(c) 2009, The Washington Post WASHINGTON -- What started out as a rambling confessional last week by South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford about his affair with Argentine hottie Maria Belen Chapur has devolved into (begin ital) waaay (end ital) too much information. We believed the whole thing was tragically romantic (doomed love, shattered lives) until Sanford overshared to AP Tuesday, leaving an icky feeling. What he said: 'This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story. A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day.' What it means: He's really not just some sex-crazed jerk like all those other politicians! What he said: He 'let his guard down in all senses of the word' with other women -- while he was married, before he met Chapur -- but 'didn't cross the sex line.' What it means: He's a sex-crazed jerk who doesn't go all the way. What he said: These casual encounters with other women happened outside the United States while he was on trips to 'blow off steam' with male friends. What it means: Sex doesn't count if (a) you're drunk, (b) with the guys, (c) in a foreign country. (To paraphrase George Segal in 'A Touch of Class': 'I'm never unfaithful to my wife in the same city.') What he said: His relationship with Chapur sparked on a dance floor in 2001, and turned intimate during a government trip to Brazil and Argentina in June 2008. That's when he started freaking out: 'Now I am frightened,' he said, describing his state of mind at the time. 'It was, before, safe. But now it's not safe. We gotta put the genie back in the bottle.' What it means: You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, either. What he said: He saw her more than he originally disclosed -- five times in the past year, including two romantic, multi-night assignations in New York (one in Manhattan, one in the Hamptons). He flew coach, paid for hotels in cash and told his staff he was reachable via cellphone. 'At that point I was very careful, everything was paid for in cash.' What it means: The lovesick puppy somehow had the presence of mind to cover his tracks, avoid incriminating receipts and otherwise conduct his trysts without leaving a trail. What he said: First lady Jenny Sanford discovered the affair in January when she found a letter from her husband to his mistress; the couple went into counseling. (Jenny told AP that he asked her for permission several times to visit the mistress. She refused.) What it means: Marriage counseling is not going well if your husband keeps begging to see his girlfriend. What he said: After his wife found out about the affair, he dashed to New York to break up with Chapur -- chaperoned by his spiritual adviser. The governor, mistress and adviser went to church and had dinner together. What it means: What grown-up needs a 'chaperone' to break up with his girlfriend? Here's who: a guy who doesn't want to give up his hot Argentine mistress. What he said: Chapur is his soul mate, but he's trying to fall back in love with his wife. What it means: Run, Jenny, run! Trust us, you do not want to spend the rest of your life waiting for someone 'trying' to fall back in love with you. 