Gov. Sanford's Appalachian Trail tale is a long and winding road that begs explanation

The Gov. Mark Sanford "Appalachian Trail" story is turning into the weirdest political tale since Jimmy Carter was attacked by that fabled killer rabbit.

South Carolina is one of the few state's I haven't visited, so I'm glad The Palmetto Scoop makes geographic sense of it all:

The mystery into Mark Sanford's six-day disappearance deepened Tuesday night as new evidence cast further doubt onto the governor’s "hiking" alibi.

CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby tracked down Sanford's state-issued black Chevy Suburban at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

That information would seem to further contradict Sanford’s spokesman’s claim that the governor spent the weekend hiking along the Appalachian Trail — which is roughly a two hour drive north of Atlanta.

Wow...Here's the key part of the Palmetto Scoop post:

For those attempting to keep up, Sanford now apparently hopped on a flight from Columbia, left his cell phone (which was tracked by GPS) somewhere south of Atlanta, then hitched a ride 150 miles to and from the Appalachian Trail to do some writing and hiking, and now he is on his way back to South Carolina.

The Republican has been discussed as a possible 2012 presidential candidate.

Good bye to that.

One day I'd like to hike that trail. But I'll let everyone know first.

Technorati tags: politics South Carolina Mark Sanford Republican appalachian trail Jimmy Carter