The Waning Bat Signal

It was only about a month ago that my husband and I were discussing what chance conservatives had in the next election. My husband began extolling the virtues of Governor Mark Sanford and his decision not to accept the federal stimulus money. He was fighting for freedom and state sovereignty. He was speaking the words that I want the world to hear. It’s an absolutely amazing feeling when someone is willing to speak out for what is right, even when it is unpopular. We joked about moving to South Carolina.

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t exactly been passionate about writing on my blog. Part of that is just exhaustion. Another part is that I have promised to be uplifting and haven’t felt like I could keep that promise lately. This news didn’t help. When I heard about Gov. Sanford’s affair, my heart just sunk.

My husband said, very dispassionately, “At least he didn’t lie about it.”

I got angry and retorted, “Are you defending him?”

He shook his head and said, sadly, “No… But I want to.”

I knew how he felt. We wanted to believe the best of this man. We wanted to hold out hope that there was someone out there who was decent and good. We wanted a soldier, a hero, a good person. We suddenly were seeing the sludge in the heart of someone we thought we could respect.

I growled in sudden frustration, “Isn’t there anyone out there with integrity any more?”

My husband responded, “There is. They’re just not in politics.”

And that’s when I realized, I was staring into the eyes of the man I was mourning for. The hero who fights triumphantly for what is right isn’t dead. He exists all around us. I am married to a man who is honest, loyal, hard working and passionate about freedom. I am married to a man who does the right thing whether it is hard or not, who loves people and believes that they are good inside, who treasures family and religion and adores all the things America stands for.

But my husband isn’t the only one. I see the hero I am searching for every day at church, in my community, in the editorials I read. I hope others can see some glimmer of him in me.

My friends, don’t mourn Gov. Sanford. Don’t give him a second thought. He wasn’t who we thought he was. That doesn’t mean that integrity is dead. It just means we have to look a little closer to home to find it.