As for "morals", the man had an extramarital affair, as compared to Trump who had multiple affairs and is on his third marriage. How the hell can a Trump supporter claim with a straight face that Sanford's morals are disqualifying??
@Jazzhead Probably because President Tweety implies it with as straight a face as he can muster:
Can you believe it? I’m at 94% approval in the Republican Party, and have Three Stooges running against me. One is “Mr. Appalachian Trail†who was actually in Argentina for bad reasons....Aside from the point that the country just might be better off if governed by the
real Three Stooges, that tweet was cited
in a Reason article whose author, Eric Boehm, also wrote this:
In the age of Trump, adultery is hardly political suicide anymore. But is there room in the Republican party for a fiscal conservative who opposes bailouts, loves Atlas Shrugged
, and disdains political tribalism?
Probably not. When Sanford was defeated by a Trump-backed primary challenger in June 2018, the president openly celebrated the then-congressman's second political demise with a
tweet suggesting Sanford "would be better off in Argentina."
That the thrice-married Trump, who has had at least one extra-marital affair with a porn star, has shown no reservations about attacking Sanford for his own infidelities provides a pretty good illustration of the current state of the GOP's collective moral compass.
That Sanford is likely heading for an electoral pasting—one that he will receive while trying to talk substantively about the importance of the debt crisis facing America, while the current figurehead of the Republican Party
retweets memes—provides an equally useful illustration about the health of his party. Personally, I know of only one individual in today's American political [lack of] class who qualifies as
genuinely presidential material---and it doesn't really look [rumours to one side] like he's thinking about running. [Yet.] But a man about whom the following is said (
also in Reason):
In choosing principle over party, [he] has become the spokesman for all Americans who believe in limited government. Since taking office in 2011, Amash has been an outspoken critic of out-of-control government spending, state surveillance, and unauthorized wars . . . he's primarily motivated by the belief that Congress is no longer doing its job of writing laws that the Executive branch implements.
. . . is
far more presidential material than any of the creatures pondering the office, incumbent and challengers alike.
And the gentleman himself
has written, recently:
True to [George] Washington’s fears, Americans have allowed government officials, under assertions of expediency and party unity, to ignore the most basic tenets of our constitutional order: separation of powers, federalism and the rule of law. The result has been the consolidation of political power and the near disintegration of representative democracy.
These are consequences of a mind-set among the political class that loyalty to party is more important than serving the American people or protecting our governing institutions. The parties value winning for its own sake, and at whatever cost. Instead of acting as an independent branch of government and serving as a check on the executive branch, congressional leaders of both parties expect the House and Senate to act in obedience or opposition to the president and their colleagues on a partisan basis.
In this hyperpartisan environment, congressional leaders use every tool to compel party members to stick with the team, dangling chairmanships, committee assignments, bill sponsorships, endorsements and campaign resources. As donors recognize the growing power of party leaders, they supply these officials with ever-increasing funds, which, in turn, further tightens their grip on power.
The founders envisioned Congress as a deliberative body in which outcomes are discovered. We are fast approaching the point, however, where Congress exists as little more than a formality to legitimize outcomes dictated by the president, the speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader . . .
