Having suggested that Jenny Sanford should ventilate her cheating SOB husband with .38 slugs, I think I cannot be accused of making excuses for Republicans with zipper problems.
Well, what about David Shuster of NBC News? A friend was following Shuster’s Twitter feed yesterday:
Does Spitzer deserve more “credit” (wrong word choice, I know) because he resigned as opposed to Sanford who is staying in office?
To quote Andrew Sullivan, words fail. My opinion is that Sanford’s next office should be under a tombstone, and comparing the Last Tango in Buenos Aires to the sordid saga of Spitzer — the anti-prostitution crusader who found himself entangled in an FBI investigation of an interstate call-girl ring — tends to obscure, rather than enlighten.
What kind of perverse mind tries to use Sanford’s shame to rehabilitate the scoundrel Spitzer? Absurd.
Meanwhile, speaking of Twitter and Sanford, Dave Weigel just Twittered a quote from his story about the Sanford scandal:
“It proves men who oppose federal spending are irresistible to women.”
— Grover Norquist
Heh. No wonder Dr. Helen keeps such a close eye on Glenn Reynolds. Keep that .38 handy, Dr. Helen!
UPDATE: Michelle Malkin is definitely not a member of the Grover Norquist Fan Club:
Just what we need: Beltway conservatives showing how tone-deaf and insensitive they are for the sake of a self-aggrandizing soundbite.
Note Malkin’s mother-bear reaction:
I don’t find anything funny about the Sanford affair. It’s the mom in me thinking about four handsome boys on Father’s Day weekend abandoned by their stupid, selfish father, who was busy tanning with his mistress in Argentina. Heart-breaking. Yes. Nauseating. Yes. Maddening. Yes. Funny? No.
Sarcasm is my natural metier, and spending two decades in the newroom tends to put a keen edge on one’s cynical indifference to the foibles of the famous and powerful. In some circles, a big-shot politician is like a rock star, so when a politician behaves like he’s on tour with Aerosmith, it brings out my inner Mencken. (He once remarked that the only way a journalist should ever look at a politician is down.)
My cynicism is bipartisan. Sanford’s Argentine escapade is, to me, as ludicrous and deserving of scornful laughter as any shenanigans of Gary Hart, Ted Kennedy or Bill Clinton.
I was on the phone a few minutes ago with a Texas Republican, a Christian conservative gentleman with extensive experience in the blogosphere. As I explained to my friend, for 20 years I’ve had a saying: My wife has a kitchen drawer full of knives, and I’ve got to sleep sometime.
Humor can expresss truth. In an act of divine irony, God blessed an ugly old hound like me with a beautiful wife, a blessing deserving of eternal gratitude. If I ever cheated on Mrs. Other McCain, no jury would ever convict her. My well-deserved death (or grievous mutilation) would be the subject of a thousand jokes, and appropriately so.
UPDATE II: Weigel’s story is now on Memeorandum and if you’re offended by humor, let’s look at a couple of serious reactions to l’affaire Sanford. Erick Erickson:
What Mark Sanford did was wrong. He needs to go in a dark hole somewhere where no one can see him or hear him and rehabilitate himself. . . . The left is going to spend the next week making Sanford into the second coming of James Dobson to smear real marriage advocates and social conservatives — positions Sanford was rarely vocal on.
There are things from which a politician can “rehabilitate himself.” Flying off to Argentina to screw a “glorious” woman named Maria Belen Shapur? Nope. I caught a minute of yesterday’s press conference while at the American Spectator office. When Sanford used the word “forgiveness,” I shouted at the TV a two-word response. (Hint: The second word was “you.”)
Welcome to the private sector, sir. Resign now. Meanwhile, Sanford’s downfall contributes to the disillusionment of a young Washingtonian:
Forget shaking my faith in the Republican Party, after a while it just starts to shake your faith in men. I mean, are all men incapable of remaining faithful?
I’ve been following this story with fingers crossed, “Please, don’t be another Republican having an affair!” I guess that was too much to ask for. What a chump. It just leaves me shaking my head with a look of disgust across my face. It’s just so disappointing.
Question: What about the Marias of the world, who seem to have no compunction about affairs with other women’s husbands? Do such women bear no responsibility? Whatever sort of two-faced scumbag horndog Mark Sanford may be, even in Buenos Aires it still takes two to tango. Sanford is 100% responsible for keeping his own vows, but his responsibility does not exempt Maria from blame.
Amid all these serious considerations, I still defend my right to sarcasm. If Bill Clinton is a punchline, Mark Sanford is a Monty Python routine.
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