Another State, Another Politician, Another Scandal

[along-for-the-ride]

I am a bit disheartened by news like this:

SC Gov. Sanford admits affair after going AWOL - Yahoo! News



I realize that Governors are human too, with faults and the capability of poor judgment. But, he does hold a job in public office. He is supposed to be a person we can respect. He is just another example, to me, of people in power who think they can do what they want to do.........right or wrong.

Read the article and tell me what you think.

[Odie]

along-for-the-ride;1208641 wrote: I am a bit disheartened by news like this:

SC Gov. Sanford admits affair after going AWOL - Yahoo! News



I realize that Governors are human too, with faults and the capability of poor judgment. But, he does hold a job in public office. He is supposed to be a person we can respect. He is just another example, to me, of people in power who think they can do what they want to do.........right or wrong.

Read the article and tell me what you think.


This is just disgusting, I know men and women have affairs, but its just despicable when a leader has one.

Your right, he's on a power trip!:-5:-5

fire him!:mad:



-the only reason he apologized is because he was caught!;)

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Just an update:

AP Newsbreak: SC gov 'crossed lines' with women - Yahoo! News

[YZGI]

I'm not excusing The Govenor here. I just have a what if type of question.





Does anyone have a problem with havin gay politions/leaders?



If a [polition/leader were gay and it was known that he/she had had multiple sexual partners would you have the same convictions about the gay politions. Keep in mind that in most states gay marriage is not allowed.

[along-for-the-ride]

Anyone who is supposedly in a committed relationship should not be getting seriously involved with another person while still in the "committed" relationship. IMO

[YZGI]

along-for-the-ride;1212260 wrote: Anyone who is supposedly in a committed relationship should not be getting seriously involved with another person while still in the "committed" relationship. IMO
The point I was trying to make is, If a gay politician was having sex with multiple partners I doubt the media or the masses would get so hysterical about their sexual escapades.

[along-for-the-ride]

YZGI;1212276 wrote: The point I was trying to make is, If a gay politician was having sex with multiple partners I doubt the media or the masses would get so hysterical about their sexual escapades.


If this gay politician had been involved in a long-time relationship with one partner and used tax payers money to spend time sexually with these other individuals, media or "the masses" may be concerned. I don't know about "hysterical".

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From the wifes point of view;



A-list Search: Jenny Sanford - Scorned political wives

[along-for-the-ride]

An update:

SC first lady files for divorce from cheating gov

Fri Dec 11, 12:55 pm ET

CHARLESTON, S.C. – South Carolina's first lady, a former Wall Street vice president who helped launch her husband's political career, filed for divorce Friday more than five months after his tearful public confession of an affair with an Argentine woman.

"This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family," Jenny Sanford said in a statement.

The governor blamed himself and said he and Jenny will "work earnestly to be the best mom and dad we can be to four of the finest boys on earth.

"While it is not the course I would have hoped for, or would choose, I want to take full responsibility for the moral failure that led us to this tragic point," he said in a statement.

Jenny Sanford's announcement came after a week of wrenching twists, including a legislative panel's decision Wednesday to turn aside an impeachment push in favor of a formal rebuke for the governor's conduct.

He told reporters he still wanted to reconcile with his wife, while she said in a television interview that it was a simple decision to not stand with him as he publicly confessed the affair.

"Certainly his actions hurt me, and they caused consequences for me, but they don't in any way take away my own self-esteem," she told ABC's Barbara Walters. "They reflect poorly on him."

A divorce complaint filed in Charleston County Family Court did not mention money, property or custody arrangements for the couple's sons.

"The defendant has engaged in a sexual relationship with a woman other than plaintiff," the complaint reads. "Plaintiff has not condoned that relationship and is informed and believes that she is entitled to a divorce ... from the defendant on the grounds of adultery."

As first lady, Jenny Sanford has little official role in state government, but she has been a quiet presence since her husband took office in 2003, often attending morning meetings with his top staff and working on a public health campaign.

Just last week, she welcomed visitors to a holiday open house at the governor's mansion. Mark Sanford arrived about two hours after the event began and gave his wife a quick kiss, but they spent much of the night 10 feet apart, entertaining separate groups.

Jenny Sanford had said after news of the scandal broke in June that she was willing to reconcile with the two-term Republican governor. She weathered the publication of e-mail exchanges between him and his lover, Maria Belen Chapur, and an Associated Press interview in which Sanford called Chapur his "soul mate" and admitted "crossing the line" with other women.

Mark Sanford, 49, disappeared for almost a week in late June to see Chapur, leaving his staff and his wife in the dark about his whereabouts. His staff told reporters he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

Jenny Sanford said she learned about the affair in January when she found a copy of a letter her husband wrote to Chapur. In the months following, he asked several times to visit his mistress.

"It's one thing to forgive adultery; it's another thing to condone it," she told the AP two days after her husband revealed the affair at a news conference.

"He was told in no uncertain terms not to see her," she said. "I was hoping he was on the Appalachian Trail. But I was not worried about his safety. I was hoping he was doing some real soul searching somewhere and devastated to find out it was Argentina. It's tragic."

Days later, after the governor told AP he was relying on religious faith to help salvage his marriage even though the love of his life was in Argentina, Jenny Sanford said it was up to the people of South Carolina whether they wanted to give their governor a second chance.

In May, the governor seemed uncertain of what road to take. As the couple was in the midst of a series of religious counseling sessions, he wrote a letter to his spiritual adviser describing himself as emotionally torn.

"The one part where my heart at this point is not where I wish it was is with Jenny," Sanford wrote. She "is a great girl, great mom, great wife and best friend and I am committed to her in a commitment sense, but my heart is just not alive here as it ought to be."

No South Carolina governor has divorced while in office. The state in 1949 became the last in the nation to allow divorce, said Walter Edgar, a historian at the University of South Carolina.

Born Jennifer Sullivan, the first lady grew up near Chicago. Her grandfather founded the Skil Corp., a power tool manufacturer. She graduated from Georgetown University in 1984 with a degree in finance, then worked for the Wall Street investment banking firm Lazard Freres & Co., where she was a vice president. The Sanfords met in New York in the 1980s, when Mark Sanford also was working in finance.

The couple married in 1989 and relocated to South Carolina, where Sanford worked in real estate before serving three terms in Congress. Jenny Sanford managed several of her husband's campaigns. Until revelations of the affair, he had been considered a possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate.

The couple separated two weeks before news of the affair became public. Jenny Sanford and her sons sought refuge at the couple's beachfront home on Sullivans Island while Sanford remained in the state capital of Columbia, occasionally visiting his family.

Unlike some political wives, Jenny Sanford did not stand next to her husband when he revealed the affair with Chapur, whom he met on a trip to Uruguay in 2001.

___

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How He Got Caught

The elaborate tricks John Edwards used to keep his affair secret—and why they failed.

By Christopher Beam

Posted Friday, Jan. 29, 2010, at 6:32 PM ET

Between early 2006, when the senator's dalliance with his campaign videographer began, and August 2008, when he confessed to it, Edwards engaged in all sorts of subterfuges in an attempt to hide his liaison with Hunter from his wife, his staff, and the press. The Politician, written by Edwards' primary romantic facilitator, provides a blow-by-blow account how he did it—and why he failed. Consider this list a kind of public service to any elected official ever considering a secret romp.

Get a cell phone and use it exclusively for your affair. Once the affair took off, Edwards bought a cell phone to take calls exclusively from Hunter, which he dubbed the "Batphone." Edwards failed, however, to keep the phone hidden from his wife. Elizabeth discovered it ringing one night in his bag, answered it, and heard Hunter launch into a "romantic monologue." That's when Edwards confessed to Elizabeth that he'd had a "one-night stand." (An understatement.) From then on, Edwards and Young arranged handoffs so Edwards wouldn't have the Batphone while Elizabeth was around.



Use your calling plan's enhanced features. When Edwards didn't have the Batphone, Young set up three-way conference calls and had both Edwards and Hunter dial-in. That way there would be no record of the call when Elizabeth would check Edwards' call log, as she routinely did.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make fake hotel reservations. When Hunter traveled with Edwards, Young would reserve a room in his own name and tell the hotel staff that his "wife" would be checking in on that account. That way, there would be no evidence Hunter stayed in the hotel. Hunter would then join Edwards in his suite and leave before aides came to wake him up.

Use separate doors. And don't forget to stagger your entrances. Heading back to the campaign office in South Carolina after a rally, Edwards had Young drop him off in the parking garage, and he took the elevator up. Hunter entered through the front, where she ran into Elizabeth. Elizabeth later "confronted her husband about the glowing blond woman who had obviously arrived with him from the road."

Use cash. When Edwards gave Hunter his bank card, Elizabeth noticed money inexplicably withdrawn in New York. From then on, Edwards—through Young—gave her cash stipends and her own separate credit card. As one Edwards donor tells Young: "Old Chinese proverb: Use cash, not credit cards."

Funnel money. When Edwards started paying Hunter's living expenses, the money came from the nonagenarian philanthropist Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon, who didn't ask any questions about where the cash was going. Mellon would pay her interior decorator, who would pass the money along to Young. The cash would be concealed in boxes of chocolates.

Destroy all evidence. Edwards was not as careful as he could have been. At one point, Edwards' nanny discovered a Marriott key card on the kitchen counter. Young noticed that when Edwards would receive notes from "eager women" on the campaign trail, he "occasionally pocketed" them instead of handing them off for disposal. And many nights, Edwards would take mysterious 2 a.m. "jogs."

Seriously, destroy all evidence. Elizabeth spent days going through the footage Hunter shot for the never-aired "Webisodes" of the Edwards campaign, searching for evidence of cheating. However, she was never able to find the tapes shot at the Edwards house while she was away. Young and his wife later allegedly found a half-destroyed tape, allegedly shot by Hunter, of her and the senator allegedly having sex. Allegedly. (Hunter has now filed for a restraining order to keep Young from releasing it.)

Don't canoodle in front of aides. While Elizabeth was on a book tour in 2006, Hunter came over to Edwards' house and the two spoke openly in front of Young about getting married in a rooftop ceremony with music played by the Dave Matthews Band. (The band didn't like her when they met her.) Hunter and Edwards would kiss in front of Young and cuddle in front other another aide, prompting him to ask Young, "What the hell is going on?"

Choose a discreet lover. Hunter was a noticeable presence on the trail, according to Young. She dressed in bright colors, talked loudly, and flirted constantly. She spoke to "close friends" about their affair, but trusted them because of their "spiritual connection." She recounted their sexual exploits to Young and his wife. She even talked to Newsweek's Jonathan Darman about having an affair with a powerful man whom she wouldn't name. (Darman knew she worked with the Edwards campaign.) When rumors of the affair started circulating, she continued to risk getting spotted in hotel lobbies and grocery stores. "I think she wanted to get caught," Young writes.

Maintain plausible deniability. Even after Young learned about the affair, Edwards continued to use vague language while on the phone with Hunter—just in case he or Young, who overheard them, had to deny it. When Hunter said she loved him, Edwards "would say only, 'Me too.' And if she asked him if he missed her, he would say, 'That's correct' … but never, 'I miss you.' " On calls with Young, top Edwards donor Fred Baron would refer to Edwards as "the principal" and to Hunter as "her."

Don't sign any cards you send to the new mother of your child. When Hunter gave birth to their daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, Young asked Edwards if he wanted to send her flowers. "Yeah, that's a good idea," Edwards said. "But don't sign it from me. Someone might see it.

Wear a condom. Edwards claims that Hunter told him she couldn't get pregnant. You know the rest.

[Elone]

along-for-the-ride;1208641 wrote: I am a bit disheartened by news like this


I believe it is a sign of the times. This has been going on in politics for as long as there was a thing called politics. Politicians seek the power of a public office. Females of any species on this planet are hard-wired to seek powerful males for procreation; it affords a better chance of survival for the young. Even though most sex is for gratification the ‘chemistry’ that brings the two together is based on this intuition. The only difference now is that there is big money in pictures and stories that show people with power in compromising situations, so there are more people out there with cameras spying on them.:sneaky:

[along-for-the-ride]

Too right, Elone. Love of power and love of money lead many down the wrong path. It is a shame.

[along-for-the-ride]

Revenge of the Woman Scorned:

Jenny Sanford's Gentle Revenge

A review of Jenny Sanford's Staying True.

By Hanna Rosin

Posted Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010, at 7:01 AM ET

The idea that Jenny Sanford wrote her memoir Staying True to mollify her sons, as she told the New York Times, is quite comical if you've actually read the book. There is no child who needs to know precisely when and how his father lied to his mother about the mistress in Argentina and how she watched him disintegrate into a pleading, heartsick fool. Sanford's tone is studiously not vengeful, and yet this book is an act of revenge. As well it should be, since the poor woman was married to the most doltish specimen of a husband this side of John Edwards—a fact she elaborates on in exquisite detail for future generations of Sanford men to chew on.

When she wrote the book, Sanford must have been thinking about her husband pining for the other woman at his infamous press conference, since she erases any possibility that anyone think of him as an expansive, indulgent romantic. The most memorable parts of the book are the ones in which she details his habits as an extreme cheapskate who could not possibly conduct a whirlwind romance because it would be too expensive. Many of her stories have already been recounted with disbelief—the one about the elaborate lead-up to the used $25 bicycle he bought her and his insistence that she serve as his campaign manager not because he wanted her around for the adventure but because, as he told her, "You're free."

More in that vein: For his wife's birthday, Mark Sanford had a friend pick out a diamond necklace and a staffer hide it in the closet, and then faxed her clues for the scavenger hunt—"clever and boyishly sweet," she recalls. She found the necklace, and "I loved it!" she writes. But then he came home, saw it on her and said, "That is what I spent all the money on? I hope you kept the box," and he returned it the next day. Another time, he insisted the whole family join him in India for a work trip. (All four boys were under the age of 8.). Without telling her, he rented their house out while they were supposed to be away to make some extra money. Only, he got the dates wrong, so she and the boys had to stay at a hotel.

What puts Sanford in a cad class of his own, however, is his complete misunderstanding of the companionate marriage. He treats his wife as a fishing buddy to whom he can confess absolutely everything rather than someone whose feelings he ever has to protect with some minor omissions. "With the exception of that little man, I'm bored with life," he tells her after the birth of their first son, not bothering to explain how the wife fits into the boredom equation. Time and again he consults with Jenny about what he should do about Miss Argentina, soliciting both PR and relationship advice. "How'd I do?" he asked Jenny, after the press conference in which he pined for his "dear friend" in Argentina with whom "from a heart level, there was something real." Later, Jenny tried to convince him to give their marriage another year because if it didn't work out, the lady in Argentina probably wasn't going anywhere.

"What if she does?" he answered. "Do you want to wake up when you are eighty and know you never had a heart connection?"

Can you imagine? Even Bill Clinton would know better than to run his options by Hillary: "Hey, Hill, I know Monica's pretty young. But I'm not getting any younger, and what if this is my last chance?"

[along-for-the-ride]

All of this raises the obvious question: What was Jenny thinking? Why would a smart woman like her stay with this jerk for all those years (or even marry him in the first place, since there were early clues)? After the debacle of a press conference, some women writers voted for Jenny as a suitable feminist heroine or, at least, a new role model for the wronged political wife. Finally, argued Ruth Marcus, we had a wife who neither stood by her husband's side at the podium (Silda Spitzer) nor issued a bland supportive statements about a "stronger marriage" (Gayle Haggard). This was a woman who met the public straight on because she had concluded, rightly, that his affair was more humiliating to him than it was to her. It's an inspiring image. But this new book complicates the picture.

For one thing, Jenny is constantly explaining away her husband's behavior. The $25 bicycle was OK because "this was just part of who he was" and skipping out of Lamaze class was fine because" many fathers didn't attend birth in those days"—the 1990s. Even the diamond story gets a pass because "once I knew he had overspent, I also knew it would pain him to see me wear the necklace had I insisted on keeping it." At many points she drifts toward politics made him do it: His cheapness was a way of living out his ideal of fiscal responsibility; his lying was a response to the media's hunger to destroy reputations.

For another, Jenny has consciously chosen to avoid the path of feminist heroine. Unlike Hillary Clinton, she was not dragged out of her big city life into a southern America kicking and screaming. Despite her success at the investment bank Lazard Frères before her marriage, she had no interest in putting in 18-hour days and couldn't wait to get to Charleston as a stay-at-home wife (at least, when she wasn't playing campaign manager). She imagined her life just as she thought it was—staying home in a big house, raising a brood of boys with the help of a successful husband who made it home for dinner sometimes. She did not bristle when he hinted he wanted boys and wouldn't know what to do with a girl.