I'm sure Gov. Sanford was singing this from time to time until he got caught. Perhaps not.
And most people are opting to post the song about Maria from West Side Story.
Showing posts with label Governor Mark Sanford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Governor Mark Sanford. Show all posts
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Hacking Accountability
For those that even bother to read or listen to Michelle Malkin - I must admit that she is one of my guilty pleasures. There's something bizarrely fascinating about watching and reading a woman who seems on the verge of spontaneous combustion on a daily basis - you might remember her purse-lipped outrage at Sarah Palin's personal email account being "hacked".
But now there's news that soon to be former Governor Mark Sanford ( no, he's not a Democrat, no matter what the Fox"News" chyron might tell you ) had his emails to and from his Argentine love-toy intercepted. Copies of those emails were given to South Carolina's State paper and subsequently published.
This portion of the story gets a tad more interesting from here.
The State didn't just happen upon these emails over the last week or even month. They've had them since December. In fact, several reporters were sent copies of the emails.
I'm inclined to agree with Anonymous Liberal - why aren't people asking questions about how the emails got to where they are?
If Sanford had used his government email account, wouldn't there have been record of every correspondance? If so, sending dirty notes to your mistress in South America probably wouldn't be the best thing to do. Of course, we are talking about the man that skipped out on his kids on Father's Day, didn't tell anyone where he was going, had his staff lie to everyone about it, and then - upon getting caught - essentially asked the media to leave him alone. Not the brightest crayon in the box, so there's not telling what he used his government account for.
However, if these emails were generated using a personal account, then someone must have been looking for something to pin on the Governor. His wife, perhaps? She did know of the affair prior to Sanford's return. Maybe she was trying to figure out who it was. The likelihood that it was a political opponent is valid. Too many speculations really.
Back to Michelle Malkin.
She railed continuously against Gawker and the alleged "hacker" until the issue was beyond dead.
Whereas Palin's account was "hacked" and it was discovered that she was using a personal account to conduct "business" - which is a big no-no - Sanford's emailing was used in a shody attempt to conceal his extra-marital activities. The one unifying factor is that in both cases, someone "hacked" the account and distributed information that the owner probably didn't want coming out in the first place.
Where is Malkin's fist-clinching outrage now? Sanford was part of her crowd: Conservative, Anti-Stimulus, Family Values, pretty much anti-Obama on everything.
She sings a new tune now:
I'll give her the "bastard" point, but that's just the easy route to take. Be as loud as you can in order to remove all trace of your support of a man that got caught. I believe the phrase she uses in "under the bus".
I'm sure that Malkin has her own particular point of view on what her marriage means, what her relationship with her husband and children are as it relates to her career. But if she is going to lambast someone for "hacking" Palin's account, shouldn't she express that same concern over the "hacking" of Sanford's account?
It's a rather interesting think to consider, but perhaps only to me. Who knows.
The only other thing that comes to mind in relation to this is why sit on the emails for so long? Sanford's behavior of late, and his turn in the political spotlight, suggest that he wasn't concerned about being caught. His trip to Argentina was a very bold move, but perhaps that wasn't anything more than desperation.
I'm sure there will be more to this story.
But now there's news that soon to be former Governor Mark Sanford ( no, he's not a Democrat, no matter what the Fox"News" chyron might tell you ) had his emails to and from his Argentine love-toy intercepted. Copies of those emails were given to South Carolina's State paper and subsequently published.
This portion of the story gets a tad more interesting from here.
The State didn't just happen upon these emails over the last week or even month. They've had them since December. In fact, several reporters were sent copies of the emails.
I'm inclined to agree with Anonymous Liberal - why aren't people asking questions about how the emails got to where they are?
But how would someone have obtained these emails? These were highly personal emails between Sanford and his Argentine mistress, neither of whom is likely to have wanted them published. And if it wasn't one of them, that really only leaves two possibilities: unauthorized access or official interception. The latter is obviously the most troubling possibility, and I hope that someone looks in to this further, if for no other reason than to rule that out.
It's not clear from the story whether Sanford was using a personal web-based email account (like gmail or yahoo) or his official state account. If the former, then I suppose just about anyone determined enough could have hacked into his account by guessing his password, the same way someone broke into Sarah Palin's personal email account during last Fall's presidential campaign. If it was a state account, then there probably needs to be an official investigation.
If Sanford had used his government email account, wouldn't there have been record of every correspondance? If so, sending dirty notes to your mistress in South America probably wouldn't be the best thing to do. Of course, we are talking about the man that skipped out on his kids on Father's Day, didn't tell anyone where he was going, had his staff lie to everyone about it, and then - upon getting caught - essentially asked the media to leave him alone. Not the brightest crayon in the box, so there's not telling what he used his government account for.
However, if these emails were generated using a personal account, then someone must have been looking for something to pin on the Governor. His wife, perhaps? She did know of the affair prior to Sanford's return. Maybe she was trying to figure out who it was. The likelihood that it was a political opponent is valid. Too many speculations really.
Back to Michelle Malkin.
She railed continuously against Gawker and the alleged "hacker" until the issue was beyond dead.
Whereas Palin's account was "hacked" and it was discovered that she was using a personal account to conduct "business" - which is a big no-no - Sanford's emailing was used in a shody attempt to conceal his extra-marital activities. The one unifying factor is that in both cases, someone "hacked" the account and distributed information that the owner probably didn't want coming out in the first place.
Where is Malkin's fist-clinching outrage now? Sanford was part of her crowd: Conservative, Anti-Stimulus, Family Values, pretty much anti-Obama on everything.
She sings a new tune now:
It’s the only fitting word for a man who abandons his wife and four sons on Father’s Day weekend to indulge his “overdrive” on an Argentinian fling.
Mark Sanford: Bastard.
I'll give her the "bastard" point, but that's just the easy route to take. Be as loud as you can in order to remove all trace of your support of a man that got caught. I believe the phrase she uses in "under the bus".
I'm sure that Malkin has her own particular point of view on what her marriage means, what her relationship with her husband and children are as it relates to her career. But if she is going to lambast someone for "hacking" Palin's account, shouldn't she express that same concern over the "hacking" of Sanford's account?
It's a rather interesting think to consider, but perhaps only to me. Who knows.
The only other thing that comes to mind in relation to this is why sit on the emails for so long? Sanford's behavior of late, and his turn in the political spotlight, suggest that he wasn't concerned about being caught. His trip to Argentina was a very bold move, but perhaps that wasn't anything more than desperation.
I'm sure there will be more to this story.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Sanctity Of Marriage
You knew it was coming.
Yeah, Mark, the media are just going to drop this now that you are the second GOP member in less than a month to admit to an affair.
For all this talk about protecting marriage from "the gays", seems like marriage should be protected from Republicans.
And, like all Republicans who are overtly eager to get let their voices be heard when someone on the opposite side of the aisle gets caught, Sanford had some words to say about Bill Clinton and Congressman Bob Livington. I'm sure those words are haunting him right now.
Sanford on Livingston, CNN, 12/18/98
Sanford on how the GOP reacts to affairs, New York Post, 12/20/98
Sanford on Clinton, The Post and Courier, 9/12/98
Sanford on Clinton, CNN, 2/16/99
And as if on cue, the chyron on Fox"News" during the press conference had something interesting to say about Sanford.
More from Think Progress.
Yeah, Mark, the media are just going to drop this now that you are the second GOP member in less than a month to admit to an affair.
For all this talk about protecting marriage from "the gays", seems like marriage should be protected from Republicans.
And, like all Republicans who are overtly eager to get let their voices be heard when someone on the opposite side of the aisle gets caught, Sanford had some words to say about Bill Clinton and Congressman Bob Livington. I'm sure those words are haunting him right now.
The bottom line, though, is I am sure there will be a lot of legalistic explanations pointing out that the president lied under oath. His situation was not under oath. The bottom line, though, is he still lied. He lied under a different oath, and that is the oath to his wife. So it’s got to be taken very, very seriously
Sanford on Livingston, CNN, 12/18/98
We ought to ask questions…rather than circle the wagons for one of our tribe.
Sanford on how the GOP reacts to affairs, New York Post, 12/20/98
I think it would be much better for the country and for him personally (to resign). I come from the business side. If you had a chairman or president in the business world facing these allegations, he’d be gone.
Sanford on Clinton, The Post and Courier, 9/12/98
The issue of lying is probably the biggest harm, if you will, to the system of Democratic government, representatives government, because it undermines trust. And if you undermine trust in our system, you undermine everything.
Sanford on Clinton, CNN, 2/16/99
And as if on cue, the chyron on Fox"News" during the press conference had something interesting to say about Sanford.
More from Think Progress.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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 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:
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:
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?
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?
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