Smell fishy to you?
Mark Sanford’s office is now saying that the South Carolina governor is hiking the Appalachian trail.
In a late Monday e-mail to reporters, Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer apologized "for taking so long to send this update," explaining that he "was waiting to see if a more definitive idea of what part of the Trail he was on before we did so."
The Appalachian trail stretches from Georgia to Maine.
Sanford has been mysteriously absent for four days, setting the South Carolina political world abuzz with chatter about why he left and where he went. Even his wife Jenny told reporters she didn’t know of his location.
Sanford’s been AWOL for the people of South Carolina for years, so really, nothing new.
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It’s like the GOP isn’t even trying to be relevant anymore.
Like they’re playing a Batshit Crazy edition of “Can You Top This?”
While we’re being entertained by buffonery of the dying GOP, the other party is being usurped by the GOP’s former corporate sponsors, because the GOP has indeed become irrelevant.
There is now an enormous vacuum on the left.
Governor HappyTrails is out looking for a HappyEnding methinks.
As a father myself, I can’t imagine being missing on Father’s Day, knowing how much my kids get excited to get presents and wrap them for Fathers and Mothers Days, and birthdays, etc.
Feel badly for his four sons. Hopefully they’ll grow to rebel against daddy’s Repub “family values.”
Any of the individual explanations that are being floated out on his behalf might make sense. Hiking. Writing. Recharging.
Taken altogether they’re a stew of contradictions hinting at big disarray and not a good sign for the Guvnah.
And as I said downstairs at Watertiger’s, if any regular joe employee / family man went AWOL for 5 days (and counting) without so much as a note, never mind arrangements to cover for his responsibilities, there’d be some hell to pay. The governor of one of our great states won’t walk away from this easily, whatever the story.
My hunch is that he’s got some coping problems. It won’t be helped that the word “erratic” will be attached to his name for the rest of his political career. Almost feel sorry for the guy. But not quite.
Donny Deutsch may not get invited back on Morning Joe. Right now he’s arguing with Joe that Sanford’s story doesn’t add up. Earlier he was picking on Mr. Andrea Mitchell. Heh.
More like, how do you know a redneck is about to commit suicide?
“Hey, y’all, watch ‘is!!”
Are we supposed to care? I mean, I’m still not convinced what is going on in Iran is as important as what is not going on in Congress, at the moment.
He’s probably just wiping tears from his cheeks and mumbling, “They’ll be really sorry when they find out I’m gone.” I’m sure he’ll run back home when it starts to get dark.
Ha!
Or is he sitting out there, waiting for someone to come find him, tell them they love him and it’ll be ok and he should come home for some milk and cookies. But it took 4 days for anyone to notice he was gone. Oops!
Reminds me of this old story. “When Mom turned 70, her doctor suggested she start walking three miles a day. That was five years ago, and we don’t know where the hell she is.”
Still, it might be a nice thing to encourage Republican governors to wander off into their respective wildernesses for extended periods. We’ve got the Big Bend country in Texas, and there’s a lot of interesting places in Alaska.
Excellent point. There’s a whole new version of Outward Bound here. I should point my Gov. TP (Pawlenty, that is) to the north woods. Maybe Canada will end up with him.
A random thought.
I just saw a Prius commercial extolling the virtues of it’s new solar roof, which, “when parked in direct sunlight, its fan draws air into cabin”.
Now that’s a novel concept. Not exactly earth shattering, but novel.
WTF (as in “where”) has this innovation been hiding?
Did we just invent the solar panel? Uhh…no.
Did we just discover cars get uncomfortably hot in direct sunlight? Uhh…no.
Which leads to my constant bewilderment over the fact that anyone in Phoenix pays anything for electricity for their homes or their cars for 9-10 months of the year.
All this “We’re running out of energy, the horror!” talk is BS served up to us from Chevron, Shell, BP, etc.
What we’re running out of is energy they can charge us for.
North woods of MN might net us a second Dem senator.
Neda Agha-Soltan
He’s planning a covert assault on the SC supremes for dissing him.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/…..eme-court/
As the loudest critic of the DLC Dems during the 1990s, I completely disagree with that statement.
The Dem Party and “Left” in this country is getting cleaned up faster than I imagined it could. Liberal blogs (Blue America!) have played a large role in this and the biggest influence in this is Obama himself. His emphasis on getting people off their duffs and literally training thousands on how to community organize will go down in history and one of the most important things to happen in this era, as long as the movement can withstand the BigMoney pushback we see today. So far I’m thinking it can.
The pendulum has stopped swinging to the right, and is actually coming back the other way now. We need to be “all hands on deck” and make it pick up steam.
The latest sign of it I’ve noticed has come during the usual killer from the DLC leftovers of “We don’t have the votes.” That statement has been the death of any meaningful legislation for decades now. DiFi, Kent Conrad and others have been trotting it out recently for the public option in healthcare, but guess what…it’s not working. Conrad already seems to be backtracking:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..19266.html
A week ago he was saying there’s no way he’d back a public plan. DiFi is looking pathetic as tries to hold on the oldie but goodie (for her) of “We don’t have the votes.”
This shift doesn’t happen by accident or chance. I’d suggest Obama has done a lot to allow this happen. Timing is everything he proved this many times over during the campaign that he’s master of this. In the “public option” debate, he’s made clear what he’d like, but holds back on trying to stiff-arm anything through on people, and in the meantime a bunch of polls come out (reported by BigMedia no less!) showing overwhelming support for a public option. Conrad’s softening and others will now too. We’re getting a public option now because the public has demanded not, not because one person demands it.
Perhaps some of the “Obama needs to…” crowd could learn a little bit by observing a little more first before immediately reacting and telling everyone what to do. It’ll help all of us on future battles we’re going to have to wage on a whole host of issues. It’s not to say don’t push for issues you want, but have some faith in that we’re making good progress.
Not only that, many of the “Obama needs to…” storylines I’ve seen over the last couple of years have been proven wrong. We’re talking Bill Kristol wrong. Live and learn, right?
Lol. I don’t know if it would work up there, but down hear we ought to be able to dare them to secede on an individual basis.
She was lovely. Non-political. Out for a stroll. And now, this.
Morning, neighbor barbara. Great minds, eh? ;-)
Just got back from a trip to Gooseberry and those woods. It was chilly! Now I’m really missing that.
After loosing his court case to a HS student he is probably throwing a tizzy. The question is for how many consecutive days can he scream.
Total BOOYAH!!! You’re my hero du jour. Thanks for this. I haven’t been able to articulate any of this very well.
An upside to Alaska wandering governors is VERY hungry polar bears….
Oh, I didn’t know you’re a Gopher Gal. Gooseberry Falls. Been there many times. Heard it was 59 degrees and misty in Duluth yesterday. And here we are, heading to a 100+ heat index dealie in the Twin Cities today. Go back north, ma’am!
He’s just throwing a tantrum cuz he didn’t get his way.
Yeah, a native New Orleanian, married a MN boy and ended up at this end of the river 5 years ago. I like it here a lot! We were camping at Gooseberry — fell asleep at night either to the sound of the Superior surf on one side or the falls on the other. Lovely. Doing all that laundry the past coupla days — can’t believe we were actually wearing all those heavy clothes. Ready to head back!
We’re into day 4 of 100+ heat index. In June. Global warming? Nahhhh.
Where do you live, generally speaking, if you care to say on this very public forum?
My son is trying to load up a semi to move to ND the heat index where he is at is in excess of 110.
The Columbia SC paper “The State” has a piece up on this right now, of course, which doesn’t particularly break any new ground. The comments, OTOH, are hilarious. Three that caught my eye.
Somebody tell that idiot Imus that maybe the reason the Obama administration doesn’t want Clinton hi-vis on Iran is because she’s the one who’s going to have to deal with whoever ends up in power.
Get a clue, I-man.
I don’t know much about Sonny Perdue, but your Okefenokee would be nice place of Chambliss to aimlessly amble.
Hope you’re right. Obama won’t let the public plan go down without a serious fight. He’ still got our email addresses…
This sounds like an excellent plot line for a children’s book.
A semi? That’s a lotta stuff. Last time I did an interstate move it was in a VW bug towing a little red wagon.
Hey! Just realized this is all about the elephants’ graveyard. They go there voluntarily when it’s time to cash it in, right?
I would tend to agree with you, but I am having trouble with Obama’s renegging and flip flops. As a commenter here at FDL said a few days ago, his promises haven’t been worth the air they’re written on. I’m trying to be patient, but the disappointment column is filling up. The slaps at the LGBT community, the lack of the promised transparency, all of the Bushie stuff he’s embraced instead of rejected, filling his cabinet with banksters and corporatists…well, he’s not the man I voted for — so far.
Oh, and did I mention PREVENTIVE DETENTION??
I think he cracked up and is in a nut bin somewhere. Never did seem to be all that stable to moi.
I mean. there he is, with one of the worst state economies in the country and he throws a tantrum about accepting Obama’s stimulus $$$ for the schools in his state.
Hmmmmm……..mebbe he really doesn’t want the poor of Appalachia to get and education. I bet THEY want one tho.
Kids and toys. A home business that my DIL runs out of the house. It adds up.
You make a good case, but opposing all your efforts to clean up the Dem Party is the tidal wave of lobbying money that is finding its way into the coffers of the Dem office holders in congress, simply because of the buffonery and incompetence of the GOP. As DINOs, DiFi, Conrad, and the rest will continue to answer to money, not their constituents.
America is a two party country. The GOP is a beached whale. A new party must emerge to fill the void.
Hope so too! Time will tell…
The Very Hungry Caterwauler?
there is no left, I mentioned this long ago, as we get more dem politicians, corporate sponsors will simply support the dem and buy their law from which ever party holds power
we absolutely need public sponsored campaigns, it is absolutely necessary for our democracy to survive
we also need franken in his seat, public campaign is one of his principle goals and I think he can do it
what’s holding that decision up anyway…hopefully today is the day
Eric Carle sends you his best wishes!
I’m in the highly suburban east Metro. As a lifetime city girl, I had my doubts, but family brought us here so we felt we should be nearby. It’s all worked out really well, and the ‘burbs aren’t nearly as dreary as I’d anticipated!
I’ve been a longtime FDLer, though a sporadic poster, and I’ve always noticed and appreciated your thoughtful contributions.
Governor Sanford’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
Are you just ignoring the massive, platonic shifts he’s already shepherded through, or just not aware of them? That’s been one of my problems with some of the Liberal blog circles. Most of the good things that have been happening have been mostly ignored in some corners, so the readers are missing some exciting stuff.
If Obama had more public support, which I feel he’s earned already, fights like the public option would be even easier.
You’re very kind. Thanks from Eagan.
Totally agree on how corrupt it all is, but that’s what we’ve been handed. Many here and Obama himself are trying to clean it up as much as we can. We’re all in this together.
hehe…love that one!
I go back and forth on this too. But, sometimes I think he may be taking the right approach….on some things, other things, like the banksters bailouts; he prolly HAD to agree to that, just like Clinton prolly had to agree to NAFTA.
We’ll be watching closely, won’t we? after that whipping on the Supplemental, let’s see some whipping on Health care. Even if we have to settle for an insipid “public option”.
If he turns US over to the insurance companies with a handshake and a wink, he’s lost…I think he knows that….now.
Ed McMahon dies before his house is foreclosed upon.
“Tectonic” is the word you’re looking for, I think as in the earths crust plates moving………Don’t mean to be pedantic……….
I’m with you all the way on public financing of campaigns.
Agreed there is no left in Congress, but there is vibrant left outside the beltway.
Hoping to hear soon about Al. Get the champagne ready.
Well I share a lot of ms molly’s concerns with regard to standing up for the rule of law wrt the previous administration. Hope he’s doing something behind the scenes on war crimes.
Gotta say I was pretty impressed, though, when he gave the dems a tongue-thrashing on taking GITMO detainees into our court system or supermaxes.
Every morning, I trot out a bottle of champagne. Every evening, I put it back. Can champagne get motion sickness?
Very intriguing Native American tune: Rabbit. Just under the “Listen Again” label click on either Windoze Media Player or iTunes icon. The tune is at 5:40.
That reminds me of a friend of mine who, working for the FAA, did a tour at a small airport in Alaska. When he first got there, they told him that Kodiak bears weren’t usually a threat, unless their normal sources of food were scarce. He said, “Then it would probably be a good thing for me to carry a .44 magnum when I take weather observations?”
He said the fellow he was talking to looked thoughtful and said, “Maybe so. It wouldn’t hurt the bear much, but you could put yourself out of your misery.”
“…the wanting infected the earth….” (sigh)
Is there any new news? I saw a blurb over the weekend, then nothing….And yes, it is to be about 102 here today….after sweltering yesteday. Hope you are getting comfortably settled.
Bueller?….. Bueller?…..Has anyone checked Wrigley Field or the Art Institute of Chicago or even a Polish Pride Day parade? Governpr Sanford seem to me like a carefree soul who is more likely chasing rainbows and savoring the moment than doing an “Into the Wild” Palinesque-like schtick.
Does anyone know where the Cubbies are playing this week? It is the end of the school year after all. And GOP Governors, as the song says, just wanna have fun!
Ha! Yes, you’re right. A little distracted at the moment, but the point goes in a whole new direction with platonic in there…hehe!
Apropos, non?
Off to swim in the great capitalist cesspool.
It’s so muggy my hair hasn’t dried from showering 2 hours ago.
Be good to yourselves, and all other living things.
Namaste
Christy’s upstairs, back from NY
The closest I’ve ever been to bears was watching a mother black bear and her cub cross the riding trail I was on in New Hampshire about 100 years ago when I was young. Cub was adorable, mom gave us a stern “keep your distance” look, horse tried to go in reverse with afterburners. I don’t think I’d ever want to run into a kodiak — they’re huge!
It is weirdly quiet re Franken/Coleman. Certainty in some quarters that the MN Supremes would rule last week. Well, almost certain, it turns out. Phoenix Woman is the go-to person on this, and I don’t know what she knows. Settling in. It’s a lovely spot. Turning our house over to the children. I can’t fight that fight any more. A sad thing, but a good thing, I think.
He didn’t create this cesspool. I feel it’s going to take generations to really clean things up, and that’s another reason I like him so much. That emphasis on getting people engaged and organized shows, to me at least, that he knows the fight will continue after he’s gone and he’s trying to train the next generation on how to keep up the fight. He’s making the movement sustainable.
Dollars and Cents
Carol Connolly, St. Paul poet laureate
Money is the color of mold.
Use it for a poultice
And it will infect your wound.
And you, you are
Bad if you have it,
Bad if you don’t,
Bad if you try to get it,
Bad if you refuse it,
Bad if you lend it,
Bad if you borrow it,
Bad if you win it,
Bad if you lose it,
Foolish if you inherit it,
Suspect if you ignore it.
Its fungus creeps
into the corners of marriages,
suffocates sons and daughters.
If you marry for money,
you will earn it.
Whoa…verrrrrrrry good.
Oh, those *are* good!
Read a few in one or the other of the state papers yesterday and some were really depressing wrt to what the goopers will accept from one of their own. Family values? Hey, it’s OK; we all realize parents need get away from their kiddies occasionally. Were he a dem they’d have him nailed to the cross for not being with his children on Father’s Day.
Others in the vein of blaming dems for having the audacity to question how the head pol of a state can just disappear at his convenience.
It’d be really nice if one of the grocery store trash mags would follow through to find out what the spit is going on……dog knows it looks like the msm is gonna turn its usual blind eye and accept that he’s out wandering the AT with no security. Not to mention all the conflicting stories that have surfaced in the last 24.
Donnie Deutch is a huge torture apologist so he will always have a home on Morning Joe.
Maybe he finally got the “take a hike” message we’ve been sending to him.
Is he also dumb? The only time I ever saw him one of the guests (the smart one) left at the first break, mostly, I would say due to the 2 other screaming (women, I hate to say)guests who made a conversation impossible. I thought the host was struck dumb and let it continue.
Not ignoring them, just cognizant of the disappointments as well as the triumphs. I agree that it is too early to write off Obama, but leaving a string of broken promises isn’t a good sign. And I am wary of those who like to ascribe to Obama a strategy (like 12-dimensional chess) to explain why he has taken some of the positions he’s taken. Is he better than McCain … unquestionably. But my jury is still out, frankly.
And I think you mean “tectonic” shifts, not “platonic.” LOL!
The part of this story that cracked me up was Morning Joe. Practically everyone on that show thought Sanford was a skank for going off and not even letting his family know.
Oh, but Scarborough defended him. When someone else said, “Joe! He was AWOL on Father’s Day! He has 4 small children!” Joe actually said, “Like ME, he thinks EVERY DAY is Father’s Day!”
Scarborough is shameless. And, of course, Mika just giggled.
Yes, see that exact argument dominate basically every thread here since before he was even inaugurated, but I also think that is completely unfair and not very astute.
yea, we joked about it upthread.
Mountains? Hiking? LMAO!!! Who is she and when is the baby due?
I’m interested in exactly where his cell phone call was located. If it was really in the Atlanta area, that’s way south of Springer Mtn which is the start of the trail.
What a good point!!!
I was remarking to my husband — and noting on another thread — that NOW, while the support for instance, for the public option is incredibly strong, when the Republican “name” is so disgraced no one wants to be associated with it, why can’t the Democrats get their act together and push through some good stuff?
I hadn’t looked at it from the point of the lobbyists deserting the Republican party because of its irrelevance and moving on over [or manning up] to the Dem party as the only one “in power.”
I continue to maintain that with some firm leadership from “the top” [that means you, BHO] progress could have been achieved on a number of issues.
Someone wrote on another diary here that what BHO ought to be doing on the health care issue first, of course, is supporting the public option. Then he ought to go make some “listening stops” to get the public to “contact their Congresscritters.”
He should start in the states of every one of those recalcitrant Blue Dog Democrats. Invite Mr. or Ms. Recalcitrant to either appear on the stage with him, or be notably absent.
Sitting around the office — or even jetting off on that stupid European gig — is NOT the way to deal with the most important issue on his [and the country’s] plate.