South Carolina Governor Admits Affair in Argentina, Issues Apology

Jun 29th, 2009 • Posted in: News

Some say private matters don’t impact on state governance, but others allege misuse of public money and say if he were in the private sector, Mark Sanford would be fired

COLUMBIA, S.C.
The spectacle surrounding South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, who last week was pushed into admitting an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman, continues to highlight ethical issues. Among the major angles surfacing last week:

• Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint against Sanford, saying he may have violated South Carolina law by using state resources for trips to Argentina, CBS News reports. Sanford admitted that he took a taxpayer-funded trip to South America last summer, during which he met with his mistress, but says he will reimburse the state. He claimed his travel was part of “an entirely professional and appropriate business development trip,” but he “made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with.”
• If Mark Sanford were in the private sector, he would get a pink slip, according to the Columbia, South Carolina, State, which interviewed a variety of business- management and ethics experts. A chief executive in Sanford’s situation might be able to get away with an affair or disappearing for a few days, ethics-seminar leader Chuck Gallagher told the State, but the combination of events would bring on the ax at most companies. “”When you don’t speak the truth, you find everything around you collapses,” he said. “A board of directors would remove a CEO or executive vice president [for acts similar to Sanford's].”
• What Sanford did is considered more morally wrong than 16 other “ethically iffy” acts put forth in a recent Gallup Poll, writes MSNBC commentator Brian Alexander. According to the poll, 92 percent of respondents say it is morally wrong to have an affair, compared with 88 percent who say cloning a human is wrong. Committing suicide garnered an 80 percent rating of morally unacceptable. Alexander notes that the heavy moral condemnation of adultery seems statistically out of sync with estimates showing about 30 percent of Americans actually do have extramarital affairs.
• Sanford apologized to his cabinet, in front of about two dozen reporters and cameramen. According to the Associated Press, he likened his plight to that of King David, the Biblical ruler who was torn between his urges and his desire to do right. One cabinet member told the AP that everyone has personal issues that they want kept out of the spotlight, and that those issues are not as important as the needs of the people of South Carolina. But some legislators are not so forgiving and continue to call for Sanford’s resignation.

Sources: CBS News, June 26 — AP, June 26 — State, June 26 — MSNBC, June 25.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 1 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 20 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 23 — Related Newsline Commentary, Aug. 11, 2008.

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