Some thoughts on Sanford

Now that the media frenzy has quieted down somewhat, I figured I’d weigh in on the Sanford issue.


First, let me state unequivocally that I’m a strong believer in a person’s right to do whatever they want in their bedroom without interference from state or local government – provided, of course, that their actions don’t amount to rape or child molestation. Beyond that, a person should have the right to privacy with regard to with whom and in what manner they choose to pleasure themselves. If, in doing so, a person is unfaithful to their spouse (or their God,) well then, that’s and issue they’ll have to resolve for themselves.


As for our illustrious Governor, there is more than a small group of citizens down this way who feel he’s being unjustly crucified for his actions and that he should be left to deal with the consequences of his actions in private and not have them played out in the farcical arena that is our so-called “news media.” And, I have to admit, I agree with them to the extent that he and his family ought to be afforded some measure of privacy in working out the ramifications to their personal lives.


But here is where I draw the line – Mark Sanford is not a private citizen anymore. He is the duly elected Governor of the State of South Carolina. And as such, has sworn to lead this state in a very public manner. But his actions last week were more akin to a wanted criminal on the run rather than those of a public official. Is a Governor to be afforded the opportunity to take a few days off once in a while? To even shirk his security detail and “disappear?” Of course, why not? We all need to do that once in a while. And while I whole heartedly disagree with almost all of his political positions, I can understand and appreciate that the past couple of months have been very difficult ones for the Governor – what with all the budget cuts that had to be made the fight over federal stimulus money. I can imagine that his job has had a tremendous amount of added stress of late. All of which might make someone want to take a few days off. But to do so unexpectedly and without explanation is inexcusable for someone in his position. There is no reason why he could not have passed the reins over to our Lieutenant Governor and made arrangements for business as usual to continue in his absence. Instead, he chose to ditch his security, leave his office staff without a plausible explanation for his absence, and hop a plane to Argentina to….well….you know.


The fact that he chose to be unfaithful to his wife is unfortunate and undoubtedly very painful and difficult for his family – but it doesn’t make him a bad Governor. Skipping town without explanation and leaving the entire South Carolina state house in a tizzy does. Oh, that, and the fact that he drinks the GOP Kool-Aid.


Oh, and for those who keep touting Sanford as a righteous man because he “came clean” about the whole story – I don’t believe for a minute that he would have been quite so forthcoming had he not been cornered in the airport coming off the flight from Argentina by a local reporter with a fist full of love notes (emails) sent between the two lovers. This was a forced confession if there ever was one.


As for Ms. Maria Belen, she’s come out recently and asked for privacy of her own – sorry, but you don’t get to sleep with a high profile American politician (especially one who is married,) and not expect to have every detail of your life examined with a microscope. That’s just the way it goes.

Summer Camp

Here are a couple of pictures from Noah’s finial day of Cub Scout day camp. He had a blast this year. They built a camp chair and bird feeder; planted a soda bottle terrarium; participated in a camp wide baseball tournament; and honed their archery and BB skills. Noah particularly liked the latter task as he was able this year to score high enough to earn his marksman badge.

Yesterday, prior to leaving work and heading out to witness Noah’s Woop Dee Doo Review (a collection of skits and songs performed by each den at camp,) I was chatting with my friend Tommy at work about his summer camp experience. Tommy is a long time councilor at a Christian summer camp. He and his wife Becky take a week off every summer and head into the upstate of South Carolina to help organize and run a residential camp for children nine to nineteen. As you might expect, they have daily religious services and activities based on biblical teachings. But they also have a lot of just plain fun. Kids come from all over the southeast – with many enjoying the experience so much, they’ve become “repeat offenders” (Tommy’s words, not mine); often recruiting friends for subsequent years.

At some point in our conversation, the discussion came around to cost. I had said how inexpensive I thought Noah’s camp was at $75 for the entire week – at eight hours a day that works out to less than $2.00 an hour. That seems more than reasonable for the vast variety of activates in which they get to participate. Heck, that doesn’t even come close to covering just the time alone. But I was floored when Tommy told me his camp only charges $150 for their entire week of residential camp. They have kids show up on Sunday and stay through the following Saturday for what amounts to little more than $1.00 an hour. I mulled this over a second and blurted out without thinking, “Wow, I should send my kids to your camp.” Oh hell, now I’ve done it. I couldn’t take the words back, but what was I going to do? I had opened my mouth and firmly stuck my foot in it. Tommy reacted exactly as I had hoped he wouldn’t. “Yeah, you should. If you’re interested, I can get you some information,” he said. OK…..OK……how to respond? “Um….,” I attentively said, “I don’t think my kids would fit in very well.” “Why not?” asked Tommy. Oh no, lets not go down this road. Tommy then started into a litany of reasons why my kids would fit right in and how they had a wide variety of kids from many different backgrounds attending the camp. He said something about “goth” kids and something about an orphanage but to be honest, I didn’t hear much of it. There was this loud screaming voice in my head – “No….no……NO! My kids would be eaten alive by those other children. You’re just not getting it!” But I just bit my lip and smiled and tried to look like I was listening intently. Finally the noise stopped. Tommy finished his dissertation and we both decided that it was time for us to find some work to be done. And as he headed away, I really just wanted to come clean and tell he why I thought my kids might not survive a week at bible camp – “Tommy,” I’d say, “my kids…well….they wouldn’t really fit in……because…..well……my kids…..they’re kind of…..sort of….well… Oh hell, Tommy. My kids are LIBERALS.”