Bored with the violence against Iranians by their own government, many US news outlets chose Gov. Mark Sanford’s disappearance/affair as yesterday’s top story. Temporarily interesting? Sure. He has been lying, shirking duties, lying some more, and finally in a lengthy, rambling statement that was strangely fascinating and satisfyingly eyerolling, revealed himself to be an uberhypocrite.
This kind of behavior is laughable, and I laugh. I can’t help but succumb to the irony. Sanctity of traditional marriage? My ass! It’s a real knee-slapper.
But there isn’t much news in his particular story. Another straight male politician screwed someone who wasn’t his wife, then apologized profusely to said wife and their children and his constituents, et al. Add a tally mark, and leave plenty of room for the next.
My laughter is dying pretty quickly this time. I’m disgusted to watch one more champion of so-called traditional marriage make a mockery of commitment. He has revealed the meaninglessness of that cause, although it’s doubtful the message will get through to those who need to hear it.
Mainstream coverage has split into the usual three camps: 1) critics who deride him viciously and/or humorously; 2) supporters who insist we not rush to judgment; 3) gawkers who wonder how-do-these-things-happen, which usually leads to the usual Mars/Venus bullshit.
Meanwhile, families led by same-sex couples, who do honor their commitments and avoid such drama in their lives, don’t have equal rights, which makes life more challenging and expensive than it needs to be. That’s what’s news. Granted, it’s not exactly breaking news. “Alternative” outets have been covering it and will no doubt continue to do so. Mainstream media continue to focus on whether or not politicians like Sanford will hold on to their power and money, not who they’ve fucked over to get it.
Filed under: gay, lgbt, marriage equality, observation, politics, queer
