Gov. Sanford: God Will Make Me Better

Apologizes to S.C. for Mistress Scandal, Says Experience Will Make Him "Better Father, Husband, Friend and Advocate"

(AP)  Gov. Mark Sanford, still clinging to office after admitting to an extramarital affair, wrote in an opinion piece released Sunday that God will change him so he can emerge from the scandal a more humble and effective leader.

"(W)hile none of us has the chance to attend our own funeral, in many ways I feel like I was at my own in the past weeks, and surprisingly I am thankful for the perspective it has afforded," Sanford wrote in the opinion piece widely published online Sunday by South Carolina newspapers (including the Greenville News).

Sanford, a two-term Republican who was a rumored presidential contender, returned from a mysterious, nearly weeklong disappearance last month to reveal a romance with a longtime friend in Argentina. In a series of Associated Press interviews, he described the woman as his "soul mate" but said he would work to repair his relationship with his wife, Jenny, the mother of their four sons.

Some lawmakers have called for Sanford to resign, and one state senator plans hearings on whether state money was used to facilitate the trysts. A criminal probe found nothing illegal.

Sanford and his wife left the state earlier this week for an undisclosed location and are expected to return Sunday evening, spokesman Joel Sawyer said.

In the essay, Sanford vows to work with lawmakers he's long fought and cites scripture and his faith in God - just as he's done in his few public appearances since admitting the affair.

"It's in the spirit of making good from bad that I am committing to you and the larger family of South Carolinians to use this experience to both trust God in his larger work of changing me, and from my end, to work to becoming a better and more effective leader," he wrote.

The promise comes as the term-limited governor approaches his final legislative session. Even before the scandal, he admitted the session would offer him little chance of success in pushing a small-government agenda that sought to give his office more authority. The possibility of a White House run in 2012 has all but disappeared.

Sanford's infidelity admission late last month spelled more trouble for the out-of-power Republican Party as it looks to rebound against the popular President Barack Obama and his emboldened Democrats. The episode has been another distraction for a party seeking a turnaround after disastrous losses in consecutive national elections as it struggles to identify a leader of stature to guide the party back to power.

[ladd09]

If this man was capable of doing what he did to his Wife and his Sons, would you trust him to show you Mercy if you did something wrong in his State?

[Joe_NY_15]

What did he 'do' to his wife and kids ?? you mean taking a couple days to visit an argentinian lady....that's what he 'did' and last time I checked, democrats said it was his personal and private business (ie: clinton)

[ladd09]

My statement is directed at anyone who would do this Joe.

[ladd09]

Joe, do you feel his boys and wife were not affected by his Adultery? I mean it is in the National News. Children in school can be very cruel. Or what about the taxpayers dollars used for the trip to visit his home-wrecker? And lying to his staff about hiking in the mountains, etc...?

[ladd09]

Joe, Lets talk about this. Did your daddy beat you as a child? Don't run away from the pain Joe, It's OK to talk about it.

[ladd09]

Also, a chain gang would be poetic justice. As the Prison Guard in "Cool Hand Luke Said, We gonna get yo mind right!"

[ladd09]

Here's the BIG difference between a Governor and a mere mortal; A Governor has the authority to send people to Prison and even to their Grave...The question here is, can a person with Gov. Sanfords judgement be trusted with this authority??? I remember what the Warden did in the end in the "Shawshank Redemption" As far as I am concerned, he would be getting off easy if the Good People of South Carolina ran him out of Town on a Rail...

[ladd09]

It's Time For Larry the Cable Guy!

[CLoverNYC1]

Forgive me for being a bit crass, but the reality is that God couldn't make him stop porking that Argentine woman, so how does he figure God is going to make him better?

This is Sanford's song of woe because he got caught. It's all about losing his constituency and his bid for the presidency, nothing more.

Another weak man brought down because he followed his gonads. Next.

[ladd09]

He was thinking with his dipstick, JIMMY!

[ladd09]

I wonder if Jeff Foxworthy is conjurin a little somthin, somethin bout the good Guvnha?

[psk123-2009]

If a spouse strays outside the marriage, it is not the fault of the one being "cheated" on. It is the fault of the cheater for not having the character and personal strength to stick to their vows. Remember that one? "Keeping unto each other so long as you both shall life?" While we are on that topic, wasn't this same Gov. one who was all on about the "sanctity of marriage?" You know, keeping it between ONE man and ONE woman. Or is that only for you know, the "other" people? By "other", he means the rest of us and not himself.

The rules of Christianity apply to all who profess to be Christian. Being "saved" is not a free get out of jail card that allows for any sin you wish to commit as long as you ask to be forgiven later.

I've little use for or tolerance of CINOs (Christian In Name Only) and this man is obviously one of them. He beat his chest about having a higher morality than anyone else, the waved his bible around quoting and preaching its contents about how others should live. Yet does not follow his own words. I for one and disgusted. His whole crocodile tears on the news every chance he gets is garbage through and through, he means not a word of it.

[robrob791]

MAYBE HE THINKS THE lORD WILL LET SOMEONE INVENT A BETTER PILL THAN VIAGRA.

[ladd09]

JERRY, JERRY, JERRY!!!

[mswolfestock]

I'd like to see his wife divorce him and take every penny he could ever hope to make.

[hamiltongrad]

June 18 1969, was 40 years ago, for that other tragedy. Ted, TIME TO TALK.

[hamiltongrad]

I am not blaming TED, but we need closure, Dialogue and Understanding. We need to MOVE ON, and so...CBS, one last interview, in depth, with tears and tenderness, before it is too late. For the Senator who proclaimed that the Surge would not work, and that the elections were "bogus" in IRAQ, we need to know, what was he thinking ? his whole life.

[hamiltongrad]

Time for Ted to TALK.. one last interview. What really happened that night ? 40 years ago ?

[hamiltongrad]

Men have a right to celebrate their sexuality.

[hamiltongrad]

/////// Do not BLAME the MAN. Were His needs MET ?//////////////////////

I think we can all agree - that when one person CHEATS, there is a reason behind it. Some one is not meeting their marital obligations.

Men too have a right to have their needs met. Look around the freeways, men early in the AM, do they look happy , fullfilled, loved ? No.

This man decided enough was enough.

Similarly, on the TV Jon took off, but here we could see, or get an idea that she was a total Biotch, and there is understanding. Look, all I am saying, as a Professor of Woman's Study, that the BLAME theory is too superficial, often leads one to the victim and what we therefore need is DIALOGUE and UNDERSTANDING, not blaming and condemning.

Enough is enough.

[cpqdk07191969]

by robertstinnett July 19, 2009 8:15 PM EDT
Typical Republican nonsense. They are the first ones to pound the bible, scream about the evil gays and wave the family value flags. Yet time and time again they get caught with their pants down. As soon as they get caught they start running to God and Jesus for salvation.

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

The Democrats are so quick to judge others, yet here is their own Hall of Shame:

Barry(Marion) Spitzer Geithner Daschle Richardson Blago Burris Edwards Kilpatrick Mahoney(followed Foley on morality crusade, then had affair) Kennedy Clinton

Obama's blunders:
ill fated plan to close Gitmo, getting spanked by his own party in Congress
Geithner Daschle Richardson
"Special Olympics" gaffe
"punch drunk" TV interview
Capt Phillips taken hostage
N Korea weapons testing, launched seven missiles in one day on 7/4/2009
NYC "photo op" flight
cancel F-22 program
bow to Saudi king
continuing Bush policies on drones, wiretaps, Gitmo detainees, free trade
GM debacle
Appointed a racist bigot to the Supreme Court
Appointed an obese woman to be Surgeon General

Just plain embarassing:
Carter


Who are the Democrats to judge others?

[cpqdk07191969]

by toldyouso29 July 20, 2009 6:32 AM EDT
Just what kind of drugs are you on? Of course women are punished in the bible, even when they did nothing wrong except exist:

1. Women are blamed not only for what they thought of or do but for what men do--(text book scapegoat/copout)

2. Lot: wife was turned to salt--he tried to throw his daughters to a crowd to be raped--because he wanted to save some angels who the men wanted to boink in Sodom.

3. Bathsheba--lost her hubby, was forced to marry David..then her kids by David ended up dead--from...
A. One of them (Ammon) raped his own sister and she told their older brother..who then killed Ammon
B. Then Ammon's friends and servants killed the older brother
C. Then the girl was left (but was sullied and despite the fact it was raped--was considered--no good) I believe she committed suicide

So no kids after all that lying and adultery and killing on David's part.

David, incidentally is who Sanford likens himself to. LOL


Hagar--forced to sleep with Abraham by Sarah to bear him a son--but when she finds out she can have kids herself --Sarah kicks Hagar and the child into the desert--after all--nothing like forcing a slave to screwwww your hubby then leaving her with no hubby, a son forced on her and a nice hot desert to roam..........

You might want to actually READ the bible instead of requoting what you saw watching "Joseph, and the Technicolor dreamcoat"
==========================

Excellent questions. Perhaps you could read the Bible some more yourself.

Please provide examples of 1. and 2. that resulted in a woman being punished by God. As for 2., remember that Lot's daughters later seduced him while he was drunk. Sounds like they didn't hold a grudge. And Lot's wife turning to a pillar of salt was one of the FEW times a woman was punished by God. But that was during the destruction of Soddom and Gomorrah, a pretty major event.

3. is an example of a woman suffering a shared punishment. King David broke the majority of the ten commandments when he seduced her and murdered her husband. The child that died was the one that resulted from their adultery.

David and Bathsheba later had another son, named SOLOMON, the wise king.

And the child of Hagar and Abraham was Ishmael, the ORIGIN OF ISLAM. The Jews, Christians, and Muslims ALL believe that this ill-conceived and cast away child became the origin of all Arab peoples.

Yes, the Bible makes for intersting reading indeed.

[cpqdk07191969]

by hamiltongrad July 20, 2009 3:08 AM EDT
I am a busy Professor of Women's study. My major center of work however has drifted toward the elimination of traditional "blame" theory.
-----------------

That's exactly what the Bible teaches over and over.

From the beginning God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.

What is "knowledge of good and evil?" JUDGING! Deciding you KNOW who or what is GOOD or EVIL. Judging, condemning, blaming. God said if we do these things we will surely die.

Look how many in the world have died because somebody decided they were evil, and they started a war.

Look how much misery we suffer every day from people judging and condemning each other - you see it here on these boards every day.

Jesus told us "Judge not." He said "Do not point out the speck in someone's eye while you have a log in your own eye."

Marriages have ended because of women incessantlly judging and blaming their husbands.

Yes, you should study the Bible to get more ideas on this "stop blaming" idea.

I'm totally for it.

[erasmus111]

"Look how much misery we suffer every day from people judging and condemning each other - you see it here on these boards every day."


Ahhhh, isn't that what you do to me? About everything I say? : )

[saj210]

Sanford is pitiful!!

Why has he not been forced to step down?????!!!

[saj210]

Sanford is pitiful!!

Why has he not been forced to step down?????!!!

[imprisoncheney]

saj --

Noooooo. He needs to stay in the media spotlight as long as possible.

He's a constant reminder of weepublican hypocrisy and lies.

Betcha Sister Sarah's piissed-off, too -- competition for attention.

Too funny.

[cpqdk07191969]

Barry(Marion) Spitzer Geithner Daschle Richardson Blago Burris Edwards Kilpatrick Mahoney(followed Foley on morality crusade, then had affair) Kennedy Clinton

Obama's blunders:
ill fated plan to close Gitmo, getting spanked by his own party in Congress
Geithner Daschle Richardson
"Special Olympics" gaffe
"punch drunk" TV interview
Capt Phillips taken hostage
N Korea weapons testing, launched seven missiles in one day on 7/4/2009
NYC "photo op" flight
cancel F-22 program
bow to Saudi king
continuing Bush policies on drones, wiretaps, Gitmo detainees, free trade
GM debacle
Appointed a racist bigot to the Supreme Court
Appointed an obese woman to be Surgeon General

Just plain embarassing:
Carter