Mark Sanford

I've been following the story of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's disappearance with interest. For a time, there was no explanation of his whereabouts. Indeed, no one, not even his immediate family knew. We then got a few conflicting reports. The story now is that he has been hiking the Appalachian Trail. Alternately, however, we have been told that he was writing and that he was finishing up projects. Any of these explanations, in the absence of the others, would probably satisfy, but all together, they are suspicious.

There's been great concern about his sudden absence without any notice to anyone. It's true that the state could have been stricken by a serious calamity, and would have been in a state of disarray due to a vacuum of leadership. That doesn't seem to be all there is to the matter, though. Two different pieces of information indicate that the governor was at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. Firstly, his cell phone was tracked there. Secondly, he was seen by a federal agent. Is it possible that he flew to a distant point on the Appalachian Trail? I guess, but if the truth were that straight forward, I wouldn't expect the lack of notice or the kind of explanations we've been getting.

I don't see any advantage in this for Democrats. South Carolina is a conservative Republican state, so don't take this as a partisan post. I'll be frank. Something's going on here. There is a story of some kind, and I feel it's not the one we've been given. Not to worry, though- I'm quite certain that we'll find out what's been going on. Nothing like this stays quiet.