Jenny Sanford shines with strength, dignity

It's a covenant of the human spirit: anger and disappointment bring compassion and forgiveness.

And so it is that eventually we South Carolinians will forgive Mark Sanford.

To his credit, our governor's "man up" Wednesday seemed sincere. His contrition was apparent. He sensed his personal humiliation and his possible political demise. His tears were genuine.

He had, in fact, failed his family — and his state. He took his medicine by himself, no family members or good friends framing his picture of gloom.

And for the governor, that must have been one very anguished drive home from the airport.

Our governor has left us to peer upon the possible dustbin of his political career — and future. Right now, there's not much to see, and that's too bad.

But his personal agony has only just begun and politics are the least of his worries. The state embraced Mark Sanford for so many reasons, including his apparent devotion to a beautiful family.

While the governor stunned us on live television, the first lady impressed us.

We've heard about her political toughness and her motherly devotion, and now we've seen her dealing with such troubling revelations.

Jenny Sanford has been a lighthouse of strength and clear thinking.

She's stood firmly by her family, but not anywhere near her man. As South Carolina processed the stomach-churning news Wednesday, Mrs. Sanford's public statement was a remarkable chronicle of events that left the first family in the cross-fire of a very public scandal. She might have said less, or nothing at all. Instead, the first lady, apparently sensing the need for public disclosure, explained a very sad story.

Her message was strong, clear and eloquent. She had been and would be tough on her husband. She was processing the always-bigger picture of life through a prism of compassion and a determination to find the right way to resolve a terrible wrong. We read her statement and sensed her pain, but mostly her resolve.

Victimhood was not her point. She wanted Gov. Sanford's constituents to know that her family matters most — and that family forgiveness for the governor was entirely possible, but it would be a demanding process.

She was setting beacons for forgiveness, redemption and reconstruction.

As scandals go, this one cuts sharply. It's not just a political nightmare for a strong-willed two-term governor and the Republican party, it's an admired family in tribulation. Mark Sanford's detractors will grow in number but every one of them surely will feel for a husband and wife — father and mother — working through distress.

With all the political wrestling and those vacuous late night television goofballs doing their thing, South Carolina is bouncing off the bottom of national impression. Our state needs an image boost. We are rightfully ashamed of our governor's failures, but we can be proud of a first lady who at a moment of terrible pain stood for her family, for better and for worse.

South Carolina will survive this misbehaving-governor scandal; other states have, some with passive regularity. And Mark Sanford's previously promising political journey may continue. That possibility exists because his wife has declared redemption is possible. Mark Sanford is one lucky man — and here's betting he knows it.

The best ending to this story would be a happy and enduring reconciliation of the Sanford family.

However it goes, though, South Carolinians will remember Jenny Sanford's dignity and strength with admiration and respect.

Ron Brinson is a former associate editor of this newspaper. Reach him at rbrin1013@gmail.com.