People share all kinds of things on Facebook – pictures of their families, recipes, political commentary and events in their lives.  My personal favorites are videos featuring cute animals doing adorable things.  Famous figures also share on Facebook, so when a politician takes to Facebook, it’s usually no big deal, unless it happens to be a politician whose decision to share something other than their latest missive about their work in Washington comes across our timeline.

Former Governor, now Congressman from South Carolina, Mark Sanford, turned to Facebook to tell us all about his personal struggles and the angst he’s gone through since 2009.  We already know too much about his fall from grace, but now Mark would like us to know that he’s on the road from perdition and towards redemption for his sins.   In his message to readers and constituents, he tells us, in 2,346 words, how he’s making changes in his life; that with the help of God, he’s trying to make himself a better man.  That’s great.  I’m all for new beginnings, but if you read through it all, Mark may still be a work in progress.

He’s broken up with his Argentinian fiancée, Maria Belen Chapur, something she only became aware of when she read the articles about his Facebook post.  That’s right.  She wasn’t even give the courtesy of a personal text or email.  If that wasn’t bad enough, he seems to be blaming his ex-wife, Jenny for the breakup.  You see, Jenny Sanford wants to haul her ex back into court, requesting an order for a psychological evaluation.    She’s claiming that he’s taking drugs and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol; so much so, that she doesn’t want him anywhere near their younger children.   Mark responded to these accusation by writing this:  “In simplest form I don’t understand how I can be elected by a wide array of folks at home to attempt to represent their interests in Washington, but if the Plaintiff’s view was to prevail, be required to take psychiatric and psychological evaluations to be with our youngest son.”   That’s all well and good, but if voters’ choices were a true test of someone’s psychological well-being, half of Congress would be out of office, and folks like Maxine Waters and Ted Cruz would be looking for real jobs.

He’s not taking these accusations lightly.  Oh, no.  Not only does he have God on his side but God went through his Rolodex and gave Mark the number of a good lawyer.   Mark wants peace and harmony, at all costs, and if that means battling it out in court, well, dagnabit, that’s what he’s going to do.  You see, as Mark is quick to point out, Jenny isn’t walking the straight and narrow, either.   While he’s willing to give up the love of his life and any chance at a happy future, Jenny has been dating, too.  (Oh, the horror!)  Mark explains this better than I can:  “Though Jenny herself has certainly not lived up to this clause it is clearly aimed at me given near everyone knows about Belen and in that regard it seems designed to create intrigue where none exists. The younger boys have never spent a night housed under the same roof with Belen and with the exception of one night and a major conversation that lasted well into that night, the same holds true for the older boys. I was primarily motivated to do so by a love for the boys and wanting to go to great lengths to never again put them in an uncomfortable spot. I was also motivated by fear because there was very frequently a consequence in not being allowed to see the boys if I did something my former wife disliked.”   Are you catching the drift here?  Mark is good, and Jenny, well, not so much.   She’s scary…maybe bitter.  Who knows?

There’s a lot more in his post, things about Jesus and Luke and turning the other cheek.  Most of it is self-serving and does very little to prove that he’s got a better grasp on reality than he did five years ago.   On the other had, it was Jenny’s attorneys who first brought her newest complaints to the media’s attention.   Mark didn’t help matters by responding and taking his case to the court of public opinion by way of Facebook, but this is how people act when they’ve come to despise one another.  It’s supposed to be about the welfare of the children, but it doesn’t sound like it, at all.

You can read his entire post here:  https://www.facebook.com/RepSanfordSC/posts/280140345529087

Empress