Mark Sanford Reveals Affair, Cover-Up

A curated stream of information and tweets...

Sen. Lindsay Graham, in a statement: ""As for the future, I hope Mark will reconcile with his family and can continue serving as our state's governor."

http://www.scstatehouse.gov/CODE/t16c015.htm  South Carolina's Code of Laws, Title 16--Crimes and Offenses, Chapter 15 "Offenses Against Morality and Decency"

@AriMelber Why Sanford was so bad at being discreet? Typical sense of entitlement&arrogance. He'd have made it w/o that journo at airport.

@ATLNewsBrew: "SC Gov Haiku: Sanford Goes Down South / Divorce Soon Leaves Him Empty/ Wife Gets Hilton Head!

@ragley @laurinmanning: impeachment gets the state nothing. The man is ruined. What more can the liberals do to him

@dmataconis: Sanford was one Republican I could have supported in 2012. Who's left ? Romney, Huckabee, and Palin a/k/a Los Tres Losers

@AndrewSullivan said it best:, "But it's important to remember at these moments that we're all human. I just wish the GOP leadership would apply that lesson to everyone else."

@laurinmanning: Pray for Jenny and the four boys. Pray for Mark. Pray for those whose hearts are heavy with disappointment. Pray for South Carolina. #tcot

@ktumulty Fmr. DNC and SC Dem Chair Don Fowler explains how Mark Sanford has helped reverse the old rule of political scandal: http://bit.ly/4PKef

Spartanburg sounds off over Sanford affair: http://ping.fm/rTFSh 

dbardallis Mark Sanford: Another "who cares?" story. Yay 21st-century big-media-driven public discourse!

Law Dork: New Definition of "Stimulus Funds"?Sanford traveled to Argentina on public's dime. http://tr.im/pD4X

Ensign, now Sanford. http://tinyurl.com/mkov32 . Who's going to implode themselves next-Who's left? Heard Dole is ready to avenge 1996.

@markosm: Every  [REDACTED] time. Not an accident. RT@murshedzaheed On Fox: Mark Sanford "(D)" holds press conference http://bit.ly/yCZaz

@attackerman: "@JamilSmith, you think? Sanford *really* sounded like he loves his mistress. is it so crazy he'd go in person?

@gotchamedia  "full video of crazy Mark Sanford press conference:http://bit.ly/3pOTh"

@nprnews A Gov. Mark Sanford 'Disappearance' Timelinehttp://tinyurl.com/l9ztaf

@thehotline: NY Daily News with best Sanford headline so far: "Sanford And Someone?" http://bit.ly/39ApFq

@dailykos if Mark Sanford had just resigned last wk he wouldn't have needed to humiliate his family. Shows you where his priorities are.

@manoleasa: "June has not been very kind to the GOP, has it? Wonder who's next! Do they have anybody else standing?

@stardragonca "Sanford, please. Stormfronts evolve. Viruses evolve. this is something that you DID!"

@murphymikeSanford bombshell. Very sad to watch; I know Mark and Jenny and like them both a lot. 

@laurinmanning "#sanford apologized to @senatortomdavis about 14 more times than he did his wife and kids. Weird."

@half_Street:  "Hard not to feel compassion for Sanford, but he's only being somewhat "open and transparent" b/c he has nowhere left to hide."

Press conference ends with his staff literally dragging him away.

Confesses affair / Resigns from RGA / Says wife and family knew about affair for "about the last five months." / Says that his mistress was separated at the time / Affair began via e-mail / Has Seen Her Three Times /  "Spent the last five days of my life crying in Argentina." 

He's been as open as I've ever seen a politician be under these circumstances. 

So... this was Associative Fugue, Rather than Dissociative Figure. 

Sanford: "There are moral absolutes. ... There are consequences if you breach that. This press conference is a consequence. The bottom line is this: I've been unfaithful to my wife. I developed a relationship with ... a dear, dear friend from Argentina. It began"very innocently...as many of these things do...over last year, it developed into something much more than that. I hurt her, I hurt you all, I hurt my boys...

@mattiscooper "Ouch. Here comes @marksanford 's wife-free "bottom line."

@mattizcooper "God's law?" Eeek. Backdrop of smiling interns and photographers adds to weirdness...

If you were to look at God's law, in every instance, they were designed to protect people from themselves. Not a  "moral rigid list of dos and don't."  Apologies to "people of faith."

This seems like an elegy to his career.  Even though we don't know what the lede of the story is yet. This is uncomfortable to watch.

Apologies to staff, wife and children... says he created "fiction" in regard to where I was going. Apologies to people of SC for letting them down. Apologizes to his parents, who are staying with his wife. Says he "laid some cards on the table" a few weeks ago. 

Sanford: "It's gonna hurt." Apologizes to wife and children for "letting them down."

@mattizcoop: Okay, this is already rambling and weird with a walk down memory lane from @marksanford.