CNN

Ah! Now I see the (so-called) "conservative" come-back strategy - supply America with a steady stream of soap opera tales in hope that we will become beholden to them for melodramatic pablum!

Hey, if B I L L C L I N T O N could continue as President of the United States when he did FAR WORSE things than Gov. Sanford (Paula Jones, Jennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinski – and that's only the ones we KNOW about!), then leave it alone!

This is a PRIVATE matter between Sanford and his wife. It's nobody else's business.

MYOB...MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

And that goes DOUBLE for the PRESS!

Sanford and Palin have their shortcomings, for sure. But the real nitwits are the Republican/Conservative leaders who back such weak candidates in the first place, apparently without much vetting.

Government is serious business, folks. It affects all of us, some in life-and-death ways. When a person lies to his "lawfully" wedded mate and 4 kids like some 4th grader about an affair , or another believes in the "end of days" while looking to get their hands on the nuke keys, you have to question their capacity to make rash decisions in office.

It's too bad reasonableness is gone from our political calculations.

Maybe he should start dating Sarah Palin. I hear she is availvable and cruisin the lower 48.

John is right.
If I thought for a moment that Mark Sanford could be happy and true to his wife and love her I would cheer his effort. But i don't. I think the only reason Mark is going back is because of public pressure. Maybe Jenny is OK with that? She already gave him a choice 5 months ago and he broke his word.. again and again. He says this other woman is his soul mate and has proclaimed his love for her to the world like a man who has found God... it's clearly not for Jenny that he is back. I personally could not endure knowing my mate was with me by public force and not honest will. How creepy.

Why won't Mark Sanford resign...especially when he called for Clinton to do so...then voted as a congressman to impeach him? This DO AS I SAY...NOT AS I DO hypocrisy is very damaging to the GOP. Now with the the inexplicable and bizarre resignation of Sarah Palin, it seems that the Republican party is in MELTDOWN mode. GOP hypocrites like John McCain, Newt Gingrich, and Rudy Guiliani all cheated on their first wives then married their mistresses. Guess the Republican Adulterers Trio (RAT...for short) will need to change their name as they add Sanford and John Ensign to their membership. Why is it that Republicans want Democrats to quit when caught...yet continue to stubbornly cling to power when the scandal is theirs? Larry Craig finished his term as a senator even after pleading guilty to gay sex solicitation. David Vitter enjoyed the regular company of D.C.prostitutes and voted to impeach Clinton too. He remains in the U.S. Senate today... Say what you want about the Dems...they are no saints...but they do not preach social values...family values...only to ignore them. Sanford abandoned his responsibilities as governor by disappearing for 5 days...lying to his staff about hiking the Appalachian Trail. If he refuses to resign, the South Carolina legislature should move forward on impeachment for dereliction of duty. Bill Clinton had a brief dalliance with a White House intern...but he NEVER walked away from his job...and told no one!

@VON BISMARK,Vienna. July 4th, 2009 5:09 pm ET

Is any THOU SHALT NOT more imperative than the other?

----------------------------–

Yes...how about these two

THO SHALL NOT push religious views on others
and
THO SHALL NOT mix religion and politics

I agree Ms. Sanford's most recent statement was disappointing, but I would hardly call it dumb.

Politically, she is the only thing can have save him now, and she realized it.

Her public message subtly implied: "Well, South Carolina, if I can forgive him, why can't you?"

She could have killed his political career. She didn't. I don't believe this is ultimately for the good of anyone–herself, the state, especially the children–but if her goal is to keep him in office, she's done quite well.

This is the only plausible reason she would feel compelled to update the world at large on her state of forgiveness. It was a smart move. A sad move, but a smart one nonetheless.

I hope he appreciates her. Okay, I know he doesn't, but apparently he owes her getting into office at all and he most surely owes her retaining it.

The Charleston Post and Courier reports that Mark Sanford, as a congressman, called on Clinton to resign when his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was revealed. Sanford is now Gov. Sanford. And, as just about everyone knows by now, he confessed today that he had an affair with a “dear, dear friend” in Argentina.

But back in 1998, according to the Post and Courier, he said of Clinton, “Very damaging stuff. This one’s pretty cut and dried.” Calling the overall situation messy, he added: “I think it would be much better for the country and for him personally [to resign]."

John Ensign had similar thoughts back then. Ensign is now Nevada’s junior senator. As the Ticket reported, Ensign's popularity slumped after he admitted that he had an affair with a former staffer.

In 1998 he served in Congress and had this to say to the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "The honorable thing for him to do is to resign and not put the country through this."

No word from Sanford or Ensign on whether either man plans to resign.

What are they waiting for?

"The visit marked the first time Sanford has seen his wife in person since he revealed to the Associated Press that his mistress is a “soul mate” and that he had “crossed lines” with other women."

Now...let me get this straight. He confessed his affairs to the press BEFORE he met with his wife in person to discuss the crisis in their marriage!? Clearly he has placed his desire to save his public image above his desire to save his family.....once again.

I now believe Mark and his wife deserve each other. They had a chance to both find happiness but have chosen to say in the sink hole. Let them drown in their stagnate waters.

Folks, I do believe Jenny is alot smarter than we think. She, in my opinion, is calculating, manipulative and yes, spiteful. She is killing Mark Sanford with kindness – as her latest press release shows.

She speaks of and to him as one would a child.

Is it possible that he has so little control over his family, that he displays defiance and acts like at rebel rowser in his professional life?

Why should anyone resign, just because they have an affair. It is really none of anyones business.

Is he bringing Palin with him now that she resigned can they have their affiar in the open?

Is any THOU SHALT NOT more imperative than the other?

Which trail has he been "hiking" now???

His transgressions aside, with Palin’s way of thinking, here’s another lame duck (since he can’t run again) who should step down instead of “business as usual”, plodding along, wasting taxpayer money. Then he can be South Carolina’s greatest gift to the country.

At first I had respect for Jenny Sanford but now I realize that she's just like the other dumb women that 'stand by their man' when they cheat on them. The disgusting part of this is that the Republicans CLAIM to be holier than the rest of us until they're exposed for who they really are. Note to Jenny: You can still forgive him AND you can dump him too.

Wasn't Mark Sanford calling for Bill Clinton to resign over his affair with Monica Lewinski?

Well? What ever happened to practicing what you preach?

Wasn't Mark Sanford calling for Bill Clinton to resign over his affair with Monica Lewinski?

Well?

He needs to resign now.
She needs to kick his butt to the curb now.

Dear Mrs. Jenny,

Forgiveness is the right thing to do. But you need to think long and hard before accepting this pool of puke back so soon. I believe in forgiveness because it helps expedite the healing process of the victim (Jenny) and the offender (Mark). But your husband and you need "time alone" to comprehend all the elements that led to this disaster, and to get a deeper appreciation of the pathetic state of this public catastrophe.

I'm sure they had lots to talk about!This guy sure has a pair of big ones.He should step down and step down now!

As a native South Carolinian, I am sickend by the whole Sanford scandal. I am glad to be living elsewhere right now. While the unemployment in SC is well into double digits. Sanford has nothing better to do than jet off for a trist with his "soul mate," unless it is to refuse Federal stimulus money.

How terrribly sad!

GPC in Lubbock

I think he needs help bad. I did not like the hypocrisy of him blasting President Clinton. But either he is having a breakdown or has actually met his soulmate. Does his wife think it is a happy home with daddy yearning for someone else being miserable? Or, visiting happy daddy? I just wonder what is the Mrs. getting out of this?

Jenny would do well to dump this pathetic whining loser.

he makes most of us want to puke

What loosers they belong to each other after saying someone else is "his soul mate " she must be afraid of loosing her castle .
SICK

The outright nerve of some people is amazing. Sanford has talked about how his garbage fits into "Gods plan." Rush Limbaugh excuses his actions because of the effect Obama has had on him. The Republicans have come out and said that they would support him keeping his position as Governor if he kisses and makes up with his wife, and his wife is going to forgive his actions unconditionally.

Are these people all taking powerful medications? Seriously... you could not make this stuff up.

People can say what they might put its solely up to his wife to take him back. He said he is trying to fall back in love with his wife well this is a start.

Hold your heard up, do the job you know you can do...and take things one day at a time. God's speed to you.

You sit and hide in the White=House, like Obama...

That's how you cheer on your troops.

Dispise the man and his politics, but had a feeling, when he kept confessing, over and olver again, in various ways, that he was ill, needed assistance, and that his emotional growth stopped a long time ago. He sounded like a love sick teenager, not the Chief Executive of one State of the United States of America. What on God's Green Earth is wrong with these Republicans ?