Zip Trip

There are better ways to eliminate oneself from Presidential contention than the one taken by South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford! After missing for days, leaving his state unattended, he finally resurfaced.

No one, not his wife nor his staff, had any idea where he had gone. Especially over the Father's Day weekend.

Someone ventured a guess he was off hiking the Appalachian trail. An idea he had purposely planted. Nope. He was in Argentina!

So begins an apology tour that makes Obama's apologies for all the country's sins of the past pale in comparison. You know, the tears and the apologies and the begging for forgiveness. One thing that was missing was the pained and betrayed wife at his side.

Good for her! Let him face it on his own. Bill CLinton, Eliot Spitzer, David Vitter, and of course John Edwards all come to mind when I think of recent political infidelities that rip families apart. There are always the tears. There is always the apology for letting the family down, not to mention the constituency who elected them. In truth, I firmly believe it is just because they've been caught.

Sanford, according to his home paper, The State , said the relationship would not work. Wonder why he didn't think about that before entering into it! Did he think because she was in Argentina no one would find out? Who knows. I can't figure these people out. I'm used to dealing with people who's brains are above their belt.

I've come to a couple of conclusions as I await the next indiscretion to hit the headlines. I would not want to go to the marriage counselors many of them claim to have consulted. And two, if I wanted to have a secure, loving marriage where I wouldn't be hurt and publicly humiliated, I'd steer clear of an ambitious politician.

I know, I know. The majority are good, family oriented men. It just seems that in a relatively small population of professional politicians there are inordinate numbers of those who are not.

Yesterday I spoke about how the price of freedom seems to be excessive death. Today I ponder about how the price for a successful political career should require little more than keeping it zipped!

I also find it interesting that the female of the political species rarely makes similar headlines. The closest I can recall was the rumor Sarah Palin had an affair with a business partner of her husband's. The story never gained traction. Thank heavens. If we want to eliminate prurient headlines from the political front maybe we should elect more women!