I Read Phil Valentine So You Don't Have To!

Apologies to anyone who does a similar weekly post!

Actually, I only have one real beef with this week's column.  He spends most of it criticizing South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, he who made "hiking the Appalachian Trail" into a new euphemism, but then goes on to criticize the jilted wife:

The real perplexing piece of this Peyton Place puzzle is the written response from Sanford's wife. She quoted scripture and spoke of forgiveness. She offered to take the scoundrel back, were he to change his evil ways.

I don't mean to be cynical, but she's either Hillary Clinton or Mother Teresa. My money is on the former. Mrs. Sanford seems to want to keep the gravy train rolling in spite of the overwhelming evidence that her husband is an incurable cad.

I understand that forgiveness is a Christian virtue, but I don't believe God ever intended for us to be chumps. To me, serial adultery is not something you forgive and forget. Don't get me wrong: I'm certainly not without sin, but I cannot imagine ever trusting a spouse who deceived me in such a nefarious way for more than a year.

Ohh, so she's either an idiot or a greedy bitch.  Thanks for the clarification Phil!

Now I'll admit, if it were me, not only would I have kicked him to the curb, but I would have made sure I got quite the payday with alimony.  He wouldn't be able to go visit his Argentine amante anymore, not because of the public scrutiny, but because he wouldn't be able to afford the plane ticket.

But that's easy for me to say.  I'm not in that position.  

What do you want this woman to do?  She's already been publicly humiliated and had all of her family's dirty laundry aired to the whole country.  Can you honestly blame her for not wanting to add to that while the spotlight is still on all of them, for wanting to shield the kids the best she can under the circumstances?  And whether she leaves him or not, is that really for any of us to judge?

Besides, what "gravy train" is there to stick around for?  Mark Sanford's trip to Argentina cost South Carolina $8,000 and may have contravened official U.S. trade policy.  South Carolina Republicans look ready and willing to throw him under the bus.  He's not going to be governor much longer, whether he steps down of his own volition or gets impeached.  

Really, he's incredibly lucky that two celebrity icons, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, died the day after his confession, since that took the pressure and the media glare off of him for the time being.

I think she may not be Mother Teresa, but certainly not either an idiot or a greedy bitch.  Rather, it seems she's just trying to cope and survive and wait for the storm to die down before making any drastic decisions.

But of course, I don't live in that little black-and-white world.