Mark Sanford is back, with a headline love story even dead celebrities can’t kill!
The South Carolina Governor’s Statehouse press conference went so well last week that he just gave a long interview to Associated Press.
In a session reporters Tamara Lush and Evan Berland describe as “lengthy and emotional,” Mr. Sanford revealed that his extramarital relationship with Argentine reporter Maria Belen Chapur started eight years ago when he met her at a dance and “counseled her into the night about her failing marriage.”
Good counseling technique, Governor.
The couple met again at the 2004 Republican Convention but the romance “became physical” in 2008, Mr. Sanford claimed. Mrs. Sanford found out about the affair in January and sent the Governor — and a “spiritual advisor” chaperone — to a goodbye dinner meeting with Ms. Chapur. The threesome went to church in the Big Apple, too. Glory be.
Mr. Sanford visited Ms. Chapur again this month in Argentina, taking the scenic route via the Appalachian Trail. Ever the Christian gentleman, Mr. Sanford told reporters he only nailed the lady on five visits.
Oh. That’s okay, then.
See you in church, Governor.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Tags: Mark Sanford, Republicans, sex, South Carolina
NotionsCapital 
June 30, 2009 at 3:54 pm
UPDATES:
1. You’ve got mail — from Governor Sanford.
2. Get thee behind me,
SanfordSatan! “Spiritual adviser: ‘Darkness’ gripped Sanford”June 30, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Well, I hear he has a movie role in Hollywood.
A remake of Man of LaMancha . . .
July 1, 2009 at 10:32 am
christianliberal wrote: I hear he has a movie role in Hollywood. A remake of Man of LaMancha . . .
Would that be a cartoon, in FeetOfClayMation?
The Governor’s desire for a presidential nomination is certainly “The Impossible Dream,” and his emails recall “To Each His Dulcinea”:
To each his Dulcinea
That he alone can name…
To each a secret hiding place
Where he can find the haunting face
To light his secret flame.
On the other hand, while Mr. Sanford seems a good physical match for the lead role, the part requires projection of loyalty and nobility despite poverty and delusion. While the Governor certainly has the last part down, his portrayal of the other traits is less than convincing.
July 1, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Remind me to not consult Sanford’s spiritual counsel if I ever have a real problem. The whole thing is an ugly mess, and one of the messiest things is that Sanford and his wife should have gone to professional marriage counseling and he should be in psychiatric counseling himself. I am a Christian, but I think that praying together and attending marriage enrichment classes with other couples is a lame and superficial response to a very serious problem.
Sanford has shown himself to be a liar and cheat in many ways, and his statement that he still loves his little whore poisons any chance of reconciliation. Jenny should cut him loose so that he and his sleazy little slut can live happily ever after…NOT. Cut your husband loose, Jenny, and let’s see how these two cheating soulmates can fare when they actually realize their dream. Surely God cannot hold anyone to such a broken covenant, so please don’t hang on.
Sanford also should resign because he also can’t be trusted as a politician. When this is all over, whatever the resolution and the repercussions (public humiliation, the damage he did to his sons as well), someone needs to ask him a very important question: Was the slut worth it?
[Edited for length – ml]
July 1, 2009 at 3:58 pm
i don’t think it was darkness that gripped sparky Marky Mark. more likely it was something swathed in some kind of lubricant.
July 1, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Maryann wrote: Remind me to not consult Sanford’s spiritual counsel if I ever have a real problem.
We are not entirely clear who that “spiritual advisor” is, the one who went to church in New York with Governor Sanford and Ms. Chapur. The name of Warren “Cubby” Culbertson has come up, but Mr. Sanford is also a member of a secretive DC Christian group called “The Fellowship” or “C Strreet” (John Ensign is also a habitué). The Fellowship is run by Doug Coe. Time says: “Coe, 76, has been called the ‘stealth Billy Graham.’ He specializes in the spiritual struggles of the powerful.”
Maryann indicates a strong belief that moral responsibility for the Governor’s marital misconduct lies with Ms. Chapur, but she was unmarried when they became close; it was Mr. Sanford who was cheating on his spouse. In any case, as they say in Argentina, it takes two to tango.