Decoding Jenny Sanford’s Dog-Whistles

[Are_grits_groceries]

Jenny Sanford's statement to the media is one big dog whistle to the fundy faithful. She's hanging him out to dry, big time, using some heavy guns to do it. She is NOT taking this lying down.

I personally believe that the greatest legacy I will leave behind in this world is not the job I held on Wall Street, or the campaigns I managed for Mark, or the work I have done as First Lady or even the philanthropic activities in which I have been routinely engaged. Instead, the greatest legacy I will leave in this world is the character of the children I, or we, leave behind. It is for that reason that I deeply regret the recent actions of my husband Mark, and their potential damage to our children.

Shorter Jenny: Even though I haven't been the model of a stay-at-home wife for all my marriage, that's where my heart is. Too bad that's not where Mark's was. Ouch. That "I, or we" slips the knife quite cleanly between the ribs, doesn't it?


I believe wholeheartedly in the sanctity, dignity and importance of the institution of marriage. I believe that has been consistently reflected in my actions. When I found out about my husband's infidelity I worked immediately to first seek reconciliation through forgiveness, and then to work diligently to repair our marriage. We reached a point where I felt it was important to look my sons in the eyes and maintain my dignity, self-respect, and my basic sense of right and wrong. I therefore asked my husband to leave two weeks ago.

Shorter Jenny: I respect marriage, even though he doesn't. I've consistently acted like I respect marriage, even though he didn't. I believe in reconciliation, forgiveness, and hard work to make marriage work, even though he doesn't. I think of my sons, even though he doesn't. So I booted his ass.
<snip>

Now for the big guns:

I believe enduring love is primarily a commitment and an act of will, and for a marriage to be successful, that commitment must be reciprocal. I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage.

Psalm 127 states that sons are a gift from the Lord and children a reward from Him. I will continue to pour my energy into raising our sons to be honorable young men. I remain willing to forgive Mark completely for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time, if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance.

Shorter:
Psalm 127 is at the heart of the "Quiverfull" folks -- a far right evangelical movement, devoted to extreme patriarchal gender roles, homeschooling, and of course they are against any form of birth control or abortion.

Hauling out Psalm 127 is hitting Mark Sanford across the head with a two by four in evangelical circles. "God gave you these boys as a gift, and you scorned it. You mocked it. You treated them like dirt, and in so doing you treated God like dirt. You didn't just disrespect me -- you disrespected God."
<snip>
Even so, asking for Solomon's wisdom and Job's patience is another one-two smack at Mark's head with her Bible.
The only thing missing from the statement is a fine Southern "Bless his heart" to tie it all up with a bow.

http://firedoglake.com/2009/06/24/decoding-jenny-sanfords-dog-whistles/

When I read her statement, the hairs rose on the back of my neck. The only thing that may have kept Sanford out of a woodchipper were the kids. Everybody in the state except Mark knew she was not to be trifled with. In addition, she has the money. She is an heiress of the Skil company money.

If she is just now reading those emails, he better go back to Argentina. If she wasn't privy to those before they were printed, all bets are off. I'm not sure how she will get him, but it will be skillful and lethal to his political future. She was probably planning anyway, but I'll bet her plans have changed.

As far as people commending him for not having her by his side during his confession, he couldn't have gotten her there with the national guard.

[Psychic Consortium]

1. She is clearly the brains of this marriage. Sanford best watch out. nt

[HillWilliam]

13. Sounds like she's the balls, too

and they're his on a platter. Or she's wearin' 'em for earbobs.

Grits, Dear, you heard the same thing I did. She's not just whistling to the nutball-right -- that's a plain-out holler if I ever heard one. And a highly-skilled (Skil'ed?) Suthren Steel Mygnolyer mama with perfectly manicured talons around her man's jewels (and financial assets), letting him know exactly and in dulcet, honeyed tones that she will burn him a new asshole clean up to the shoulderblades if he steps one millimeter outside her next instructions.

Being Suthren myself, I've seen it a dammillion times.

Don't let that big, perfectly-shellacked hair fool you. Beneath it lies the skilled mind of an acquisitive dragon of a survivor. Seen 'em in my own family.

And now that I'm better informed, damned if I'll ever buy another Skil product again.

[Psychic Consortium]

14. You are correct on all counts. nt

[DeSwiss]

45. "Sounds like she's the balls, too and they're his on a platter. Or she's wearin' 'em for earbobs."

- That's a helluva visual you've created there...

[SpiralHawk]

2. Seems unlikely Republicon Sanford cc'd his spousal unit on the email

so I reckon she's just reading them now

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. I know he wouldn't cc her.

At least I don't think he would. I just wonder if someone slipped copies to her.

[sufrommich]

3. I'm sure she's already seen the emails. I can't imagine who

else would have access to his private emails. I don't doubt she's the one who leaked them in the first place.

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. Maybe

I can imagine her letting the affair be known. However, I'm not sure she would subject her kids to his tripe. Those emails go to a whole other level of humiliation, and not just for him.

[sufrommich]

8. Her ability to take down the jerk who cheated on her may

have canceled out common sense. It's been known to happen.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. I think she leaked them

to try and stop the affair. They were leaked anonymously, and the paper sat on them for seven months, because they had no proof of an affair. My guess is this is the first time since December that Sanford went to Argentina, and the first chance for the paper to get some facts to back up the emails so they could be published.

I could see the wife, when she found out about the affair, forgiving her husband, who, no doubt, promised never to see his lover again. Leaking the emails was the first step in getting revenge if he was lying, which he was.

[MuseRider]

17. Or perhaps

just exposure to stop the affair. I can imagine he thought she would not know what he was up to since she had kicked him out. I wonder if she had the emails, gave them to the paper and then tipped them off to get the proof they needed when she found out he had left to unknown places. It will be mighty hard for him to step out of line with anyone from now on.

[Hepburn]

26. Having practiced family law for about 15 years before I retired as an atty...

...when I heard about the "leak," my first thought was that the wife got a key stroke capture device, got his password and got into his email, read the emails to Ms. Argentina, got pissed and fucked him over.

This lady is NO dummy and she has swum with the sharks ~~ he should never have fucked around on her. Mega mistake.

[LiberalFighter]

40. That keystroke device would only work on the computer it was attached.

And most likely only at home. Not likely, I don't think on the state computer.

She must had had reason to suspect he was cheating on her for that to happen too.

[Tanuki]

11. One of the other men in the mistress' life could have leaked the e-mails

out of jealousy, or the mistress herself could have done so to force his hand and make him choose.

[sufrommich]

12. Very true. Her husband may have found them. nt

[hunter]

22. Could be the other woman's husband who grabbed the emails, no?

:shrug:

On edit: guess not, divorced.

[unc70]

42. Maybe some staff/admin found them on a state computer

His wife seems more than able to respond with surgerical pecision without resorting to a hard-to-control action like leaking the emails to "The State". As I understand the timeline, the emails were leaked in December and she found out in January. From my distance, I think it likely that he did some of the emails from his office where someone might have found them. I am sure we will all know in a few days.


The words in her statement that rung out for me were "legacy", "character", "damage", "dignity", "dignity", "self-respect" -- she would not have taken a first action that would expose this to the public.

I liked how she began with "Wall Street" ,,, "philanthropic activities" ... "routinely engaged". In case there was any doubt, the money is hers and she is keeping it. If he begs, he might get the rest of his clothes, but don't count on it.

[Buzz Clik]

6. "I married that freckly, lipless bastard, and this is what I get in return?"

"Castration is legal in Argentina, but there's a four-day waiting period. Now you know where he was and why. Mark will 'spark' no more forever."

[MzNov]

25. Another Frank Burns bites the dust

:rofl:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Do you think she will aspire to political office herself now?

She was obviously the brains, money, and power behind the throne, as it were. And she will get her revenge, while evoking sympathy for her children. But will she be content with simple revenge? Is her desire for power so great that she would run for office herself? Or do her conservative, patriarchal values preclude her from doing so?

[Buzz Clik]

10. Is there a history of the "wronged" woman running for political office? Some sort of precedent?

Let me think....

[MicaelS]

15. Stick a fork in him, he's done

Thanks for the link and post.:thumbsup:

Sanford. :nopity:

[Happyhippychick]

16. How exactly did he "earn" a chance to resurrect the marriage? By leaving their sons on Father's day

going to a foreign country without telling anybody where he was, and fucking his girlfriend for five days?

I wonder what would have been the breaking point?

[HillWilliam]

18. If she's a typical steel magnolia

she's probably glad he wasn't tugging on HER arm. After popping out 4, she's through with it.

He wasn't supposed to EMBARRASS her. Appearance is everything in the south. You have to understand how things work down here. "Don't pull my arm for ess ee ex any more. I don't care what you men do. Just DO NOT embarrass ME and don't let people talk. Y'hyeah?"

Well, he blew that deal by leaving a bigass trail even Ray Charles could have followed. Hell, the whole world did. The fumducker.

Many couples have "agreements". It's a LOT more common than you think, because most folks are smart enough to keep their business to themselves and thoughtful enough not to step outside the bounds of the deal. Discretion is the first and foremost rule, though; that is, never embarrass the other partner by having people talk about the couple's private arrangements.

If Sanford is too stupid to cover his peckertracks, he's way, way, WAY too stupid to govern.

[MzNov]

19. I was getting ready to really like her

until she started spewifying the Bible verses. Hope religion can save your marriage lady. (but it doesn't sound like you want it to.) Mrs. S, you are just as big a hypocrite as the Husband.

[Are_grits_groceries]

23. She could be the biggest secret atheist known to man.

However, she knows how to wield those Bible verses. That was the most effective way to smack him. I'm not sure how much she really cares about the marriage. She is starting to play with him like a cat with a mouse.

[MzNov]

24. yeah, I like that cat/mouse thing!

:rofl: She's good.

When she said "I haven't heard from him either" I knew she did and was setting him up!!!

[LiberalFighter]

41. She needs to put some catnip on his pecker.

[dgibby]

30. I think you're misreading her.

She is using HIS fundie beliefs and the Bible to beat him to death. It's how things are done here in the Bible Belt.

If you really know the Bible, it can be used as a weapon of mass destruction against your enemies, and Jenny Sanford KNOWS her Bible. She's more dangerous than Lorena Bobbitt with a butcher knife and a garbage disposal.

We have a saying in the South: "Good breeding will out". Obviously, Jenny's breeding is FAR superior to Mark's. I'm betting there's a large iron skillet in his future with an imprint of his face just waiting for it! He's lucky she threw him out. Safer for him that way.:evilgrin:

[MzNov]

31. No, I'm just saying what turned me off about her.

I think she's smarter than he is. But if she has to spew Bible verses, she lost me. I don't care why she's spewing. But if that's what gets her what she needs, who am I to say.

[Dogtown]

38. I hear you, MzNov

and it jarred me, too.

I think it's aimed more at Sanford's constituency than the rest of it.

She wants them to roast the Governor.

[Catherine Vincent]

33. A large skillet of cooked grits!

[Spazito]

20. Fascinating! I could NOT make sense of her response...

but your breakdown of it now makes what she was saying very clear. Thanks for the lesson on southern-speak, much appreciated.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. I *had to* give this a rec. A lot more people need to see examples of dog whistling at its best

She has it down to a Tee.

Fundies are crazy.

[mopinko]

27. where would these wingnuts be without their wife's fortunes?

you gotta admit, one spot where it sucks to be rich is in love. you would never know who loved you for yourself, and who loved that pretty green glow over everything.

[chaplainM]

28. Compare this to Gov. Sanford's emails

We know which spouse stayed awake in English 101. I wonder if she wrote the term papers for both of them.

[glitch]

29. Thank you for the translation - very helpful.

Decyphering fundy-speak is a valuable asset, please keep 'em coming around here! :hi:

[Boxerfan]

32. Second on the translation being helpfull!

Most-if not all of the true barbs zoomed right over my male pattern baldness...

[jgraz]

34. She probably regrets being his campaign manager...

Sorry, don't have a lot of sympathy for her.

[Karenina]

35. He humiliated her IN PUBLIC! Stick a fork in him.

CHAR TO THE BONE!!! :rofl: HELL HATH NO FURY... an' all that! :rofl:

[sweetpotato]

36. I'm from SC and I don't feel sorry for her

She's an ambitious Lady MacBeth type.

She tossed him out because he ruined her chances to be First Lady of the United States.

[glowing]

39. I don't feel bad for anyone of these pretend Christian folks.

They spout the bible, but really, really, really don't mean it. Is most of the state still dry on Sunday? Most of my friends male joined the "club" by 18, so they could drink on Sunday. Go to church in the AM, and drink the rest of the day away from the women.

[subcomhd]

37. Yeppers

Pretty good translation.

[bvar22]

43. Ummmm....Looks like keeping the gays from getting married.....

...didn't do much to "protect" her marriage.

[subcomhd]

44. your snide anti- traditional marriage bias is showing.

Are you so naive as to think gay marriages in other states couldn't have the power to destroy traditional families across state lines?