Vacationland

There are a few basic rules to follow when you are the BDWIC (Big Dog What's In Charge) of any entity:

1. Unless you die, are fired, resign, are rendered unconscious or comatose, or are overthrown, you are always in charge.
2. As long as rule #1 is still applicable, it's never a good idea to be unreachable for any reason.
3. If you are a public figure, whether a politician, commissioner of a sports league, union head, or Mob boss, word will eventually get out that you can't be found if you violate rule #2.
4. If word gets out that you can't be found, your sycophants will rally around the space you used to occupy to protect your reputation, while your opponents will encircle them trying to breach said space and make you look like a fool.

It can't be said that South Carolina governor Mark Sanford marches to the beat of any other drum but his own. This is probably why he willingly violated the first three rules, and was supposedly surprised to hear that rule #4 went into effect.

Sanford is spoken about with reverence by some in the Libertarian wing of the GOP as a potential 2012 presidential candidate. After all, this is the same governor who with a Republican-dominated Legislature can't seem to get a single bill of his own passed. Of course, they might still be a teensy bit sore about the defecating pigs incident.

Still you have to admire Sanford for sticking to his principles in the face of rising unemployment, shrinking tax revenues, and concerns over same-sex teenage dating violence. He is most definitely his own man.

Someone should probably tell him he is really South Carolina's "man" for another 18 months, even if most of its citizens would prefer next time he takes a break from the world he just stayed away.