By now, you've all heard that Mark Sanford, the Republican Governor of South Carolina (well he's a Democrat, according to Fox) had a little press conference today where he tearfully admitted that his mysterious disappearance was to Argentina and to visit somebody with whom he was having an affair with.  For those keeping score at home, this is your second sex scandal involving a Republican this month as earlier, Nevada Senator John Ensign also admitted to having an affair. Considering that last year's Republican sex scandals involved congressional pages, anonymous sex in a bathroom stall, and wearing diapers with hookers, these two recent scandals are rather boring and almost mundane.

Sanford seems to fit the same bill as all the others who've gotten into trouble recently.  He is very conservative-- so conservative he led the fight against the rejection of all that free stimulus money-- talks a lot about family values, and isn't a big friend of the gays.  Like several others, he was also a huge proponent of the impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton way back when he was caught doing not very wholesome things to someone with whom he wasn’t married to.  The lesson learned is that the more conservative a Republican tries to be, the more they talk about "traditional families, and the more they like to bash gay people, the bigger the chance they will either be gay, having an affair, or the parent of a knocked up teenager. Sometimes all three at once.

Like Ensign, Sanford was considered to be a possible contender for the Presidency in 2012.  Like Ensign, he could probably forget about that.  Also in the category of "there goes that" includes Texas Governor Rick Perry, who talked about Texas seceding from the Union, and Bobby Jindal, who flamed out big time after his first big appearance on the national stage.  This means that at this point, your two leading contenders for the Presidential Nomination are Sarah Palin, the fact of which shows the depths of Republican delusion, and Mitt Romney, the fact of which shows the depths of Romney's delusion. Actually, Romney has tried so hard to pretend he has conservative bona fides that it wouldn't be a surprise if he has an affair too just because everyone else is doing it.