Summers, as any journalist will tell you, tend to be uneventful. Except for the periodic extreme weather event or heated political campaign, we drink from the trough of feel-good stories from June to September.

This summer, however, has been anything but quiet. We have been mesmerized, titillated, astounded by the spectacle of governors gone wild.

One would think the coverage of Michael Jackson's death would have quelled our fascination with the lovesick Mark Sanford and the unpredictable Sarah Palin, but that has not been the case. If discussions -- nay, arguments -- at backyard barbecues are any indication, there is something positively Shakespearean about their strange and all-too-human behavior.

Who would've thought politicians could be so entertaining? This is the stuff of screenplays. The foibles of our elected officials remind us of . . . well, of us.

A recap in case you're just back from Kathmandu: Sanford, of South Carolina, went M.I.A. a few weeks back, only to be caught sneaking back into the country after a visit with his Argentine lover. The ink was barely dry on his wife's ''I forgive Mark'' statement when former vice presidential candidate Palin dropped her bombshell: She is resigning the Alaska governorship with 18 months left in her term.

In and of themselves, the governors' actions probably wouldn't have warranted the unabated attention that followed. It was their raw, rambling, unscripted news conferences -- Ohmygod! Did they really say what I heard? -- that riveted us.

Both were in desperate need of an editor, and I, for one, know several I could send their way. See, we have grown accustomed to politicians who speak in talking points. Telepromptered confessions and practiced apologies lack the sloppy sentiment that such events plainly require. Until now. Sanford and Palin gave us something entirely different: declarations from the heart. Most will construe their words as political suicide, but I find them refreshingly chaotic, contradictory and real.

Here's my favorite line from Sanford: ``This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story. A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day.''

And, by the way, he said he was trying to fall back in love with his wife.

Many see such unguarded statements as acts of ineptitude, even calculated pandering, but I'm more forgiving. I'm no fan of either governor, but both have expressed the conflicting emotions that everyone wrestles with when faced with a no-win situation -- a damned-if-I-do, damned-if-I- don't angst usually suffered in private.

Most of us subject only our nearest and dearest to such disjointed, heart-baring soliloquies. Sanford and Palin had an entire country as their audience.

What will they do now? How will they recover? No one knows, but of this I am sure: Sooner or later, like the rest of us, they'll shut up and move on.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@