Well, I guess these things will be priced to sell now…
Normally, I don’t like to comment in this space about the political world and most of its denizens. Those who come here aren’t looking for that and I’m not that comfortable expressing my political views, not that they’re far from mainstream. But there were a couple of things that came to mind when watching Mark Sanford‘s press conference yesterday.
I take no pleasure in watching a person whose life that has been apparently unraveling for some time have to make public disclosure of his shortcomings, regardless of how far apart we may be on the political spectrum. I have only sympathy for his family and the public hell they’ll be enduring for the next few weeks.
But I will never understand the egos of these guys who live such public lives and think their infidelity and duplicity will not at some point be exposed, putting the very people they hold up on the campaign trail as their greatest treasure through this particular hell. Particularly those who portray themselves as pillars of virtue. There must be some sort of law floating around in the ether that if a politician proclaims his own righteousness and makes judgements on the shortcomings of others then he is destined to have his own mistakes and faults exposed. The Rule of Political Karma.
I know that Sanford was not a true fire and brimstone guy, not a bible pounder. Even so, there was this image of virtuousness that was always pushed when he was discussed. He was bound to fall to the Rule of Political Karma.
But it wasn’t Sanford or his actions that bothered me yesterday. His actions and the way his family life fell apart are everyday occurrences, unfortunately. We see this all the time in our lives. Maybe not in such so public a forum.
No, it was listening to the commentators and other politicos afterwards. Words were thrown around like heroic, courageous, brave, and so on to describe Sanford’s performance. It made my stomach turn. The brave thing would have been coming forward weeks ago before he bugged out to Argentina, which drew the collective eye of the nation to his personal life. There was nothing courageous in his press conference yesterday. He had no other option, no choice. He had put himself into a position where this was inevitable. It was not an act of courage.
Maybe I’m being too picky about the words used. It’s just the fact that they feel the need to elevate a trapped man’s obligatory confession into some sort of heroic deed that puts a burr in my saddle. Bad decisions and dumb moves are not made heroic by saying, “I screwed up.”
Anyway, I know a guy who has some t-shirts. Cheap…
Redtree Times 