TheLoop21.com

By: Devona Walker (Add to your loop)
Wed, 06/24/2009 - 13:34

Gov. Mark Sanford confessed he's been unfaithful to his wife, after disappearing for four days.

After disappearing for four days, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has finally confessed that he has been unfaithful to his wife.

No kidding. Did he really expect anyone to believe he was just hiking along the Appalachian Trail on Father’s Day, without his wife’s knowledge? It was kind of funny watching the 96-hour news cycle while Sanford was gone, though. You had everyone from Chris Matthews to Rachel Maddow all but calling the man a liar on national television, just stopping short of saying he was having an affair. What man leaves his family for nearly a week without telling his wife where he is? Come on.

This comes just a week after the last Republican Party sex scandal. Then, Republican rising star (aka competition for President Barack Obama in 2012) Sen. John Ensign, of Nevada, admitting to having an affair with a campaign staffer whose husband was on his staff.

“Last year I had an affair. I violated the vows of my marriage. It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. If there was ever anything in my life that I could take back, this would be it. "

That’s what Ensign said with watery eyes at a press conference just last week. Of course, he only confessed after it was rumored that his mistress’ husband was making a fuss about it. 

And now, here we go again, Sanford dumped his security detail, either tells his entire staff nothing or tells them to lie, unplugs his cell phone and boards a plane for Argentina to meet with his mistress. He only fessed up after reporters found out that he'd left his car at an Atlanta airport and wasn't on a "hiking trip." 

Here's the rub: Both these guys are refusing to resign. Neither of them think their sins are bad enough to force a resignation. Of course, when Bill Clinton was caught in an affair, Ensign was leading the lynching party. And Sanford, well, what can I say that Mr. Don't Cry for Me Argentina hasn't already said.

“I just spent the last week crying in Argentina,” Sanford said today at a press conference. 

Well, I guess, that explains why his wife and kids weren’t exactly longing for daddy on Father’s Day. 

If these guys were Democrats, this would be enough to incite a morality revolution by the right. If these guys were Democrats, we would be investigating every penny these politicians have spent in the last five years, as in the case of John Edwards. If these guys were Democrats, there would be a witch hunt.

But they aren’t, so we will just add them to the list of hypocritical liars on the right. Just in case anyone may have forgotten the depth of these Republican scandals, I have come up with a fairly comprehensive list. 

Mark Foley. In 2006, Rep. Mark Foley's secret was discovered.