Where in the World is Gov. Mark Sanford?

[LoungeMachine]

AWOL South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has entire state in a tizzy
BY Helen Kennedy
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, June 22nd 2009, 11:07 PM


Chastain/AP

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford


Do you believe a governor deserves some true 'alone' time?


Yes. He or she is a person, just like everyone else.



No. A governor is too important for at least someone not to know where he or she is.



Where in the world is South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford?

The governor went missing four days ago and his state is in a tizzy.

Sanford ditched his security detail on Thursday, missed Father's Day weekend with his family, and didn't show up at work Monday.

Neither his wife, nor the state's lieutenant governor, nor police officials know where he is, South Carolina newspapers reported.

But Jenny Sanford told the Associated Press she wasn't worried.

"He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids," she said while vacationing with the couple's four sons.

Late this afternoon, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer's office told the State newspaper that Sanford had called in.

But when asked if the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), which provides security for the governor, knows his location, a SLED spokeswoman refused to comment.

Sanford, best known for butting heads with President Obama over the stimulus package, is chairman of the Republican Governors Association and considered a leading Republican presidential candidate in 2012.

"The governor needs to be available to the people. He doesn't have to give the world his mobile number, but he's got to be where he can be contacted," said state Sen. Jake Knotts.

"Nobody knows where he is. He's out of pocket. They've been looking for him since Thursday."

The State newspaper reported that neither the governor's office nor SLED had been able to reach Sanford since he left the governor's mansion in a black SLED SUV Thursday night.

The governor's state and personal phones were turned off and he did not respond to phone or text messages, the State said.

Sanford's office emailed NBC to say "it's not uncommon for him to go out of pocket for a few days at a time to clear his head." They said he had let his staff know he'd be difficult to reach.

Knotts, a longtime Republican critic of the governor's, complained that no one knows who is in charge.

"Who is at the helm? The way Iran is acting up, and what about weather catastrophes? Hopefully no decision has to be made."

South Carolina's top Democrat, state Sen. John Land, issued a statement saying he was praying for the missing governor.

"We've been concerned by the governor's erratic behavior for some time," he said. "We're praying for him and his family. I hope he is safe and that he contacts the First Lady and his family soon."

Knotts said Sanford would have to quit taking mystery vacations if he wants to trade the corner office for the Oval Office.

"If he don't like the security that SLED gives him in South Carolina, he's going to absolutely hate the Secret Service if he runs for President. They'll go in the bathroom with him!"


Read more: AWOL South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has entire state in a tizzy

[FORD]

The guy's a dickhead, but I'm sure he gets the urge to drop off the planet for a few days like anyone else.

Actually I heard a rumor somewhere today that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. My guess is that he's probably got a GPS enabled cell phone, and they could track him down if they really needed to.

Question is, does anybody in SC really miss the guy?

[LoungeMachine]

The guy's a dickhead, but I'm sure he gets the urge to drop off the planet for a few days like anyone else.

Actually I heard a rumor somewhere today that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. My guess is that he's probably got a GPS enabled cell phone, and they could track him down if they really needed to.

?

Fine.

But when you accept high public office, I think you give up some freedoms for 4 years for the sake of the people you serve.

Hiking the Appalachians?

More likely hiking a hooker on mount Meth



It's the Right Wing way to partay

[Big Train]

They found him wherever he was. They also found Clinton's lawyer who was on the lamb.

[Guitar Shark]

Apparently his staff said he was hiking the Appalachian trail, but Sanford now admits he was actually in Argentina. LMAO!

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford did not spend the last five days hiking the Appalachian Trail -- as his staff indicated -- but instead was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he told The State newspaper.

Spotted returning from the trip at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, Wednesday morning, the Republican governor told The State he had considered hiking the Appalachian Trail after his state's busy legislative season ended but instead decided differently.

"I wanted to do something exotic. It's a great city," Sanford said, referring to Buenos Aires.

The governor will speak with reporters Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, his office announced.

Sanford's staff and family seemed to be in the dark about his whereabouts. Sanford also said no one else accompanied him, the paper reported. The Republican governor and possible 2012 contender told the newspaper only that he took a drive along the coastline on his trip.

Sanford told The State the legislative session was difficult for him, particularly losing the fight over whether he should accept $700 million in federal stimulus money he wanted lawmakers to spend on debt instead of urgent budget needs. Watch what Sanford said about this trip »

Sanford also said he hadn't planned to return until Thursday, but came back earlier after his chief of staff told him the story of his whereabouts was drawing widespread media attention.

Sanford expressed surprise that the story was attracting such attention, saying it's not unusual for him to take such trips.

"I would get out of the bubble I am in," he said, according to the paper.

South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler said in a statement Wednesday it was the "height of irresponsibility for the governor to walk out on his solemn duty to the people of South Carolina.

"When it comes to the real needs and concerns of South Carolinians, Mark Sanford has been pretty much missing in action for the last six-and-a-half years. But it is not acceptable for him to be actually missing.

"However, as disturbing as it is to walk out on your responsibilities without telling anyone, what's more troubling is that the governor and his staff have been less than truthful about his whereabouts," the statement said.

Sanford's wife Jenny told CNN Tuesday she had not talked to her husband since he left last Thursday and did not know where he went.

"I am being a mom today. I have not heard from my husband. I am taking care of my children," she said outside the couple's beach home on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina.

Following confusion over his whereabouts, a Sanford spokesman said Monday that the governor had been hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

A black Chevy Suburban believed to have been used by Sanford to leave town was spotted Tuesday in the parking lot of Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

CNN was alerted to its location by a law enforcement official.

The SUV was outfitted with blue police lights and two-way radio. A parking permit for the school attended by Sanford's children was on the windshield.

State Sen. Jake Knotts, a fellow Republican and adversary of Sanford, said South Carolina law enforcement officials informed him Saturday that the governor had taken a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division vehicle on Thursday and had not yet returned.

"I found out that he was taking frequent trips at odd times of the night in a SLED car with no security," Knotts said. "He would be driving. I got wind that he had taken another one of these types of capers last Thursday, and that nobody knew who he was with."

Knotts added that on Saturday, he "was getting wind that he had not shown back up and nobody knew where he was."

He said a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division official told him Monday that Sanford had not returned.

"He needs to transfer the power and let the lieutenant governor, which the constitution requires, let him be the person that makes the decisions." Knotts said.

"My concern was, 'Who would be in charge should an emergency arrive for the safety of the people and citizens of the state?'"

Report: S.C. governor says he was in Argentina - CNN.com

[FORD]

Apparently Sanford is another typical "family values" repuke. He just admitted to "breaking God's law" and having an affair in Argentina.

No word yet whether it was with a male or female.

Resigned as leader of the Repuke Governors Association.

I think he just "Macaca'ed" himself from any possiblilty of a 2012 run for the White House.

[FORD]

And right on cue, FAUX Noize calls Sanford a DEMOCRAT!



(Just like they did with every other Repuke caught with his pants down, for those of you who haven't been paying attention)

[Guitar Shark]

And right on cue, FAUX Noize calls Sanford a DEMOCRAT!



(Just like they did with every other Repuke caught with his pants down, for those of you who haven't been paying attention)

The first time that happened, I gave Fox the benefit of the doubt... it's now clear that it's intentional. Pathetic.

[Guitar Shark]

Sanford is now admitting that he was having an affair with an Argentinian woman? This is becoming more amazing by the minute.

[Kristy]

Talk about an infidel! For a man who admits to having an affair with a woman for eight years under the noses of his family, staff and fellow Rethugs and none of them suspecting any extramarital activity is an achievement on to itself. Must have been one comfortable affair, too only to fuck it up by turning off his cell phone and leaving to get his dick wet (I know, this place brings out the worst in me) for seven days without so much as a peep as to his whereabouts.

I'm also guessing here his mistress was going to dump his sorry ass or had the goods on him for Sanford to spontaneously call out a "I have sinned against you all..." type of news conference. And so another nail into the coffin of political hypocrisy is hammered; Sanford will resign, disappear into the woodwork of shame only to return with a book deal/tour, make an appearance here and there on the talk circuit and end up taking a gig on the latest lame-ass fox reality show in order to pay off his wife's lawyers* how's that for God's law?

There must have been someone (if not a few) on his staff who knew where he was all along. In this day and age it doesn't take law enforcement long to trace airline tickets much less credit/debit card usage to find out where one is in the world. Even yesterday while being questioned by CNN on Sanford's disappearance Lt Gov. Andre Bauer couldn't sell the hiking story worth a shit.

Of course, his own party will forgive him claiming that he was seduced or manipulated some way by this harlot in order to shame the GOP because, you know, he was such the serious contender for Obama in 2012. In the meantime, if his wife has any "God laws" of her own she'll leave him, avoid any offers for interviews and grieve this out over time.





*In a perfect world, mind. Most likely he'll disappear into the woodwork.

[sadaist]

No word yet whether it was with a male or female.
:

Why would that matter to you ford? You claim to be in the party of tolerance, yet you always seem to bring this up. Anyways, the AP story I just read stated it was a woman.

To be honest, I had never heard of this guy until now. Similarly, I had never heard of Sarah Palin until McCain chose her as his running mate. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

[sadaist]

CNN was alerted to its location by a law enforcement official.

This is my favorite part of the whole story. I wonder if cops are also tossing tips to TMZ.

[Satan]

Why would that matter to you ford? You claim to be in the party of tolerance, yet you always seem to bring this up.

It's relevant because you get people like Larry Craig, who routinely votes against civil rights for gays, or Ted Haggard who preaches sermons like this.....

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....while snorting meth and taking it up the ass from male hookers.

Either way, Sanford is a moral hypocrite, by claiming to be a christian man of god. But had he been having an affair with a man, while also having an anti-gay political record, he would be twice as hypocritical.

[Kristy]

I loved this:


Sanford denied instructing his staff to cover up his affair, but acknowledged that he told them he thought he would be hiking on the Appalachian Trail and never corrected that impression after leaving for South America.

"I let them down by creating a fiction with regard to where I was going," Sanford said. "I said that was the original possibility. Again, this is my fault in ... shrouding this larger trip."

How in the hell do you confuse hiking with taking a plane to Argentina? You'd think with this degree of pathological lying one would already have the impression that you don't need a passport to stroll along the Appalachian Trail. Looks like Sanford's problems go well beyond the pail of martial issues.

[Satan]

Sanford e mail smut alert!!

Posted on Wed, Jun. 24, 2009
Exclusive: E-mails between Sanford, woman
Woman in affair declines interview
By JOHN O’CONNOR
joconnor@thestate.com

-- Read the full e-mail exchange in Thursday's edition of The State.

Below are excerpts of e-mails, obtained by The State newspaper in December, between Gov. Mark Sanford's personal e-mail account and Maria, a woman in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The State has removed the woman's full name and other personal details, including her address, e-mail address and children's names.

Sanford's office Wednesday did not dispute the authenticity of the emails.

McClatchy special correspondent Angeles Mase visited the 14-story apartment building in Buenos Aires Wednesday where the woman lives, according to the emails, which included her address. The woman at the address answered to the name in the emails and, at first, agreed to speak to a visitor, but she declined after the visitor identified herself as a reporter.

The doorman at the building, shown a photograph of Sanford, said he did not recognize him. According to the doorman, the woman has two sons, one a teenager of driving age and the other younger. The emails refer to the woman's two sons.

---------------------------

From Gov. Sanford,
Date: Thursday, July 10, 2008, 12:24 a.m.

“One, tomorrow leave at 5 a.m. for New York and meetings. Will think about you on its streets and wish I was going to be there later in the month when you are there. Tomorrow night back to Philadelphia for the start of the National Governor's Conference through the weekend. Back to Columbia for Tuesday and then on Wednesday, as I think I had told you, taking the family to China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Thailand and then back through Hong Kong on world wind tour. Few days home then to Bahamas for 5 days on a friend’s boat for the last break of the summer. The following weekend have been asked to spend it out in Aspen, Colorado with McCain - which has kicked up the whole VP talk all over again in the press back home ...

Two, mutual feelings .... You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that so fitting with your beauty. 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 ...

Three and finally, while all the things above are all too true - at the same time we are in a hopelessly - or as you put it impossible - or how about combine and simply say hopelessly impossible situation of love. How in the world this lightening strike snuck up on us I am still not quite sure. As I have said to you before I certainly had a special feeling about you from the first time we met, but these feelings were contained and I genuinely enjoyed our special friendship and the comparing of all too many personal notes ...

Lastly I also suspect I feel a little vulnerable because this is ground I have never certainly never covered before - so if you have pearls of wisdom on how we figure all this out please let me know... In the meantime please sleep soundly knowing that despite the best efforts of my head my heart cries out for you, your voice, your body, the touch of your lips, the touch of your finger tips and an even deeper connection to your soul.”

--------------------

From Maria,
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 8:14 p.m.

“As I told you I shouldn't have done this trip but I would have felt worst if I wouldn't have come because it was too over the date, he is a very nice guy, great heart ... but unfortunately I am not in love with him ... You are my love ... something hard to believe even for myself as it's also a kind of impossible love, not only because of distance but situation. Sometimes you don't choose things, they just happen... I can't redirect my feelings and I am very happy with mine towards you.”

--------------------

From Gov. Sanford,
Tuesday, July 8, 1:42 a.m.

“Got back an hour ago to civilization and am now in Columbia after what was for me a glorious break from reality down at the farm. No phones ringing and tangible evidence of a day's labors. Though I have started every day by 6 this morning woke at 4:30, I guess since my body knew it was the last day, and I went out and ran the excavator with lights until the sun came up. To me, and I suspect no one else on earth, there is something wonderful about listening to country music playing in the cab, air conditioner running, the hum of a huge diesel engine in the back ground, the tranquillity that comes with being in a virtual wilderness of trees and marsh, the day breaking and vibrant pink coming alive in the morning clouds - and getting to build something with each scoop of dirt.”

Exclusive: E-mails between Sanford, woman - Sanford - The State