Hiking Up Some Speculation

Not to put a perverse spin on Gov. Mark Sanford's "hike" that he is allegedly on, but isn't it strange that this man didn't tell anyone where he was going?

The mystery surrounding his whereabouts was solved late Monday when a Sanford spokesman said he was hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

"I apologize for taking so long to send this update, and was waiting to see if (we had) a more definitive idea of what part of the trail he was on before we did so," Sawyer said in an e-mail to reporters.

Even his wife, Jenny, said she did not know where he was, The Associated Press reported, according to The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina.

The man didn't tell his wife and didn't spend father's day with his 4 kids. That must have been some important hiking that had planned.

Macswain @ Leftfield brings up some interesting points in regards to hiking the Appalachian Trail:

As one who has been on numerous backpacking trips - mostly of the 2 or 3 night variety (once even on the Appalachian Trail) - let me tell you that a 4-5 night backpacking trip is a major undertaking that requires planning and preparation. Also, even though I’m not a Governor of any State, I always left my planned itinerary with someone in the event I was needed in case of emergency or got lost.

Certainly, there are a thousand variables that would make this particular situation either complete innoccuous or one of the more shady things that a sitting governor could have done.

Since the governor has been in the spotlight of late in regards to his attempted rejection of Federal Stimulus Money, surely he would realize that such a prolonged absence from the state he is charged with governing ( without prior notice to his staff or family ) would bring about more media attention than he might at first consider.

And what are some things to consider. Was he alone? Is he with another woman - a man - a boy perhaps? Is he really hiking? Did his kids take back his Father's Day presents? How much bugspray and toilet paper did he take? Who knows.

As an aside to this story, the stimulus money that Sanford fought to refuse is going to be going to what is apparently his preferred "walkabout" spot:

In late April, the U.S. Department of Interior said that $750 million in stimulus cash would be spent on more than 750 projects at national parks across the United States. The total included $650,000 for enhancing the Appalachian Trail.

There's also been some talk about Sanford "Going Galt". For those that aren't familiar with the reemergence of the phrase that describes what Ayn Rand's protagonist in "Atlas Shrugged" did, it means that a "wealthy" person removes themselves from society in order to prevent the "poor" from enjoying the things they produce.

To that, I would ask what in the world Sanford has produced that I or anyone could possibly enjoy?