This week’s developments concerning Governor Mark Sanford prove the old saying, “Give a man enough rope and he’ll hang himself.” Just when I thought Sanford had skated away from being forced to resign or even being subjected to a SLED investigation, he hosts a visit by the Associated Press and reopens the case against his continued tenure as South Carolina’s governor. In a long, emotional interview Sanford opened up about other visits with his Argentinean girl friend and discussed his flirtations with other women as well. Most damming and hurtful of all were his continued defense of his affair, “This was a whole lot more than a simple affair; this was a love story, a forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day.” Sanford compounded the pain of that confession by saying, he was “trying to fall back in love with his wife.” How nice of him. For those men who aren’t enlightened enough to understand the impact of these statements let me spell it out for you; casual sex with another woman might be overlooked but when a married man speaks of loving the other woman and dares to call his mistress his “soul-mate” the marriage is officially over. Jenny Sanford would be a fool to take his worthless, hurtful ass back now and there are no indications that Jenny is that foolish. She’s certainly been treated like a fool by her husband in the past but those days are over.

The Greenville News, countless GOP legislators and tons of others are now calling for Sanford’s resignation, seemingly having had a belly full of Mark’s confessions. What I find fascinating is this unexpected outbreak of sympathy and empathy toward a married politician who committed adultery. One reflects back on the endless persecution of President Clinton with amazement. These same folks, namely Sen. Lindsey Graham who rose to political prominence by demanding then leading the impeachment of Clinton, are now patiently waiting to see if Sanford can reconcile with his wife before condemning his actions or calling for his resignation. The level of Graham’s hypocrisy alone is enough to choke on.

In today’s Greenville News editorial the conservative paper expresses amazement at Sanford’s actions saying they “demonstrate that he is capable of exceptional deception, arrogance and narcissism.” Duh. May I suggest you look up the definition for “narcissistic personality disorder” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-“a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy.” I would say that fits Sanford to a T. His behavior during the last 7 years has emulated his lack of empathy, introspection and recent events speak to his ability to deceive. He seemed to be proud of himself for paying cash for his visits to New York City to meet his mistress bragging that there were no credit card receipts to provide evidence of his illicit activities. Yesterday’s damning interview was a stab through the heart of his wife and their sons, a slap in the face to his ever shrinking group of stalwart supporters and a wink to his girlfriend through the media.

The reaction of the Republican Party to this crisis of leadership is predictable. With the Governor’s race looming before them, potential candidates like Henry McMaster are loath to throw Sanford out of office and give their rival Lt. Governor Andre Bauer time to build a case for his election to the seat. One GOP insider characterized the prospect of Bauer taking over as “a disaster following a catastrophe.” The Greenville News says “South Carolina cannot endure another 18 months of Mark Sanford’s meltdown” I believe the last 7 years have been unbearable and have resulted in an almost complete erosion on political leadership and order, thanks to the narcissism of Sanford and his inability to work in concert with his own political party. If this mess doesn’t make voters in South Carolina understand that we need fresh leadership and a new perspective I can’t imagine what would.