Mark Sanford, the Governor of South Carolina, has at least temporarily disappeared. Well, his staff says they've located him. But it appears that his wife and his South Carolina security detail have had no idea where he is for the last four days.

Gov. Sanford has made his name as being the farthest out on the fringe of the Republican governors with his neo-nullificationist approach to the Obama stimulus package.

Farther out than "I Lied About the Bridge to Nowhere" Sarah Palin or even that secessionist teaser Rick Perry of Texas.

But if I were a South Carolina voter, I'd be very concerned about Mark Sanford.

That's because his wife is "not concerned." It appears these episodes happen often enough that Mrs. Sanford isn't particularly worried about it.

Or at least not worried about it for public consumption.

The official line is that Sanford wanted to take some time away from his kids to get some writing done.

On Father's Day weekend?

It's common knowledge that many conservative Republicans like John Ensign, David Vitter, and Mark Foley are less concerned about their own families than they are about "family values" as a political issue.

But I don't believe for a second that Sanford's "trip to nowhere" was about getting work done.

Gov. Sanford reminds me of all my sociopathic, manic-depressive, and addicted friends from my grad school and post-doc days.  Those are the kind of people who would either disappear for days at a time or just become totally non-functional.

And then they'd snap out of it. 

 Sort of.

Back in the day, I really liked hanging out with those kinds of folks.  Not only were they super-interesting and fun, I also felt more mature and responsible--and well . . . normal--when I was around them.

Here's hoping Sanford gets the help he probably needs.