"I had met my soul mate..."

People sure can make a mess when it comes to love. Case in point is the South Carolina governor, Mark Sanford, who has a wife in town and a mistress in Argentina.

I give the man credit at least for finding a place to tryst without worrying about the wife walking in on him.

We have all heard the story of how he disappeared for five days, claimed he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, when he was actually in Argentina with his lover. He got caught and was all over the news until the death of Michael Jackson. He's still in the news, which shows his story has legs, as the media love to say.

My wife and I have been married 40 years (here's the story of how we eloped.) There have been trouble spots along the way but we stuck it out and now I think I am qualified to talk about marriage.

In an Associated Press story from July 1, the reporter said, "Sanford said he is trying to fall back in love with his wife, Jenny, even as he grapples with his deep feelings for [Maria] Chapur." But also in the article Sanford said he would die "knowing that I had met my soul mate."

Attention, Governor, attention. This old married man would make the point that in one breath claiming to try to fall back in love with your wife and then publicly humiliate her by calling your mistress your soul mate, is really a big mistake. You won't win her back with that sort of talk. In this case, telling the truth is not what you want to do. Do you talk about state matters like you talk about the deepest and most intimate details of your private life? You probably don't, so shut up already with the soul mate talk.

My suggestion would be to never speak of it again, and then do the right thing: resign your job as governor because no one will take you seriously ever again. You have mortally offended your constituents, especially married women. Give your wife a divorce, let her move on with her life. Move to Argentina, make it a permanent move, marry your mistress. You'll be far away from the damage you've caused with your lies and worse, your truths.