As the news of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s infidelity and associated cover-up broke Wednesday, I couldn’t help but think (along with the rest of most Americans of any intelligence):

What was he thinking?

I mean, honestly, did he really think he could pull this off? And how much hubris does that take? When the actual affair allegedly began, he was apparently being considered as a potential vice presidential running mate to John McCain. News of John Edwards’ stunningly stupid shenanigans and apparently illegitimate child was destroying his career and wrecking his family. How could Sanford have possibly thought he could keep a mistress, let alone one from South America, a secret in that climate? When he was saved from the white-hot spotlight of a presidential race, he had the opportunity to end the affair then. He didn’t. Then he thrust himself back into the spotlight with his refusal of the stimulus money and a bruising fight with his own party and the state legislature. All along, he could have ended the affair. And didn’t.

His actions speak volumes about a man with amazing chutzpah and/or a political death wish. At least his wife had the self-respect not to stand by her man Wednesday while he ground his year-long slap-and-tickle into her face.

So let this be a lesson to all politicians everywhere. Think of the worst thing you’ve ever done, political or personal. Now imagine everyone finding out. Contemplate the scalding shame and mortifying embarrassment of having your sins dragged before the court of public opinion. Think about the effect on your children. Even if you disregard your spouse, think of your kids, trying to go to school as classmates laugh and teachers whisper and they know that everyone knows what their father did. Imagine what they’ll think of you then.

Get wise. Take a lesson from Gov. Mark Sanford. And David Vitter. And Larry Craig. And Elliot Spitzer. And Bill Clinton. And John Ensign. And … well, you know the list.

Knock it off. Before it knocks your career clean off the rails.

I blame the Internet.

I blogged here last night that the Web was all abuzz with rumors that Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire had flown to Washington, D.C., ostensibly to be announced as President-elect Obama’s Commerce Secretary.

That, it turns out, was off, way off. Gregoire had in fact been en route to Iraq for a visit to the troops, hence the hush-hush secrecy surrounding her whereabouts.

Here’s a link to the Oregonian’s take on the story.

The rumor made sense in the fact that Obama had visited Washington state regularly during the campaign and seemed to have a good rapport with the Democratic governor, who was herself running for re-election. She defeated challenger Dino Rossi, this time without the help of multiple recounts.

So the question remains: Who will replace Bill Richardson as commerce kahuna? Some of the name being tossed around include: Richard Parsons, former chairman of CNN parent Time Warner; Laura, Tyson, former Clinton economic adviser; Fred Hochberg, former administrator of the Small Business Administration; and Obama fundraiser Penny Pritzker.

None of them are as interesting, at least to us Northwesterners, as Gregoire, however. Maybe Obama’s call for greater bipartisanship in government will lead him to consider Rossi, a former businessman, for the job. He’s probably available.

The Internet is abuzz with speculation that Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire will be nominated as commerce secretary in Barack Obama’s cabinet.

Gregoire apparently flew to Washington, D.C., Sunday night, fueling speculation that she has been tapped by the president-elect to replace New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who withdrew his name because of an ethics inquiry in his home state.

The Washington governor had been scheduled to speak at a pre-legislative forum Tuesday but canceled. Her staff would not say why or where she was, but did say there are plans for an announcement Tuesday morning.

If Gregoire is in fact chosen for the commerce post, she will follow in the footsteps of former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne who is finishing out a tour of duty as George W. Bush’s secretary of the interior.

Gregoire’s successor would be Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who has held that office since 1996, making him the longest-serving lieutenant governor in the country. And, yes, we had to look it up.

Which makes one wonder what two-time runner-up Dino Rossi thinks about it all.

Sen. Ted Kennedy has brain cancer.

The news moved on the Associated Press wire this morning like a punch in the gut. My first thought was for his kids. I’ve been where they are. Hearing the word “malignant” attached to the name of someone you love is one of the worst things in the world.

From my perspective, I can’t ever remember there NOT being a Sen. Ted Kennedy. I was born in August 1962 and he was elected to the Senate three months later. He’s one of those old-school senators, the kind who was able to see beyond party differences and embrace and befriend others of differing political beliefs. Old-school senators are able to do that, and count among their closest friends people with whom they disagree. That’s an increasingly rare commodity, one that other people — politicians and the average joe — would do well to emulate.

After the diagnosis was announced, the comments from his fellow lawmakers all referenced his fighting spirit. My mother was a fighter too. She was diagnosed in March 1991, went into remission for nearly five years and suffered a reoccurrence in 1996. The outlook wasn’t good, but she gutted out another three years before her death nearly eight years ago.

There are many battles in the war on cancer. Here’s hoping the Senate’s lion manages to win them, and the war as well.

There’s no way a real-life attorney would have gotten away with what Alan Shore got away with in his arguments to the Boston Legal Supreme Court.

Alan Shore isn’t a real-life attorney, but I suspect David E. Kelley would have been a darn fine one if he’d chosen to pursue that career path. Better for us that he chose a writing career instead and better for him as well. He’d never get to say the things that his alter ego, Alan Shore, gets to say.

Tonight’s case is a thinly veiled take on one recently argued before the Supreme Court: the question of executing someone for a crime that doesn’t include murder. In this case, it’s Louisiana’s attempt to execute a developmentally disabled black man for the rape of an 8-year-old girl. There were moments of jocularity, but the real point of Tuesday’s episode was to allow DEK, aka Alan Shore, to repudiate a high court that has arguably become supremely politicized and idealogical.

In one five-minute soliloquy, Shore touched on the decision that put Bush in the White House and virtually every other scandal or impropriety that has skimmed the high court in the past eight years or so. In the end, he managed to remember he was representing a man who stood to lose his life and brought the case back on target, but that was all beside the point anyway. Tonight’s episode was DEK bringing to life his most cherished fantasy.

It was great TV. Not real life, mind you. But great TV.