"Lies. Lies. Lies. That's all we get from his staff. That's all we get from his people. That's all we get from him. Why all the big cover-up?"
Sanford will hold a news conference at 2:00 p.m. I wonder whether Sanford and his staff have had enough time to come up with a story that will convince people like Knotts that while the governor made mistakes and led his staff to mislead the media, there's nothing more to the story than bone-headedness.
I don't think it's going to cut it if Sanford comes out and essentially says, "Guys, you're blowing this out of proportion." He needs some convincing combination of contrition and further explanation.
AP is expressing doubt about the governor's claim he took a wintry, coastal drive in Argentina.
Trying to make such a drive could frustrate a weekend visitor to Argentina. In Buenos Aires, the Avenida Costanera is the only coastal road, and it's less than two miles long. Reaching coastal resorts to the south requires a drive of nearly four hours on an inland highway with views of endless cattle ranches. To the north is a river delta of islands reached only by boat.
A spokesman for Argentina's immigration agency wouldn't comment Wednesday on whether Sanford entered the country, citing privacy laws.
A TPM reader adds:
Know that the "coastline" in BA is completely featureless and incredibly boring -- it's on a slow-moving, broad river. When residents of BA "go to the beach" they drive many hours away to Mar del Plata, which is on the Atlantic coast (or they hop on a boat to Montevideo, Uruguay.) But right now it's in the low 50's during the day and the mid 30's at night on the coast.
Since Sanford's staff's Appalachian-Trail-by-way-of-Atlanta explanation didn't hold up, it's no wonder folks are questioning this one. I hope he took some snapshots.
