You've heard the news about South Carolina governor Mark Sanford's affair. He has resigned from his position as chariman of the Republican Governor's Assoc., but has made no motion toward leaving his gubenatorial office. The question has been raised, "Sould he resign?"

Do we need to ask? Yes! Resign! You have broken the most important and fundamental oath of your life. Why should we trust you with your oath of office? A man who cannot remain loyal to family should not be trusted with much else. Family is the fundamental unit of society, and the most sacrosanct.

This issue gets overlooked in the media, especially by liberals. SC Rep. J. Todd Rutherford (Dem.) gives us the typically family-ignoring view even while calling for resignation. NPR this morning recorded him saying,

I don't think that most people in South Carolina have a problem with the fact that he had an affair. We do believe that is between he and his wife and his kids. But I don't believe that having your staff lie, or your lying about your whereabouts, disappearing, all of that in the aggregate, can be left and we leave him as governor in South Carolina.

So it's no big thing to lie to your wife (under oath mind you!), but to lie to the state is unforgiveable? To abandon your wife is admissible, but to abscond from the state is an issue? This view has it backwards.

Now, of course we expect this from liberals: they have preached that "family affairs should have no bearing on public life" ever since Clinton and Lewinski. This is the party line. Besides, they have loose sexual mores built into their platform. But conservatives and especially Christians should not allow this "private life" exemption nonsense. Conservatives can complain that we get held to a higher standard, but hey, it's a standard we set! Don't whine in defense of the adulterer. Forgive him, sure. But don't trust an adulterer with public office. If he is really repentant, he should resign. He should resign even if he doesn't repent, and conservatives should lead the call for him to do so. Our integrity, our high standard, is as stake.

Sanford is the latest in a growing string of such adulterous offenders. Kick 'em all out. Get faithful young men in those offices who will uphold the integrity and values that conservatives preach.

Oh, and don't buy Rutherford's line that "most people in South Carolina" don't have a problem with the governer having an affair. SC is a strongly religious and conservative state. I'd like to see a poll on that one. This is an example of one more liberal who only sees the state as a reflection of his own image instead of the other way around.

Post Reply | View Replies