it's officially a republican scandal

I was sympathetic to Governor Mark Sanford (R-South Carolina, if you didn't know) for falling in love with another woman. The human heart is fickle. The fact that he charged South Carolina taxpayers for his visits to Argentina gave South Carolinians legitimate reasons to criticize Sanford or to call on him to resign. The fact that he criticized Bill Clinton for fooling around and now is seeking forgiveness makes him a Republican hypocrite - pardon me for repeating myself.

Now, we learn that Sanford, who didn't want to take Federal stimulus money and is definitely one of those who profess to support small government and less spending, doesn't advocate doing things on the cheap when it comes to HIM doing business.

Turns out Sanford and some aids have taken a couple of nice European trips over the past two years, to places like France, Germany, Estonia, Czech Republic, and Poland. Nice trips, but sure governors can travel to promote trade.

But Sanford and company didn't fly commercial. They flew in a nice little chartered aircraft. Cost the South Carolinians a total of $63,000. Now sure, commercial wouldn't have been free. But it would have been a lot cheaper and hey Sanford, I thought you were all about not wasting taxpayers money?

Mark Sanford is now officially a one-man Republican scandal, combining hypocrisy about morals and money into one quintessentially GOP package. Congratulations.