Subject: Beware Of Melting Butter
Beware of Melting Butter
By Robert Ringer
When yet another politician bit the dust this week, I couldn't help but think of Henry Kissinger's all-too-true observation that "power is the ultimate aphrodisiac." I don't have a lot to say about Governor Mark Sanford's situation, except that I think the whole thing is very sad. I don't know Sanford personally, but he always came across as a sincere individual who was genuinely committed to the cause of liberty.
To his credit - unlike a number of politicians who preceded him on the Infidelity Path - Sanford did not try to deny his affair when confronted with it (though he did keep it under wraps for at least a year). He also impressed me by not humiliating his wife further by having her stand dutifully by his side at his mea culpa press conference - Ala Eliot Spitzer, Jim McGreevey, David Vitter, et al. Attention politicians with uncontrollable libidos: When you're caught, act like a man and stand before the public alone!
On the negative side, had I been Governor Sanford's advisor, I would have told him not to drone on and on about his relationship with "the other woman." Apologies, yes. Details about how innocently it all began, no. I'm sure he's in a depressed and embarrassed fog right now, but from this point on, for his sake, I hope he keeps the specifics to himself.
More than twenty years ago in Dallas, I recall having a related discussion with Zig Ziglar. Zig made the point that most extramarital affairs begin innocently. He said what men (and women) need to do is have the self-discipline not to get into situations where innocence has an opportunity to heat up.
The example he used was that of a boss who invites his secretary to lunch. Big mistake. "At some point," he said, "they reach for the butter at the same time and their hands accidentally touch." (My translation: melted butter.)
During that same trip to Dallas, I watched Zig lecture a church full of pastors on the same subject. He advised them, "When you counsel a female member of your congregation, for goodness sakes, do it with your office door open." (My translation: Avoid melting the butter.)
Since then, of course, all hell has broken loose in the U.S. And we've devolved into a relativist, anything-goes society. Take a good look at what's being aired on TV these days, and you'll see what I mean. Not only have the shows become increasingly slimy, many of the commercials, are, to put it politely, sexually explicit.
Would anyone have imagined, even thirty years ago, that ads on television would warn, over and over again, "Call your doctor if you experience an erection lasting more than four hours"? Are you kidding me? If you experience an erection lasting more than four hours, forget your doctor and call Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The madness of prime-time TV aside, when you get down to it, having an extramarital affair is no different than getting yourself into any other kind of trouble - embezzlement, DUI murder, obstruction of justice ... You name it. Yes, human beings are weak. It's hard to avoid temptation - hard, but certainly not impossible. Put simply: When the snake starts talking to you, don't take the shiny red apple. Walk away and get a Big Mac and fries instead.
Having said this, I believe that all mature adults realize that good people sometimes do bad things. Which means it's wise to think about our own embarrassing missteps before joining a feeding frenzy every time we see blood in the water. As Ayn Rand said, "Judge and prepare to be judged." (Remember, Mark Sanford voted for the impeachment of cigar-trickster Bill Clinton - and offered a number of moralistic comments to boot.)
I have no firsthand knowledge about Mark Sanford as a person, but my guess is that he is a decent human being who yielded to temptation and fell in love with another woman. You may not want to hear it, but as Ayn Rand rationally explained, it is, indeed, perfectly possible to be in love with two women - or two men - at the same time. I know that many people don't like to hear this, but common sense compels us to accept this reality.
Only when we acknowledge our own frailty are we able to develop a strong enough mental state to avoid getting ourselves into tempting situations in the first place. But even if you achieve an A+ in that effort, you will still have a goodly number of "sins" listed in your Book of Life when you move on to the next leg of your Eternal Journey.
We're all imperfect ... Which is why we all have to be vigilant when it comes to not getting ourselves into compromising situations.
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11 comments:
Eh, not a lot here to quibble with. Its pretty dull but not crazy. I do like that all of the cheating politicians named besides Sanford just happen to be Democrats.
Funny that with all the sexually explicit stuff in the media, he brings up ED commercials as an example of how we are going down a moral sewer. Pretty much every ED commercial shows happily married older couples, remaining in love and faithful to each other.
I was more surprised by a one-line shout-out to Ayn Rand and polyamory. Ayn Rand is NOT the kind of woman you EVER want to get relationship advice from, unless you're either a serial cheater, turned on by rape and domination, or the type that thinks her principle of "me first before anything and anyone else, because giving is a weakness" is a healthy attitude to bring to a relationship.
The fact that this person feels the need to keep going on & on about what "good guy" Sanford was is a tip that it's some right winger justifying the bad behavior of the pols on their side of the aisle.
Notice that Bill Clinton still gets hit w/a stick, whilst somehow Sanford is Mr. Honest Sincerety. Puh-leeze!
1. Sanford LEFT the country and his official duties without placing someone else in charge while he was gone. It *appears* that no one knew where he was, and it turns out that his original plan was to stay in Argentina for TEN days, not five. This is the numero uno story that keeps getting swept under the carpet. Whilst Bubba Bill was enjoying himself in the Oval Office, he never just went AWOL. The GOP really needs to address this, and not feed us pablum about what a "good guy" Sanford was.
2. Sanford was inherently dishonest, and I'm tired of fables like this that say he was "so honest" simply bc he didn't have his wife beside him when he 'fessed up. How does anyone know that it was Sanford's decision to have it that way... or was it his millionaire wife who told him go eff himself and face the music on his own??? We'll probably never know, but I'm not giving him a big pass on that one.
3. Sanford was in this relationship sexually for well over a year and was playing "footsie" online for many years before that. When he left his office/duties/the country, he set up a giant web of subterfuge that included driving away in an SUV packed w/camping equipment. That SUV got stowed somewhere (I saw photos of it), and then somehow he drove another car to the Atlanta airport. In the meantime, he told his staff that he was "hiking." Honest? Please, I don't think so!
Loyal readers and posters here need to really question seriously the intention of this disingenous RWF. It is loaded w/lies and half truths, and it is the standard way that conservatives manage to wriggle out of their messes, but shriek and holler about something much less egregious that's done by a Democrat.
And finally, it is the GOP that sets itself up as the party of "family values," whatever that means. But they use that rubric as a big old stick to beat up on Democrats constantly, yet when one of their own behaves counter to their "rules," they rush around finding ways to excuse and exhonerate them.
Please! If a Democratic governor did something remotely similar to this, this same person who wrote this ridiculous post (I mean: erectile dysfunction? Zig Zigler? Ayn Rand??????) would be RACING to blast said Democratic governor EVEN IF he did things in exactly the same way that Sanford did.
Sanford's a big idiotic tool, and don't forget how he's one of a handful of nitwit governors who attempted to refuse the stimulus (but all ended up taking it in the end)!!! That was all part of his ruse to put himself at the head of the pack to run for Prez in 2012.
Guess who ain't runnin' for Prez now?? Couldn't have happened to a better tool.
Beware of "reasonable" sounding RWF emails: they are not that "reasonable." Always look a little further, and you will see just how unreasonable & dishonest they are.
"I have no firsthand knowledge about Mark Sanford as a person, but my guess is that he is a decent human being who yielded to temptation and fell in love with another woman."
Uh, OK. But what about the time when "decent human being" Mark Sanford pointed at Bill Clinton and said he should be impeached bc he had sex w/an intern?
I agree w/the last post, there's a lot of lies in this thing. Very manipulative and dishonest, if ya ask me.
"I don't have a lot to say about Governor Mark Sanford's situation" But then he goes on for another 12 paragraphs about it.
Sanford went public probably just hours ahead of the press getting the dirt on his secret trip. pah
RWs need a lot of petting, snuggling and hand-holding when the hypocrisy of one of their own is displayed for all the world to see. And that seems to be the point of this drivel.
I agree with previous poster that there is NO foundation for giving Sanford himself any credit at all for not having his wife with him during his "apology" press conference. It has been documented that she kicked him out of the house and she was quoted as saying it was because she needed to be concerned with how her boys would perceive her during the marital problems. There is no way that same lady shows up "standing by her man", and I say - good for her. More of these wives should stand up and say "I will not further my humiliation by going on camera with YOU"!
Update on 6/30: Sanford is now admitting additional sexual trysts w/his mistress going back over several years.
Yeah, Mr. Honest Sincerety, Impeach Bill Clinton for having adultrous sex with that Intern, yeah boo hoo: Ayn Rand sez we should all love his honest sincerety, why he just "fell in love" and all and just couldn't "help it" but Bill Clinton is evil & Bill shoulda done better.
Boo-yah: if it smells like rightwing hypocracy, then it is rightwing hypocracy...
It's official. "melting the butter" now an acceptable synonym for doing the nasty.
"There is no way that same lady shows up 'standing by her man', and I say - good for her."
Especially considering what she's already done for him. They were both bluebloods with high-power jobs when he told her that he wanted to run for office. She quit her job to become a full-time mom, not to mention his political strategist and partner. She did everything from arranging his meetings to baking cookies for the press. In other words, she did absolutely everything Dr. Laura, Darla Shine, and all those other conservative anti-feminists advocate: she dropped her entire career to stay home and support his.
That's why her comment of his career not being her concern was so biting - because she meant "not anymore."
And now, drum roll please: Mr. Honest Sincerety admits that he had some kind of hokey-pokey w/other women over the years.
Yeah, this guy is just America's sweetheart.
Of course, his answer is: "Your Honor, I did NOT sleep w/those women!"
He's a slime. Stick a fork in him, he's done. Spare me this hypocritical treacle meant to brainwash idiots. I don't buy what's being sold here, thanks.
Can I please never work with the email author? A man who beleives self-control is entirely impossible if two folks' hands accidentally touch is too creepy for the grown-up world.
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