Via Talking Points Memo, Mark Sanford was spotted at Atlanta Hartsfield airport. It’s possible that he was just stopping by the food court (which is excellent by airport standards), but I’d bet that he was flying somewhere. It’s also possible he was flying to some other part of the Appalachian trail, though given the proximity of Atlanta to the beginning of the trail, that seems unlikely.
But the real point of this post is to point out that we were talking about the metaphorical possibilities of the phrase “hiking the Appalachian trail” before TPM was.
Napoleon
I always take a plane when I hike. Its faster and I don’t wear out my boots nearly as quickly.
dmsilev
So, how many semi-official explanations have we had so far? There’s “need to spend more time away from my family”, “Gone
Galthiking”, “Had some extra Delta miles that were about to expire”. What have I missed?-dms
Deborah
I bet that a staff member who has a pretty good idea where his boss has been made up the “on the AT” thing thinking it sounded better than no one having any clue where he’d gone, but not being concerned at all about his safety. (It emerged that they discovered the AT thing without actually speaking to the gov, to the misled Lieutenant Gov’s vocal irritation on NPR this evening.)
The LG has tossed him over and is preparing to assume office (best case) or look smirkily at the much diminished Sanford whenever they meet (worst case). And his wife is gloriously refusing to play along….I hope she lets him do the press conference by himself. I’m convinced the teary wife standing supportively in the background is to try and tone down reporters’ questions.
Jon H
Didn’t George Carlin once mention a euphemism about an old dirt road?
Comrade Stuck
I see now where this story is headed.
Spent my days with a woman unkind,
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine
MikeJ
You always need to notify the airline in advance if you want either the kosher or the gorp meal.
Johnny Pez
My prediction: we will discover that Sanford has fled the country with that pile of cash Anne Laurie mentioned.
maya
At least he had the good sense not to take a flying hike anywhere near the Pacific Crest Trail. It goes through some of them blue states where anything could have happened to him.
Valderee! Valderahhh!
Violet
It cracks me up that his wife isn’t playing along. There’s the standard Republican Wife playbook, but she is not following it. No sad face at the podium for her. Nuh-uh. If he’s stupid enough to run off for days on end, without letting anyone know where he is, and especially over Father’s Day weekend, it’s not her problem to save his hide. The subtext of all this is really fun to watch.
I do hope he’s okay, though. I hope the staffer that says he’s returning tomorrow wasn’t just trying to get the press off his back and buy some time.
demimondian
Meh. Doug, you could have used “I’m stuck here on the trail where the pavement never grows”.
Julia Grey
we will discover that Sanford has fled the country with that pile of cash Anne Laurie mentioned.
Huh? What pile of cash are we talking about?
But never mind, it’s unlikely; Sanford is pretty well set for money already.
Although, interesting sidelight, Jenny Sanford is the one with the REALLY big bucks.
demimondian
@maya: “How do you solve a problem like MarkSanford?”
El Cid
Wouldn’t that be said, “hiking the ol’ Appalachian Trail, if you know what I mean!”
Deborah
“I hope the staffer that says he’s returning tomorrow wasn’t just trying to get the press off his back and buy some time.”
Either Sanford gives a press conference, or this staffer better.
If the governor actually shows tomorrow, what do you want to bet they can’t do a press avail due to the urgent state business that must be attended to?
Can’t they find state vehicles? At least I’m reasonably certain that if SLED hasn’t staked out the Atlanta airport parking garage, local news has.
Laura W
Maybe Hartsfield has a super cool wine tasting bar like Charlotte, DougJ.
It would be viticulturally irresponsible not to speculate.
@MikeJ HA Gorp meal!
Calouste
@Deborah:
Apparently the state vehicle was found/sighted at the Atlanta airport.
Johnny Pez
@Julia Grey:
Anne Laurie mentioned some “undocumented campaign funds” in Atlanta safety-deposit boxes. I suppose if he got to the money before the feds did, it should be okay for him to come back.
DougJ
I haven’t seen any wine bars there and I spend a lot of time there (it’s the best place to fly through if you have to make a connection). But there may be one. It’s a big place.
Rosali
Chris Matthews said that last weekend was Naked Hiking Weekend.
Jon H
@Violet: “There’s the standard Republican Wife playbook, but she is not following it.”
Are you sure? Maybe she is following a playbook, and they think it’s helpful.
They are Republicans, after all.
Napoleon
@Rosali:
I read that multiple places and am amazed that it hasn’t been picked up more.
Jon H
Hm. It’d be funny if there were some connection with Allen Stanford’s arrest.
Aaron
He’s taking a flight to Independence, Missouri.
Don’t skimp on the oxen!
Carl Nyberg
Maybe Gov. Sanford met a 14 y/o boy or girl online and figured he deserved to indulge himself for all the grief he put up with.
Strom Thurmond was shtupping the Black maid. Sanford just brought the tradition up-to-date.
Tsulagi
Given Republican proclivities and bizarre imagination, I really don’t want to know who or what he was doing on Naked Day on the trail.
4tehlulz
@Carl Nyberg: 14 yr old boy = Chris Hansen
snds4x4
Personally, I think he is a member of the FLDS and has a second wife.
JenJen
David Shuster had a pretty good time with “Naked Hiking Weekend” during the 4:00 hour today. Sure, this is some low-hanging political juicy-fruit, but, how can one resist?
This guy was the Anti-Stim poster boy for the entire nation. Watching the GOP defend him all day long was excruciating. Joe Scarborough is Sanford’s BFF, so he refused to discuss it, and it was cringe-inducing, watching the Morning Zoo Kidz dance around the issue all morning. Armstrong Williams eagerly signed up for “Defend Sanford!” duty, and truly whored himself out to MSNBC all day. It really has been a sight to see.
I could go through the whole, “imagine if this was POTUS!” or “imagine if this was a Democratic Governor!” but we all know this stuff already. IOKIYAR.
Until intrepids start digging into receipts, that is. Then, I’m not so sure. And Sanford strikes me as the kind of guy who will either file vacation and expense reports, or cover it up so poorly that everything comes out anyway.
Here’s what I’ve been wondering today: Is it a national security issue, if a Governor goes AWOL? Was he being tailed when that “federal agent” spotted him at ATL boarding a plane (presumably) home?
Laura W
@JenJen: Yer overthinkin’ this, JenJen.
Have you ever considered power tweeting?
ETA: Hooman Majd, the guy KO has on right now who has been on every show in the last week, is very handsome in that rugged, copious facial (and assuming back) hair way.
Jay B.
Wait, weren’t we just like yesterday being all fakey concerned about his emotional health?
I mean I wasn’t and I don’t care — his personal demons, whatever they might be, aren’t the kind he and other Republicans excuse in other people, so fuck him. Just wanted to clarify.
chuck
I really did not want to have “Naked Hiking” and “low-hanging political juicy-fruit” juxtaposed in my mind along with Mark Sanford, thank you very much.
JenJen
Speaking of which, it’s been three hours since this clown was supposedly seen at ATL. I’m thinking it’s not “rocket surgery” to understand a flight from ATL to CAE would be <3 hours.
Where is Waldo, anyway?
Comrade Stuck
@chuck:
Then don’t also read the new thread about the SkeeterReeper’s furry back. Not suitable for prime time blogging at all. No siree!
Litlebritdifrnt
Not trying to give the good ole guv a pass here but have any of you been on the Blue Ridge Parkway? I mean gawd damn, you can be merrily driving (not walking) on there and all of a sudden there is a road closed sign which detours you to a tiny village in the valley which has sounds of banjos playing, and there is no way out, you try to take a road that seems like it will take you out only to end up in someones driveway, half a mile up the mountain, and then you come upon signs that say “all trespassors will be shot” and the banjo music in your head gets really loud. Then you go back down to the nearest “town” and stop at a “convenience store” to get directions and notice that you can buy beer, ammo, groceries, bait, tackle, hair dressing supplies, and deer meat and you kind of think that perhaps you should get the ever loving treacle out of there before someone looks at you wrong and you end up hanging off the porch.
rikyrah
Snicker..snicker..snicker…
Pedro
or
Shaniqua
take your pick.
BWA HA HA HA HA
All I have to say is DAYUM, his wife must be ‘ too thru’ to continue giving him the SHIV.
Rosali
@Laura W:
Agree on Hooman.
Anne Laurie
So, have her family’s financial managers been checking the action on both “her” and “their” accounts lately? If Mrs. Sanford’s accountant has been hinting about unusual withdrawals or badly-documented investments, it might explain why she’s been less than frantic about the Guv’s sudden decision to Go Galt. A wandering libido is bad enough, but raiding the family piggy bank — either to pay for the w.l. or just to look like a Big Man on The Street — can be a lot harder to forgive.
No inside knowledge here. Maybe I’m just bored with the cheezy Repub sex scandals, but I get the impression that “felony misappropriation” is about to become the new “dead girl / live boy” headline-maker.
Laura W
@Comrade Stuck:
He’s too furry for his back, for his back, for his back.
I thought it was sort of a sexy image.
Did I say that out loud?
Ed Drone
The highway “detours you to a tiny village in the valley which has sounds of banjos playing, and there is no way out, you try to take a road that seems like it will take you out only to end up half a mile up the mountain, and then … you park the car, since you can’t drive any farther, and borrow a horse. You ride it till the hills get so steep he can’t go any farther, and you tie him up and hike up the last 1000 yards, to find a sign, “Gone to the Country.”
Ed
(Stolen from the liner notes of a New Lost City Ramblers album of yore.)
Deborah
JenJen, if we was seen at Atlanta 3 hours ago (and it’s not clear that report isn’t from when he went missing) he was getting back from his little outing and reclaiming the vehicle.
Calouste
@Deborah:
He was apparently seen boarding a plane. And no time or date has been assigned to the sighting.
Left Coast Tom
@maya:
The AT goes through 11 blue states and 3 red states (thanks to Obama winning VA and NC). 4 miles in WV, 293 in TN, 75 in GA. Out of it’s total 2100+ mileage. Not quite the same as the PCT going entirely through 2650 miles of blue states, but…be very frightened.
JenJen
@Deborah: Seems like he never left Atlanta, though, doesn’t it?
This is one of the goofier Governor scandals in recent memory. And come to think of, lately, we’re talking about a lot of gubernatorial weirdness.
steve s
“Hi there, why don’t you take a seat?”
“Um…who are you?”
“I’m Chris Hansen. Why don’t you take a seat. Would you like to tell us what you are doing here?”
“Um…I’m …uh…hiking …uh…on the AT?”
“That a six pack of Zima you got there?”
“…uh…I guess.”
“Did you bring that for Christy?”
“Uh…I don’t know.”
“You do know that Christy’s fifteen, don’t you?”
“uh….I mean…”
“Wait a minute…Governor Sanford….?”
AhabTRuler
Did any headless bodies show up anywhere? Maybe Sanford had to disappear because there can be only one!
Laura W
@steve s:
“And what did you intend to do with Christy’s cat?
I’m just curious?
What were you going to do with the cat, Gov. Sanford?”
steve s
(Somewhere in a cave in Tora Bora:)
“Hamid! Hamid!”
“What is in, Hassan?”
“It’s zero hour! Mark Sanford has left South Carolina unprotected! We must act quickly.”
“O happy day! Praise Allah, we finally have our chance! Are the suicide bombers ready?!
“Yes! Yes! Allahu Ackbar! God willing, the hog fat rendering plant in Beauford South Carolina will not last the day! South Carolina’s greatest contribution to America will be destroyed!”
(Note to authorities-> this was a joke, and in no way meant to represent reality. Obviously, South Carolina doesn’t actually contribute anything to America.)
Comrade Stuck
Last I heard, a Division of Unicorns was massing on the South Carolina border.
Laura W
@Laura W: I didn’t, like, make that all up out of some sick, sexing up a cat fantasy, you know.
I did my research.
I saw that segment.
kay
He could come back and hold a press conference and say he went away to consider whether to resign, after his big stimulus loss, because the federal (Obama) government has violated state sovereignty, blah, blah, Federalist papers, usurped his Articles of Confederacy powers…
After reflection, he has to resign. On principle. State First. Like that.
He’d be like a Republican martyr. Mavericky.
Brazil is Big
So, I’m just going to throw this out there. I live in the ATL and have a very good friend that works here combatting underage sex trafficking. Apparently Atlanta is a big hub for people to fly in for a few nights, have sex with minors, underage prostitutes, and fly out. This is the first thing that popped into my head when I read he was spotted here, although, I’m sure he had a long hike and was tired and wanted to fly back home instead of drive.
iluvsummr
@kay: Or he could say that on reflection he decided he had to stay and fight on. Republicans would love him either way.
Based on this:
I don’t think he has any plans of resigning.
The Cat Who Would Be Tunch
If you’re going to disappear, at least disappear in style and make it suspenseful.
Like Radovan Karadzic:
kay
@iluvsummr:
I think that’s a slippery quote, iluvsummer. Read that thing.
“I think it would be fair to say” rather than “the governor said”
“The governor communicated to us” rather than ‘the governor said” or the standard spokesman : ‘the governor plans to return tomorrow….”
Who talks like that? His spokesman sounds like Condaleeza Rice reporting to Congress. I think “communicated to us” is hysterical, by the way. It’s bizarre.
eric
this is a baaaaaaaaad quote for ol’ Sanford from the soon-to-be-former Mrs. Sanford:
“I am being a mom today. I have not heard from my husband. I am taking care of my children.”
Note the “my children.” not good. nope. were this a nothing incident a politician’s spouse would refer to “our children.” for the married and no longer married amoung us, that is an ‘uh oh’ tell if there ever was one.
eric
iluvsummr
@kay:
Maybe he sent them text messages from the trail. Okay, you’re right: there’s a whole lot of contorting going on.
@eric:
I’m just going to wait and see what happens tomorrow. I’m starting to think that maybe she *asked* him to go hike the Appalachian trail.
JK
Mark Sanford needs to cut to the chase and introduce us to his male lover, his mistress, or his love child. This “communing with nature’ is a bunch of bullshit.
kay
@iluvsummr: @<a
It sounds like he’s being held hostage.
I suppose they had to phrase it in such a way that they never say they actually spoke to him, but really, it’s ridiculous.
Fern
@iluvsummr:
Well, if he is calling or texting from the trail – after five or whatever days, the battery on his cell phone is way longer-lived than mine.
Calouste
@eric:
At least she didn’t say: “I have not heard from the governor.”
But then again, “I am being a mom today.” contrasts nicely with “he was not being a dad on Father’s day”
FoxinSocks
Ya know…what if Mark Sanford is Batman…
Zuzu's Petals
Okay, I posted this on another thread, where it promptly got lost…so am repeating.
It seems that ol’ Gerald Walpin has been an arrogant, incompetent jerk for a long time.
NYT: Walpin an “embarrassment” to DOJ for “mishandling” Roy Cohn case
d0n Camillo
I’ve to say this for Sanford, when he goes Galt, he stays Galt. He puts John Cole to shame.
parksideq
I’ve HAD IT with these mothafuckin’ Sanfords on the mothafuckin’ plane!
Seriously though, I don’t know what’s weirder: the fact that he took off to do God knows what/whom while all his ass-coverers fail at ass-covering, or the fact that his wife seems to not care much about the ass-covering part in spite of his missing Father’s Day with the kids.
This whole affair is nuttier than a Snickers bar.
Violet
@Fern:
I think he turned his phone off. Remember the “last signal” from the phone on Friday or something, and they figured he turned off his phone, which is why they couldn’t track or contact him.
I can’t decide if he’ll show tomorrow or not. I wonder if he might have “contracted a stomach bug” or something along those lines, so he won’t show up tomorrow. Either that or he’ll show, but will only be seen walking into the Governor’s mansion. No press conference or anything.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Is it too early to start predicting the fReichtard defense for Sanford’s antics? My money’s on a marathon circle-jerk dedicated manly mantastic Mark “Trail Blazer” Sanford.
Zuzu's Petals
Dang. I thought I was posting to the open thread.
Dang.
Ash Can
I agree with eric. She’s going to have him hanging from his balls from the flag pole on the front of the governor’s mansion first chance she gets.
In all seriousness, though — and once again assuming that there’s no good, legitimate reason for his disappearance, which seems less likely with every report that comes out — the ones I really feel sorry for are the kids. It’s bad enough that his wife has to suffer, but to be an asshole when kids are involved takes a special kind of shitheadedness.
R. Schmidt Orren
@steve s:
And here is where I blew some the wine I had just sipped out through my nose.
Damn you!
Legalize
You’re all way off. The Atlanta airport has a number of smoking lounges. Obviously the Governor was concerned about the fascist cigarette law signed by Blacky Hussein and wanted to show his solidarity with the Iranian protesters by resisting liberal fascism! Cigarette controls, afterall, are just like getting beaten by the Revolutionary Guard.
Delia
The intrepid journalist Eugene Robinson did some sleuthing and reported to KO that a lengthy hike on the Appalachian Trail requires extensive preparation. You know, you have to get your sleeping bag, your backpack, and your campstove out, even if you aren’t planning on wearing any clothes while you’re on the trail.
So the bottom line is, if he’d gone off on the AT, his wife would probably have known about it. Unless they’re already living in separate houses.
Carol
CNN is reporting that his state vehicle has been found parked at the Columbia S.C. airport… http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
Bizarre.
Elie
I just think when you are anchoring your excuse to such an unlikely scenario (backpacking for 5 days without any evidence of prep and a car parked 90 miles in the wrong direction), the REAL thing must be a Doozie… otherwise you would just be quiet about where you were until you were ready to do a press conference. He now has to walk back the LIE and STILL tell the real story which my guess is also a DOOZIE.
I agree with Eric — the Missus is cutting him loose — she “don know nuffin about nuffin” — maybe going to let him figure out his own story without her help…
Great entertainment this is —
Fern
@Delia:
She was off at the summer place with the kids – he was still back at the governor’s mansion.
Halteclere
This is probably just another Republican shadow government exercise.
If only they would take Palin also.
gex
I, for one, am glad that this highly entertaining episode of odd Republican behavior has been violence free so far. We tried *really* hard to find some liberal issue to be concerned about (mental illness!), but now we are just free to sit back and laugh until the tears roll. Who has the popcorn?
Rosali
CNN: Sanford’s car was found at the SC airport, not in ATL. If he was hiking, how did he get from the ATL airport to the trails?
evie
Violet – I agree with you about his wife. She’s obviously sick to death of his shit and isn’t going to take it anymore.
now, he’s like, whaaa??? What do you mean she’s not backing me up?? We have a specific agreement that I can do whatever I like and she covers for me.
The Lt. Gov (clearly not a friend of the Gov’s, though in the same party) was on Maddow tonight and made reference to a time when Sanford was away during a natural disaster — but said they were “thankfully, able to reach him.” After all, he’s the only one who can send out the Guard and declare a State Emergency. He was concerned now because if something happens, no one can reach him.
Seems like this is not the first time he’s left the reservation. Just the first time his wife didn’t pick up the pieces.
Little Dreamer
@Fern:
But he needed to leave and go away to write and get away from the kids.
Lots of weirdness in the excuses given so far.
Jen R
Am I the only one who has a fairly decent handle on what going on in Iran — you know, the country halfway around the world that’s under a communications blackout — but has no goddamn clue what is going on with the governor of South Carolina?
That seems messed up, somehow.
Sanford’s full name is Marshall Clement Sanford, which scans to the tune of “Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego?” Also.
Little Dreamer
@Rosali:
That sounds like misinformation, all accounts I’ve heard so far said they traced his car cell phone to a location near Atlanta.
Rosali
@Little Dreamer:
CNN has a picture of what is supposed to be Sandford’s car at the SC airport.
hamletta
@Calouste: Exactly. My dear friend was an ex-Tri-Delt, and she taught me a few secrets about Southern women and their methods of communication. That woman is pissed.
@gex: Hell, yeah! As one of the people who were expressing concern last night, I am here to say I’m thrilled to hear Gov. Sanford is alive and well so we may (re)commence mocking him mercilessly.
But I think speculation, while amusing, will be all for naught when the truth comes out, because as we all know, truth is stranger than fiction.
Little Dreamer
@Rosali:
Interesting development.
I wonder if anyone is keeping an eye on that car and whether Sanford will indeed be carrying a backpack when returns.
Little Dreamer
Gosh, ya know, if I worked for a government agency, and if I see something that looks like the governor’s car, the people I would alert wouldn’t be CNN.
I’m also sure that if I had alerted the proper authorities, say, the governor’s office and/or secret service detail, they would tell me NOT to talk to the media, if they were smart.
I thought Sanford’s kids were too young to drive. Why would they need a parking permit? Hmmmm.
Notice you don’t see the plate. I don’t believe it, sorry, this looks like more BS to me.
PeopleAreNoDamnGood
@Little Dreamer:
I guess we will all start to get some meaningful info tomorrow.
I am not speculating about what happened or where he went. I do think that what we have been told so far is nonsense.
tammanycall
Sanford’s a Mole Man! (Check the sewers.)
Little Dreamer
Granted, I don’t know what the protocol is for govt official plates in SC, but, when I lived in Delaware and Mike Castle was governor, I used to pass his vehicle carrying a “Delaware 1” plate on US 13 on our way to beach on the weekends. Saw that plate a couple of times.
Nancy Irving
Maybe he got amnesia and thought he was (Allen) STanford.
eyeball
Occam’s Razor forces us to assume that the simplest explanation is the likeliest. And since the simplest explanation is usually the correct one in cases such as these, the answer has to be: pussy.
Little Dreamer
Well, now I’m hearing reporting on CNN that he was in Buenos Aires, and the car placed at the SC Airport was a decoy. Why all the mystery? He was obviously doing something he shouldn’t be and was afraid of getting caught.
Well, now he’s caught. If he had simply taken a leave of absence and turned the keys of the state over to the LG, NONE of this would have happened. What a simpleton, he does NOT deserve to be president.
Now, what was he hiding? My guess is that eyeball is right, pussy is the answer.
Little Dreamer
Hmmm, what did I say that put me in moderation?
passerby
So now, we have reports of the Gov’s personal car being at an airport in SC and one of his security details’ vehicles being found at an Atlanta airport. The plot thickens.
Seems to me, the main cause of this whole story coming to light is that his staff first admitted that they did not know his whereabouts, and had not heard from him, then claimed that he was “hiking the AT” but was incommunicado.
Had they simply answered with the hiking story from the outset, it might have ended there.
Now we have a mystery on our hands which raises ten-fold more questions that beg to be answered. Such as:
-Was he flying out of Atlanta and back in through Columbia? or vice versa.
-Or, is the second car merely there for diversionary purposes?
-Who drove the 2nd vehicle (whether his own car or the SLED car) to the other airport.
-Are reports about the vehicles even accurate?
-If he did fly somewhere, was it a domestic or foreign destination?
-Why did his spokesperson offer to provide the press with a view of the Gov’s U.S. Passport?
…and many, many more.
There are so many ways that Sanford could’ve claimed some time off for himself without causing so much nationwide interest. That he chose this way is very curious and makes his activities suspect.
Little Dreamer
passerby, I have a comment in moderation…
They are reporting now he was in Buenos Aires.
Deborah
“Seems to me, the main cause of this whole story coming to light is that his staff first admitted that they did not know his whereabouts, and had not heard from him, then claimed that he was “hiking the AT” but was incommunicado….There are so many ways that Sanford could’ve claimed some time off for himself without causing so much nationwide interest.”
That’s the thing. As someone commented, why is it we have something of a handle on what’s happening in Iran, which is ostensibly in a news blackout, but the doings of the governor of SC are such a mystery? That’s weird. Sure, the initial concern was fed by his political opponents, but he gave them a lot to work with. Consider these two scenarios:
Republican legislator to Gov’s office: “Where the hell is the governor?”
A: “The governor is taking some time off to do some hiking and is hard to reach. He’s transferred power to the LG and will be back in the office Wednesday.”
B: “We have no idea where the governor is. We have no idea what he is doing. We have no idea when he will return. We have no idea when he will check in. We have no way to contact him. No one has heard from him since Thursday. No, we’re not concerned for his safety: he does this all the time.”
I mean, the idea the gov’s supporters are trying to sell that B is not noteworthy really stretches things.