Have you seen this Governor?
The hyper-combative (some night say "combustible") governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford, magically disappeared last Thursday. Nobody in the Governor’s office had any information — or even knew — about his impetuous little road trip. Dude is like the wind!
The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford was unknown for nearly four days, and some state leaders question who was in charge of the executive office.
But Sanford’s office told the lieutenant governor’s office Monday afternoon that Sanford has been reached and he is fine, said Frank Adams, head of Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer’s office on aging.
Neither the governor’s office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, had been able to reach Sanford after he left the mansion Thursday in a black SLED Suburban SUV, said Sen. Jake Knotts . . . .
. . .
"I was recently made aware that Governor Sanford has frequently been eluding SLED agents and disappearing at odd times," Knotts said.
Oh, how very reassuring for the South Carolina citizenry. Their governor thinks he’s Secret Agent Man.
Okay, I have a few questions. First, I must say, they’ve got a pretty interesting chain of command in South Carolina. Why is the head of the Lieutenant Governor’s office on aging the go-to person for the press about this? Why wasn’t the Governor’s office commenting on this before now?
And another thing: Who exactly is paying for the SLED agents who have to spend all their overtime tracking this guy down? Because if it’s the taxpayers, they should be more than a little pissed off that Sanford keeps wandering off the premises like Grampa Simpson. His nomad act is costing them precious dollars they don’t have.
When the Governor’s office finally deigned to address the media, they painted Sanford as a weary warrior, exhausted by his battle against bringing South Carolina into the 21st century:
The governor’s office issued a statement Monday afternoon: "Gov. Sanford is taking some time away from the office this week to recharge after the stimulus battle and the legislative session, and to work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside."
And while his constituency and cabinet have been more than a little concerned about who exactly was in charge of the state while the hothouse flower was reclining on a fainting couch in an undisclosed location, his wife sounds like she couldn’t really give a shit.
First lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press earlier Monday her husband has been gone for several days and she did not know where.
She said she was not concerned.
. . .
Jenny Sanford said the governor said he needed time away from their children to write something.
He had to WRITE SOMETHING? What the hell does that mean? Is it some sort of Republican code? Did he have to spend Father’s Day with his other family, like Vito Fossella did? Don’t they have a garage at the Governor’s mansion? He couldn’t hole up in there, far away from his boisterous and troublesome progeny, and "write something"?
Let me ask youse guys. Where do YOU think Mark Sanford took off to?
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Hey WT. Welcome back to the hell that is the American majority.
Aimee Semple McPherson. That’s all I’m saying…
I think at this point, Octomom’s and Kate Gosselin’s broods constitute “the American majority”.
Hey WT, nice milk carton kid.
Dude is a freebird and he must fly.
Only without the mad communications skillz!
It’s all a little something we governors call Me Time.
One can only hope he was writing his resignation.
Mark Sanford maybe he is on a “Magic Mushroom” Trip??
Most of the Reichnuts are F**KING crazy any way!!
I’m not going to speculate as to where Sanford was, but given past history with Republicans, I suspect he was hanging around with teenage boys while wearing a complete old-fashioned diving suit (with helmet).
I think he spontaneously combusted.
I find it reallly funny that every time a R is named as a potential 2012 prez candidate, they immediately go off & do something stupid. Jindal & his boneheaded speech, Ensign & his affair, Sanford & his disappearing act. At this pace they’re gonna run thru every elected R before their 2012 convention.
Comme ca?
Dr. Dick, I owe you a coke.
perhaps a dissociative fugue in R minor?
I’ve had busboy jobs where you;d be fired if you showed up just a couple of hours late, let alone FOR DAYS. So can they fire his crazy hypocritical dipshit ass then?
Just clearing the way for Palin as the only reasonable pick.
Personally I think Mrs. Sanford’s pants are on fire.
Or George P. Bush!
Maybe they can get together with the Duggar family and start a third political party. Not one I’d vote for, mind you.
If he is a Republican, he is having an affair.
There’s no question it’ll be Mittmo Romnutz. You can’t stop Clark Griswold.
Cute. Looks kinda like a spandex turd.
Lyin’ Liz Cheney might give her a run for her money. Palin makes her look like unitary exec material.
Can he just stay lost?
I had to google clark griswold, that’s how much of a popular culture moron I am.
Perhaps he’s picking up some astronaut diapers, and making a special delivery to Senator DiaperVitter?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Nowak
True and at least Liz can keep her lies straight.
hehe…or how lame my life is!
Maybe he was fiddlin’ fer four days.
The devil went down to georgia
lookin’ for a soul to steal.
He was in a bind,
cuz he was way behind…
Fixed that.
I just so a headline at HuffPo saying Ensign has a higher approval rating than Harry Reid. Didn’t read the article. Won’t pretend that I approve of either of them.
Heh. From Gawker:
The South Carolina State Police told the press earlier today that they’d traced Sanford’s cell phone to a tower in the Atlanta area. All of this obviously means that Mark Sanford is having an affair. We can only hope that it’s a gay one. Does anyone know if Lindsey Graham and/or Charlie Crist were in Atlanta at any point over the past few days?
Poor Harry. If Ensign has better approvals, but they are plummeting after he announced his little peccadillo, then Harry must really be in the shitter.
Ted Turner?
Harry is lower than a caterpillar in a wagon rut.
I dont give a fig where that putz is
I have long said he was up to his neck in shit.
Could his wife have meant “to right something?” Those damn homophones.
Kind of comes with the asshat territory, doesn’t it?
Maybe he is spending some time in one of the houses owned / run by The Family or the Foundation– been reading some of the links here generated by the Ensign story and so automatically figure he is one of them and wanted to run it by some of you! He might be getting a tune up.
True.
Yes, Right. Those Suthners do have their way with words.
I heard that earlier too, and agree with you.
Was it you who mentioned this afternoon that msnbc was reporting that the majority of Iran’s Guardian Council was in favor of a new election? Did they subsequently confirm or deny? I can’t find anything on it.
per CNN: A mystery surrounding the whereabouts of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was apparently solved late Monday when a Sanford spokesman said he was hiking along the Appalachian Trail.
Governor’s Spokesman Says He’s Hiking Appalachian Trail
There’s a euphemism I haven’t heard before.
I say, how can you say
Where I’ll be from day to day
When I don’t even know myself
But the life that I lead
Is so full of mysteries
That’s why I’m always on my way
And I’ll be running like the wind
Running like the wind
Marshall Tucker knows all about that south carolina ramblin’ thing…
T’weren’t me.
Now on the other hand
OLE LEVI is te reliable,especially were hay and oats are offered
http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/5896
If I needed to write, that’s where I’d go.
The fun part is that we don’t yet know exactly what it’s a euphemism for.
Amblin’ on the Appalachin’ Trail.
WT, one of the best heads on a post evah!
I heard it on MSNBC or CNN then the DC train wreck happened, It was fairly late would have been middle of the night there. Be looking for it later
Appalachian TREASURE Trail, maybe!
So was he getting some writing done WHILE he was hiking?
I saw that intriguing comment too…would like to know!
OK.
I’m not gonna try to find it, as if it’s accurate, we’ll read about it soon enough.
How did this story get out? Did his wife tell the press? Maybe he’s up to no good and she’s had enough and just had to let the cat out of the bag to embarrass him.
They say the Devil is in the details and the song says the Devil went down to Georgia…
BTW, in Atlanta I recommend highly a very nice old restaurant called Pitty Pat’s Porch. Very nice!
That in its own way is even more bizarre than anything we have suggested. People do not just suddenly drop everything and head out without telling anyone to go hiking like that.
It staggers the imagination.
Maybe he took a right at the appalachian trail?…
Aha, it was you. Keep us up to speed. I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere.
He wasn’t around for Fathers’ Day with 4 small sons, which some local press noticed. At least that’s what Rachel said.
A little Broke
backstate Mountain action?mebbe He s in Sardinia,with BearsomeSCUMMI
Like I said. This makes his behavior even weirder.
And if it staggers our imaginations, imagine the effect it’ll have on Mrs. Sanford.
I didn’t either until I read a book by Anne Tyler called Ladder of Years which I think is about a woman’s dissociative fugue. Basically someone goes and wanders off and starts a new life having amnesia about their past life without being aware of it. apparently.
It would have helped to know what a dissociative fugue was before reading the book…
Well, not with THAT family.
Perhaps there are some other little Sanfords running hither and yon.
Not just Rachel. His staff confirms that he has 4 sons, and has been ‘not here’ since Thursday.
Happy Fathers Day.
BARESOMESCUMMI?
From Nico Pitney:
This is the current headline on HuffPo’s front page:
MILITARY CHARGING “BULLET FEE” TO FAMILIES OF DEAD PROTESTERS
Just trying to imagine what his wife was telling their four sons during Father’s Day. Were they sitting there with their presents wrapped and cards in hand, ready to excitedly hand to their father?
More Repub family values…poor kids.
“Daddee’s in the CIA. But don’t tell anyone.”
talk about “salt in the wound”. That’s right up there with charging rape victims for evidence kits.
his kids probably gave him a Father’s Day card indicating what an asshole he is, so he was hurt and ran away from home. He’ll come home when he gets hungry, unfortunately.
Sarah Palin finds herself torn on who to root for.
A dazed blowfish?
They seem to be going out of their way to lose cred. Kinda like W. Guess the Iranian poobahs also have the press in their pocket.
Early night for me. Take care all.
What shall we get Daddy for Father’s Day? I know, Mom, let’s get him a sleeping bag and some hikin’ boots and send him down to right some stuff on the Ap-a-latch-in-Trail! They have cell phone coverage there and ever-thing!
heh. she’d probably like to charge the wolves a bullet fee if she could.
By the way the Appalachian Trail is 2200miles long iirc
More akin to charging them for the privilege of being raped.
The bullet fee is a longstanding tradition of authoritarians.
nite doc.
G’night.
nite DickDoc
OK, I’m naive. I never heard of a bullet fee. are you being serious or snarky? I can’t tell cuz me no get the bullet fee thingy.
LOVE the face on the milk carton, WT!
I’ve been watching this story unfold today and Gov. “Shining Star” Sanford’s got some ’splainin to do….
o Takes off, doesn’t tell anyone or ask anyone to cover for him.
o Gone for nearly 5 days before someone notices.
o Wife knows nothing and doesn’t apparently care he ditched his family, without even a note, on Father’s Day. (Begs question if Southern Repub missed church?!?!)
o Wife sez he needed quiet to write.
o Office sez he needed to recharge after working so hard.
o SOMEbody worried enough to track his cellphone(s) which were turned off.
o Office now sez he’s hiking the Appalachian trail. (Writing? How?)
Any of this would cause deep doo-doo for most any regular joe employee / family man, but the supposedly highly-regarded governor of one of our great states? Meh.
This little gem ain’t over. Not by a long shot!
Popcorn please…. ;-)
At least the motherfuckers aren’t being coy about it.
Kinda like The Supremes declining cert for the Wilsons today?
Talk about a bullet fee!
nite yall,aint so early
They are less concerned about maintaining credibility than keeping a grip on the reins of power. Hardly unique in that, unfortunately.
FUCKed
I appreciate all the comments that reference Republican hypocrisy, but I do not appreciate the comments that reference Sanford having some secret gay affair, as witty as some of them might be.
Can you just leave it at hypocrisy and affairs or whatever and leave teh gay out of it?
Yes – I’m being touchy. But it’s Pride Month and given the current Whitehouse positions, well…
No, I’m serious.
g’nite, sadly
Bullet fee
Gov. HappyTrails
1) Where’s Lindsey Graham, by the bye?
2) I have a strange feeling that Fire Island might be a good place to look for him. Or anywhere near the mansion of well-known Republican fundraiser Arthur Finkelstein.
No surprise there. Don’t suppose it ever crossed Scalia’s mind to recuse himself since Cheney is his BFF…
Re bullet fee, with a sad current story. Nico at HuffPo points to a WSJ article by Farnaz Fassihi, reporting that Iranian officials charging a $3K “bullet fee” to family of slain protestor to claim the body.
So much sadness.
thanks, you educated me. those poor people.
btw, I’ve been reading some comments at the SF Chron under the articles about the local demonstrations of support. some folks are just obtuse. Even Vietnam can make the distinction between our govt decisions and our citizens. Apparently, we ameerikins cannot. Many comments about how the Iranian Americans should return to their country, etc. These people left during the first revolution by these people who are the current regime. Why be angry with them?
He wouldn’t do it before; why would he start now?
Yeah, the appearance of impropriety has been redefined. Now DNA isn’t even a high (or would it be a low) enough standard.
Do you ever listen to the R callers on Washington Journal?
Because right-wing Americans are stupid.
This has been another episode…
Personally, it seems like only Native Americans should be allowed to gripe about unwanted immigrants.
That’s so creepy and with a religious undertone to it too.
It’s so important to muslims to bury their dead quickly. No wonder they paid. I thought the added condition was only to forego any public funeral (and the mosques were all under instructions to not allow it either). I didn’t know the family had to PAY for the return of her body. That’s just sick.
Yep, once again credibility be damned, it’s only about keeping a grip on power.
Seems to be a running theme tonight, doesn’t it?
Ha! good one.
I have a friend who is quite distraught. She’s had serious non stop migraines all week, she is so distressed.
I’m so friggin’ sick of the intolerance. I’m glad someone called out John Bomb bomb bomb Iran McCain on his dumbassery. Jeez!
Howard Kurtz does an online discussion today and not a single question regarding Froomkin?
If you find that odd, why not post a comment.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..ments.html
Gov. MarkyMark is so obsessed with pork, perhaps he just wanted to squeal like a pig in private?
http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/b…..eally.html
(there’s unbelievable video at the link…what freak!)
Who did that? I seem to have missed out on some fun.
according to the wsj article linked to at huffpo, he was charged, but then convinced them to waive the fee, saying all his possesssions together weren’t worth the $3000 fee. and he had to agree not to have a funeral or burial in teheran. so they took their son’s body to the city of rasht where they have relatives.
I wonder if he’ll have a “road to Damascus” scales-falling-from-his-eyes kind of tale to spin for us rubes.
I know. Talk about adding insult to injury. Turns out the family was able to pursuade the officials to forego the charge because he was an Iranian army veteran. They had to promise not to bury him in Tehran but take him to another town. He was 19 and was supposed to be married in a week.
here you go.
http://videocafe.crooksandliar…..s-no-credi
let’s see, what would i like to drink? how ’bout some pink lemonade?
thanks nola sue and greenwarrior.
I was mixing up the story of this protester and Neda’s family. It’s all so abusive.
Or maybe he went into the wilderness to be tempted so he could return with his faith renewed. Remains to be seen how many times he’ll have to repeat the process before he finally resists temptation. Hopefully there won’t be TOO much chafing involved.
(To greenwarrior @ 114)
Missed it by THAT much….!
Want a shot of vodka in that lemonade?
I’m confused….. she died in her families arms….. or I thought she did….. did someone take her away from them?
this guy was meeting with the big money guys to see if they will support his presidential run in 2012. he had to keep it quiet or potential opponents would initiate their own attempts to corral the same money bags. you have to have lived in the south to understand how fucking sneaky these folks are.
Heading out, splendid evening to all.
hmm. well, if you’re springing for alcohol, make it a pina colada.
or, with the heat here, perhaps it should be a mint julep. i do have a hand fan.
I don’t know if this is snark, but…
If they are as cagey as you suggest, they would have laid out a diversion and a story well in advance, and his wife would have been fed the story. And his staffers wouldn’t have shrugged when asked.
Hell, they wouldn’t even have to be clever about it.
The slain Iranian in the WSJ story was a young man, not Neda, who was with her father when she was shot. HTH.
Thanks. Sadly, I doubt McCain will take the hint.
Hiya Firepups!
I went to a vigil tonight in memory of the people who died this week in Iran because they were protesting for democracy. Posted it at my place and at Betsy’s Beach House. (more pix at Betsy’s)
neda did die with her family.
this is another person. we’re talking about a young man who was killed as he left a class.
I’m going to join the exodus. Peace out, y’all!
while i’m waiting for my drink, let me take your order.
Good on you guys, Cassie.
nite puma
Kind of like the prayer, Help me resist temptation. Just not quite yet!
Sweltering nite here in Minnesota — who knew they could put so much humidity at this end of the Big River? Make mine a margarita. The blender’s almost done with the pina colada. :)
there ya go, salt’s on the rim, stem’s green cactus, enjoy!
going over to look.
I heard they’re now saying he’s “hiking the Appalachian Trail”
kinda weird, not telling your wife or anyone else where you’re going, though.
Thanks, greenwarrior! Hate to drink & run, but it’s late. Night, all–
Many of us have been protesting his local office, called his staff all the time and there is no way McCain will ever get it……
I was in the middle east during the 1979 revolution…. Obama is playing this exactly right…….. any hint of US involvement will blow this thing sky high…… after how the US (bush) butted their noses in a lot of points in the world but constantly in the middle east….. axis of evil did no one any good…
A replay of the Reza Pahlavi presser is on cspan right now. I’ve only heard bits & pieces (during commercials). He seems to want some sort of international support for protesters. That ought to help the cause. Not.
Yeah, the big scramble/hurry AFTER it breaks is their tell.
This would have been super-easy to bury with some lame conference or scheduled ’security-related meet-up.’
They are a bit screwed, and the Governor will be asked for the rest of his career about this particularly bad piece of ’staff work.’
nite nola sue
Frankly, I think staff is deperately trying to cover something serious. Like being held on a 72 hour hold someplace.
Why settle for the lesser evil? Vote Cthulhu.
Sanford has had a really bad time of it these last few weeks.
Major fail wrt his legislature whacking him on bailout funds and, according to Rachel tonight, overriding his veto on ten of ten bills in recent days.
If I were him, I’d want to go someplace quiet and put my head down.
Yep. I’d do exactly what he’s alleged to be doing, hiking on the AT, if I’d had his recent troubles. However, if I were gov, I’d make to to tell lots of people where I was going and how to reach me in an emergency. (What if one of his kids got hit by a car? Not to mention emergencies related to his important government position.) So it’s not what they claim he’s doing that I find weird. It’s the fact that he didn’t tell anyone what he was gonna do that makes it so suspicious.
Sipowiz would say Sanford is “in the wind…”
or, maybe, full of it…
It’s not a woman (or a man), as it would have been carefully planned and contingencies laid out.
In the back of my mind – dude is breaking into pieces, cracking up. I don’t think it’s organic-medical.
I actually feel bad about it.
Time will tell.
Also so they have a clue where to start looking for him when he doesn’t show up. Like now. He could fall and break an ankle, or worse, and die because no one knows where he is.
(Don’t they pay attention to the ‘lost hiker’ stories that show up every year? Or do they just figure that only happens to other people?)
Oh give me a break You feeling bad for a WingNut????
Since when did hell freeze over??
Or maybe you converted to a PC???
THe SC Dems are really making the most of this episode. They keep talking about how erratic the gov has been lately. By the time he gets back rumors will have spread that he was seen running around in a clown suit.
Hi, guys. I am fervently hoping that this will do for Sanford’s career what Jindahl’s speech did for his. Anybody heard from him lately?
Nobody’s mentioned something I heard on Rachel’s show – that Sanford has done this before!
I’m thinking maybe his little boys weren’t waiting with wrapped presents; maybe their expectations of Daddy are pretty low already. Whaddya’ll think?
I did lots of backpacking all alone. Let me assure you, if you go places where there are plenty of other hikers, and the AT is just such a place, there’s not a snowball’s chance that you won’t get rescued if you have an accident or get injured. It would also be impossible to get lost on the AT (I’ve hiked it in NY, NH, ME), as it’s very well marked, and even so you’d end up in a town or someone’s back yard. There may be a section or two where it might be possible to get lost, but you’d have to really try.
Given how easily they could have dealt with this if it were a woman or a man or a fishing trip – on Fathers Day with 4 sons at home…
First glance – I think he’s sick.
I think he’s resting his psyche.
I think he’s mentally ill or breaking down, and that is not something to fuck around with.
Thanks for the suggestion. Snarky comment submitted.
flies in the buttermilk
shoo, Mark, shoo
Ahem, [clears throat and raises tone of voice]
Would those of you who have made the “brokeback” and other gay-disparaging comments just STOP!
Sanford is target rich for vilification without regarding sexual orientation. Can I be more clear?
I love the “ambler” headline and the milk carton will keep me laughing for days. thanks
It’s a euphemism similar to “squeal like a pig…”
No one around here make remarks disparaging gays. Often we make remarks about Republicans who preach family values or vote against gays, etc. for being hypocrites.
If I may…
they are not disparaging gays in their comments – only expressing their guess at yet another hypocritical Republican who campaigns on “Family Values” is probably up to exactly what those who espouse family values think is NOT ok.
does that make sense?
You may think so. But I’m reading this:
1) Where’s Lindsey Graham, by the bye?
2) I have a strange feeling that Fire Island might be a good place to look for him. Or anywhere near the mansion of well-known Republican fundraiser Arthur Finkelstein.
And this:
A little Brokebackstate Mountain action?
And this:
I’m not going to speculate as to where Sanford was, but given past history with Republicans, I suspect he was hanging around with teenage boys while wearing a complete old-fashioned diving suit (with helmet).
Aside from any other reparte on the thread.
And yes, I’ll take hits for being a purity/concern troll, but here’s the deal; it actually matters what’s going to happen on the DOMA front to me, because casual effrontery, regardless how casual or meaningless or un-meant the effrontery, still actually matters. To Me.
Frankly, It Ain’t Looking Good to People In My Constituency. [FIALGTPIMC]
Back in the day… this was known as the Girls and Gays blog.
and, you are not alone in your concern for the DOMA or the DODT front, here. Please, you must be new. These things are not said to disparage gays, only hypocritical GOPers who are in teh closet and consistantly vote against gay rights
Out of concern, I wonder…. why the hell isn’t this news? If a man of even reasonable importance disappears, it should be important.
But then again, he’s not a hot white chick, so of course, the media is not allowed to report on him. The whole history of tangled sexism in America, 1, progressive reality, 0.
And with that pessimism, I say hi to all of Firedoglake. I’m new here, howdy, and hello!
RUNAWAY GOV!
Hikin’ the Appalachian trail in clown shoes would be really tough…’course you might make it in under ten days if you were wearing Astronaut diapers.
I do have to say — not in defense of Sanford, but as perspective — when I was an attorney, many eons ago, working in a high pressure law firm that wanted to know where its associates were at all time [famously a partner had called an associate back to LA from the World Series in St. Louis for some lame excuse], I used to spend my vacations backpacking alone in Sequoia or Kings Canyon National Forests. The particularly obsessive partner was always non-plussed when I informed him that, no, he couldn’t reach me, unless he wanted to contact the ranger station and have someone hike in to find me. [This was L-O-N-G before cell phones.]
No sale on the Appalachian hike. Maybe if he hadn’t left his staff and wife clueless. Sounds like a great dodge though. BTW, if he’s made calls from Atlanta, he’s pretty far south of the beginning of the trail, which is in No. Georgia, I believe.
My guesses-
(1) He’s serving time in some community lock-up for an OUI, writing his version of ‘Mein Kampf’.
(2) Having being treated for something that he doesn’t want made public.
(3) He’s really AWOL and everyone is covering in an attempt to salvage his career.
.
Latest developments in the case of the missing Guv: “SC Governor Found In Gay Love Nest”
.
Ted Haggard used to spend his weekends in Denver to “write”…
“Where do YOU think Mark Sanford took off to?”
Since the people in a position to know the answer either don’t know it or aren’t being forthcoming, I guess we’re free to speculate. I think he ran down to Tijuana to jerk off on gay hookers while smoking meth off a donkey’s mane, but of course that’s just speculation based on what few facts are available (FACT 1: he’s republican; FACT 2: he’s willing to ditch his security detail to keep his whereabouts private; FACT 3: he’s republican).