Who the hell goes hiking on the AT without telling anyone?

No one with a lick of sense does that, let alone a state governor. The Mark Sanford story reeks. It's simply not plausible. If his family, his security detail and others knew he was off hiking the AT, why did it take days to provide that information? Why would they lie about it? What's going on? I don't have a clue, but it's something big, and I doubt he's merrily traipsing along the AT.

Alternatively, he may just be suffering from a nervous breakdown as he watches his party going the way of the Whigs.

if it's a nervous breakdown, what's the reason for it?

without telling anyone. He would believe that he could handle anything that came up.

However, I also think the story reeks.

by his legislature and the court.

:rofl:

Of course, that would be if he took his kiddos with him.

If you're a winger wanting to run in 2012, isn't it mandatory to get some misty-eyed, family moments captured for the commercials . . . Mom, Dad and the boys with the stars and stripes flapping in the background?
:rofl:

The good thing is that this is a new bright shiny toy to play with. Yet another GOOPer with either something to hide or just plain batshit crazy. Either way, the longer he stays gone, the more he draws attention to himself.

This isn't the age of Calvin Coolidge...if anything, we have a problem of people being too connected these days. I really don't want to see Chuckles Grassley's twits and find those who are hardwired to their cellphones to be some of the most boorish creatures on the planet. That said, here's a "leader", and one that surely is well aware of his image and responsibility and be connected in some form or fashion. Maybe he is, but as David Letterman learned, it's not the words but the perceptions that matter...and the longer those words end in question marks the worse his political fates fall.

The "leaders" of the rushpublican party have turned into their own reality show.

Stay tuned...

But he'll really mean Moses.

Is this just because SC doesn't have deserts?

But nobody has had any contact with him. Something strange going on here.

Doesn't know where he is.

Maybe she and the kiddos told him to 'get lost' for Father's Day. I'm betting he's 'holed' up someplace with Larry Craig.

If you're gone that long don't you need provisions? Or are there 5 star hotels and restaurants along the way? Just curious about what you would need to take to be gone this long.

The AT is a rugged trail. Yes, some pieces of it do pass close to restaurants, and I'm not familiar with the AT down South, but I do know it starts in Georgia. Not sure how far Sanford would have had to travel to get to the trail head, but I think it's quite a distance.

It winds from Georgia into NC, then along the TN/NC border into VA. His reason puts him out of state, which adds to the mystery.

Whether Sanford is in harm's way or just off the reservation or covering a scandal, they should put Bauer in charge.

I love the AT, but prefer it in the fall.

mikey_the_rat

Which, actually, describes Sanford to a T.

mikey_the_rat

that is happening in the north Georgia mountains this week?
That would be interesting.

attention. My guess is that he's nowhere near a hiking trail and most likely hospitalized somewhere, no doubt suffering from some sort of mental illness. Any other type of illness would not be hidden from the public. I imagine the hiking story is a cover up.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/06/sanford_story_takes_more_serious_turn.php?ref=fpblg

snip//


The governor left on Thursday telling staff he was going to go hiking on the Appalachian Trial. He goes on trips sometimes without his security detail -- which isn't terribly surprising. But he's never been completely out of touch for this long. Then there's the added detail -- also noted earlier today -- that this last known whereabouts was near Atlanta ...



If the governor were a civilian, I would say that this kind of data on the whereabouts of his cell phone strongly suggested that an active investigation into his whereabouts was underway. But of course, he's not a civilian. He's a governor. Possibly the whereabouts of his cell phone are routinely tracked. And if not, the state of South Carolina could probably easily pull those records. Still, the fact that this information is in the mix at least suggests that people in the state government have already made some efforts to track down just where the governor is.

Put it all together and this is starting to sound a lot like the governor is genuinely missing.

He goes hiking, either alone or in a small group. He says he'll be away and perhaps not in regular contact. But reading between the lines it seems his people did not expect he'd be totally out of contact for several days. There's some evidence suggesting some efforts may already have been made to track him down. Now it's the beginning of the next week. And there's still no word from him.

I don't think there's much to be gained through more speculation. And there's a lot that's still murky about this. But based on what we're being told, if Sanford weren't the governor of a state but the CEO of a local company, this sounds like the point at which people would be starting to worry about if something had happened to him.

Late Update: A number of news outlets have headlines up with some variation of 'mystery solved' or 'governor located'. But all of these stories, when you dig into them, have the same basic facts. Which is that the governor's spokesman now says he's off hiking. But they admit they don't know just where he is on the Appalachian Trail. And that no one has been in touch with him since last Thursday. That seems like a lot less than solved.

and his last known location was near Atlanta last week.

Maybe he's tweeting from Iran? :shrug:

by the way, I hate acronyms.

I have not seen any indication whether he did or not.

they are turned off.

If we're lucky...

:evilgrin:

it is heavily wooded, isolated and is full of boar, bears and poisonous snakes. It is not for the faint of heart. People disappear off the trail every year and a few never come back.

Hiking the AT my ass.

girlfriend of a friend of mine did the AT 10 years ago. My friend's job was to regularly FedEx foodstuffs (energy bars etc.) and clean clothes to certain check in points along the trail. This is apparently a regular thing for people spending time on the trail.

Another thing that is semi-regular is that people who would rather not be seen while traveling get on the trail too. My friend's girlfriend got stopped at one Ranger station and told to stay the night. She and her party were not very happy about it-they had a schedule to keep if they were going to finish. Seems two guys who were wanted for grand theft (and I think assault or murder) were somewhere on the trail authorities were pretty sure. This is not an uncommon experience from what she was told afterwards. They caught they guys and arrested them and everyone was released back on to the trail.

I was not aware of that happening. The Rangers and local law enforcement were aware of this and apparently checked on it as a matter of procedure.

I think this was in the North Carolina-Tennessee area but I am not sure.

---

We regularly got to a great restaurant in Catawba Va. called the The Home Place. "Family style" meal (fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, etc.) all you can eat. You can see the Appalachian Trail from the yard outside this house turned into a restaurant. There is always ALWAYS a 45 minute wait to get a table. In the spring and fall you can always see a couple of hikers crashed out on the front lawn-it is a great place to fuel up on carbs and protein, a real home cooked meal on the trail.

I don't know who's more of an embarrassment, him or Lindsey Graham.