Schadenfreude…..making me feel glad that I’m not you

I don’t generally feel the need to gloat in my schadenfreude, but I have got to take a moment to reflect on the current ridiculousness of the Republican Party leadership in the last week. First we get the public admission of infidelity by Senator John Ensign, made most ridiculous by his continuous fights against gay rights for interfering with “family values.” That story has so many more levels, including his hiring of his mistresses’ son to his staff and the admission itself prompted by a leak that was never actually leaked.

But today, today we finally get to know where South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has been for the last week. He was in Argentina, with his “dear dear friend,” with whom he apparently has been having an affair for the last year. This story, if you haven’t been keeping up, began when Sanford’s office said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, but that they couldn’t get in contact with him. This weekend just happened to be “hike naked” weekend, making the story that much more complex. But now we know that we have an admission of infidelity that spans international boarders. Reports are still new on this, so I’m sure there will be far more details to come.

What is going on in the minds of these leaders? Do you get to a point with your ego that you think you just aren’t going to get caught? That you can espouse (pun intended) right wing rhetoric and conservative nonsense and not get caught in your hypocrisy? The inner dynamics of a relationship, especially that between spouses, is intensely complex. I think that infidelity in a relationship is a very personal situation that shouldn’t be dragged out in public- unless you are a public figure who relies on your reputation and moral standings to back up your actions. And if you’re running away to Argentina, leaving an entire state without governing leadership, you’d better have a better excuse than infidelity.