Had to Happen: 'Sanford and Sin' Breaks Out All Over

When the news broke online that South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford had admitted to an extramarital affair, one of my colleagues brightly chirped, "Sanford and Sin."

"That's going to turn up elsewhere," I said, right after I finished laughing.

God bless the Internet.

By the time I saw that exact headline on Wednesday's edition of "Countdown With Keith Olbermann," a Google search yielded 281 hits for the governor's name paired with "Sanford and Sin," including the Christian Science Monitor and Huffington Post. Not to be outdone, Olbermann conducted a reading of Sanford's salacious emails to his Argentinian girlfriend, while the music for "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" played softly in the background.

Frankly, everyone seems to be having too good a time with all these Republican officials (I realize times are tough for the party, but do any Republicans still sleep just with their wives these days?) getting caught in sexual peccadilloes -- especially those who lambasted Bill Clinton and John Edwards for their extramarital dalliances. "The Daily Show" as usual got the hypocrisy factor just right, calling Sanford, "Just another politician with a conservative mind and a liberal penis."

On Fox News Channel, Sean Hannity and Karl Rove both sounded almost funereal discussing Sanford's plight, while quickly trying to deflect the discussion to Democrats (see Spitzer, Eliot) who have been embroiled in their own sex scandals.

Meanwhile, in a final tribute to "Sanford and Son," I suppose this means that Sanford's wife can now say to Edwards' cheated-upon spouse, "Hang on, Elizabeth. I'm comin' to join ya!"