Step away from the computer for a bit, and the intertrons blows up with the latest panty-sniffing gossip. At any rate, I see via memeorandum that Edwards has admitted to sleeping with that Rielle Hunter:
John Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extramarital affair with a novice filmmaker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today.
In an interview for broadcast tonight on Nightline, Edwards told ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff he did have an affair with 44-year old Rielle Hunter, but said that he did not love her.
I still really don’t care, as I have mentioned before, and realize this is one of those issues that is just going to be a total pain in the ass for me. For starters, I have never liked Edwards and always thought he was a phony and a fraud, have stated so repeatedly, and every time I do I end up dealing with days of back and forth with his supporters who tell me that I am just showing my inner Rethuglican and that Edwards was at least speaking truth to power. Now that he admits to cheating on his wife, I have some more evidence to back up my long-held feelings, and will more than likely be accused by the same Edwards supporters of piling on.
Second, I know that I have to at least mention this, lest I be accused by right wing trolls of avoiding the issue. Consider it officially mentioned.
Third, I generally am of the opinion that this sort of thing really isn’t anyone’s business, and the only reason it ever is anyone’s business is when the hypocrisy of the family values crowd comes in to play. Maybe I have a double standard- when most people cheat, I think “What a jackass” and I feel bad for their spouse. When Republicans who spew their family values bullshit and sanctity of marriage crap, I go to town. This just seemed like a case of the former to me, but having said that, it is pretty clear that Edwards lied to the media, and from what I can tell, appears to still be lying or spinning or whatever you want to call it, so I guess that does raise the bar.
One really salient point that the commenters at ObWi covered, however, is how exceedingly reckless this was on the part of Edwards and, for that matter, his wife (as she allegedly knew about the affair when he was running). Can you imagine what would be happening right now if he had won the nomination? Democrats everywhere should be pretty pissed off at John Edwards for that bit of behavior.
So there you go. Flame on.
*** Update ***
And now this post is redundant, as Michael already covered it while I was writing this…
*** Update #2 ***
And there is your hypocrisy angle.
tim
The fact that this will be a humongous story in the U.S. MSM, with endless orgies of punditocratic outrage and erections, tells us all we need to know aobut why this country is so fucked up.
Lies about sex: EVIL and OUTRAGEOUS
Lies about murderous wars and incompetent mendacity: OK
flavortext
Well this former Edwards supporter agrees with the following sentiment:
You can go ahead and pile it on now. Frankly, he deserves it.
nightjar
Naw, I’ll pass on that. I was for Edwards because I thought he had the gumption to take on the Plutocrats and balance things out. Whether I like a politician or not, is mostly irrelevant, unless their flaming assholes like Bush/Cheney.
Edwards is yesterday’s news and not a public servant. So it’s pure tabloid circle jerk time for the punditocracy and wingnuts hungry for a dem scandal to chew on and try to tie to Obama, which they will try. And once again shoot themselves in both feet, given MCains record on fidelity.
The Briscoe Kid
McCain was getting questionable donations all from people named Abdullah funneled through a Jordanian who’s under investigation for war profiteering.
Will McCain’s media created Great Wall of Duh shield him from this damaging revelation? And just imagine what the media reaction would be if Obama was getting questionable donations from the Middle East.
NR
Chance that anyone in the media will mention McCain’s affairs, or the way he left his first wife – 0%.
Remember, IOKIYAR.
chopper
well, on one hand i think that what a pol does sexually is his own fuckin’ business.
on the other hand, i think about what would have happened if edwards won the nom and this came out. and it pisses me off that the dude ran for the dem nomination having done this.
note to edwards – when the GOP has spent the last 8 years ratfucking the american people, it might be a good idea to occasionally put the party and the future of the country first. that means not running when you know that you’ve got a skeleton in the closet that would sink you right quick.
The Other Steve
I am so glad Edwards never gained any traction in the nomination race.
I never trusted the guy. There was just something not right about it.
Josh
Now we know why Elisabeth supported Hillary…
Shinobi
Oh my god! A politician lied!!!! Alert the Media!!!
Oh wait, they are already alerted, just about the wrong lies.
DannyNoonan
I won’t pretend to be morally outraged, saddened or openly gleeful. Those thoughts and feelings are only for Edwards, his wife and his kids to share. What I will express is anger over his brazen attempt to hold a secret that could have shattered his candidacy as the Democratic nominee and had devastating reverberations throughout his party, all the way down to the causes he has said motivated his public service. I don’t necessarily agree with the standard elected officials are held to – but everyone knows those are the rules going in. During the last year Edwards became a crusading voice for impoverished Americans. Much of his hard work now seems lost.
lurker
The crazy Clinton deadenders are finding ways to blame Obama or somehow tie it to him —
“Something ELSE, theres a rumor that BO blackmailed him (0.00 / 0)
I was just on the Clintondems.com and a comment was about BO campaign black mailing him about knowing about the affair, and that’s why Edwards endorsed him and not HILLARY,
Which as you see above, BLEW me away too. I’m not sure I believe it, but with Axelrove, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
Isn’t this sad, we don’t have A CLUE, what’s true or NOT,
I know this much to be true, I couldn’t take him or trust him with MY country and it’s future.
I almost can’t wait till this is over. They really make me DIZZY!!!!!!” http://alegrescorner.soapblox.net/showComment.do?commentId=8282
That was a commenter. Here’s a front-pager at Alegre’s Corner:
“The revelation that John Edwards cheated on his wife is sad on the personal level, but really carries only one political lesson:
The netroots does a shitty job picking vetted candidates.
No more, no less. Throwing their support behind the two most flawed candidates, the netroots is batting .000.
The subtitle: this is not good news for Obama. It will be the netroot’s fault when Obama’s inevitable scandals hit. Superdelegates are you paying attention?”
http://alegrescorner.soapblox.net/showDiary.do?diaryId=538
Zifnab
What country is he from?
Incertus
Oh like that was ever going to happen. I voted for Edwards and would do so again today, but I knew going in that he was never going to do better than third. It was the one time where being the white guy was a disadvantage.
And if Elizabeth knew about it–which I hadn’t heard–then that makes this even less of a story as far as I’m concerned.
Just Some Fuckhead
That would be excellent news for Hillary! ! !
Svensker
It was incredibly reckless of him to try to hide this while running for President — whether ego, or what, I dunno.
As for the affair itself, well, not my business. But the stress of losing a child and having a wife with terminal cancer could make people do lots of things that they shouldn’t do. Doesn’t make it right, but I sure can understand it. Can’t judge him on that angle. I just feel horribly sorry for Elizabeth, and pretty sorry for him, too.
Michael D.
Yeah, I may have covered it, but your posts are always so much better.
Just Some Fuckhead
Bonior meant you can’t lie about sex. Lying about all the other shit is cool.
Tsulagi
I’d go with that. Pubs should seize the opportunity having a spokesman compare Edwards’ behavior with their well known and storied devotion to family values. Diaper Dave Vitter would be a good centrist choice.
If you’re alluding to Edwards denying paternity, it can’t be. Do the math. He’s a liberal Democrat. If he was the daddy to be, he would have forced her to have an abortion.
JL
A friend called and informed me of the Edwards affair and I actually thought he should be castrated but… The story gets interesting because the McCain fan friend mentioned that an affair would be a no vote for her and I mentioned that Obama does not seem to have an affair yet.
Brother Flaming Taser of Warm Reason
Dude, I just don’t know what to say to all that. Teh stupid is just insane.
Thursday
*sigh*
So Edwards has admitted to having a child with another woman (which is what the story was about, was it not)? Is there a reason to care any more than there was to care about Bill Clinton’s affair(s)?
I have an open marriage. My wife and I have lively and active sex lives, usually together, but sometimes not. Listen carefully now – THIS DOES NOT CHANGE HOW I DO MY JOB.
Any questions?
Craig
I’m so tired of the “It’s only real hypocrisy when the Family Values party does it” spin.
As if Edwards had a policy that “Adultery is a Personal Choice”.
SmilingPolitely
Blackmail. That’s my problem with these shenanigans.
JC
Well, John, your B.S. detector seemed to be right on, with regards to Edwards.
Funny enough, IF it is true that Elizabeth Edwards has known about this since 2006 – which may not be true, John Edwards may be lying about that – then really, BOTH of them were campaigning for the nomination, knowing that there was a ticking timebomb.
Funny enough, I’ve never really gotten the “fake” sense from EE, although she’s never really (thankfully) been put into a position to talk about this issue.
gil mann
Guys, let’s face it–we’re awful. “A man is only as faithful as his options” indeed.
Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kucinich was cheating on his wife.
Cathy D
Pundits: “How will the Edwards affair hurt Obama?”
Me: “Shoot. Me. Now.”
Thursday
gil mann –
If you think it’s only men, I’m amazed you have access to the internet. Don;t e scared – look around a little. Well, maybe not if you’re at work…
Sexuality is astoundingly varied, and most of the people I know, male and female, are quite comfortable in their monogamy. But I don’t old it against them. 8)
PeterJ
Hey, the diaryId is 538.
…I really need to stop obsessing about the election.
Litlebritdifrnt
I will not gloat, I’ve never liked the man, he to me is the epitome of an ambulance chasing shark lawyer who has built a reputation putting doctors out of business and in the poor house based on junk science and jury sympathy. (Hey I’m a paralegal, I have a great respect for some lawyers, my boss for instance who does constitutional law among other things, he would defend constitutional rights to the death, and the way his blood pressure gets about things sometimes I think he might end up doing that very thing).
However, as others have said far more eloquently than me, running for the nomination knowing that this skeleton was rattling around in his closet shows the sheer size of the man’s ego. Speaking of which, if the affair was supposedly over years ago and the baby is not his, why is he meeting with his “ex” mistress and her baby in a hotel at 2am in the morning?
nepat
Bummer. His supporters, though, need to remind themselves that while he did indeed lie to the press, no one was physically injured. I’d prefer to focus on the Bush administration’s lies – which have a body count into the thousands and which the press studiously avoids.
Me? I always thought Edwards was a phony. In fact I thought phoniness seeped out of his pores in really obvious ways, so was always surprised that he was able to garner so much enthusiastic support. Hats off to him for that, I guess.
PeterJ
Perhaps the mistress set up the meeting and brought the baby and the National Enquirer along without Edwards knowing?
calipygian
Now that the Enquirer has been established as a news source at least as reliable as the Washington Times, perhaps more so, then when is everyone going to get on the case of Bush’s return to alcoholic drinking?
After all, in which hoo hoo Edwards sticks his pee pee is something that wont incinerate the Earth, unlike an alcoholic president who has his finger on the Button.
Dennis - SGMM
That’s right: you can’t be elected president more than twice.
demimondian
I have very mixed reactions. I opposed Edwards precisely because I thought he was a too-pure-to-be-real faux populist; as a sometime Arkensawyer whose spouse is a genuine Arkansawyer, I know the pattern well. So FDDD and I both distrusted him from the start, and neither of us was the least bit surprised by this. I only hope that people (I’m looking at *you*, Incertus) will realize that someone who would lie about an affair will also tell you whatever lies he feels obliged to in office. That was my problem with Edwards from the start; for him, as for McCain, the truth is an occasional convenience, and nothing more.
That said…folks, you know what? This would have been a complete non-issue. What, are the Republicans going to make marital fidelity a requirement for the Presidency? I doubt it.
John Cole
Well, it kinda really is only hypocrisy when you are, well, hypocritical. Otherwise, it is just adultery.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
So much for Edwards as AG. Damn.
Zifnab
God no. I supported Edwards ideologically, knowing he was running as an outsider on a long shot ticket. But I never would have touched him if I’d known he was keeping such a damning October Surprise in his back pocket. That’s insane.
I might not give a damn about who Edwards bones, but I’m well aware of what large swaths of independent voters think. And I know exactly how the media will handle it. They’ll flog him to death now and he’s not even holding an elected office. After scandal after scandal of wetsuits and man-boy love and diaper sex, the Republicans need this sort of thing to tar the opposition as “just as bad, but worse”.
Edwards is free to have all the affairs he likes as a private citizen. But the moment he puts his name on a fund raising email he better get his shit together.
Obama had the good grace to write two tell-all autobiographies just so he could get all his dirty laundry out in the open. Hillary was the most pummeled politician in the free world, getting riped on for everything from murder and drug deals to abuse of White House Christmas Cards. Both of these candidates were ready to take on all the scandals the GOP could lob. Edwards was out inventing something new to put in the papers.
Basically inventing fresh material to stick against your own party? That’s the biggest knife in the back I’ve seen a Dem throw. And I’ve been seeing a lot of them.
nightjar
I don’t know why Americans get so nuts about fidelity and the public flogging politicians get when they get caught having an affair. It’s like some kind of sick sport in this country, and of course they’re going to lie about it, when we see what is happening now to Edwards. Hell the guy just parked his car in a strange garage and it’s off to the fainting couches for the masses. The only flogging he or Clinton or even the family values wingnuts should get is from their wife and family.
Personally, I think the French have it right on this issue. An excerpt from First Lady Carla Bruni’s views on sex and drugs and monogamy.
Viva La Farance!!
Brachiator
Having an affair is not necessarily the same thing as cheating on your wife. I have recently been reading a fair amount of European history, and am amazed at the degree to which the aristocracy ritualized adultery. For example,
And of course, most recently, when French president Mitterand died, both his wife and mistress attended the funeral, and his daughter by his mistress was given control of his political papers because his legitimate sons were dolts.
But even many more progressive Americans have a stick up their butts with respect to sexual matters, and look for an aggrieved party, or a cheat or a fraud, instead of simply acknowledging the complexity of human relationships.
This is absolutely not true. Alexander Hamilton was caught in an affair, but not only went out his way to make sure that he never used public money on his mistress (and also turned away her husband when he came looking for a job in exchange for his silence), he embarrassed himself and his allies by going semi-public with his mea culpa. His honesty was painful.
And of course, Grover Cleveland’s enemies tried to tie him to a love child with their Attack ads, “Ma, Ma, Where’s my pa?”
But Cleveland had a reputation for public honesty, and when he won the presidential election, his supporters could reply to his attackers, “He’s gone to the White House, ha! ha! ha!”
D-Chance.
God, you people are so fucking stupid. It’s not like the NY Times didn’t run with a PAGE ONE story on McCain and a rumored affair with a lobbyist, but didn’t even bother with a buried-on-page-B-14 blurb on Purty Boy until… oh, about 5 minutes ago?
But file this one under Cole’s Mainstream Media McCain Mancrush, because we all know the media is so freaking conservative and in the Rethuglicanazis’ back pockets…
demimondian
How, pray tell, does this:
have anything to do with this:
I didn’t say anything about *having* an affair, but rather said something about *lying* about it. Hamilton didn’t lie about the affair; Edwards did. That’s the difference.
D-Chance.
It IS when you’re a presidential candidate, when you’re a leading vice-presidential nominee, when the MUPpet Mob is clamoring for you to be the next Attorney General, when…
but, hey, some backwoods preacher died in a wetsuit with a dildo up his butt, so… THERE-nyeh-nyeh-they-did-it-too-hah!
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
Which they apologized and flogged themselves silly for the instant McCain and his media fluffers caught the vapors over such scurrilous allegations. +10 Maverick points!
When Edwards admitted to it, thus unleashing the hounds. Dick Gregory was already trying to tie this in with the Obama campaign. +5 Maverick points for effort.
So that’s 15 Maverick points so far. Another 85 and you’ll qualify for that John McCain golf ball set!
LanceThruster
I think the last word should always be with the spouse. No one outside of the marriage would know what arrangements, if any, are in place as far as this thing goes. The same tabloids have written that Bill C. is still on the prowl. If true, does that mean that Hillary does not know, or is willing to turn a blind eye to Bill’s indiscretions?
If politicians are to be pilloried for any reason, I’d much rather it be over issues involving their job, not outside of it (although sex and sexual favors can themselves be part of corruption in the workplace). The affairs of consenting adults need to be private to the extent they are not job related, and more politicians need to answer, “none of your business” where appropriate.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
Another 25 Maverick points for R-Chance! He/she must be gunning for that 500 point ‘Win a chance to wipe the BBQ off of McCain’s mouth at the next media gathering’ raffle ticket!
Incertus
Umm, demimondian, I don’t know what planet you live on, but on this one, expecting that the President is going to lie to the public is pretty much par for the course. If you don’t expect it, then you’re being an idiot.
John Cole
Good point. Clearly this means Elizabeth Edwards has crossed the CinC threshold.
/ducks and runs
nightjar
Oh please with the histrionics. Edwards is no longer a candidate. either for Prez or VP . Some have speculated about him being AG, but hardly clamoring. And the MuPet mob has nothing to do with Edwards and his poking. So don’t tie this to BO in any way, not here.
Texas Dem
This will definitely finish Edwards as a political figure, but his political future was probably in the toilet anyway (there was no way Obama was ever going make him vice president), so that’s not much of a loss. The only real tragedy here is that Elizabeth Edwards is probably also finished as a public figure–at least for the foreseeable future. And that’s a shame, because she was just starting to get some traction as a spokesperson for health care issues. She could have made a fairly effective surrogate on behalf of Obama for health care issues. So much for that.
conumbdrum
Jeez Louise. The guy couldn’t have settled for jacking off for a few months? Instead, he splooges in our collective face. Thanks loads, douchenozzle. Expect a cleaning bill in the post.
oh really
Everybody has their own foolproof way of dealing with slimy Republican tactics. The problem is none of them are likely to work. The one thing we know doesn’t work is to ignore the attacks. However, the idea that calling the tactics a lie or even a big, big lie will be successful in either ending the attacks or limiting their damage is wishful thinking.
Once an effective slime campaign is launched, the media hold the key. If they ignore it, it’s unlikely to have much effect. The right and left wing blogs will roil with outrage (some justified, some utterly phony), but most persuadable Americans are probably not getting their information from blogs (of any political persuasion). John pointed out rightly that attacks on McCain are going nowhere because the MSM aren’t paying attention.
The other problem is the audience. As long as millions of Americans are as irrational and fickle as they are about political issues, the MSM, if it chooses to focus on something, can have an impact. Anyone who can figure out a way to upgrade the electorate will change the course of history. So will the inventor of a time machine.
So, the solutions to vile Republican attacks are 1) to change the audience (I’m not holding my breath), or 2) to figure out a way to convince the MSM to ignore the story. Since, I can’t imagine a way to do that given the current makeup of the big media entities, I’d guess there is in general no way to effectively stop the Republicans from doing what they do so well. Somehow Democratic attempts to fight fire with fire usually (or always) seem to go nowhere.
In the end, Republican tactics seem to result frequently in their winning close elections (they should have lost) or in Democrats barely winning elections (they should have won by a lot).
The worst case scenario is when Democrats give Republicans ammunition on issues that we know the MSM will suck up and millions of Americans will respond negatively to. It’s easy for me to imagine that Edwards’ despicable and moronic behavior will cost Obama support no matter how unfair or illogical that is. I fear the “machine” will now demand that Obama condemn Edwards and pepper him with questions about someone else’s sordid affair. Obama will just have to muddle through. And we have to hope that when it’s all over in November this will go down as one election the Democrats should have won by a lot, but in the end the fact that they won at all was what counted most.
Brachiator
I take your point, but you’re still wrong. People will lie about affairs to protect people they love. There is no simple one-to-one correspondence between lying about an affair and carrying out political duties.
CMB
I think this is great news: Now, there is virtually no chance that Lionel Hutz will be our Attorney General.
NR
Not only that, they’re now deliberately not mentioning the fact that McCain cheated on his first wife and left her while she was in a wheelchair for a younger woman. Via Digby:
Only an idiot could deny the obvious pro-McCain bias in the media.
Martin
Nah. Nobody cares from that side of things. Hillary didn’t really suffer due to Bill’s crap other than a tiny bit of ‘blame-the-spouse’. With Elizabeth’s cancer, she wouldn’t even suffer that I don’t think. She’s still viable.
Libby Spencer
I don’t give a flying leap who Edwards screws as compared to McCain’s grand plan to screw us all over that the media refuses to talk about.
The timing of the confession is curious though. I wonder if he confessed now so Obama can enjoy his vacation for a few days? Clearly the elite punditry will be chewing on this story for at least three days and I’m guessing longer unless Edwards produces a paternity test to prove he’s not the ‘baby daddy.’
The Grand Panjandrum
Hello? Hello? … Helllooooo-o? John Edwards spent the last 3+ years running against his own Senate record. Why would the fact that he pulled a Gingrich and cheated on his dying wife surprise anyone?
FTW.
BTW, this really was a Clintonian move on Edwards part. I don’t give a fuck if John Edwards wears his wife’s panties under those $5000 suits. I think we dodged a bullet. The Republicans care about this kind of shit and will go to any lengths to expose. They are a bunch of repressed motherfuckers. It is the fact that Edwards knew goddamned good and well that this would eventually get out if he ran for President and he still had to get some strange.
This will get me flamed but what the hell:
With all that money and charisma you’d think he could have nailed something younger and a little better looking. Hunter is OK but dayamn, if you are gonna run the risk of going down in flames wouldn’t RACHEL Hunter, not Rielle Hunter, be a better target? THAT should be the disqualifier. He’s got that Clinton thing going on big time. Risk everything for THAT? Johnny we hardly, knew ye.
If you are going to cheat on your wife make sure she is drop dead gorgeous or you are the stupidest cheating rat-bastard alive.
John Cole
Thank you.
The Truffle
I never understood why these elected officials don’t just jerk off or buy Playboy if they feel “the urge” at some point on the campaign trail. At least with Playboy, they can say they read it for the articles.
In the meantime, I have an idea: Politicians should stop talking about morality in their speeches and interviews. There should be a moratorium on any further references to family values or morality, in fact. And if you’re serious about these things, then what are you doing in politics?
dbrown
Lets see, last year and for a number of years before that over 100,000 people died due to medical induced infections caused by lack of cleaning hands! I believe that over 120,000 died from surgical/medical mistakes in treatment and these numbers do not cover all the other screw ups (wrong drugs, did not read instructions, wrong treatments ..) and you think lawyers are the cause of Med malpratice suits and poor doctors are diven to the poor house? You are in a strange world that reality has little to do with. The average MD that kills a number of people due to carelessness just moves to a new state and starts over. You’d think other MD’s would want a system to stop these bad appples (and lower the costs for all of us and prevent deaths!) but no, they keep this system going and you say lawyers are at fault!
Tsulagi
Oh, I have no doubt the last and every word in several languages would be with my latina spouse if I pulled an Edwards or the classic Republican dragging the wife up to the podium to repent thing.
If I was lucky. If not, likely during a night I would wake up (or not) to an aluminum ball bat between the eyes.
jake
If the Elder John opens his mouth about this I will LAFF.
Now, how about those NE rumors re: Bush & Rice?
If memory serves, you’re supposed to be even angrier at EE for not dumping Johnny. That seems to be how it works for the wives of Democrats. When wives of Republicans stand by their man they’re good faithful wimmin. (See Mrs. Vitter)
John S.
Well, yeah.
I wouldn’t cheat on my wife regardless, but if I was going to it sure as hell wouldn’t be with Rielle Hunter. Even if he was paying for it, Eliot Spitzer had much better taste in women (not that she was worth it, either).
John Cole
Here is where I REALLY get in trouble.
What I don’t understand is why all these very rich and extremely powerful men have affairs with women who are pretty mediocre. Rielle Hunter is not unattractive, and Monica Lewinsky was not ugly, but if I were President and having an affair, when you all heard about it the headline would read “President Cole lies about affair with Elizabeth Hurley, Heidi Klum, and Natalie Portman. Claims he doesn’t regret a GOD DAMNED THING and told ABC news to, and I quote, ‘Piss off you jealous wankers.'”
*** Update ***
I see this was already covered up thread.
nightjar
I hear they’re doing wonderful things with inflatable trollops.
NR
It’s not about looks – it’s just about being tired of having sex with the wife. Doesn’t matter how hot the wife is, or how ugly the other woman is. All it’s about is old vs. new. As Bill Maher put it – “Hugh Grant had Elizabeth Hurley waiting at home; he wanted Marvin Hagler in a wig.”
Dave_Violence
Hi, Fans!
Absolutely. Bottom Line Up Front: When you are an elected official don’t give your enemies ammunition. Was a law broken? Absolutely not. Nevertheless, Edwards – were he nominated or really close – would have this distraction to deal with – and that would most likely mean hiring an army of people to play it down, “explain” it, or whatever. The news shows would spend all their time talking about it instead of the important things in the election, whatever those may be.
The only political officials who should get away with this are Kings and their sons.
harlana pepper
BIG FUCKING DEAL. All men lie about affairs. It is quite common in marriages that have lasted as long as that of the Edwards’ for one or more spouses to cheat.
That makes them human beings.
So he lied about it? Doesn’t bother me either. It’s like you said, if he was some kind of moralizing republican it would be a different story.
I’m a Dem and I’m not pissed at John Edwards AT ALL, for calling attention to poverty and suffering in this country. He was the first to do so in the campaign, if I recall correctly. That means more to me than his infidelity, which is between him and Elizabeth. At least he had the decency to do it behind closed doors instead of public restrooms. Remember how low the bar is these days?
And, no, I don’t give a shit what he said about Clinton. He admitted power went to his head, just like it did with Clinton. Well, now he understands and I’m sure it hurts like hell so he’s getting his back. He doesn’t need a bunch of other Dems piling on, especially at a time when we need to stick together.
I just wish everyone would LEAVE THEM THE FUCK ALONE.
Just Some Fuckhead
Exactly, and to add to that, Rielle Hunter is pretty hot. And maybe she has a killer ass and Edwards is an assman. Or maybe she’s an awesome flirter. And since he met her in a bar, there was prolly alcohol involved. I had a slightly above average co-worker seduce me once over beers by telling me all the awesome things she could do to my dick with her mouth. At some point in the evening it became less about what she looked like and more about the delightful things her mouth could do to my dick.
If I can just be frank for a minute.
Xenos
Unforgivable.
As in unforgivably tacky.
Jay McInerney’s loopy ex-girlfriend?
I need to dig up my copy of ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ to review the style so I can craft some satire here. If you take out the punctuation, Edwards’ statement works pretty well as drug-addled first person narrative.
No, no — second-person narrative… That was the gimmick!
John Austin personal trainer
I agree it is nobody’s business. Newt, Foley, L. Craig, Livingston, Vitter, Spitzer, McGrevey, Packwood, Clinton – there is a long list of public people with personal failings. I am not put off by the act or the lying (What do they have to lose at that point?), and as a general rule, I don’t think adultery should be a disqualifier for office. What is repellent to me is the betrayal to their families, the towering hypocrisy, and most of all, the cravenness that they hold on to power after being caught. They are self-absorbed malignant narcissists. Bob Packwood ran for reelection. Bob Livingston did it right; he got caught and resigned in hours. I did notice McCain gave a firm no comment to an Edwards affair.
w vincentz
Golly, Jesus erect on a cross! Time to pick up some stones, already.
Wasn’t there once some president with a gorgeous wife and two sweet little kids that was rumored to have had numerous affairs? Were his initials JFK?
-just askin’.
PK
You go with what you can get. Believe it or not, all glamorous women might not be attracted to President Cole. Or hanging out with gorgeous women might get you too much unwanted attention. So even though you are the leader of the free world you still can’t get laid.
Xenos
In 2006 you made a serious error in judgment and conducted yourself in a way that was disloyal to your family and to your core beliefs – you recognized your mistake and you told your wife that you had a liaison with another woman and you asked for her forgiveness – although you were honest in every painful detail with your family you did not tell the public – when a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story you used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it – but being 99 percent honest is no longer enough – not for you –
That catches the rampant egocentrism, it think.
Malixe
Maybe I missed seeing the sentiment expressed in comments that I skimmed, but I can’t help thinking that at least it was a Democrat with a woman. (Again.) We know by now that if it were a Republican, it would have been with a 17 year old boy or a 14 year old girl.
harlana pepper
And I can tell you, handsome, successful men with power, regardless of their profession, have women throwing themselves at their feet, at work and otherwise. Edwards is much like Clinton in that he combined power with good looks, an irresistible combination for women. I admire Elizabeth and I think she’s a great lady, but again, Edwards would have to have been an extraordinary man to not give in to temptation, at least once. I rather doubt this is the only affair.
This criticizing him for making tons of money as a Plaintiffs’ lawyer. What if he’d been a corporate defense attorney, would that make you happer?
KRK
I am absolutely baffled by the responses to this news that involve a combination of “affairs are nobobdy’s business but the people involved” and “I do feel sorry for Elizabeth.”
If you think JE is an asshole for cheating on his wife, it makes sense to feel sorry for EE. If you think JE is an asshole for risking the election by running as a lying adulterer whose story could break anytime, then EE is an asshole too.
Nobody knows what really goes on in a marriage except the people involved, and the Edwardses’ marriage is their business. However, any fool knows that a Democratic candidate for president who gets caught bald-face lying about cheating on his cancer-stricken wife is going to get slammed and will have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting elected. It’s not a question of whether that should be what happens or whether it’s fair that philandering Republicans get a pass; it’s just reality that one can ignore at one’s own peril, but you sure don’t have the right to drag the rest of the party/country down with you.
Anyone who was hoping for a Democratic victory in November is entitled to be pissed at both John and Elizabeth Edwards for deciding that the chance to get the nomination was worth lying about the affair and hoping nothing would come out before he got elected, at the risk of losing it all for everyone.
harlana pepper
gil mann: How sure are you that saying only applies to men?
curtadams
I love how the righties distract people from the real point of NYT story on McCain-Iseman. The point was that McCain said he’d never even *spoken* to anybody at her lobbying agency, when he’d done multiple favors for them and seen her repeatedly in public events. Flat-out lying, and he gets away with it.
If the *only* thing about the McCain-Iseman affair was, well, a possible affair, no, the NYT wouldn’t have even considered publishing it. They published a story on a remarkably blatant lie about his lobbyist connections. The wingers seized on the salacious details to distract people from the real story. And it seems everybody’s fallen for it.
Liberal bias, my nether regions.
harlana pepper
Egocentrism — please, all politicians suffer from it. I am sure that includes Obama. They are different animals than you and I. And yeah, republican antics make this business look like a Mormon date.
Just Some Fuckhead
Funny how it never exhibited itself while Edwards was building his 27000 square foot mansion.
KRK
Other people have mentioned reasons along the lines of you take what you can get, alcohol, etc.
Speaking as pretty mediocre, I’ll say that it might also be the case that since secret affairs don’t allow a man to parade Hurley/Klum/Portman about town and flaunt her to other men, one puts a higher priority on women who simply enjoy sex and are enjoyable to have sex with. There’s not a perfect overlap between that group and women who are smokin’ hot.
harlana pepper
JustSomeFuckhead: Are you challenging me, cause what you just proved my point.
harlana pepper
And don’t be so sure about the msm going to question Obama & McCain about infidelities. It was Edwards they were after and they had to take him out early. Had to take him out just like Dean, who probably *is* a faithful husband. They couldn’t slam him on family values because he was a faithful husband and father and someone who laid hands on the sick, so they had to paint him as crazy.
McCain having cheated on his critically injured wife with a pretty blone heiress whose money now helps fund his campaigns coupled with the media man-crush will most likely keep that issue at bay. It’s a good thing for Obama in the event he may have a ‘little past’ himself.
Jeez, America, Land of the Puritans.
Just Some Fuckhead
No challenge at all. Just an ironic aside, a tweak for all the fauxgressive Edwards fanbois.
KRK
Yeah, no one could’ve seen that coming.
chopper
dude ran for it knowing full well what was in his closet. obviously he put himself before the idea of actually fixing this goddamn country.
as to whether or not it hurts obama (as someone mentioned the pundits are saying), the fact that obama didn’t give him too much attention after he gave up the campaign leads me to believe that no, it won’t hurt him much.
in fact, after edwards walked away from campaigning both clinton and obama didn’t go after him and his delegates too much. makes me think that maybe both of them at the very least had some suspicions and didn’t want to take a chance.
w vincentz
Does anyone want to book a bet regarding which major party will be affected by the soon-to-be-announced night time visits to the primate house at the Bronx Zoo?
The female gorilla’s name is G—–, and the visitor is R_C_. The party mascot is Grand Ol’ Pappy.
John Giord
What world am I living in when the National Enquirer is the epitome of truth and Ann Coulter made the most sense these last six months on why the story had legs and why it was probably true? I need a drink.
w vincentz
@ John Giord,
Speaking of needing a drink, think how that female gorilla feels. A reliable source tells me that Darth plys her with voldka before the foreplay.
CHEERS!
Delia
Golly gee whillickers. Just this week Ron Suskind treated us to chapter and verse on how the folks in the White House ordered up a forged letter to manufacture evidence to start their beloved little war that so far has cost thousands of American lives and probably a million Iraqis, but, hey, who’s counting them? And they’re all itching to head off on Phase II because they haven’t screwed things up enough in Phase I. And the press corps couldn’t get away from that little nugget fast enough. But hand them a nice sex scandal on a prominent Democrat, no less, and they’ll keep it going for a week. Because sex lies are so much more important than lies that get us into wars, aren’t they?
JGabriel
John Cole:
Wow, stop the presses. A politician lied to the media.
Seriously, don’t McCain and other assorted Republicans do this, like, everyday? Multiple times per day?
Anyway, I’ll give Edwards credit for this much: at least he didn’t drag his wife along (as far as I know) to the humiliating press conference and media interviews the way other exposed adulterous politicians have recently.
.
Phoebe
I agree with everyone who says that
1. they don’t give a rat’s ass about his cheating
2. it was criminally reckless of him and EE to sit on this and hope it never got found out
But here’s my take home point – while I usually don’t want to know about a politician’s infidelities, I make an exception for Joe Lieberman because I want his political boat sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Suddenly, seeing how pious Edwards was about Clinton – and the general two facedness of the Repubs – reminds me of something I already knew: hot indignation = guilty as a general rule. This means Joe Lieberman must be doing unspeakable things, and someone should hire the private eye right now.
jake
The Olympics or John Edward’s dick? John Edward’s dick or The Olympics? Oh dear, how on earth will the press decide what they’ll obsess over in order to shut out the cold cruel world?
Actually, 080808 is a good day to let the skeletons out of the closet.
chopper
wait, doesn’t she say that edwards is gay?
this is all so confusing.
The Grand Panjandrum
My wife and I have an understanding.
She understands how to open the gun safe where we store our firearms.
jake
Heterosexual Republicans have extra-marital sex with men so naturally homosexual Democrats have extra-marital sex with women.
Q.E.D.
The Grand Panjandrum
Logic is, as logic does.
jnfr
I hope the fucking media get back to me when they show as much concern over McCain’s affairs as they do for Edwards.
I’m not excusing him, not at all, but the hypocrisy in the media makes me vomit.
Jorge
Yeah, well you know what I say to Ann Coulter –
at least he’s not faggot.
wasabi gasp
Sometimes a dick is just a dick.
Church Lady
I just feel sorry for his wife and children. I can only imagine the private pain of learning that your spouse has cheated on you, but having that pain become public must be almost unbearable. The only thing I can commend him on is that he didn’t drag Elizabeth on camera with him as he made his mea culpa. It is always so sad to see the wives standing there, looking shell shocked, as their husbands confess to their sexual pecadillos.
Aaron
John Cole:
“For starters, I have never liked Edwards and always thought he was a phony and a fraud”
yeah thats your inner republican shinning through. No doubt years of Republican sliming have helped this along.
Grow up John.
lets be real
for every one out there who is saying “you never made a mistake!!” let me explain to you the difference.
EXAMPLE #1
say you are in a jewelry store and you try on a ring. your kids run out of the store and you lose sight of them. you run out of the store looking for them, but you forgot to take off the ring! on your way to the car you see it on your hand. you made a terrible mistake! you must now go back and explain.
EXAMPLE #2
now say you are in a jewelry store and when the store employees are visibly distracted you quickly and sneakingly take off the jewelry tags and begin putting what you want into your purse. then walk out and into your car. but there was a man nearby who thought he saw you take them! he follows you and questions you, so you lie and tell him he is a liar. you have made a terrible mistake!
now, many of us have done something similar to #1 : forgot to turn off the coffee, misspele a word, get to work late, knock over a glass of milk, we are only human.
but #2, is very different : deliberately betraying your dying wife who has already suffered so much in her life (losing a child)… is not something many of us would or could ever do. that is not a “human” trait, to say that is not only a lie it is an insult to all the good people of the world.
zuzu's petals
Sorry if it’s already been posted, but Elizabeth has posted a statement at DKos:
Elizabeth Edwards at DKos
She doesn’t get a 100% easy ride there…there are some genuinely pissed supporters.
zuzu's petals
Unfair. Plenty of Dems and Independents thought the same thing.
I never thought he was a phony and a fraud, but did see him as insubstantial. For instance, I thought he was pretty unimpressive in the VP debate (where, as Jon Stewart said, Cheney unhinged his lower jaw and … ).
And just watching him on some of those videos Hunter took gives me the creeps. He comes off as smarmy as all get out.
Krista
That’d be refreshing.
My thoughts on this:
1. It’s none of our business. We don’t know the dynamics of their marriage.
2. It was dumb of him to run for office with this particular skeleton in his closet.
I believe that’s all that should be said about that.
Corner Stone
Aaron says:
I have no inner Republican and I can say I’ve never liked Edwards and never understood the overwhelming crush for Elizabeth.
When he fired his blogging outreach team early in his campaign because the bigot Donahue told him to – I knew he didn’t have it.
Corner Stone
The absolute *best* thing about that thread is the very first comment gives Elizabeth air hugs, says they support her 100% – yet their ID is “Silence is Complicity”
That’s sheer goodness wrapped in lovely.
Brachiator
Can you say, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles?
Politicians actually rank kinda low with respect to their ability to get hot babes. An ugly, scrawny rock star can get a supermodel any day of the week. A top athlete will find any number of hot babes patiently loitering in the lobby of the hotel in which he is staying. A movie star … well, you don’t even have to ask. A politician who is not in a powerful position either has to work harder, or pay for it.
Somebody like JFK (or even FDR) was always hot and charismatic, and able to attract women. Being president of the United States just expanded their field.
Also, discretion and other kinds of appeal are more important than sheer good looks. To be very blunt, Rielle Hunter seems to have erred in getting pregnant and having a child (if it is fact, Edwards’ baby), but she has been a “good mistress” in agreeing to live quietly and not be taken care of by whoever is sending her money and setting up her household.
Spitzer overpaid for a woman who was supposed to be hot, beautiful, intelligent and sophisticated. Four grand got him a woman who hit one out of four requirements. She was pretty to look at, but that was about it.
janet
I dated a political consultant for a year before I found out he was cheating on his wife. Cheating is so common among politicians and their lackeys. They have such big heads they think they’re above common morality. THey think about themselves the same exact way that Edwards confessed he started to think about himself. His words rang true to me. What was a surprise was that he recognized it, ’cause most of them don’t. As for the cheating, I’m surprised that more politicians don’t get caught. I’ve been to more than one party filled with politicians and their hangers’ on where many of the married ones were there with their always blond and always younger bimbos, flaunting them on their arms. I was the only bimbo who was older with brunette hair. Because of which, some of the other cheating politicians thought I was my guy’s wife and asked about the kids. (That should have been the first clue.)
Anyway, the point of this is to say that power corrupts. Politics is heady stuff. The people who live in that world lose a sense of reality. They’re mostly creeps, frankly.
Just Some Fuckhead
Sez the Hillary deadender.
Adolphus
The presumptive nominees of BOTH parties would have a track record of cheating on a sickly/injured spouse?
Then we could watch journalists heads twist off as they simultaneously try to condemn Edwards while excusing McCain.
Maybe the first debate would consist of them comparing pick up lines or arguing over the best way to cover up strange perfume odors.
Seriously, though, how cool would it be if both candidates had the same sexual skeleton in their closet so that neither could hammer the other (so to speak) without look like a complete hypocrite? They might actually talk about the issues to distract the people from their affairs. Wouldn’t that be something?
Aaron
zuzu petals: standard republican sliming. not surprising it took hold.
corner stone: politicians aren’t there for you to ‘like’ them. They are there to do their job. Don’t let personality based bullshit twist your judgment.
Corner Stone
Aaron –
I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Modern politics is *completely* about personality based bullshit.
maryQ
Never been an Edwards fan. Never trusted the guy. Am saddened, but not shocked by this.
But think about this:
-Edwards was never gonna win the nomination. Never.
-There is no doubt his presence in the early contests, ESPECIALLY Iowa, helped Obama dethrone The Preordained One.
-Obama was never gonna make Edwards VP. Never.
-He brought the issue of poverty into the campaign in a way that neither Hilary nor Obama did.
-And, about the GOP making hay with this, well, do ya think McCain really wants to go there? Do you?
Corner Stone
Everyone keeps saying some variant of this. I think it’s bullshit.
He took his, “Son of a coal miner’s daughter” routine exactly nowhere. A bunch of people fell for it and gave him money they probably didn’t have to spare just praying he was for real.
He wasn’t, his message wasn’t, and IMO we’re better off deep sixing this phony out of the arena so he can stop damaging ideals people are willing to fight for.
Good riddance to this faux populist.