In his own words...

Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina doesn't need to answer to me. I didn't have the chance to vote for or against him. And his politics are his politics...very conservative, etc. Again, to each his own.

But one of the more painful moments to me in the unfolding of the Sanford affair story was hearing a couple of television commentators read aloud some e-mails Sanford had sent to his woman friend in Argentina. Music played in the background as the aforementioned TV talk types emphasized the phrases of their choice. The governor was being humiliated...in his own words. 

The e-mail world has more potholes in it, metaphorically speaking, than Raleigh's Wade Avenue. When folks started using it in offices, more than one boss accidentally received an e-mail meant for a co-worker. A friend of mine mistakenly sent one to an editor here one time, and while it wasn't vicious or profane or anything, it was critical. He realized the minute he hit the button what he had done. So he e-mailed me: "Oh, no! Oh, oh, no! I'm doomed!" The editor, a fellow of even temperment, just let it pass as if nothing had happened. 

As someone who writes opinion pieces, I sometimes get e-mails that are pretty tough, calling me names and the like. I'm constantly amazed at what people will say about you in an e-mail that they would never say to your face. It's like a whole world of communication with no rules or guidelines of behavior. 

As for Sanford, well, it was hard to see, because he's not the only person who wrote a love note to somebody, figuring it was between the two of them and not between the two of them and a few hundred million more people.