We don't blame Mark Sanford for wanting to get away.

We just don't agree with how he did it.

Those in the public eye should be able to blend into the scenery and enjoy some down time now and again. We wish more of them could do so without being harassed by paparazzi and the like. Americans, by and large, need to get a life: their own.

But for Sanford to have simply disappeared last Thursday, and to remain missing until being "discovered" by his staff on the Appalachian Trail on Monday, exceeds what the public should be expected to abide. News reporters actually felt it necessary to say that no foul play was suspected.

The governor can be faulted for causing that concern.

Moreover, if he was going to be as out of touch as he was -- from his office, from his family -- who was actually in charge?

"His staff generally, his chief of staff in particular," says communications director Joel Sawyer. "But 'decision making' is kind of nebulous ... If it was running an agency, that's up to an agency head. If it was an emergency, other elected officials would be consulted or deferred to."

The question is, is that constitutional? Sanford is a stickler for that sort of thing; can an out-of-pocket governor knowingly leave his unelected chief of staff in charge of state government?

The South Carolina governor has always been quirky and independent. While in Congress, he slept in his office to set a fiscally prudent example. He brought a live pig into the state Capitol to make a point about legislative pork. And he was nearly alone among state leaders around the country in saying no to federal stimulus money unless it was used to pay down debt.

We applaud him for all that. And we defy anyone to produce an editorial page that has been more supportive of the man.

But this was beyond quirky. It was irresponsible and more than a little bizarre.

We've always felt Sanford's conservatism was under-appreciated in the Palmetto State, which affords its accountability-diffuse legislature far too much power. And we had hoped to see Sanford back on the national stage. We don't know if he harbors those aspirations, but we wonder if the news from his disappearance has tainted any such future.

The governor's getting away for a few days doesn't matter that much.

But how it was done? That matters.