Having badrapped bloggers this morning, I'll repost the words of a blogger whom I like, Alec Baldwin. What are his "credentials" for ranting on the Huffington Post? Zilch. He's a rich actor who neither gets paid to rant nor needs to; he's just a guy with an opinion, taking advantage of the Internet to express it. That said, IMO his opinions are often better thought-out and better stated than the opinions of those with "credentials" out the wazoo.
This "pile on" to Governor Mark Sanford is a classic case in point. Bottom line is that the poor schmuck is just a guy doing the same thing that 10-15% of women and 20-25% of men in America have admitted to doing. Given those numbers, almost without question the *same* percentages apply to the people playing "pile on" to Mark Sanford -- 10-15% of the women giving him shit and 20-25% of the men giving him shit and calling for his resignation are doing so while taking a break from their *own* adulteries. By contrast, this rich Hollywood actor seems to have his priorities straight and his ability to feel compassion still intact. Compared to the *real* problems in this world, who the fuck *cares* who this guy in South Carolina fucks? What does it *matter*, in terms of his ability to do a good or bad job as governor? I am reminded of the funeral procession of Francois Mitterand, former President of France. There was his wife and family, walking sadly beside his mistress and family. No one gave a shit. A whole nation said, "Nothing to see here...move along..." Same thing Alec Baldwin is saying. [Alec Baldwin] <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin> Alec Baldwin <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin> Don't Take the Bait <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/dont-take-the-bait_b_220402.\ html> So South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford had an affair. Big deal. Now is a wonderful opportunity to show the country what Democrats/liberals/progressives/unaligned learned from the Clinton era. Whatever personal problems that public officials deal with privately, leave them alone. This could happen to anyone, in any state, regardless of party. Why make the voters of South Carolina suffer while Sanford is skewered? If he wants to resign, so be it. If not, let him deal with it in private. The Clinton scandal was one of the most horrific political episodes I have ever witnessed. Henry Hyde and Richard Mellon Scaife and Kenneth Starr, the right-wing's goyish Roy Cohn, chasing down Arkansas state troopers and bank records and real estate documents until they found what they were looking for in Monica Lewinsky's closet. Literally. Of course you remember! The chorus of right-wing talk radio sociopaths dancing, prematurely, on Clinton's grave. Perhaps John Kerry's problems had, in one sense, an extra twist, because those filthy, lying cowards at the Swiftboat Luftwaffe were doing their thing out of pure hate. There were no careers or money to be made, as with Clinton. (Whatever happened to those two witches, Linda Trippe and Lucianne Goldberg?) The rest of the world is about to kick this country right where it counts when it decides to go off the dollar as the reserve currency, and you want to spend five minutes over the fact that Sanford was cheating on his wife? Don't take the bait. Move on.
