what is necessary to take care of herself, not playing the "political wife" role that frankly has never made any sense to me. Hillary would have so much more of my respect if she had said, "You know, he is a dog and I have had it with him. My self respect is not worth a White House address."
What I would like to see is a media that will not publish private emails, not send people to Argentina to find the woman and hound her and her family, or shout embarrassing questions at his family.
All in all, its a sad day for many people.
No comments:
Post a Comment