Is Sanford completely off his rocker? I understand about love, but why is he giving passionate interviews with the AP? And does he think he'll save his marriage by telling them that his lover is his "soul mate?"

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford called his Argentine mistress his "soul mate" Tuesday, but said that he would try to fall back in love with his wife.

Sanford also admitted Tuesday that he saw Maria Belen Chapur more times than previously disclosed, and that he had "crossed lines" with a handful of women other than his mistress in the past -- but never had sex with them.

In a lengthy and emotional interview with The Associated Press in his Statehouse office Tuesday, the governor described five meetings with Maria Belen Chapur over the past year, including two romantic, multi-night stays with her in New York before they met there again intending to break up.

He said he met her two other times -- their first meeting in 2001 at an open-air dance spot in Uruguay and a coffee date in New York in 2004 during the Republican National Convention. He said neither time was romantic.

It was the first disclosure of any liaisons with Chapur in the United States and contradicted a public confession last week during which Sanford admitted to a total of five encounters over their eight-year relationship...read on

He's lied so many times already about this that it's hard to keep up. Did anyone really believe he saw her only three times in eight years? And now he admits to reaching out to other women too.

Sanford also said he had "let his guard down" with some physical contact with women other than Chapur and his wife, but "didn't cross the sex line." He wouldn't go into detail. Sanford said the casual encounters happened outside the U.S. while he was married but before he met Chapur.

Did Sanford tell the AP what the Bible says about "letting his guard down?" What does that even mean? It means that he's a player and has been for a long time.

Will his wife think he should be given a second chance after reading and hearing about all of this? Sanford is a mess and can't stop talking about "Maria." Isn't there a show on the BBC about Maria?

'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'

I think there's a reality show in this somewhere. Does Sanford really want to stay married? It certainly sounds like he'd rather have the media send love notes to Maria, his true soul mate than make up with his wife.

Informed Comment: Iraqi allies we've left behind: "The people on my list have been tortured, they've been raped, they've lost body limbs. There's one guy on my list who's been thrown out of a moving vehicle. And all of this because they helped us. They came every single day to try to pitch in, in our efforts there."

The Reaction: So you thought you might like to go to the show

Monkey Muck: If you're not rich yet it's your own damn fault!

Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog: Condi's Czech Mate

ePluribus Media: Rigged Casinos and the Plunge Protection Team: Bernanke debunks 'free market' myth.

Mother Jones: Is the McCain campaign screening questioners? Meanwhile, this ad could mark the first time the Republican National Committee launched an attack against its own party.

Capital Eye: Desperate to get of the hook for their serial lawlessness, the telephone utility industry spent at least $31.4 million lobbying in 2007.

Needlenose: What if they built a "Rule of Law Complex" and nobody came?

BOT! The blood thinning drug Heparin has been recalled due to contamination. FDA inspectors last week found quality-control problems at the Chinese factory, a facility the agency had never before inspected - in violation of its own rules.

Bad Astronomy: Possible McCain running mate

MyDD: Speak for yourself.

HOLY CRAP: And this is why it's called "Holy Crap"...Christian Candidate Quiz Bowl...Prayer Brawl...More Bush Family support of Rev. Moon...Rediscovering or revising Islam?...Fringe-dwelling fundie threatens Obama...Critics question White House's Faith-Based report....Jefferson Bible...This is good news...Buckley's Big Mistake...The man McCain is ‘very proud' to be associated with...The Bible can mean anything you want...Darwin strikes again!

I don't know why, but this cracked me up...

NZ Herald: Female koalas indulge in lesbian "sex sessions", rejecting male suitors and attempting to mate with each other, sometimes up to five at a time, according to researchers.

The furry, eucalyptus-eating creatures appear to develop this tendency for same-sex liaisons when they are in captivity. In the wild, they remain heterosexual.

Scientists monitoring the marsupials with digital cameras counted three homosexual interactions for every heterosexual one.

"Some females rejected the advances of males that were in their enclosures, only to become willing participants in homosexual encounters immediately after," say the researchers.

"On several occasions more than one pair of females shared the same pole, and multiple females mounted each other simultaneously. At least one multiple encounter involved five female koalas.

My husband cautioned me not to make a snarky remark about the necessity of men when all your needs are seen to by others lest you think I was being disingenuous with my Valentine's dedication, so for his sake, I'll refrain. I can just imagine homophobes' heads spinning when they bring their little impressionable children to the zoo and find the cute koalas in a five way lesbian encounter.

Baltimore Sun:

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said yesterday that he might not have chosen Kristen Cox as his running mate if she were not blind.

Since picking the state disabilities secretary for his ticket, Ehrlich has praised her doggedness and intelligence. But on the Politics Program with Mark Plotkin on Washington Post Radio yesterday, the governor suggested that those qualifications alone might not have landed her the coveted spot that helped catapult Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele - the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate - to national prominence.

Asked by Plotkin whether he picked Cox, 37, because of her blindness, Ehrlich said, "No, but do I think the fact that she cannot see, do I see that as part of a paradigm for what I want to represent? Yes."

Later, after a commercial break, he added without prompting: "I just want to finish the last question, because I think it's a really fair, good question. In my heart of hearts, I cannot answer honestly if Kris had sight, whether she would be the person I chose. I do not know that." Read on..

Tipster MrEMan wants you to know that there's a sensible Democrat running against Erlich: Martin O'Malley