Republican Governor Mark Sanford poses a genuine threat to the United States of America. And, he admitted as much when he recently confessed to failing the people of South Carolina. His failure, however, stretches far beyond the Carolina border. Not only has he failed the people of South Carolina, but - through his utter disregard for the importance of his elected office - he has also betrayed the trust of every American alive today. Without question, Mark Sanford's sexual weakness has jeopardized the very security of the United States by making the federal government vulnerable to foreign intelligence gathering.
He should resign as governor immediately. If he refuses to resign then the people of South Carolina should remove Mark Sanford from office at once because his love affair with a foreign national has already placed their lives and the lives of their children in harm's way.
Beyond that, Mark Sanford's reckless behavior should petrify every American citizen (regardless of their political affiliation) because he has placed himself in a position that is extremely susceptible to extortion and espionage. And the fact that some GOP party faithful continue to play political football with the lives of innocent Americans should infuriate voters all across the land.
Several Republicans insist that Mark Sanford must remain in office, but they insist on Sanford's continued governorship not because they think his service will provide what is best for the state of South Carolina or for the country. Rather, GOP hardliners want Sanford to stay on as governor simply because he has little more than one year left on his current term and cannot run for a third term as governor of South Carolina. As a result, some Republicans feel as though it might be tougher to retain that governor's office for their party if Sanford were to resign. Plus, the lieutenant governor would assume the office of governor upon Sanford's resignation, which would make him an incumbent and legally bound to serve only one more term as governor of South Carolina should he seek election for a second term.
That fact alone should cause a ground swell of opposition to Mark Sanford remaining in office. When elected officials build priorities based strictly on their party's interests (or on the goal of furthering their own political careers) then the American people must remove such myopic and dangerous public servants.
And clearly, Mark Sanford ranks as one dangerous public servant. The very fact of his most recent absence proclaims the danger too loudly for his constituency to ignore. What's more, if Governor Sanford doesn't resign, he'll only further embarrass the people of South Carolina by making them look like powerless pansies, suffering under the crushing wheels of a steamrolling Republican political machine.
After winning the campaign for governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford automatically received a high security clearance to cover several hats that he must wear. His role as governor also makes him the Commander-in-chief of the South Carolina National Guard. (National Guard units are subject to the call of the governor of their state or territory, except when ordered into federal service by the president of the United States.) Furthermore, Governor Sanford also bears direct responsibility for counter terrorism programs in South Carolina through his cabinet.
As part of the governor's cabinet, South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Department (SLED) accomplishes the state's counter terrorism mission through planning, training, information sharing, and mutual aid agreements (among other methods) to ensure the safety of South Carolinians as well as other innocent people throughout the southeastern region of the United States. In reaching his state's goals regarding domestic terrorism, Governor Sanford routinely receives classified briefings from the Department of Homeland Security.
In that capacity, Mark Sanford has laid open for espionage and exploitation a good portion of America's security measures.
Even the most casual combatant knows that in order to most effectively exploit an enemy's weakness, one must first uncover that weakness. To America's adversaries like North Korea, Iran, Al Qaeda, or even Hugo Chavez in nearby Venezuela, Mark Sanford's uncontrollable lust for his Argentinean mistress must have appeared like a fountain of golden opportunities!
America's enemies have an information cow in Mark Sanford with a tailor-made ring in his nose. The very sexy Marie Belen Shapur needed to do little more than pout over the phone in order to get Mark Sanford to immediately and willingly abandon his post as governor for five whole days. And he did so without informing a soul of his travel plans. So weak was Sanford for Shapur that he even left his four tender children to be with his illicit lover in a country more than 4500 miles away from his home on Father's Day.
Such spineless behavior from a father does not inspire great confidence. Worse than that, such irresponsible actions from a governor with a security clearance only arouses suspicion. In other words, if he's willing to abandon and embarrass his own flesh and blood on Father's Day then what else would he willingly and irresponsibly do just to maintain his relationship with his spicy paramour? If even the souls of his very own children matter so little to Mark Sanford then why should any average citizen feel as though they matter to Mark Sanford?
Worse still, what did the governor inadvertently reveal through the sheer fact that he was able to leave his desk at the governor's office for so long without telling anyone of his whereabouts? It is entirely possible for America's enemies to fairly conclude that nothing vital was on schedule for the Savannah River Nuclear Facility during his absence.
Worst of all, anyone could pay Marie Shapur enough money to siphon information about South Carolina's Emergency Action Plan (EAP) or counter terrorism structure from Governor Sanford.
Whether or not Mark Sanford actually revealed any critical national secrets to Shapur really doesn't matter. His willingness to endanger the lives of South Carolinians (and all Americans) through his negligence, however, does matter.
Above all, his uncontrollable pursuit of a foreign national matters the most!
That nobody knew of his whereabouts while he visited Shapur in Argentina betrays the fact that Governor Sanford never filed a travel itinerary with the appropriate security agencies. That he never filed an official report of his torrid love affair with Marie Shapur (a foreign national) indicates that he wanted to continue the relationship in secret.
A secret relationship with any foreign national violates the terms of his maintaining his security clearance. Without his security clearance, Mark Sanford cannot function fully as the governor of South Carolina.
The question of his inevitable resignation is not a matter of if, but when.