Mark Sanford

Three comments on the Mark Sanford situation.

First, what would you rather have, a governor who cheats on his wife (and family) or a governor who cheats the entire state? Or a senator who, effectively, lies to the entire state?

Second, a note to Democrats: You can't demonize Mark Sanford if you are going to lionize Teddy Kennedy. Both the Kopechnes have now passed away, but for an awfully long time there was a hole in their lives that was the result of what Senator Kennedy did and did not do that night in July almost 40 years ago. And that doesn't even take into consideration others Senator Kennedy may have been involved with.

Third, in spite of what the moralists are saying, Mark Sanford is not a hypocrite because he had an affair. He would be a hypocrite if he criticized others for doing things that he knew he had done or would do without remorse or guilt; if he criticized others for failing to live up to a standard he did not think applied to him or that he did not really try to follow himself. I don’t think that is what Mark Sanford did.

I think Mark Sanford is a sinner, not a hypocrite. Most of us set standards for ourselves, rules we try to live by. And unless those rules are nothing more than "do whatever in the heck I want", we will fail to live up to our standards from time to time. That doesn't mean we are hypocrites. It means we are not perfect. It is better to set a standard, to try to live up to a standard, that we fail to meet from time to time, than to follow some rule that we are always meet because it requires nothing of us.