The State

The last week has been very painful for me, my family and for the people of South Carolina. However, throughout this terrible ordeal, the incredible outpouring of kindness, support, and prayer I’ve received from countless friends and folks I have never even met has been truly uplifting. I appreciate that more than I can say. Please know that my sons and I are doing fine, given the circumstances. We are surrounded by friends and family, and we will make it through this. I believe it is how we respond to the challenges we face in life, and what we learn from them, that is most telling about who we truly are.

There is no question that Mark’s behavior is inexcusable. Actions have consequences and he will be dealing with those consequences for a long while. Trust has been broken and will need to be rebuilt. Mark will need to earn back that trust, first and foremost with his family, and also with the people of South Carolina.

The real issue now is one of forgiveness. I am willing to forgive Mark for his actions. We have been deeply disappointed in and even angry at Mark. The Bible says, “In your anger do not sin.” (Psalm 4:4) In this situation, this speaks to the essence of forgiveness and the critical need to channel one’s energy into positive steps that uphold the dignity of marriage and the family, and lead to reconciliation over time. My forgiveness is essential for us both to move on with our lives, with peace, in whatever direction that may take us.

Desmond Tutu said “forgiveness is the grace by which you enable the other person to get up, and get up with dignity, to begin anew.” Forgiveness opens the door for Mark to begin to work privately, humbly and respectfully toward reconciliation with me. However, to achieve true reconciliation will take time, involve repentance, and will not be easy.

Mark showed a lack of judgment in his recent actions as governor. However, his far more egregious offenses were committed against God, the institutions of marriage and family, our boys and me. Mark has stated that his intent and determination is to save our marriage, and to make amends to the people of South Carolina. I hope he can make good on those intentions, and for the sake of our boys I leave the door open to it. In that spirit of forgiveness, it is up to the people and elected officials of South Carolina to decide whether they will give Mark another chance as well.

My friend and colleague, Senator Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) on Governor Mark Sanford. Tom is a true reformer and personal friend of Sanford for 30+ years. It will be interesting to follow Senator Davis’s thoughts during this crisis.

Statement from Tom Davis July 1, 2009

Posted on July 1, 2009

FOR RELEASE ON JULY 1, 2009

Statement by Tom Davis re: Governor Mark Sanford

I came to Columbia today because I have a responsibility to the taxpayers of Beaufort County and the people of South Carolina. Obviously I have tremendous concern for my friends, Mark and Jenny Sanford and their family, but I also have a job to do as an elected official.

Before any important decision I make comes due diligence, and I owe it to my constituents to perform that due diligence before taking a public position on an issue as important as whether to call for the resignation of a duly-elected statewide official.

Accordingly, I have met today with the governor and members of his staff; I have had telephone conversations with my friend, Jenny Sanford; I have talked with the governor’s legislative supporters and opponents; and I have talked with key reform leaders who have been fighting for the issues I believe in – fiscal responsibility, limited government, market principles and individual liberty.

I am also planning on speaking today with Attorney General Henry McMaster and SLED Chief Reggie Lloyd, and am I particularly interested in learning the outcome of SLED’s review as to whether the governor has ever illegally used any state funds. I am told that review will be completed by tomorrow.

Again, this is a critical decision for the State of South Carolina and I want to rely on firsthand conversations, not media reports, rumors, political pressure or speculation.

Based on these conversations, I expect to form my official position very shortly. But I can assure you that whatever official position I ultimately reach will be one that I truly believe to be in the best interests of the people of Beaufort County in particular and the state of South Carolina in general.

In the meantime, I would encourage all South Carolinians to keep the Sanfords in their thoughts and prayers.

“stand with Jenny” by the Palmetto Family Council: The people of South Carolina, particularly the wives and mothersof the Palmetto State, feel the hurt of this scandal most deeply, and refuse to let this moment pass without taking time to thank and encourage the one person who has been a rock in this crisis:First Lady Jennifer Sullivan Sanford. Friends of Palmetto Family Council are saying loud and clear that Jenny Sanford deserves our thanks and our support. And here’s why…

“Sanford must go!” So far this is an anonymous website: He lied to his wife. He lied to his staff. And he lied to you, the citizens of the State he took a solemn oath to represent. Now, Governor Mark Sanford appears to be defiantly digging in. He is desperately clinging to power. He says he’s determined to stay in office at all costs. And we know he won’t stop at anything if he lusts for something - even if the risk is a constitutional crisis.

At this time, we must separate political support from friendship. Mark has been the front man, or our quarterback for reform for several years. This movement is not about personal loyalties; it is about the conservative issues we believe in. That’s what separate reformers from good-ole-boys. As our quarterback, Mark intentionally threw a pick to the other team. This movement of reform needs a new quarterback and its time for the Governor to step aside.

Finally, I hope this sparks a serious look at elected leadership across the board. We claim ethical values and can’t be hypocritical. I for one, take one’s personal decisions into account when I consider whom I will support in politics. How far do we need to delve into one’s personal affairs while making these decisions? I don’t know exactly. I’m not one to pry feverishly into an elected official’s closet, yet I do look at the facts that are public knowledge. In a free society every voter has the privilege to consider whatever he/she thinks is important.

Interesting read from San Gabriel Valley by Cal Thomas

The first thing that should be acknowledged about South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s admission to an extramarital affair is that it could happen to any of us. That is not an excuse (and no, it has not happened to me, or to my wife). Every married person has heard the voice; the one that says you deserve something “better.”

Gov. Sanford should have been familiar with the voice because of the Bible studies he attended. The voice began seducing humanity a long time ago. It told our first parents that they needed more than the perfection of Eden. The voice told them that God knew that if they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would be like God. But they already were like God, because they were made in His image.

Stick with me you secularists and non-literalists, because there is a point to be made for you, too.

Psychiatrists explain that married people tire of one another after 10 or 20 years (it used to be seven years, as in that Marilyn Monroe/Tom Ewell film “The Seven Year Itch.” Must be inflation.). Good marriages are the result of hard work. Forsaking all others is more than a wedding promise. It is a daily denial of one’s lower instincts. Temptation is everywhere. The key to overcoming it is to realize you are fighting an adversarial force that wants to destroy you, embarrass you and cause ridicule to be heaped on the God you claim to worship.

One can make excuses about power and loneliness and starting out as a friendship that develops into something else, as Gov. Sanford rambled on about, but one can’t explain adultery. It is what it is and the person who commits it should be calling on God for mercy, not the voters for understanding.

I once asked evangelist Billy Graham if he experienced temptations of the flesh when he was young. He said, “of course.” How did he deal with them? With passion he responded, “I asked God to strike me dead before He ever allowed me to dishonor Him in that way.” That is the kind of seriousness one needs to overcome the temptations of a corrupt culture in which shameful behavior is too often paraded in the streets.

There was a time when a divorce would disqualify someone from public office. Now people admit affairs and expect to stay in office. “It’s just sex,” said defenders of Bill Clinton. One might as well say, “it was just a gun” that killed my spouse. Adultery wounds in ways a bullet cannot. One can potentially heal from a bullet wound, but a shot to the soul and to the trust that must be central to any marriage is nearly impossible to repair. The wounded spouse always wonders, “Will he/she do it again?”

A relationship most promise to venerate “until death us do part” is damaged by adultery, whether it’s a TV evangelist, a politician or a regular Joe who violates the marriage bed. In fact, we rarely even use the word “adultery” anymore because it sounds so, uh, biblical, and those teachings and commands long ago fell out of fashion, though they work for those who embrace them.

Any man who claims never to have had thoughts of straying is a liar. Any man who has sought the help of God and other men in helping him to honor his marriage promises to his wife and children is a hero, especially in today’s morally exhausted culture.

I miss Paul Harvey and his acknowledgement of those who had been married 50, 60, even 70 years. Those people are my role models. I’m sure they heard the voice, too, but they told it to get lost and it did. Pushing against weights builds up the body, pushing against the voice builds up the soul and improves a marriage. You can never take a marriage - or the voice - for granted; it’s always on the prowl looking for new people to destroy.

tmseditors@tribune.com.

Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist with Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, N.Y. 14207.

Book Signing
US Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)

“Saving Freedom”

We can stop America’s slide into socialism

Sam’s Club
Liberty Highway, Anderson
Thursday 07.02.09 at noon

Can’t say that I agree with this observer, but this is an interesting read:

Maybe he doesn’t really want the job

By Tommy Tomlinson www.charlotteobserver.com

The quick spin after Mark Sanford confessed his sins on Wednesday was that he wrecked his chance to be president.

Here’s another thought: Maybe he decided he doesn’t even want to be governor.

He lied to his staff, left South Carolina without a chief executive, betrayed his wife, abandoned his kids on Father’s Day and took off to Buenos Aires to be with his mistress. James Bond couldn’t pull that off without getting caught.

It’s the kind of thing you do when you don’t care if you keep your job or not.

He didn’t resign (although he did step down as chairman of the Republican Governors Association). He may well hang on for the year and a half left in his term. But whatever grand ambitions he had for his political life are gone.

And maybe he’s OK with that.

When you’re a politician on the national stage, you take a lifetime seat in the dunk tank. You sign up for a daily dose of criticism from political opponents, activists, bloggers, radio and TV yappers, newspaper writers, and the guy at the next table in the restaurant. You probably get death threats, and because of that you get the joy of a security detail that waits outside the door when you go to the bathroom. You can go on vacation, but you can never get away, not completely, not even for a day.

In return you’re famous, you’ll probably get rich, they might name a bridge after you, and maybe – if you navigate the system, learn to compromise, and occasionally wield your power like a poleax – you can do a little bit of good.

Some trade.

Not a word of that excuses Sanford, or any other politician who sleeps around. At some level they reduce to the same image – that great New York Magazine cover that featured a full-length photo of Eliot Spitzer and an arrow pointing to his crotch with the caption: BRAIN.

The State newspaper in Columbia got ahold of e-mails from Sanford to the woman in Argentina that date back to last July. He moons over her gentle kisses, the curve of her hips, the “two magnificent parts of yourself” that she holds in the faded glow of the light. (Probably not her elbows.)

You have to wonder if he ever wrote a note like that to his wife.

That’s only the bottom half of the e-mail, though. In the top half Sanford talks about a weekend in Aspen with John McCain. That visit – remember, this was last summer, during the presidential race – “kicked up the whole VP talk all over again in the press back home,” he writes.

Think about that. In a secret note, written to a woman he lusts after – and maybe even loves – he starts off by talking about his job.

Could be that the only thing that truly turns him on is his own power. That’s the stereotype we like to drape over the politician who cheats. But what if it’s more than simple ego? What if Mark Sanford finally got the job he wanted, only to find out the job’s got him?

If that’s the case, Argentina won’t fix it. He could go to the moon and it wouldn’t matter. The only way to deal with it is to give up the job, turn off the lights and go home. And before long, I suspect that’s what the governor of South Carolina will do.

Gov. Sanford Issues Statement on Commerce Trip

Columbia, S.C. - June 25, 2009 - Governor Mark Sanford today issued the following statement:

“As noted by the Department of Commerce, I attended a trade mission with the Department of Commerce last June. As the agenda notes, the mission was spent meeting with government and private business officials in both Brazil and Argentina. This trip was handled very professionally by the Department of Commerce, and I’m proud of their work there.

“However, while the purpose of this trip was an entirely professional and appropriate business development trip, I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with. That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip,” Gov. Sanford said.

-###-

update: news articles I’ve been quoted in: Anderson Independent Mail, Greenville News

As one of Governor Sanford’s vocal supporters in the General Assembly, the phone’s been ringing off the hook. I’ve been approached by many asking my thoughts on Mark Sanford’s recent actions. My initial reaction is that I’ve felt like I’ve been kicked in the gut. Speechless. Shocked. Angry. Disappointed. This is what happens when a good, decent person of principle gets caught up in sin. It makes him do foolish things that hurt himself, his wife, his family, and in this case the citizens of South Carolina. As we’ve witnessed, a crystal clear reputation can evaporate very quickly.

Elected officials should role models that people can look up to.

I’ve been asked if he should resign as Governor. We need to consider what’s best to heal his marriage and his family. Also, we need to consider what’s best for South Carolina and this movement of reform that I and other conservatives in the legislature are committed to. I can’t answer this question at this time.

Governor Sanford asked for forgiveness from all South Carolinians today:

“First and foremost, I apologize to my wife and my four boys. I have made decisions that have hurt and will continue to hurt them, and for that I’m sincerely sorry. Jenny has stood by me through campaign after campaign, through hard time after hard time, and neither she nor the boys deserve this. Please offer them your prayers.

“I apologize to my staff. I misled them about my whereabouts, and as a result the people of South Carolina believed something that wasn’t true. I want to make absolutely clear that over the past two days at no time did anyone on my staff intentionally relay false information to other state officials or the public at large. What they’ve said over the past two days they believed to be true, and I’m sorry to them for putting them in this position.

“I apologize to the people of South Carolina. There are many people out there right now who are hurt, angry and disappointed with me, and rightfully so. Over the time that I have left in office, I’m going to devote my energy to building back the trust the people of this state have placed in me.

“I ask for your forgiveness, and your prayers for everyone who I’ve hurt,” Sanford said.

Is forgiveness possible? Reconciliation?  Restoration of public trust? Only time will tell. The State Newspaper has extensive coverage of Gov. Sanford’s public confession and timeline of the affair.

I appreciate the First Lady of South Carolina’s impressive statement. In closing, she asks for protection of privacy for her and their children. I hope we can honor her request in the court of public opinion. Here’s her statement:

Statement from First Lady Jenny Sanford

I would like to start by saying I love my husband and I believe I have put forth every effort possible to be the best wife I can be during our almost twenty years of marriage. As well, for the last fifteen years my husband has been fully engaged in public service to the citizens and taxpayers of this state and I have faithfully supported him in those efforts to the best of my ability. I have been and remain proud of his accomplishments and his service to this state.

I personally believe that the greatest legacy I will leave behind in this world is not the job I held on Wall Street, or the campaigns I managed for Mark, or the work I have done as First Lady or even the philanthropic activities in which I have been routinely engaged. Instead, the greatest legacy I will leave in this world is the character of the children I, or we, leave behind. It is for that reason that I deeply regret the recent actions of my husband Mark, and their potential damage to our children.

I believe wholeheartedly in the sanctity, dignity and importance of the institution of marriage. I believe that has been consistently reflected in my actions. When I found out about my husband’s infidelity I worked immediately to first seek reconciliation through forgiveness, and then to work diligently to repair our marriage. We reached a point where I felt it was important to look my sons in the eyes and maintain my dignity, self-respect, and my basic sense of right and wrong. I therefore asked my husband to leave two weeks ago.

This trial separation was agreed to with the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage. During this short separation it was agreed that Mark would not contact us. I kept this separation quiet out of respect of his public office and reputation, and in hopes of keeping our children from just this type of public exposure. Because of this separation, I did not know where he was in the past week.

I believe enduring love is primarily a commitment and an act of will, and for a marriage to be successful, that commitment must be reciprocal. I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage.

Psalm 127 states that sons are a gift from the Lord and children a reward from Him. I will continue to pour my energy into raising our sons to be honorable young men. I remain willing to forgive Mark completely for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time, if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance.

This is a very painful time for us and I would humbly request now that members of the media respect the privacy of my boys and me as we struggle together to continue on with our lives and as I seek the wisdom of Solomon, the strength and patience of Job and the grace of God in helping to heal my family.