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	Franklin County, Kansas, USA

2009-11-07

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2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Friday, June 26, 2009 10:38 PM

Latest scandal highlights fathers-gone-wild trend

Dad gone bad

Father’s Day was last weekend.

Some of us took our dads on fishing trips. Some of us went out for a nice Sunday dinner or stayed home and grilled with Pops. Some made a phone call home.

Others simply remembered those dads who have passed away.

It was a day for celebrating great times with our fathers — the moments that helped to shape us into the people we are today.

But in South Carolina, four boys were without their father. No fishing trip. No Sunday dinner. No memory making with dad.

Why?

Because their father, Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., was on a mysterious, secret trip to Argentina — a getaway to visit the woman with whom he’d been having an affair for the past several months. For Sanford, the holiday apparently wasn’t about being a great role model or dad — it was about selfishly treating himself to his own little Father’s Day gift.

Sanford’s story is particularly juicy because the governor reportedly was on failed presidential candidate John McCain’s short list of potential running mates last summer. He even was seen by some — until this week, of course — as a worthwhile contender for the White House in 2012.

The Republican governor’s squeaky clean image and high-profile (at least in South Carolina) stances on family values issues also made him an unavoidable target for the media hordes and those in the “conservatives are hypocrites” crowd.

Indeed, Sanford follows a long list of GOP politicians, most all of them fathers themselves, who have been caught — literally and figuratively — with their pants down. Of course, the list of Democrats is just as long and perhaps even more sensational. Anyone remember John Edwards, Jim McGreevey or ... Bill Clinton?

Clearly it’s a bipartisan problem.

Our friends over at MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” report there have been 23 high-profile political sex scandals — involving Republicans and Democrats alike — since Clinton’s tryst with Monica Lewinsky made headlines (and headaches) in 1998.

But don’t be fooled: Our dads-behaving-badly woes aren’t limited to politicians who can’t seem to honor marital vows. Their transgressions are a reflection of the rest of society. A growing number of fathers across the country, in small towns and big cities, share the same irresponsible trait.

We’ve seen it in our neighborhoods and churches. We’ve seen it in the celebrity gossip magazines. We’ve seen it all around us for years.

Some say it’s just human nature — men were not meant to be with just one woman.

That’s a cop-out.

Fathers like Sanford must return to putting their families — not their libidos — first.

Our president, who largely grew up without a father, gave some excellent insight on the importance of dads ahead of the Father’s Day weekend:

“Fathers are our first teachers and coaches, they’re our mentors and role models, they set an example of success and push us to succeed,” Obama said. “When fathers are absent, when they abandon their responsibility to their children, we know the damage that does to our families.”

Whether you cast a vote for him or not, Obama’s words ring true.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a governor or just an everyday guy. Actions have consequences. And fatherhood comes with responsibility.

Most dads understand that, but far too many seem to have forgotten.

Make sure your children have someone to celebrate next Father’s Day.

— Tommy Felts,

Herald design editor