poor mark sanford
Mark Sanford's breaking my heart. Oh, I know he's been a judgmental ass, sitting up all high and mighty, yammering about Clinton's failure, about gay marriage; bloviating about family values.
I'm feeling sorry for the man, especially after catching Keith Olbermann's repulsive reading of Governor Sanford's emails to his lover.
The thing I detest about Republicans is this: they seem wholly unable to put themselves in another's shoes, to see the world from anything but their own vantage point. They lack imagination.
That Mark Sanford, with his proclamations on family values, his insistence that marriage is only for individuals of opposite gender, his emphasis on keeping one's word, would find himself caught up in an affair is really just unimaginable. I believe it was unimaginable for him when he condemned Clinton, Larry Craig, and others.
Now he can imagine it. This is my hope for Governor Sanford: That this experience will humanize him. That he'll get off that Republican high horse and recognize the fact that we are all human beings, all subject to failure, all subject to bouts of dishonesty, of less than stellar moral performance. We are. It's part of being alive and Republicans are just as likely to succumb as Democrats.
I hate his hypocrisy. I hope that he's learned something from this, and not just that he shouldn't cheat. I hope he's learned that he might not want to judge another until he's experienced life in their shoes. I really hope that he has a come-to-Jesus awakening moment in which he realizes that most people don't intend to do bad, they just fall into it. Republicans, Democrats, and all the rest of us. We're human. We all fail. We all manage to not live up to even our own expectations of ourselves at times.
Wouldn't it be lovely if we could just get past all this morality bullshit and work on good public policy and governance? Maybe the Governor will learn that a lot of what his party is about is the condemnation of what should be personal and individual and private. You know, that freedom thing. Oh, and I hope he gets it that live and let live is just pretty good policy.
I'm feeling sorry for the man, especially after catching Keith Olbermann's repulsive reading of Governor Sanford's emails to his lover.
The thing I detest about Republicans is this: they seem wholly unable to put themselves in another's shoes, to see the world from anything but their own vantage point. They lack imagination.
That Mark Sanford, with his proclamations on family values, his insistence that marriage is only for individuals of opposite gender, his emphasis on keeping one's word, would find himself caught up in an affair is really just unimaginable. I believe it was unimaginable for him when he condemned Clinton, Larry Craig, and others.
Now he can imagine it. This is my hope for Governor Sanford: That this experience will humanize him. That he'll get off that Republican high horse and recognize the fact that we are all human beings, all subject to failure, all subject to bouts of dishonesty, of less than stellar moral performance. We are. It's part of being alive and Republicans are just as likely to succumb as Democrats.
I hate his hypocrisy. I hope that he's learned something from this, and not just that he shouldn't cheat. I hope he's learned that he might not want to judge another until he's experienced life in their shoes. I really hope that he has a come-to-Jesus awakening moment in which he realizes that most people don't intend to do bad, they just fall into it. Republicans, Democrats, and all the rest of us. We're human. We all fail. We all manage to not live up to even our own expectations of ourselves at times.
Wouldn't it be lovely if we could just get past all this morality bullshit and work on good public policy and governance? Maybe the Governor will learn that a lot of what his party is about is the condemnation of what should be personal and individual and private. You know, that freedom thing. Oh, and I hope he gets it that live and let live is just pretty good policy.
Labels: keith olbermann is an ass, mark sanford, republican hypocrisy
posted by BigAssBelle at 9:33 PM
7 Comments:
Interesting. While I agree with your premise of forgiveness and second acts, I think a man loses his right to dignified treatment when he condemns and judges others for what he himself does. Let the emails be read. If, for no other reason, to instruct those who might be inclined to veer off into vitriolic nonsense.
While our opinions of Keith Olbermann differ, and I find it difficult to feel bad for Mark Sanford given his record, I whole-heartedly agree that life would be so much better, for everyone, if we could get past the morality issue.
I find infidelity easy to forgive, but hypocracy, not so much.
what Father Tony and David said!!!!!!! I love your heart though..........
FT, I agree with you, except that I think he loses his right to expound on morality when he's as immoral as the rest of us. I just think Keith Olbermann's "dramatic" mocking reading of the emails went too far.
David, I actually like Olbermann most of the time. I just hated ~ HATED ~ that episode last night. I don't think it does our side any good at all to take things that far. Besides, if I ~ one so strongly addicted to doses of schadenfreude related to rethug hypocrisy ~ was repulsed by Olbermann and found myself sympathetic to Sanford, what would regular folks be thinking? feeling?
Oh Chris, I know. I'm so conflicted. I despise Sanford for his judgments. But I can't help but feel sympathy for the man who rambled on and on about his family and forgiveness and his unexpected love. I just think it could happen to any of us. It has happened . . . well. No need to go into that. Maybe that's why I have such sympathy for his position.
Yes "it could happen to any of us" but when it does, we will be forgiven because we were tolerant folks who fell short of the high mark for which we aimed, and because we were not deceitful judgmental phonies inflicting distasteful prescriptions on folks who just want the freedom to live according to their nature. I am not yet feeling your sympathy for this politician. We must defend ourselves with alacrity and that is what Olbermann did. War is distasteful by nature.
I agree with the guys because of his holding himself above all of us, and indeed fell anyway.......
I agree that he needs to be held accountable........
I feel for the man for what he has to now face, as it is humiliating, and he and those he loves, including the 'other woman' are hurting....I would feel that for any human, no matter how I felt about them.......
I agree with you that the e-mails were over and above what he needed to face...not nice........
Justice is what it is, and he said that was his consequence.
What is that ole bible line?
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?
Its not the affair, it's the coverup and hopefully spending taxpayers money to get laid that will do Marky Mark in.
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