Dear readers, let's be clear.

It wasn't a criminal investigation. It was a review. A preliminary review? Yes, that's right. A probe, perhaps - Maybe.

Well, whatever it is the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) completed with regard to Gov. Mark Sanford, SLED chief Reggie Lloyd released his findings:

Sanford had not broken the law or abused public funds while pursuing his Argentine mistress, Lloyd told the room full of sweaty, openly peevish reporters Thursday.

But that wasn't the end of it. Reporters kept pushing.

And Lloyd got impatient.  At one point he told us, "Look guys, this isn't the WorldCom scandal. This isn't Bernie Madoff."

There had been too many mischaracterizations surrounding the Sanford affair, he said. And he stressed that his agency had not - not - conducted a "criminal investigation," of the governor - merely a "review."

Here is a taste of just how exasperated Lloyd was this afternoon.

"This is pretty much unprecedented," he said of the review the state's attorney general had asked SLED to do of Sanford's records.

"When you ask the criminal law enforcement agency or a prosecutor to go prove that you did something or you didn't do something, when nobody brings in one shred of fact suggesting that you did, that's pretty dangerous territory," Lloyd said.

What do you think, readers? Who should be checking out the allegations made against political figures? Could SLED be expected to issue a finding on the very governor who appointed Lloyd? Was this whole SLED "review" a political ploy orchestrated by Sanford's enemies?