By fitsnews – February 26, 2010
By FITSNews || A Charleston, S.C. family court judge will grant South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford a divorce from her philandering husband, S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford, on the grounds of adultery.
Mrs. Sanford appeared in court in the Holy City on Friday morning – an appearance which was televised nationally by Court TV – to explain her reasons for divorcing the governor, which she is required to do by law.
The divorce agreement was sealed, however, in an effort to protect the couple’s four children.
“The dissolution of a 20-year marriage is not a cause for celebration,” Mrs. Sanford said Friday. “It’s a sad occasion.”
Huh?
Was anybody actually celebrating this divorce? Well … except perhaps as a long-overdue end to this nonsense (we hope)?
Anyway, the reasons behind the divorce petition are patently obvious to the millions of Americans who have followed the Sanford saga since last June, when the governor mysteriously disappeared from the state following the 2009 legislative session – and then lied to the public about his whereabouts.
Sanford returned several days later and admitted his infidelity in a bizarre, rambling press conference at the State Capitol building in Columbia, S.C. Days later, the governor referred to his Latin lover, Maria Belen Chapur, as his soul mate in a disastrous AP interview.
The affair almost cost Sanford his job – as subsequent investigations into his travel practices revealed a host of ethical abuses. The governor was spared impeachment, however, as political calculations by the elected officials seeking to replace him took precedence over the substance of the charges against him.
Also, Sanford pledged to “walk humbly” with Republican leaders in the S.C. General Assembly, who have long been his ideological opponents – prompting speculation regarding a backroom deal between the governor and his GOP antagonists.
For her part, Mrs. Sanford publicly exited the Governor’s Mansion last August (with the couple’s four children) after attempts at reconciling her the marriage proved fruitless. She then filed for divorce last December, which the governor declined to contest.
Sanford did not appear in court Friday, and his office blasted out the same statement it circulated two months ago when the First Lady’s filing was first made public.
Earlier this month, Mrs. Sanford’s book Staying True was released – and she embarked on a media blitz in support of the book.
WEB EXTRA
Mark and Jenny Sanford: These Attention Whores Want Privacy?
Pic: AP/Alice Keeney
