Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Is Jenny Sanford "Staying True"?

Unless you have been living under a rock, and even then I'm sure you have heard about South Carolina's infamous Governor Mark Sanford and his trip hiking the Appalachian Trail  to Argentina to see his soul mate Maria Belen Chapur. His now estranged wife, Jenny Sanford, has just released her book, "Staying True".


I will tell you what has amazed me the most about her current book tour. As you know from reading my blog (if you have) I listen to a local radio show, "The Morning Buzz" in the morning while I am working. They have been discussing Mrs. Sanford's book at great lengths lately and it seems the consensus is SHE is the one that is wrong. The vast majority of the callers, and the radio host himself, seem to think that there is no reason Mrs. Sanford should have written a book. That she is just "out to make money". That if she really cared about protecting her boys as she claims, she wouldn't subject them to this.


I call foul. First of all, have you ever heard of Skil Saw, and the Skil corp? Yeah, that's her family, so this is not a woman that needs money. She also has a degree in finance from Georgetown University and worked on Wall Street for an investment banking firm. She is wealthy in her own right, without a book.


She has every right to tell her side of the story. We were subjected to Governor Sanford, for months, telling us about his "soul mate" and how he was in "luv" (yes "luv" not "love"). How, he was going to end contact with his Argentinian Maria and "try" to fall back in love with his wife. Mrs. Sanford has every right to tell us how she felt. What she went through. How it all started and what lead to the path they are now on. 


She tells how before they got married, Mark decided they would drop "faithful" from their wedding vows. She says, "It bothered me to some extent, but...we were very young, we were in love...I questioned it, but I got past it...along with other doubts I had." Well, she is getting a lot of flack for this concession. But, let's remember, they were young, were in love, and full of hope, faith, and trust in one another. It probably was a mere blip on the radar screen at the time. Of course, hind sight being 20/20, it's easy to say what a naive young girl she was to agree. But does omitting the word, in and of itself, omit the promise? 


I am really surprised at how much criticism she is getting. Mrs. Sanford is being made out to be the bad guy for publishing a book. I guess I just see it differently. I think she has every right to tell her side. I am sure it is only a matter of time before Maria Belen Chapur and Mark Sanford have book deals. If people will buy it, and they are buying Jenny Sanford's book, then obviously there is a demand and there are people interested in hearing what she has to say.

8 comments:

Doc said...

Im betting that after his term is over Gov. Sanford is headed BACK to Argentina...

Anonymous said...

I feel so sorry for her. That's awful for people to turn on her for writing about this. For what she has put up with she deserves to make big $ on a book.

Evil Twin's Wife said...

I think doing a book is an easy way for her to get her side heard. If it were me, I would certainly want people to hear MY perspective and what I went through. She has every right to tell her story.

Unknown said...

*Doc*-you might be right. I guess it wouldn't surprise me...or, since he does have 4 sons, perhaps she will move here. There have been reports of her being spotted in Columbia.

*3*-I agree completely.

*ETW*-Exactly.

Jay said...

Personally, I love it when wives of cheating politicians don't just "stand by their man" and put his political career first. Spitzer, Clinton, Edwards, Vitter, Craig .. all of their wives were standing right beside them when they held their little press conferences.

Also, I get a little tired of people (men in talk radio mostly) who always blame the wife. I couldn't believe all the people making all kinds of wild claims about Tiger's wife. WTF? How is cheating like these guys have been doing ever excusable?

And, like you said. She comes from a well-to-do family, so she didn't write the book for the money.

Will Shealy said...

Well said Mandy, I agree with you completely

angie said...

I agree with you, too. I haven't read her book and my honest first thought was, "Wow, that sure got written and published at lightning speed." We always run the risk of being criticized when we put ourselves out there... but she absolutely has the right to tell her story. I'm curious to know if most of her critics are other women. It's so easy to judge when we don't walk in that person's shoes.

Anonymous said...

I was on the fence about this book, until I saw her on "The Daily Show" making jokes with Jon Stewart. Something about that endeared her to me.

And I, too, am sick of the "stand by your man" ladies. Go Jenny!

-Bethy M.