Mr Happy and the Marathon Man

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is about to lose it all. His house, his political career, his marriage.

Why? Because he has been having an affair. BIG DEAL.

In France, they would give him a medal for it. I'm tempted to go on a rant about how the Republicans tried to run Bill Clinton out of the White House (the same White House where Republican President W.G. Harding was shtupping a girl 1/4th his age), even though membership in the Republican party is a known risk factor for extra-marital whoopie, but I'll stay on topic:

I don't care if he had an affair. I don't care if Rudy Giuliani left his wife, and had to live in a spare room at his gay friends' house. What I care about is how they vote on the issues. I care about Rudy's nasty, snide barbs that he threw at Obama when he spoke at the Republican convention in 2008. Peoples' (including politicians'!) sex lives have nothing to do with how to run a city, county, state, or federal government.

Here's a virtuous president who will never cheat on his wife: G.W. Bush. He might start a war in which tens of thousands of innocent civilians get killed, but he won't cheat on his wife.

Americans need to grow up, when it comes to sex. The same country that routinely drums politicians out of office for cheating on their wives is the world's net exporter of pornography. This is the country that invented Viagra, for cryin' out loud. I can't watch TV at night without being subjected to numerous commercials for various products that are guaranteed to turn Mr Happy into Mr Enormous, or the Marathon Man. These various "make it bigger and longer-lasting" commercials are interspersed with commercials in which beautiful young women sell various products like cell phones, soap, or cars.

I have two small children. I am seriously thinking of getting rid of the TV when they start elementary school.

I don't think it's a good thing that Governor Sanford is having an affair, but I also don't know any of the details. Is he a narcissistic politician who thinks that the rules don't apply to him? Is his wife a shrill harpy? I don't know. Neither do you.

The stupid thing in all of this is the American political machine creates these events. Sanford had to fly off to Argentina to sleep with his girlfriend, because that's how far away he needed to be, to get away from reporters. In Britain or Germany, a politician of his rank would drive an hour to his cottage by the lake, while the reporters would be digging into his business connections. When Mitterand died, his wife and his girlfriend sat next to each other at the funeral. Don't believe me? Here, take a look: http://www.parlerparis.com/issues/pparis25-1-06.html .