FREAK OF THE MID-WEEK: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford

Usually, the FredBlog presents its Freak of the Week on Sunday. But freakiness knows no timelines. Therefore, the FredBlog presents its first-ever Freak of the Mid-Week.

On this special occasion, the FredBlog shines its freaklight on Mark Sanford, yet one more Republican “family values” hypocrite to reveal that he’s cheated on his wife. (What, did he get jealous of the press coverage John Ensign was getting?)

Not only did he admit to the affair, but Sanford also disappeared – yes, disappeared – for almost a week. No one knew where he was. He didn’t tell anyone he was leaving. He just up and left.

Let’s address the hypocrisy first. Sanford is your standard “pro-family” social conservative who, whaddya know, was a big critic of Bill Clinton’s during the Monica Lewinsky affair.

At the time, Sanford called Clinton’s affair and the subsequent cover up "very damaging stuff.” He then noted, "I think it would be much better for the country and for him personally [to resign] ... I come from the business side. If you had a chairman or president in the business world facing these allegations, he'd be gone."

So will Sanford follow his own advice and resign? Of course not – it’s not the Republican “family values” way.

Sanford also told CNN back in the ‘90s: "The issue of lying is probably the biggest harm, if you will, to the system of democratic government, representatives government, because it undermines trust. And if you undermine trust in our system, you undermine everything."

And Sanford’s lies were doozies. But he seems less concerned about his own attacks on democracy. Special rights for one’s own indiscretions – that’s the Republican “family values” way.

That brings us to Sanford’s disappearing act based on lies and deception. For a full account, see http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/the_missing_governor_a_timeline.php. But here are some highlights:

* Last week, state officials realize Sanford is missing and unreachable.

* The governor’s office issues a statement that Sanford is in a secret undisclosed location in order to recover from a brutal legislative session.

* The governor’s office later says Sanford is hiking on the Appalachian Trail. This, of course, means spending time away from his family over Father’s Day weekend as well as hiking on National Naked Hiking Day (really, it was Sunday).

* The governor’s office issues yet another statement saying Sanford has contacted his office and says he is surprised that his disappearance has caused so much reaction. (He really thought people wouldn’t wonder where he went?)

* Once reappearing at Atlanta’s airport, he said that he considered the Appalachian hike, but instead went to Argentina to experience something more “exotic.” He also said he spent his time alone.

* At a Wednesday press conference, he said he was in Buenos Aires with his mistress. He cried, too, but don’t cry for him, Argentina.

Perhaps the worst part of the whole thing is that he never took the necessary steps to ensure that Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer would act as governor in his absence. So in essence, while Sanford was doing his disappearing Evita act, NO ONE WAS RUNNING SOUTH CAROLINA.

And to think, this guy wanted to run for president in 2012. Then again, does the GOP have much better to offer?

FREAKINESS THROUGH SEXTING

Like the cherry on the sundae, the topper of this scandal is the swath of emails traded between Sanford and his lady friend, who goes only by Maria. To read them all, go to http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/839350.html

But here’s one highlight from Sanford: “I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificently gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curves of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of night’s light — but hey, that would be going into the sexual details we spoke of at the steakhouse at dinner — and unlike you I would never do that!”

Sexual details at the steakhouse? That Sanford is a class act.

FREAK OF THE WEEK: U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg

This week, the FredBlog shines the freaklight on U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican who just couldn’t decide whether or not he wanted to be President Barack Obama’s commerce secretary.

At first, Gregg wanted the job. He knew Obama was looking to create a bipartisan cabinet, and so Gregg reached out to the president. As Obama told the Springfield (Ill.) Journal-Register, “Mr. Gregg approached us with interest and seemed enthusiastic.”

This was odd enough since, in 1995, Gregg voted to abolish the Department of Commerce. When that didn’t work, Gregg worked to block then-President Bill Clinton’s effort to increase funding for the department.

OK, so Gregg’s “interest and enthusiasm” was weird enough, but then Gregg insisted he would only take the job if he were given a guarantee that his seat would be filled by another Republican. You see, if Gregg were to become commerce secretary, he would have to give up his senate seat. Under normal circumstances, Gregg’s replacement would be chosen by his state’s current governor – Democrat John Lynch, who would be expected to appoint a fellow Democrat.

But Obama talked with Lynch, and they worked it out. Lynch agreed to appoint a Republican, just to satisfy Gregg’s condition.

Everything was set. Gregg talked up the need for bipartisanship as Obama would get more bipartisan cred for appointing Gregg. And the balance of power in the Senate would not be disturbed because Lynch agreed to appoint a Republican replacement. In fact, Lynch had already chosen New Hampshire’s next Republican senator.

So what did Gregg do? Pull out!

That’s right. Noting that he has too many policy disagreements with Obama – “irresolvable conflicts,” Gregg called them – he changed his mind.

First off, Gregg is a fiscal conservative, and he had to know from the get-go that he would be at odds with the Obama administration over economic matters. But secondly, after all of Gregg’s talk of bipartisanship, he withdrew over what amounted to partisan differences over issues including the stimulus package – which Gregg voted against.

He was a dope for wanting the job at the start. He was dopier for wanting his Senate seat to get special treatment. And he was the ultimate in dopiness for flip-flopping on bipartisanship and withdrawing his nomination.

As part of his withdrawal statement, Gregg said, “I will continue to represent the people of New Hampshire in the United States Senate.” Ain’t they lucky. 

The splintered GOP sideshow

Evangelical voters just can’t decide which candidate to support among the menagerie of Republican presidential wannabes. And that news couldn’t be better for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.

The most recent example of this took place last weekend at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. Mainstream headlines coming out of the gathering basically said the same thing. As the New York Times put it, “Religious Right Divides Its Vote.” And the more divided the anti-gay right is, the less power they have to control the political agenda.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani leads among Republicans in national polls, but so-called “Values Voters” don’t trust him. In fact, he placed next to last in the summit’s straw poll – the only candidate to do worse was Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Christian conservatives say Giuliani has hijacked the GOP. And many are still threatening an independent third-party candidate – a move that would certainly divide the right-wing vote.

Along the way, Giuliani has angered moderates and left-leaning supporters for backing away from his support of issues like civil unions for same-sex couples and gun control.

So it seems unlikely that right-wing voters believe him when he says, as he did at the summit, “Isn’t it better that I tell you what I really believe, instead of pretending to change all of my positions to fit the political wind?” Well, yes, if he actually didn’t change his positions.

How little do Christian conservatives trust Giuliani? In response to his promise to appoint “strict constructionist” judges to the Supreme Court – a not-so-veiled reference to anti-Roe v. Wade judges – Southern Baptist Convention president Richard Land told the media, “He also promised two previous wives that he would love, honor and cherish them, until death do us part.” Ouch!

Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator and “Law & Order” actor, was supposed to be the savior of the right. But he’s been a dud. James Dobson, the powerful head of anti-gay Focus on the Family, wrote of Thompson in an email that was leaked to the media: “He won’t talk at all about what he believes, can’t speak his way out of a paper bag. He has no passion, no zeal, no apparent ‘want to,’ yet he is apparently the great hope that burns in the breasts of many conservative Christians? Well, not for me, my brothers, not for me.”

Then there’s former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has flip-flopped on issues ranging from abortion to gay civil rights to health care. As Log Cabin Republicans points out in a recent television ad, Romney had very different positions when he ran for office in the Bay State than he does now that he is kowtowing to the anti-gay right.

Between Romney’s changing positions and his Mormon faith, many evangelicals question his commitment to their so-called values.

Many social conservatives seem impressed with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is also a Baptist minister. He even placed second in the summit’s straw poll, bested only by Romney whose supporters basically bought enough votes to place first.

But many evangelicals don’t think Huckabee can win either the Republican nomination or the general election, so support for him is tentative. To Huckabee’s credit, despite a conservative agenda, he speaks in a respectful way that is reminiscent of the McCain of the 2000 campaign (as opposed to the McCain of the current campaign, who sold out his principles to ingratiate himself with the Bushes and the radical right).

Compare Huckabee to, say, U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado. He won praise during his speech at the summit when he said the Republican Party “needs a leader who is opposed to abortion not because Iowa caucus-goers are opposed to abortion but because the Lord said, ‘I knew you before you were in the womb.’” These voters may like what they hear from candidates like Tancredo, but pragmatic evangelicals know that such heated rhetoric will not win the White House.

So let the fractured anti-gay movement deal with its own indecision. In the meantime, the GLBT community must make the most of this moment when the enemy is most divided.