Just when you thought there weren’t any ways left to look at the Sanford scandal, along comes the Vogue treatment of Jenny Sanford as the wronged woman America loves and admires most.
The glamour shot above is just the beginning. An excerpt:
Early this past summer, just as the world was savoring the news that yet another conservative Republican politician had tumbled from grace in a manner worthy of the best French farce—“hiking the Appalachian Trail” will never have the same meaning—there emerged an unlikely hero in the mess down in South Carolina. Petite, clear-eyed, strong-willed, pious without being smug, smart without being caustic, Jenny Sanford became an unlikely heroine by telling the simple truth. Her children were the most important thing in the world to her. She had kicked the lying bum out of the house when he refused to give up his mistress, but marriage is complex, life is hard, and if he wanted to try and make the marriage work, the door was open.
Her one-page statement saying as much was written without the help of spin doctors or media consultants. It came from her heart and her head. It mentioned God without making you squirm. The world took note. Newsweek dubbed her a “media genius”; The Washington Post hailed her as “a new role model for wronged spouses.” On television, Diane Sawyer called her classy, praising her “grace in the glare.” While her husband was giving overly emotional press conferences about soul mates and impossible love, Sanford kept her mouth shut and her head down. Just as the scandal was finally dying down, she agreed to sit with Vogue and set the record straight about what really happened in the low country of South Carolina….
… to which I can only say, which is it, Vogue — “hero” or “heroine?” (I would recommend the latter, but then I’m such an unreconstructed language chauvinist.) I knew that newspapers were short on editors, but Vogue?…
Anyway, more power to Jenny, say I. I’m still waiting for someone to start cranking out those special “WWJD” bracelets…
Related Posts
Here’s the bit where you can really tell it’s Vogue: “Sitting on her couch in a crisp black linen shirt, scant makeup, and a few pieces of gold jewelry…”
Actually, my facetiousness aside, it’s a pretty good piece. I learned some things about the Sanfords from reading it. Nice job. S.C. voters who would like to better understand the man whom they twice elected should read it.
There, I said something nice; now I’m going to be thrown out of the bloggers’ guild..
Today she compared Sanford’s obsession to see La Mujer with an addiction to porn or alcohol. OUCH!
In one perspective, I bet she’s very pious and has strong faith. But I can’t help but think that she’s dealing some cards from the bottom of the deck and we aren’t noticing. What was that about fury and a scorned woman?
Poor South Carolina — too small for a republic, too large for an insane asylum, and too poor and undereducated to be nothing but a backdrop for the tawdry soap opera that the Sanfords insist on putting on in public.
Jenny is indeed a media genius. Vogue. What a coup!
She’s so Photoshopped, she looks like Carolyne Roehm (a fromer fashion designer, she was formerly Mrs. Henry Kravis,he was one of the KKR corporate raiders of the 80s. Both are major socialites.)
I wish her well in her personal life. I do not appreciate her using personal influence to keep her husband in office in order to save her marriage, if that is indeed what happened (per Will Folks).
I knew this article would attract all the bigots who hate South Carolina, and who hate Governor Sanford because of his ideology of small, honest government.
Honest, like hiking in Appalachia when he wasn’t? Like catching a flight on the tax payers to get a haircut?
Bigots? Like your claim that “most Hispanics you meet are probably illegal aliens”?
LOL, Hall of Fame material.