I’m just reading about Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and his recent weekend jaunt to Argentina to “do something exotic.” Unfortunately, before he left, Gov. Sanford neglected to tell anyone where he was going – not even his staff or his wife.  His unexplained absence has lead to increasing numbers of media outlets sniffing around the story and developing conjecture about his “trip” – and if history tells us anything, it’s that this will probably not end well for anyone involved.

Just pick a story – Clinton and Monica, Father Cutie (what a fitting name) rolling in the sand with a long-time girlfriend, John Edwards and whoever his alleged paramour is – even Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy and the teen ‘models’ he pays to attend parties.   What do they all have in common?  They live in the unblinking fishbowl of media attention.  They know they’re being watched all the time.  They know that the 24 hour cable news cycle is always hungry, and must be fed. But they still believe themselves to somehow be ‘invisible’ to the feeding frenzy of media scrutiny.  It’s like they think that they have a get out of jail free card, (sometimes literally, reference Larry Craig and his ‘wide stance’).  But, as recent events show, that’s not the case.

Goldfish can be excused for sometimes doing stupid stuff – accidentally flopping out of the bowl, eating their own waste – because they don’t know they’re being watched, but people who have sought a life in the glare of public media – be it politics, celebrity or even religion – cannot be so easily forgiven.

I really hope that Gov. Sanford proves to be telling the truth and he can explain away his weekend trip to Argentina  (the closet I’ve even been to Argentina on a weekend is a Gaucho Burger and a Corona – Mexico being at least in the same hemisphere).  But he should keep in mind that he’s always under the ‘bright lights’ –and that integrity is best defined as “doing the right thing even when nobody is watching.”