Son Of Sanford

On the Today show this week, former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford (who is looking to re-boot his political career by running for congress) had this to say:

"The reality of our lives is if we live long enough, we’re going to fail at something. I absolutely failed in my personal life and my marriage. The one place I didn’t ever fail was with the taxpayers. If you look at my 20 years in politics, what you would see is a fairly remarkable consistency in trying to watch out for the taxpayer."

Laura Clawson of the Daily Kos helpfully refreshed our memory about this hypocrite-- Sanford was the "Appalachian Trail" guy who disappeared from public view for a week back in 2009 in order to hook up with his Latina girlfriend (not even his wife or security detail knew that he had "taken a hike" out of the country). After the ensuing media frenzy, he was hit with 37 ethics charges related to his personal travel and use of campaign funds. He ultimately paid $74,000 to settle those charges and avoid a hearing. As governor, Sanford spent more than $468,000 on state-funded travel, including $44,000 on business- and first-class tickets. He had a state plane take him from Myrtle Beach to Columbia so he could get a haircut. In total, Sanford used state planes more than twice as much as the two previous governors combined. Sanford was finally shamed into repaying South Carolina for what had been a state-funded trip to Argentina, when it became public knowledge that the true purpose of the trip was to spend time with his Argentine girlfriend Maria Belen Shapur.