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Next entry: Just A Reminder Of Who These People Are Previous entry: Tacos for democracy

South Carolina Gov. Sanford is AWOL

And his wife and staff aren’t giving any details. (The State):

The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford have been unknown to state officials since Thursday, and some state leaders are questioning who is in charge of the executive office.

Neither the governor’s office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, has been able to reach Sanford after he left the mansion in a black SLED Suburban SUV, said Sen. Jake Knotts and three others familiar with the situation but who declined to be identified.

Sanford’s last known whereabouts were near Atlanta, where a mobile telephone tower picked up a signal from his phone, authorities said.

Hmmm…and then this statement:

Jenny Sanford said she was not concerned.
She said the governor said he needed time away from their children to write something.

...“I was recently made aware that Governor Sanford has frequently been eluding SLED agents and disappearing at odd times,” [Sen. Jake] Knotts said.

O-kay. So is it a live girl/dead boy kind of thing? De-tox? Or is he just having a little time away for R&R? Seems like this kind of extended time away from work would require the Lieutenant Gov. to step in to take care of state business if Sanford turned off his cell and isn’t accepting any texts.

UPDATE: At least the Gov’s Twitter account is still active, lol. Guess some low level drone with account access figured out to stop posting while he’s AWOL or the Governor himself just likes leaving obscure clues:

More after the jump.
You might recall that Sanford earned his homophobic stripes for ordering the SC Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Department to stop an ad agreement with Amro Worldwide, a travel promoter, after it began to market the state to potential gay tourists. He said it wasn’t right to use state dollars to market to groups with a “specific social agenda.”

More recently, the Palmetto State governor earned the ire of his citizens for opposing government stimulus funds, even to the point of flipping the fundie bird to a constituent who asked why he couldn’t accept the cash.

CALLER: I hope you all are not playing politics with this. People in South Carolina are hurting. You know how unemployment rates are high right now and going up higher. We are running out of money in the unemployment bank - we need money for that, the people that need help. And I’m one of them, I can’t get no help. [...]

SANFORD: Well I’d say hello to Charleston because its home and I’d say hello to this fellow this morning and say that my prayers are going to be with him and his family because it sounds like he is in an awfully tough spot.

 

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Posted by Pam Spaulding on 07:38 PM • (70) Comments

I replied to his latest tweet “need time away from the kids on father’s day?  more republican family values!”.  But I guess they deleted it right away.  I bet they are deleting all of the replies.  They must be getting a shitload of them.

This is the most entertaining story of the day, and depending on how it plays out, could win the week or even the month.

Republicans sure are entertaining.

Comment #1: Lady Vader  on  06/22  at  07:51 PM

On the up side, it appears he’s term limited out in 2010.

Comment #2: FashionablyEvil  on  06/22  at  07:54 PM

Rehab.

His wife claims she doesn’t know where he is, but also is not concerned.

It’s rehab.

Comment #3: Caren-Sun-blocking Creator of Animorphic Pancakes  on  06/22  at  08:08 PM

Isn’t it live boy/dead girl?

Haven’t they found him or did I mishear?

Comment #4: keshmeshi  on  06/22  at  08:13 PM

I just assumed he was off for a weekend with his girlfriend/adopted 17 year old daughter.

Comment #5: Mark  on  06/22  at  08:38 PM

SC’s on Harold Holt?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Holt

Comment #6: Matty  on  06/22  at  08:58 PM

Caton:  Good one.

Comment #7: seeker6079  on  06/22  at  09:28 PM

I’ve started to suspect that the Republican Party and Faux News are a bunch of talking dogs.

Maybe he’s wearing the cone of shame.

Comment #8: Ms Kate  on  06/22  at  09:34 PM

Perhap Gov Sanford was kidnapped and sold into “white” slavery?

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/22/sanford-stimulus-slavery/

Comment #9: CParis  on  06/22  at  10:04 PM

...
how can he just waltz off and not even hand the keys to his deputy? isn’ that deriliction of duty?

Comment #10: denelian  on  06/22  at  10:08 PM

He’s in Atlanta making out with a suburban dad in the back room at Blake’s. They all tell their wives nothing is wrong.

Comment #11: felagund  on  06/22  at  10:32 PM

Maybe he’s wearing the cone of shame.

“I am a Republican governor. I think that gays should not have the right to marry, because we value traditional morals in this…

...PENIS!

...I am a Republican governor who likes traditional marriage.”

Comment #12: Auguste  on  06/22  at  10:33 PM

“how can he just waltz off and not even hand the keys to his deputy?”

You wanna know how?  Shut up and look over here:

Freedom! Democracy!  The American Family!  Opposite Marriage!  JudeoChristian Values!  Lower Taxes!  Less Government Regulation!  Personal Responsibility!  Keeping America Safe!  Having A Big Tent!  Civil Society!  American Leadership!...

Comment #13: MikeEss  on  06/22  at  10:33 PM

He’s been found…

After taking a long weekend to himself, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford finally made contact with his office today, The State newspaper reports.

As we posted a short time ago, the paper reported that neither his office nor the State Law Enforcement Division had been able to reach the governor since he left his mansion in a black sports utility vehicle on Thursday.

Sanford’s office has contacted the governor and told the office of Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer that they now know where he is and that he is fine, according to the State.

“The governor put in a lot of time during this last legislative session, and after the session winds down it’s not uncommon for him to go out of pocket for a few days at a time to clear his head,” Joel Sawyer, the communications director for Sanford’s office, told CBS News. “Before leaving last week, he let staff know his whereabouts and that he’d be difficult to reach. Should any emergencies arise between the times in which he checks in, our staff would obviously be in contact with other state officials as the situation warrants before making any decisions.”

That’s really strange.

Comment #14: DTG in STL  on  06/22  at  11:02 PM

I still call rehab. 

His wife claims she doesn’t know where he is, but is unconcerned.  She’s not telling the press nothing.

He let his staff know, but theyr’e not telling.

He’s difficult to reach.

It’s rehab.

Comment #15: Caren-Sun-blocking Creator of Animorphic Pancakes  on  06/22  at  11:06 PM

I say yoko ono.

Comment #16: Ms Kate  on  06/22  at  11:10 PM

Actually, if that was all he was about, more power to him to go walkabout.

Comment #17: Ms Kate  on  06/22  at  11:14 PM

Our culture has become more and more work obsessed.  Is a freakout over a governor being inaccessible for a few days really so merited?  If a crisis came up presumably the LG could answer the goddamned phones and give orders, or the wife text him a code word for “be available now”!

Comment #18: seeker6079  on  06/22  at  11:36 PM

Rehab possible

Dead hooker possible

Wide-stance in rest stop possible

Sister wife having a meltdown at the polygamous family compound possible

Not possible: clearing his head

Comment #19: Thealogian  on  06/22  at  11:39 PM

He’s a Republican, its got to be sketchy

Comment #20: Thealogian  on  06/22  at  11:39 PM

I wonder what they call it in South Carolina when a wife goes AWOL for a few days?  I bet they don’t call it “clearing her head.”

Comment #21: MadLibrarian  on  06/22  at  11:42 PM

felagund, I think you might live near me.

Comment #22: FashionablyEvil  on  06/22  at  11:47 PM

(Unless Blake’s has a reputation outside midtown atlanta)

Comment #23: FashionablyEvil  on  06/22  at  11:47 PM

Caren, apparently he was “hiking the Appalachian Trail”.

Comment #24: FashionablyEvil  on  06/22  at  11:57 PM

Give the guy a break, he’s on a renewal tour.  Now, while I don’t have the itinerary, I suggest the following possibilities:

The Herbert Hoover School of Economic Theory
The Wax Museum of Incredible World Saving People that Should Have Been Born
The Man/Dinosaur Love Association
The Bubba School of Philosophy
The Teen Girl Purity Institute Beauty Contest

There could be others….

Comment #25: Magis  on  06/23  at  12:06 AM

Fashionably Evil, I thought that you were joking ... naked hiking day was this weekend!

“marriage is between a man and a ... PENIS! ... under God ...

Comment #26: Ms Kate  on  06/23  at  12:06 AM

Ms Kate, that’s too perfect.  You just can’t make these “coincidences” up!

Comment #27: FashionablyEvil  on  06/23  at  12:14 AM

I bet he’s going down to Guatemala for some good, old-fashioned, completely unregulated gender-reassignment surgery.

Comment #28: Dan, Grand High Emperor of Bananas Foster  on  06/23  at  12:47 AM

very funny, Mike smile

Comment #29: denelian  on  06/23  at  01:32 AM

The Wax Museum of Incredible World Saving People that Should Have Been Born

Isn’t that in the new wing at the Fenchurch Institute?

Comment #30: BrianX  on  06/23  at  02:00 AM

Oh come on!  The guy is a dirt bag and a hypocrit and certainly needs to be called on that, but taking a weekend out in the middle of this shitstorm isn’t exactly criminal behaviour.  All this snearing and pointing and laughing just seems mean-spirited.

Comment #31: Katherine  on  06/23  at  06:38 AM

Wait…..

He went away to write something and now he was hiking? Way to multi-task.

Comment #32: Lymis  on  06/23  at  08:05 AM

Thank you for your concern, Katherine.

Comment #33: Ms Kate  on  06/23  at  08:25 AM

“He’s just out of town. Nothing to worry about. He’s writing. No, wait, I mean he’s hiking. Nothing unseemly going on, I promise.”

If it’s rehab, I’ll betcha a tenner it’s paid for by gummint money. If it’s sex, it’s with either a man or a woman he’s not married to.

Comment #34: Scott  on  06/23  at  08:55 AM

I wonder what they call it in South Carolina when a wife goes AWOL for a few days?

Attempted escape.  South Carolina Penal Code SECTION 24-3-20.

Comment #35: seeker6079  on  06/23  at  09:09 AM

Fashionably Evil, I live on North Ave and Peachtree. But I lived on 8th and Myrtle for years.

Comment #36: felagund  on  06/23  at  09:24 AM

Rehab.

His wife claims she doesn’t know where he is, but also is not concerned.

It’s rehab.


They tried to make me go to Rehab
I said
No
No
No!

Comment #37: Uhura, The Black Gurl  on  06/23  at  09:47 AM

“hiking the Appalachian Trail”

So that’s what the kids are calling it these days.

Comment #38: Viceroy Matt  on  06/23  at  10:05 AM

Hiking the trail?  Seriously?  It’s 95 degrees out and he decided to go for a little hike!  If he really is I have to wonder how many boy scouts he has with him.

Comment #39: aftercancer  on  06/23  at  10:24 AM

If it’s rehab, I’ll betcha a tenner it’s paid for by gummint money.

As it should be for all citizens needing rehab.

Comment #40: Ms Kate  on  06/23  at  10:42 AM

Fegalund, currently I’m at 10th and Atlantic (okay, technically that’s Home Park, but I’m in denial).

Comment #41: FashionablyEvil  on  06/23  at  10:59 AM

Just this once I’m going to take <strike>complete asshole</strike> Governor Sanford’s side.  I don’t like the idea of a society where spending some time alone is considered weird enough to write headlines about.

And besides.  If he were my governor, I’d want him as far from his official policymaking duties as possible.  He’ll do less damage that way.

Comment #42: rufustfyrfly  on  06/23  at  11:12 AM

taking a weekend out in the middle of this shitstorm isn’t exactly criminal behaviour.  All this snearing and pointing and laughing just seems mean-spirited.

Sorry Katherine, but he didn’t take a wekend off.  He disappeared and was unreachable from Thursday until…well we don’t know until when because contrary what pavlov’s dogs in the msm have been telling you, it is a fact that as of this morning, no one has yet claimed to have been in touch with governor sanford.  Not the LT governor, not his staff, and not his wife. 

Do you get that he is being groomed by the RNC as a presidential candidate?  That his refusal of stimulus dollars for his state was an opening salvo to put him among the front runners for the Republican nominiation for President of the United States in 2012?  His refusal of said stimulus money would have vistited terrible suffering on the residents of S Carolina?  Children and the poorest who are already suffering?  Some may have died?  And that Sanford consigned them to that fate for political expedience?

The man has disappeared for what is now five days and counting.  He is unreachable by both his staff and his family.  He ditched his own kids for Father’s Day.  Is it “mean” to make a big deal out of it?  Too bad.  That’s politics.  Politics is mean.  You know what’s meaner?  Allowing a shitbag motherfucker like Sandford to ascend to the Presidency where he can visit his special brand of starvation and suffering on all of the American people rather than just the people of S. Carolina.  And you don’t want that to happen.  So you crush the motherfucker like a bug the second, the fucking second, he gives you the opening to do so.

And you make sure he never gets up again.

Comment #43: Lady Vader  on  06/23  at  11:13 AM

I don’t like the idea of a society where spending some time alone is considered weird enough to write headlines about.

It’s not the spending time alone that’s weird.  It’s the running off for 5 days when you’re the chief executive of a state without telling anyone where you’re going or making any arrangements for someone to run things in your stead.

Comment #44: FashionablyEvil  on  06/23  at  11:41 AM

I’m reserving my jokes for until I know he’s not dead.  Because then they wouldn’t be funny.  When/if he reappears all bets are off.

His wife “not being concerned” about her husband, a public figure whose salary is paid with tax dollars, going AWOL concerns me.  Denial? Not having an explanation, even if it’s a lie, is fishy.  If it were rehab or clearing his head (mental hospital or a hiking trail) his handlers/staff would have made up a plausible cover story right away (“the Senator is indisposed due to a non life-threatening medical condition but is expected to make a full recovery. Move along nothing to see here.”). That’s what handlers/staff are paid to do, but they’ve got nothing. It’s very weird.

Comment #45: The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker  on  06/23  at  11:45 AM

So you crush the motherfucker like a bug the second, the fucking second, he gives you the opening to do so.

Preach it.

Comment #46: vladimir  on  06/23  at  11:45 AM

It’s not the spending time alone that’s weird.  It’s the running off for 5 days when you’re the chief executive of a state without telling anyone where you’re going or making any arrangements for someone to run things in your stead.

This.  We’re talking about a guy who’s in charge of a state of over 4 million people who refused to cede authority to his lieutenant governor while incommunicado.

If he’d said, “Okay, I’m going to be away for a few days and you’re probably not going to be able to reach me so, Andre, you’re in charge,” there wouldn’t be a story.  It’s the fact that they can’t find the guy who’s supposed to be running the state that makes it a big deal.

Imagine for a minute telling your boss that you were going to go away for a few days, didn’t know when you were going to be back, weren’t going to be able to be reached while you were there, but, no, you wouldn’t give him any details of any projects of yours that might need tending to while you were gone.  Good luck with that.

Comment #47: Mnemosyne  on  06/23  at  12:02 PM

I think he went out for a pack of cigarettes ... or a ride.

Comment #48: Ms Kate  on  06/23  at  12:08 PM

Chill out, everyone.  The Governor’s mansion probably just ran out of moonshine, and the Governor had to head out to the woods to collect from his stills.  And he probably sampled an unusually strong batch and laid down for a few days.

I’m surprised it doesn’t happen to more governors, frankly.

Comment #49: Pesto  on  06/23  at  12:11 PM

“Conferring with his alien masters” sounds good.  I’ll go with that.

What Caton said about crushing like a bug.

Comment #50: seeker6079  on  06/23  at  12:11 PM

Oh, and Mnemosyne?  Not every state even has a lieutennant governor.  Oregon doesn’t.

Comment #51: Ms Kate  on  06/23  at  12:13 PM

I’m hoping he did an Agatha Christie.  That would be at least something interesting.

Comment #52: Vail  on  06/23  at  12:17 PM

Bill Barilko dissapeared that summer
(he was on a fishing trip)
The last goal he ever scored won the Leafs the cup.

They didn’t win another ‘til 1962
The year he was discovered

Comment #53: Ms Kate  on  06/23  at  12:40 PM

Ooooh!

Bonus points for the ‘Hip and Leafs reference, Ms. Kate!

Comment #54: seeker6079  on  06/23  at  12:51 PM

FashionablyEvil and felagund, the governor found out karaoke Tuesday had been canceled and went back home.

Comment #55: G Porgey  on  06/23  at  01:15 PM

I told Ilocano Avenger that I’d be happy if Ahnuld could keep out of the newspapers for as many days, seeing as he can’t run for President in the foreseeable future.

Comment #56: Dark Avenger Guardian Chow Mein  on  06/23  at  01:58 PM

There’s nothing to see here.  Everything was above board.  Why, there’s even video of Sanford and his assistant leaving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMXiXQ8uRoo

Comment #57: seeker6079  on  06/23  at  02:22 PM

Thank you for your concern, Katherine. 

Um, Ms Kate, what? Are you accusing me of being a concern troll?  I don’t comment often sure, but that’s totally unjustified.

Comment #58: Katherine  on  06/23  at  03:24 PM

That’s what handlers/staff are paid to do, but they’ve got nothing. It’s very weird.

If he was just going to hike the Trail, why was it a secret?  Why wouldn’t he just tell his staff?  Simply taking the time and going incommunicado is ‘mavericky’ enough.

Taking off without letting anyone know is crazy.  Literally crazy behavior.  Or just dictator-level nonsense.

The man has a job.  He has responsibilities.  He has rights.  Running away isn’t excercising any of them.

Comment #59: Caren-Sun-blocking Creator of Animorphic Pancakes  on  06/23  at  04:30 PM

Now, now, Caren.  We on the left are the only irresponsible people, remember?

Now.  If we could only just get Lieberman and Feinstein to run away we’d be off to the races.

Comment #60: seeker6079  on  06/23  at  04:48 PM

Sanford is so very stupid and stubborn that the far-right loony-tunes who make up SC’s legislature—his natural allies, you would think, in this deep-red state, and who are pretty stupid and stubborn themselves—simply can’t work with him.

He’s attempted to veto nearly every bill that crosses his desk lately—and been overruled. You all already know about his shenanigans with the stimulus money for education and other essential state services.

He’s either just being petty and jerky and a little nuts… reacting like the emotionally immature and egomaniacal man he his… or he’s being that, AND it’s some sort of dumb-ass political gambit—an attempt to stall execution of new policies he doesn’t like by simply walking away from his job.

I wouldn’t put the latter past him.

Comment #61: wapsie  on  06/23  at  05:05 PM

That’s It!  HE WENT GALT!

Comment #62: Ms Kate  on  06/23  at  05:16 PM

Ms Kate FTW

Comment #63: Caren-Sun-blocking Creator of Animorphic Pancakes  on  06/23  at  05:21 PM

I’m just saying, if there are any other wingnut government officials out there who want to take some time off from screwing over our country to go on your own three hour tours, I applaud your decision.

Oh, and Ms Kate?  You just won the internet.

Comment #64: rufustfyrfly  on  06/23  at  06:30 PM

Oh, and Mnemosyne?  Not every state even has a lieutennant governor.  Oregon doesn’t.

South Carolina does, which part of the reason people are pissed off.  Sanford has a history of going out of town—or, in one instance, going to basic training—and not transferring authority to the lieutenant governor.  Reading the story might have been helpful in this instance.

Comment #65: Mnemosyne  on  06/23  at  10:45 PM

I did read the story - I was merely pointing out that there are larger states than SC where the “transfer of power” happens only under extreme circumstances, and they seem to get along just fine without any official transfer of power.  It isn’t like anybody has to hold the wheel.

Comment #66: Ms Kate  on  06/23  at  11:03 PM

I just hope the Weekly South Carolina Republican Ass Clown bulletins keep coming.  A few more racist facebook posts, Michael Phelps bong-hit threats, craigslist lawsuits, strolls down the Appalachian trail, and rejections of federal stimulus money (with accompanying lawsuits) will help tip the balance… we did have a Democratic governor not too long ago, things might just be swinging back.

Comment #67: vyreque  on  06/23  at  11:23 PM

It isn’t like anybody has to hold the wheel.

Well, yes. Does stuff stop flowing into the IN box because the governor has left the state? 

We used to have problems in CA because we had cases where the Governor was D, and the Lt. Gov was R, and when Gov D left the state, Lt. Gov R would be filling in, and in one case made an appointment that Gov D wouldn’t have done if he’d been in the state.

Comment #68: Dark Avenger Guardian Chow Mein  on  06/23  at  11:45 PM

You know, it’s a sad statement on the American view of mental health care that people would have to sneak off to go to rehab.  Also, if you can go through successful rehab in just a “long weekend” I’d like to see the facility!

He got sucked into World of Warcraft, you know, “Blowing Hodir’s Horn” “Polishing the Helm” “Thrusting Hodir’s Spear”.  Perfectly manly heterosexual behavior.

Comment #69: Godless Heathen  on  06/24  at  05:19 AM

“You know, it’s a sad statement on the American view of mental health care that people would have to sneak off to go to rehab.  Also, if you can go through successful rehab in just a “long weekend” I’d like to see the facility!”

It is. In Norway a few years ago the prime minister Bondevik admitted being depresssed. He was absent three weeks, turning things over to his deputy. Things wokred out for him, including the politics.
This whole episode remindes me of that. But then Bondevik was honest and it happend in another country.

Comment #70: _IM_  on  06/24  at  06:03 AM
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