I can see the lure of Argentina:

*misunderstanding what "bolo balls" really means

*getting to create a trail name for his trail persona: Pampass (with an extra "s" because the ass cost extra)

*Finding trail magic (things left on the trail for hikers) on the AT like a State funded credit card not maxed out, or Frette sheets to hammock in.

*Beaucoup room service at the break shelter. Lots of pancake carbs to rebuild his strength.

—————-

Let’s read his journal to see what he has to say about his hiking adventure:

*Lost my wedding ring.  Texted my wife it must have gotten lost doing 20 trying to get to Doc Knob Lodge before dark.

*Tonight there are at least a dozen people in an around the shelter. We all tend to pile up around the water sources. (Discovered Doc Knob Lodge has a hot tub and jars of Nutella on the rim.)

*Complained of my pack weight and said "I need a llama."  Oopsie.

*Bonesy, Stewball and I went over to tent city that night to check out the drum circle and the late night hiker craziness. We didn’t get back to our tents until almost 3 a.m. I got 3 hours of sleep. Lots of contradancing. My knees are hurting. This sure beats shag dancing at Myrtle Beach. I think I need to do Burning Man next year.

*Went off trail for a Zero and a Trail Day.  Lots of free food and goofing off. 

We watched the hot dog and cake eating competition, browsed the local stores, chatted with all of our long lost thru hiker buddies (trail days is like a giant family reunion), and completely stuffed ourselves at the dinner put on by the Baptist folks.

*After gorging, we took a walk through the park to digest. We ended up playing tag with two kids on the playground, for more than two hours. We were all laughing so hard that we had to keep stopping mid-chase to catch our breath. In the middle of being chased by "it", I accidentally dove head first down a slide, did a half sommersault, and a mini face plant. Hikers are free spirits, Honey.

*I ended up on my back with my head hanging off the end of the slide. I’m told the area underneath one of my eyes is red and swollen. I know I’m going to have to answer for this eye.  It isn’t going down anytime soon, and my knees are a wreck.  I’ll just say the rest of our group also took some falls. Crazy hikers!

*This has been a physical and spiritual journey for me, and I’m glad I could get away.  Back to work tomorrow.  I wonder what awaits.

Jenny Sanford is no different than the other political wives.  In fact she is more pathetic as she used the media and public to get her husband to end his affair and come home. 

After she discovered her husband was having an affair, she confronted him, yet she stayed with him.  Months later she realized he had not ended the affair (and even begged her permission to see his mistress); at that point she asked him to leave, purportedly for a trial separation, but knowing full well he would go straight to his lover.  And of course he went straight to his mistress. 

When the media got wind of his absence Ms. Stanford feigned ignorance of his whereabouts and let the media track him down and shame her husband into coming home.  The whole thing was a farce—shame him into coming home; end his affair; now he has to publicly beg all, including her, for forgiveness.    

So now that he is home, she has laid out the welcome mat for him.  She has made it clear that she will take him back—stand by your man no matter what.

So how is she any different from the other political wives?  The only difference is she left him leave the house for one last fling with his lover to set him up and force him to come home. 

Hilary and Silda stood by their unfaithful husband by choice—they took a lot of criticism for their personal choices; but they didn’t use or manipulate anyone to get their husbands to come home.   Jenny Sanford used the media and public to drag her husband back to her by the scruff of his neck and she pretends that she didn’t want him or need him.

Pathetic, really pathetic.

One of the first rules of the 21c is that one cannot assume privacy. Certainly one cannot assume it with any form of communication except face to face in some deserted spot. One hopes at this point that the world will leave Gov Sanford, his wife, and his lover alone to work their issues out away from the limelight. If anyone wants to read what Maria Shapur wrote about her hacked email account (hopefully dispersal of this letter was with her permission), anyone can check out Fox News for the text.

 Coming of age in the repressive society of many years ago, I was happy to see that so many personal behavior secrets eventually came to light. I am thinking in particular of the presidency of John F Kennedy. Like many, I felt that one’s private morals affected one’s public decisions. However, as it has now come to people being immediately judged in the court of public opinion depending on the skills—technical or otherwise—of their enemies, I begin to wish that we all had our privacy back. 

Much as we would all like to be perfect, few of us are.  I only wish for all three of the players that they forge a new and better road, and do not simply mindlessly repeat the mistakes of the past.

Catherine,

Absolutely incorrect. I am a South Carolina citizen and you are wrong.

They separated.in February. She took her children to their  (her)multimillion dollar beach house, and they were there during his idiotic campaign to take no stimulus money. That was stupid enough.

However he left, dismissing his peeps. He had one car parked at the Columbia airport, one  in Atlanta. His plan was to be in Argentina for 10 days. He never, not once, thought about Father’s Day. He is completely out of touch with his entire staff.  On my damn dime. So the reporters from the Columbia newspaper drive to Sullivan’s and ask Ms Sanford "Where is your husband?" She truly did not know. They came to her, not the other way around.

 The only reason he cut his trip short was because the local paper worked the story. He is a narcissitic idiot. And he continues to be a narcissitic idiot. NOW they are in Europe. He doesn’t get not one thing.

PS Julia I have all yer books!

She, on the other hand, is not.

Then the Columbia newspaper realized he was out of touch. So they asked his wife ( on Father’s Day, which was also nekkid hiking day) "Where is the governor?" She did not know.

SO cut it out.  

What’s all this about Reagan values? He was married when he met Nancy. That didn’t seem to stop them. Nancy was five months pregnant when she and Ron got married. So talk to me about "Reagan’s values". I can’t wait.

Elinor