Appalachian Trail extended all the way to Argentina

[Iason Ouabache]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=awccXrXDzQAg

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford re-emerged in public today after a seven-day disappearance to say he had been in Argentina.

"I wanted to do something exotic," he told The State newspaper in Columbia, the capital.

Sanford left his office June 18 because he "needed to clear his head" after political fights over refusing to accept federal stimulus funds, a battle that went to the state Supreme Court, his spokesman, Joel Sawyer told the South Carolina newspaper. The governor was reported by his staff to be hiking the Appalachian Trail.

The 49-year-old Republican governor arrived at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta this morning, The State reported, ending what the newspaper said was a seven-day visit to Buenos Aires. In an interview at the airport, Sanford told the newspaper he made a last-minute decision to go to Buenos Aires to "recharge."

"It's a great city," The State quoted the governor as saying, adding that he was alone. The governor declined to give details other than saying he drove along the coastline.

Sanford plans a news conference at 2 p.m. today in his office in Columbia, according to a statement on the governor's Web site.

'Office Wasn't Concerned'

"We knew he would be checking in during the week," Sawyer said yesterday, adding that it isn't unusual for Sanford to go off on a trip without being reachable. "The office wasn't concerned, it was just political opponents trying to make hay."

"We tried to reach him yesterday when the news started breaking," Sawyer said.

The U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires confirmed that Sanford visited Argentina in June of last year when he met with former Vice President Daniel Scioli to discuss trade and investment issues. Spokeswoman Mara Tekach said in an interview that the embassy wasn't contacted regarding Sanford's trip this week.

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd had raised alarms over the weekend about Sanford's absence.

Sanford didn't transfer power to Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer, a fellow Republican, whose office expressed concern over that decision.

Sanford "had a lot on his plate," said state Senator John Knotts, a Republican. "He's lost every battle he's ever fought with the General Assembly and now with the courts. If he needed to clear his head, that's fine."

Sanford should have transferred power to Bauer, Knotts said.

And he just admitted in a press conference that he went to Argentina to see his mistress.  What is it with Republicans getting caught in extramarital affairs lately?

[Iason Ouabache]

A quick time line of all the events:  http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/the_missing_governor_a_timeline.php?ref=fpa

It doesn't include the press conference that happened about an hour ago.

[Cramulus]

colbert's coverage of this was great. In Sanford's absence, Colbert crowned himself Governor of South Carolina.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/24/stephen-colbert-declares_n_219983.html

[Jenne]

  It's on his Twitter, too.

[Requia ☣]

[Jenne]

 

[Kai]

At first I was just reading this, ho-hum like.

Then I recalled where I'm living right now. 

[Iason Ouabache]

http://www.bnonews.com/news/389.html

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, in e-mails obtained by The State newspaper on Wednesday, called his affair with a woman from Buenos Aires, Argentina a "hopelessly impossible situation of love."

Hours earlier, Sanford publicly acknowledged he had a long affair with another woman. Later, the state's First Lady, Jenny Sanford, said she would be willing to forgive her husband "for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time."

"Two, mutual feelings ... You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that['s] so fitting with your beauty," Governor Sanford said in one of the e-mails. Although BNO News was not immediately able to get a comment from his office, the newspaper reported that his office did not dispute the authenticity of the e-mails.

The newspaper further said it received the e-mails in December 2008, but it was unclear why it was not released until today. A former spokesman for the governor, while talking to Fox News before the e-mails were released, said a local television station knew about the affair but decided to not report it.

"I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light - but hey, that would be going into sexual details," Sanford continued.

Sanford went on to say that "we are in a hopelessly - or as you put it impossible - or how about combine and simply say hopelessly impossible situation of love." The newspaper named the woman as Maria and, when a reporter attempted to interview her, she refused to talk.

The e-mails suggested the two were involved in a strong and deep relationship, which had been ongoing for at least several months. "How in the world this lightening strike snuck up on us I am still not quite sure," he wrote.

Sanford continued further and suggested it was the first time he had an affair. "I feel a little vulnerable because this is ground I have never, certainly never, covered before - so if you have pearls of wisdom of how we figure all this out, please let me know," the governor said.

This is better than any soap opera.

[Kai]

I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light - but hey, that would be going into sexual details,"

[Iason Ouabache]

Published yesterday:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-23/sanford-crazy-like-a-fox/

The South Carolina governor isn't an irresponsible lunatic for wandering off the reservation—he just made himself a better bet for president in 2012...

Well, apparently, Sanford has been out hiking the Appalachian Trail: A great place, according to the author and novice hiker Bill Bryson, for a walk in the woods. This is the sign of a healthy, sane individual. So, of course, when someone in politics does something normal, political partisans and the media elite think he's crazy.

Mark Sanford literally likes to go his own way. Why do politicians have to be on a leash? Really, is South Carolina such a highly prized strategic asset that everyone has to freak out if the governor takes a hike for a few days? What's the worst that could happen? The South Carolina libraries flood?

Of course there are "mysteries" to be solved, report the hyperventilating press. His cellphone was last picked up in Atlanta. I think the mystery will be solved when Sanford admits that he committed the crime of turning off his cellphone because he didn't want to be bothered.

And it appears he has a very healthy marriage, because his wife said, "He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids." Sounds like Dad got his Father's Day wish. And he told his staff that he'd be difficult to reach for a few days and that he regularly goes off the tether without his security detail.

For this act alone, we're going to move Sanford up at least a notch on our Top 10 GOP contenders for 2012.

Oops!

[Pariah]

My guess is that his next reveal is that he's a closet homosexual.

[Kai]

My guess is that his next reveal is that he's a closet homosexual.

or that he's been doing coke in his spare time

[Nast]

My guess is that his next reveal is that he's a closet homosexual.

or that he's been doing coke in his spare time

or that there's a dead midget prostitute involved

[Kai]

There does seem to be a theme to these things.

[LMNO]

My guess is that his next reveal is that he's a closet homosexual.

or that he's been doing coke in his spare time

or that there's a dead midget prostitute involved

I swear, it was on fire when I got there.