Disgraced former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer gets a talk show. Disgraced former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford wins the GOP nomination to run for the Senate. Disgraced former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner has almost five million dollars in his political campaign chest to make a run for the New York Mayor’s office. Hmmmm!

This just goes to reinforce the idea that any press is good press. One can be an elected official and fraternize with prostitutes, resign in disgrace, and return to a high-profile public venue. One can abdicate his responsibilities as governor, turn up in Argentina with his “soul-mate” and be politically rehabilitated. Anthony Weiner? Oh! Please! There will be no end to the jokes.

Next, I’m thinking we will see the political rehabilitation of John Edwards. Will anyone remember how he disrespected his dying wife? If Edwards, Weiner, Spitzer, and Sanford can be so disrespectful to someone with whom they exchanged wedding vows, what, then, will be their obligation towards you and me, and why would they honor it? I have to agree with Ross Perot on this one: a man who routinely cheats on his wife will not think twice about cheating me. By extension, we have already established that that man is a liar and a cheat. Where will he draw the line on lying and cheating?

I think Warhol overlooked something. A good public relations firm can turn your fifteen minutes of fame (infamy) into a TV talk show or a resurrect your failed political career. This says a lot about us.

Have we become so jaded that we are allowing these people to be rehabilitated, just because we see them on TV? Shame of us. Let their rehabilitation include being ineligible for public office or any venue that puts them before the public because we have a memory and will not vote for them. Of course, I believe that one should be forgiven, but forgiveness doesn’t mean that they should be restored to a position of public trust or public exposure. Forgiveness does not mean that I should vote for them. I can forgive them without supporting them politically . . . that’s easy . . . there’s lots of folks I have nothing against but don’t want to see on TV or in public office.

There is a common lowness that we seem to fail to recognize. Maybe it’s we who don’t have the collective memory and this allows people such as these to reappear in our political arenas and be taken seriously.

When John Edwards reappears politically and is taken seriously, I will be convinced that there is no hope for the American electorate.

What is the South Carolina GOP thinking? And, WHY?