Disgraced South Carolina governor -- my governor -- Mark Sanford takes to the pages of The State, SC's leading newspaper, to admit he's a hypocrite (in more words):
I read notes from someone who worked in a sandwich shop I ate at 10 years ago, from 7th-grade classmates, from state employees and more. While there have been lifetimes of lessons learned over the past weeks, three things most immediately come to mind:
--More below the fold--
• One, forgiveness and grace really do matter. I used to believe that at an intellectual level; now it is at the level of heart. Over my life I have not given enough of either, and yet given all the ways in which my failings have come to light, I write to apologize for, in the most profound of ways, letting you and so many others down. It’s always the people closest to us whom we hurt the most, and given my standing of public trust, I know I’ve hurt many across our state. I apologize for this, and more than anything would ask for your forgiveness going forward.
• Two, life is indeed about way more than public standing or political views; it’s about recognizing that none of us is the arbiter of truth, that there are moral absolutes and that there is a God to whom we will all report for our actions. My failure has been most glaring on this front, where no public apology can make wrong right. As a consequence, it is on this plane that I’ve grown the most over the past weeks — and where I’m committed to growing the most going forward.
Amazing how someone learns such lessons only when they're the victim of the very same hypocrisy they were happy to dish out in order to move up the political ladder. I can assure you, South Carolina does not forgive Mark Sanford. He doesn't deserve it. And his decision to not resign from office reveals that he's learned nothing from the experiences of the past few months. It's selfish; it puts his family through even more scrutiny; and it leaves a completely powerless governor at the head of our state during a time when what we need is strong decisive leadership to get our economy back on track (South Carolina has the third highest unemployment rate in the nation).
Thanks for your apology Mark, but we'd rather you make way for a real leader that can get things done. Clearly, you've learned fucking nothing from the experiences of the past month. In any other state, Sanford's refusal to resign and his party's refusal to impeach him would lead to a Democratic take over. Only in South Carolina could a political party suffer through such gross negligence and hypocrisy without being called out on it.
Sadly, here (at the state level in SC), all a person needs to continue to hold office is an R next to their name.
Welcome to my world.