Serves him right, the hypocrite. Unless, you know, he’s saying that once you’re married you can fuck anybody, which is a pretty good loophole. Here he champions abstinence in an interview with the same woman he was banging on the side:

What people react most nastily to are the politicians who find it so easy and politically rewarding to publicly gild the difficult things they’re incapable of.

Remaining abstinent throughout your teens and early twenties, remaining that way while finding a mate to spend your life with — it’s an almost impossible task.

For some droopy old lifeless politicians to demand the youth of America do so, it’s an extremely dubious ploy. Almost nobody believes it’s realistic for the young; it’s much more likely merely to be in the best interests of the wrinkled politicians’ careers. Souder probably had half the testosterone he did as a nineteen year-old, but he couldn’t keep it in his pants even though he knew it could end up destroying his marriage and career. Horny kids with nothing to lose — why again are they supposed to abstain?

Ditto for all the Republicans who cheer-led the War in Iraq. Bush, Cheney, Rove, Libby, Gingrich, Limbaugh, O’Reilly, DeLay, Boehner, Frist, Armey, Santorum, Gramm, Lott — all of them beatified the war with their patriotic fervor and hot, heavy tears. All of them demanded that the brutal operation was critically necessary to prevent this pressing threat from killing Americans in the future.

So, many men who listened were foolish enough to believe them and went off to die. Fairly none of those politicians had been patriotic or passionate enough to go overseas to take up arms in a previous America’s War, to keep Communism from killing Americans in the future, when the nation’s leaders called them to serve: in Vietnam.

George Bush slipped into the Champagne Texas Air National Guard unit. Dick Cheney got 5 deferments in a row before — curse the luck — getting his wife pregnant. Rush Limbaugh got a painful cyst on his ass — these tales of checkerboard patriotism are never-ending among the Chickenhawks.

Paul Wolfowitz did not serve, Richard Perle did not serve, Douglas Feith did not serve, Eliot Abrams did not serve, Ari Fleischer did not serve, Andrew Card did not serve, Ken Adelman did not serve, Wayne LaPierre did not serve, Don Evans did not serve, Michael Ledeen did not serve, Frank Gaffney did not serve, John Bolton did not serve, and, of course, Rudy Giuliani did not serve.

Mark Souder, too, though turning 18 in 1968, did not serve in Vietnam.

Courtesy “The Pajamahadin” . .

What, you don’t remember this post from back in early May? “You heard it here: John Edwards will be forced to take DNA test, accept paternity.” I voted for this guy in the primary. What a disaster he would have wrought upon the Democrats.

Sources: Edwards to admit paternity of ex-mistress’ child

Raleigh, N.C. — Sources have told WRAL News that they expect former U.S. Sen. John Edwards to admit that he is the father of his former mistress’ 18-month-old daughter.

Edwards’ attorney, Wade Smith, couldn’t be reached Thursday for comment.

Blame Andy Cobb. H/t C&L.

FIRST: Once the scandal is beginning to break, slough off the controversy. ‘You guys have lost your marbles. You’re just fishing. You’re a whackjob, cuckoo.’

–”…By the way, this has nothing to do with Governor Sanford…just disappearing! HIS WIFE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW…FOR DAYS! She didn’t, ok, she didnt call for helicopters, or 911. Apparently, apparently their marriage is so dead that she didn’t even call for police. I suspect she killed him, yeah.”
–”Or he killed her…”
–”Yeah–I’d like to bring them both in for questioning, now that we know where he is!”
–”What’s next Governor Sanford–fishing at Christmas? We know how that works.”
–”We know how it works! You and your wife–double murderers!”

SECOND: When the guy turns out to be as bad as suspected, get angry: “Stay away! Fuck you! You’ve got no right, you hypocritical jerks.”

“You don’t get to judge.

The Library of Congress could hardly contain chapter and verse of the multitudes of ways the press and the other Democrats have gotten away with judging Republicans by wholly different standards than that applied to Democrats. But that double standard is both obvious and as wide as the Grand Canyon. You show no honor, no equity, no fairness, and no scruples yourselves. You, to put it mildly, do not police your own.

We do. We’ll deal with Sanford. We have standards (you don’t), and we have a long history of punishing and purging our leaders who prove unworthy of trust. For your part, serial adulterer Bill Clinton remains a rock star as far as you are concerned, and that about sums up the standards to which Democrats hold themselves..

So, spare us your mock outrage, your tut-tutting, your finger-wagging, your eyebrows furrowed in anger. If you are well and truly outraged by Mark Sanford’s adultery, but could not trouble yourself to muster even a little mild disapproval against the cretin who wiped his feet with the honor of the office of President of the United States, then you are a hypocrite yourself of the lowest stripe. You are unworthy to judge.

So just shut up.”

THIRD: Turn it around: “You know what? Now that I’ve thought about it, it’s really all your fault…”

The ‘morality and responsibility’ people in American politics, there you go.

Weren’t we already done with this guy? Wasn’t everybody saying how lucky he was that MJ kicked off when he did, eclipsing Sanford’s ugly public whipping? [see here and here]

You’d think he’d have been practically weeping while thanking his super-lucky stars for a reprieve from the unblinking spotlight. Instead, he’s apparently been jealous of the shifting attention. A fresh round of head-scratching and outrage began today as a number of his new statements hit the media, painting him as someone who is deeply flawed and needlessly forthcoming about his private life, to the point of surely hurting and embarrassing his family even more than they are already.

Why in the world would somebody do this? Simple: it’s because he’s an unhappy Republican. He’s finally coming clean about how hard it is to live within the impossible confines of perfect patriotism, patriarchy and Love for Jesus, and now he just can’t dam the catharsis. These lonely cries for attention make for some very sad, brutal stuff.

AP Newsbreak: SC gov ‘crossed lines’ with women

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he “crossed lines” with a handful of women other than his mistress — but never had sex with them.

The governor says he “never crossed the ultimate line” with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed Sanford’s once-promising political career…

He says that during the other encounters he “let his guard down” with some physical contact but “didn’t cross the sex line.” He wouldn’t go into detail.

Sanford said the casual encounters happened outside the U.S. while he was married but before he met Chapur.

Wow. You can bet that his wife doesn’t want to hear all the pointed details, so why the hell is he going on about it publicly? It’s pretty obvious, actually–petty selfishness. And he’s doing all this after the breaking Jackson story? Terrific.

Sanford Calls Mistress His ‘Soul Mate’

COLUMBIA, S.C. (CBS) ―South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford called his Argentine mistress his “soul mate” Tuesday, but said that he would try to fall back in love with his wife…

In a lengthy and emotional interview with The Associated Press in his Statehouse office Tuesday, the governor described five meetings with Maria Belen Chapur over the past year, including two romantic, multi-night stays with her in New York before they met there again intending to break up.

What the hell? That’s fucked. But there’s even more:

The once-promising presidential prospect said he is committed to reconciling with his wife, but professed to The Associated Press his continued love for the Argentine woman at the center of the firestorm that gutted his political future.

In emotional interviews with the AP over two days, he said he would die “knowing that I had met my soul mate.”…

Sanford insisted his relationship with Maria Belen Chapur, whom he met at an open air dance spot in Uruguay eight years ago, was more than just sex.

“This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story,” Sanford said. “A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day.”

What a self-centered little douchebag. Oh, you’re really getting the public to sympathize with you, Sanford, you poor unfortunate romantic. I’m sure no one will care about the damage you’ve done to your family, or how hurtful all today’s comments will be to your wife and kids, we’re really just worried about your broken heart and shattered ambitions.

I can’t imagine how the kids are going to have to deal with all these additional revelations, including the fact that Mom was a mistake: the unexciting ‘not soul-mate’, that should sit pretty well with them.

This is why it’s a bad idea to be a Republican. At some point, the idiotic confines of public perfection and the high-wire morality march become too much to bear any more, and everything’s gonna break, and then you’re gonna act like an even bigger douchebag than you already are.

And will the right-wing finally wake up to the impossible demands they make of their politicians for the convenience of using ‘values’ to bludgeon the left? Or how these demands destroy more potential leaders than they create? Hell no.

Instead, they’ll just try to beat us with it like they do everything else. This is an actual ‘Red State’ post written in the aftermath of the Sanford fiasco, I’m not making this up:

To majority media and other Democrats : we police our own, and you don’t get to judge

By all means report the facts. I’m sure you’ll be happy to cover every salacious detail. Have at it. Be sure to cover the pain and suffering of Governor Sanford’s family. While you are at it, cover the depth to which all South Carolina and nation-wide Republicans and conservatives rightly feel betrayed.

Beyond that, just shut up. Shut your lying, hypocritical, power-above-patriotism, hyper-partisan, two-faced, shamelessly double-standard bearing pie hole.

You don’t get to judge.

The Library of Congress could hardly contain chapter and verse of the multitudes of ways the press and the other Democrats have gotten away with judging Republicans by wholly different standards than that applied to Democrats. But that double standard is both obvious and as wide as the Grand Canyon. You show no honor, no equity, no fairness, and no scruples yourselves. You, to put it mildly, do not police your own.

So, spare us your mock outrage, your tut-tutting, your finger-wagging, your eyebrows furrowed in anger. If you are well and truly outraged by Mark Sanford’s adultery, but could not trouble yourself to muster even a little mild disapproval against the cretin who wiped his feet with the honor of the office of President of the United States, then you are a hypocrite yourself of the lowest stripe. You are unworthy to judge.

So just shut up.

From: Mark Sanford

To: Maria

Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 03:09:44 +0000

Dearest,

You are glorious and I hope you really understand that. You do not need a therapist to help you figure your place in the world. You are special and unique and fabulous in a whole host of ways that are worth a much longer conversation. To be continued …

Have been having a few email problems as I am getting email through an aircard at the farm, where access to computer world is more than tough. Please let me know if you have gotten my last two eamils (sic) so I know it is working in getting to your part of the world …

Another glorious day outside. Hope you are doing well, and am anxious to hear about your week. Know that I miss you. Unbeleivably (sic) hard to imagine it has been a week. Please also send your mailing address as I want to send you an insignificant something next week when I am back in civilization that I think you might find interesting given our conversation.

Want to write an indepth note with some thoughts on our visit when I know you are getting these emails. Hugs and much love. M

———————————————-

From: Maria

Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 4:26 PM

To: Mark Sanford

Subject: RE:

My beloved, (hope you also change the dearest …)

I’am (sic) reading your last two mails sitting outside with a great seaview here in Ilhabela, a beautiful island near Sao Paulo. Have been thinking of you while watching the beautiful blue sea (a) great part of my day and remembering with a great smile on my face, the time we had spent together. As I told you before, you brought happiness and love to my life and (I) will take you forever in my heart. I wasn’t aware till we met last week, the strong feelings I had for you, and believe me, I haven’t felt this since I was in my teen ages, when afterwards I got married. I do love you, I can feel it in my heart, and although I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to meet again this has been the best that has happened to me in a long time You made me realized (sic) how you feel when you realy (sic) love somebody and how much you want to be beside the beloved. Last Friday I would had stayed embrassing (sic) and kissing you forever.

Don’t know why you think you bore me with the description of your farm. I am an urban girl but that doesn’t inhibit me from loving other things, specially if they are the ones you love. I was able to imagine the place with every single detail you wrote and had trassmitted (sic) me the love you have for your farm. It sounds to be a great and peaceful place and loved you had shared it with me.

Thanks for your beautiful words, I don’t know if I do need or not therapy but I have to find my new place in this new stage of my life. Life has been very generous with me and I want to return at least a little bit of what I have been given. I have time and think helping others who haven’t been as lucky as me will do me fine.

My address is (deleted by The State). It will be great finding at home once I am back, whatever you send me, I’ll keep it near my bed so as to feel you nearer.

Miss you so much… love you from the deepest of my heart. Sweet kisses.

———————————————-

[more]

All that lily white greasepaint gone to waste. And his balsa-wood-and-gold-foil-halo now down on the floor, dirty and trampled to bits, very sad.

Too bad, because he was about to take the act on the road, was seriously thinking about running for President. Lord knows he did entertain quite a few people with his rock-solid repertoire…

THE ACT:

1.) Family Values. Like many of the other GOP clowns, he wore this part of his schtick on his sleeve…
Loving father, caught in a candid moment with his son, awww.

A featured speaker [center] for the Family Research Council, oooh.

2.) Bedrock Truth and Trust. A Father and Patriotic American who knows that when politicians like Bill Clinton stray from their personal responsibilities and lofty duties, forgiveness and mercy are not appropriate…

–“The bottom line, though, is I am sure there will be a lot of legalistic explanations pointing out that the president lied under oath. His situation was not under oath. The bottom line, though, is he still lied. He lied under a different oath, and that is the oath to his wife. So it’s got to be taken very, very seriously.” [Sanford on Livingston, CNN, 12/18/98]

–“The issue of lying is probably the biggest harm, if you will, to the system of Democratic government, representatives government, because it undermines trust. And if you undermine trust in our system, you undermine everything.” [Sanford on Clinton, CNN, 2/16/99]

3.) No more fat, lazy government spoon-feeding.

–“Today was not only meaningful for the fact that it was Tax Day, but indeed even more important for the fact that many of the quiet majority of Americans who stand with liberty over government made their voices heard loud and clear…

I joined over a thousand this afternoon at the Statehouse in Columbia, and will join many more tonight in Charleston, to say “not a penny more!” Not a penny more of our tax dollars to big banks, big auto companies or big government until they reform their ways.”

Sanford harbors so much disdain for ‘misuse’ of taxpayer money that he tried to legally reject the federal stimulus funds, though they’d help thousands of poor and young folks in South Carolina:

(thankfully, he lost)

Well, today, one of the great American Conservative heroes got met with a healthy dousing of astringent, so we finally met the man behind The Act for the first time.

He is not remotely a ‘Family Values’ man: he’s been carrying on an extra-marital affair for months. Though he let his wife know (thanks, pal), he still continued to pursue it, even skipping Father’s Day recently. Leaving his kids missing him last Sunday, he just preferred to be with his mistress, la-de-da. And left his wife to deal with the hysterical ‘Where the hell is your husband?’ questions.

He’s certainly not a truthful or trustworthy man: he told his staff and friends (and maybe his wife) that he would be hitch-hiking the Applachian Trail. He clearly led them on as if he’d be out, but available, for the next few days, but then proceeded to remain completely incommunicado, turning even his (trackable) cell phone off while in Argentina to create a perfect Gubernatorial Blackout. When the story broke that South Carolina apparently had no sitting Governor, his staff and friends were left to assert his ridiculous cover story that he was just a lone hitch-hiker, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The furious abandoned constituents demanded that the Lt. Governor assume his duties–and why wouldn’t they?

He doesn’t give a damn about the misuse of taxpayer dollars: though he got paid as if were the acting Governor of South Carolina last week, he wasn’t doing anything other than secretly fucking his mistress in Argentina. He also used a government car to make his getaway, using it as a prop/cover by loading it with meaningless camping gear. Lord knows what other charges he racked up on government accounts, routine or otherwise, while he was nowhere near South Carolina or pursuing citizens’ business.

So, goodbye Grand Old Party Minstrel Mark Sanford. You’re just the latest in a long line of Republican Actors who couldn’t resist the real limelight.

[..no longer center...]

Chatham House Study Definitively Shows Massive Ballot Fraud in Iran’s Reported Results

An authoritative study from Chatham House (pdf) , the renowned UK think tank, finds that with regard to the official statistics on the recent presidential election in Iran released by the Interior Ministry, something is rotten in Tehran. The authors compared the provincial returns in the 2005 and 2009 elections against the 2006 census and found:

The election was stolen. It is there in black and white. Those of us who know Iran, could see it plain as the nose on our faces, even if we could not quantify our reasons as elegantly as Chatham House.

Be nice to see more of this.

h/t Andrew Sullivan.

[pardon the autostart]

People are getting shot, but the crowds aren’t dispersing. Lord knows what’s next.