But if it's true that she didn't know, just because 99 percent of the women in the world wouldn't put up with it doesn't mean it isn't perfectly OK within their relationship.  I agree that's a stretch, but people's marriages and the things they put up with within it are unknowable.

As I understand it, he went wherever it was he went without his security detail, and I imagine that was something that had to be worked out ahead of time, don't you think?

Either he was where he said he was or he wasn't.  And someone will dig until they find the truth or hit a nerve - these things just do not stay secret for long.

Maybe the Sanfords cooked this getaway up together - maybe they needed some time apart and thought this was the solution.  Who knows?

"Sanford, in an exclusive interview with The State Media Company, said he decided at the last minute to go to the South American country to recharge after a difficult legislative session in which he battled with lawmakers over how to spend federal stimulus money. Sanford said he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail, an activity he said he has enjoyed since he was a high school student. `But I said no, I wanted to do something exotic,' Sanford said. `It's a great city.'

"Sanford, in a brief interview in the nation's busiest airport, said he has been to the city twice before, most recently about a year and half ago during a Commerce Department trip. Sanford said he was alone on the trip. He declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline.

SNIP

"When asked why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, Sanford replied, `I don't know.' Sanford later said `in fairness to his staff, he had told them he might go hiking on the Appalachian Trial.

"Sanford said he left Thursday night from the Columbia Metropolitan airport. Media reports said a SLED SUV the governor drove that night was spotted in the airport's parking lot. Sanford said he decided not to return via the Columbia airport to avoid the media. The State Media Company was the only media who greeted Sanford Wednesday morning. `I don't know how this thing got blown out of proportion,' Sanford said.

"Sanford said he has taken adventure trips for years to unwind. He has visited such places as the coast of Turkey, the Greek Isles and South America. Sometimes with friends, sometimes by himself. `I would get out of the bubble I am in,' Sanford said.

The Republican told the South Carolina newspaper he decided at the last minute to go to the South American country. The governor says he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail but wanted to do something "exotic." link

Another time, the family was included in the stunt...my dad came home from work and said "Honey Bun, pack the bags and the kids, were going to Florida and the flight leaves in 2 hours".  Moms got him good that time though, when in the haste to pack and run she forgot dad's clothes...he wore his work clothes that whole vacation!

She has to go in for a "tune up" as we've come to call it right after the 4th holiday...one of the thingys that holds the rods on her spine in place for her scoliosis came loose...probably because she is so rough and tumble on the swing set!  Ya gotta let them be kids.  

Brings back a lot of memories for me though.  The one good thing of all of this happening at a young age is that you really don't know any different.  It's just the way things are.  I know I couldn't go through all of what I did as a kid today.  

Yeah, they had some 'good ideas', didn't they?

I am saying all this because every day it seems I am reading something from Obama that disgusts me. Whether it's his suppression of the photos and marginalizing of the Freedom of Information Act, the Bushie national security dodge, the secrecy, the support for the dismissal of the Plame lawsuit... You name it.

"The co-op is something Americans are very familiar with, that they've seen it or heard about it in other forms, like farm co-ops. So you're just translating; this will just be the same thing but with health care," said Julian Zelizer, an expert on Congress at Princeton University.

"It's a more sellable program than something that seems more foreign, like a single-payer or government-run program. This is just more familiar," he said. "In practice it may not be true, but this is what we do in politics."