Is it really possible that Rielle Hunter thought that a photo of her in a dress shirt and panties sitting next to Barney and Kermit on her kid’s bed wouldn’t make GQ?
Hunter reportedly “cried for two hours” after she saw the pictures she deemed “repulsive” that accompanied the 10,000 word interview she did with GQ magazine, according to Barbara Walters.
I realize this isn’t a question of great importance, so consider this an open thread.
zmulls
No, really, these pictures are just for me, baby. Nobody will ever see them.
(There’s a sex video floating around that nobody will ever see, either, isn’t there? The same one that nobody would ever even know about?)
Colette
I refuse to give a page view to anything about those repulsive people. So, Alan Grayson = Awesome:
licensed to kill time
She’s got kind of a slightly classier Courtney Love vibe going on there.
Martin
On the bright side, at least it’s not the shot of Edwards trying to get the part in her hair just right.
ruemara
Ugh, attention whoring at it’s…finest?
I prefer the part of Grayson’s response about the “wild alaskan dingbat”.
Persia
Why does anyone care about Rielle Hunter at all?
slag
Seriously? We’re linking to this garbage now?
Persia
@Colette: HOMG, that’s his official website? I think I love this man.
Quaker in a Basement
Now how was she supposed to know they would print those photos in the magazine?
She thought they were only trying to steal her soul.
Mike Kay
Love that slutty look.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/rielle_hunter_kiss_tell_NmacRvZdkA3c5J9hbcNoWN
The interview is an unintentional riot, in the Helicopter Harold Ford vain.
And to think the Hippies bought all of Edwards’ crap — hook, line, and zinker.
Daddy Biggs
I have heard that it is a routine, if sleazy, tactic for magazine photogs to ask a subject to take “just a few” experimental shots and to suggest (in a deniable way) that they won’t be published. Then, of course, the end up published.
Usually, it’s with models who are asked to pose for a few shots that are more revealing than they would like. Experienced models learn quickly to say “no.”
I guess Rielle didn’t know any better.
slag
@Colette:
Hilarious.
I’m still of two minds about this kind of back-and-forth piggy lipstick rubbish. But I can’t say I didn’t laugh out loud there.
eemom
I confess I find that whole sordid saga to be fine comedy relief in these anxious days.
However, the picture of her holding the kid while laying in that CFM pose was kind of shameful, imo.
Mike Kay
@Persia: Cause she’s a tiger in bed!
Max
More “I’m the victim” bullshit.
If you didn’t want a picture of you in your panties out there, keep your fucking pants on.
Same with the sex tape.
The whole thing is so vile. Glad I was never an Edwards supporter.
Which begs the question… if you were an Edwards supporter, do you question your judgement as a result of this whole mishagas?
ellaesther
Finally, an open thread! I have a question of importance at least equal to as mistermix’s question about Rielle Hunter. To wit:
The other day, in the Friday night thread about Israeli-American tensions, talk came up of those who criticize Israel being immediately called anti-Semites. I directed folks to a piece I once wrote about just that issue (Are those who criticize Israel automatically anti-Semitic? short answer: Don’t be daft).
Quite understandably, DougJ then accused me of being a self-hating Jew.
To which I responded, as one might expect: “Godless heretic.”
And then it hit me, that given just how enormous is DougJ’s lapsedness from his childhood Catholic faith, HE ACTUALLY IS A GODLESS HERETIC. And so this was an insult fail!
How would one actually insult someone who lives and breathes this site?
“Rovian Politico-reader”?
“Friend of Bobo”?
I’m at a loss here, people. Please help me out!
Mike Kay
@Max:
Have you ever heard a Hippie say they were wrong?
Crazy is as Crazy Does
And I thought nobody could beat Shelly Bachman, Liz Cheney or Sarah Palin when it came to bringing teh crazee. Live and learn
BombIranForChrist
Well, I mean, she and John Edwards did manage to have a love child while he was running for president. Don’t they know how human procreation works? Have they ever heard of a condom? They are both C-R-A-Z-Y.
Max
@Mike Kay: Well stated, my friend.
And I’m saying that as a child of hippies.
Fern
@Max: Yes.
cleek
@Mike Kay:
not this hippy.
jibeaux
@Colette:
I have never read anything that makes me want to hit that “contribute” button more, and sadly I think that probably includes some very good charitable causes.
joes527
@Daddy Biggs: I can see it now.
Lets try pictures in the kitchen…
Lets try pictures in the bedroom…
Lets try pictures with your pants off…
If you aren’t TOTALLY focused, the tricky photographer will sneak that last one right by you.
ellaesther
@Persia: This.
/fist bump.
mistermix
@ellaesther: Tell him that what he wrote sounded so stupid that you thought for a moment that a Politico reporter hacked his account and was posting as him.
Bill Rutherford, Princeton Admissions
Since when was Edwards the hippie candidate?
leinie
Ok, rare commentor, constant lurker, with a question.
I need a recommendation for a password keeping iPhone app. I’ve looked at mSecure, 1Password, SplashID, and I’m just wondering if there is one that BJers prefer or more importantly, think are a total waste.
I’ll spend a bit of money for this, because I want the encrypted place to store passwords, etc., and have them in that device. They seem to all have their fans, so I’m having trouble making a decision.
It would be nice if it would synch to the Mac, but a companion desktop app isn’t a requirement.
Thanks in advance.
geg6
This woman is a complete and total idiot and so is Lover Boy Edwards. Gawd, I’m so glad I stayed on the Obama bandwagon when I was wavering just a little bit in October 2007.
That said, I’m very glad to see that Greg Mitchell of the late, lamented Editor and Publisher has found a soft landing courtesy of Katrina vanden Heuvel:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100329/mitchell
Citizen Alan
I was an Edwards supporter. At the time, he was the only politician in the whole damn country talking about the problem of income inequality which I believe will ultimately be the ruination of this entire country. It enrages me more than I can say that thanks to Edwards’ superhuman narcissism and venality, the very idea of addressing poverty as a social issue is now irredeemably associated with being an oversexed douchebag.
Anya
@ellaesther: Politico addict?
Colette
@ellaesther: Collaborationist cryptopublican?
geg6
@mistermix:
Heh. mistermix FTW.
A Mom Anon
@Mike Kay: I’ll admit it. I initially did support Edwards,waaaay back at the beginning of the whole horse race. And then,I’m not sure why,but the vibe from him and Elizabeth struck me as phony and the more I looked at them both the more I realized I didn’t like either of them. So yeah,I was wrong. And I am a far leftwing,organic food growing,barefoot,jeans wearing hippie. And proud of it too. Edwards isn’t the first person who has ever disappointed me,I doubt he’ll be the last.
Linda Featheringill
To Max:
Yes, he did look good to me for awhile, although I knew he was probably too class conscious to be very successful. So then he turned out to be a plain and simple liar. Does that mean that the rare folks who understand how our society is stratified are to be suspected as liars? That may be the case and that makes me really sad.
So, for my penance, I must confess that as an aging DFH, I was wrong.
But I still think there are at least two Americas.
robertdsc
I’ve received potentially compromising photos in the past. It would never occur to me to post or share them in any way, even if the relationship went south. I don’t understand why someone would do something like that.
Persia
In the interest of open threading: Who buys the 90-mph “Runaway Prius” guy’s story? It sounded fishy to me but that may just be the fact that I drive one of those things and want to be able to drive without panic attacks.
Mike Kay
@Bill Rutherford, Princeton Admissions: Oh, please. Digya ever read GOS during the primaries? All the peace-love-pie-in-the-sky-populists attached themselves to Johnny boy.
licensed to kill time
@ellaesther:
Balloon Juice Huffer. We are all Balloon Juice Huffers now.
Egilsson
@Mike Kay:
I was not an Edwards supporter, but this is a BS jab.
The “hippies” supported Edwards for being right about the issues.
And furthermore, the “hippies” have a really good track record over the past 40 years on the issues. A lot better than any other ‘group’.
Citizen Alan
@Citizen Alan:
I should add that now, there is no one at all who is even talking in any meaningful way about the problem of income inequality, and the divide between Democrats and Republicans no this issue appears to come down to Group A, which wants to give away all our money to the ultra-wealthy, and Group B, which wants to give away all our money to the ultra-wealthy but which at least pretends to feel bad about it. (see e.g. Dodd’s finance reform embarrassment)
Anne Laurie
@Max:
No, but I do question his.
Seriously? Shame on the man for thinking with his little head, but his ‘Two Americas’ platform remains just as pertinent as if he’d never so much as looked at any woman other than Elizabeth. Sexism, patriarchal white privilege, primate urges — but we were all better off (Iraqis and Afghanis included) when Clinton was humping his intern than when Dubya was chastely permitting his puppeteers to loot the treasury by starting three wars (including the one against the American public).
Colette
@Persia: It does sound really unlikely. I’m still driving my Prius – odds of having it run away with me are still several orders of magnitude lower than the chances of getting rear-ended at a traffic light.
ellaesther
@mistermix: Ah-HA! There you go.
I shall cut and paste that and save it for a rainy day.
Mike Kay
@Citizen Alan:
I know. But didn’t it bother you that on one hand he lived in 29,000 sq foot home and worked for a Wall Street Hedge fund that made money foreclosing on homes in New Orleans and on the other hand he talked like Huey Long? You can’t have it both ways.
geg6
@Egilsson:
Pay no attention to Mike Kay. He absolutely LIVES to punch hippies and anyone who isn’t Mike Kay or his little groupie. If you are over the age of 30, you are a piece of shit in his book and no different from your most
sadistic Naziselfish Boomer.Mike Kay
@geg6: What’s wrong with punching a hippie, Lord knows they certainly like to throw good punches?
jibeaux
@Citizen Alan:
Weeeelll, those of us who had him here in NC first and heard the interviews he gave in which he said we didn’t need no stinkin’ unions went into that campaign with a bit more skepticism regarding whether or not the poverty talk was sincere, or a niche he identified as lacking in the existing candidates. Also too for a little gossip, met a former paralegal from his firm. Said she babysat all night for him once, when she hinted at the end of the night about how he should probably pay and she’d go on home, he snapped that he didn’t have a checkbook on him. Never did pay her or say anything to her about it again. This girl was a treasure trove of stories about Edwards and his partner.
Sarcastro
OK, fuck you. I woke up this morning neither knowing nor caring about this woman. I was happy. Blissful in my ignorance.
Ah fuck it. I guess I’ll go and finally watch a Lady Gaga video. My brain is ruined for the day already …
drunken hausfrau
#1 — isn’t her 15 minutes up yet???
#2 — the whole “two Americas” argument has been tainted by this tabloid implosion and needs a new name, a re-branding, if you will. Also, obviously, a new spokesperson.
I nominate Alan Grayson — he kicks ass. Also, Al Franken. It also helps that they can be funny while being ruthless.
dh+3
ellaesther
@Colette: This is good! But not as good as mistermix’s. I’m sorry, he still gets the rose.
@licensed to kill time: See, again, like with the Godless Heretic thing — it’s actually true. We are all Balloon Juice Huffers now.
Mike Kay
@Egilsson:
And there lies the rub. He was wrong on invading Iraq. He was wrong on voting for the Bankruptcy bill. He was wrong on voting to repeal Glass-Steagall. He was wrong for voting for the Chinese trade agreement.
That’s the rub. His six year record in the senate was one wrong vote after another.
jibeaux
@Persia:
I didn’t even know a Prius could go 90 mph, unintentionally or not, but who knows. It’s certainly not a stunt I would ever pull. On the weird Toyota stuff, I have a 2005 Ford that has been completely, totally, problem-free except this one time. When it involuntarily applied the brakes for me. I thought at first it was a transmission problem and just wouldn’t upshift, I also tried pulling the brake pedal up with the topside of my foot from underneath but it wasn’t pressed down, just engaged somehow. Better than unintended acceleration, yes, but still a mighty weird problem.
drillfork
I liked that Edwards was at least talking about health care in terms of people dying at the hands of the insurance companies. To this day, no one else in officialdom really does that…
The Grand Panjandrum
@Daddy Biggs: She doesn’t seem to be able to say no to anyone and we can see the living proof of that in one of the photos.
Citizen Alan
@Mike Kay:
Well who the hell is going to listen to a poor person complaining about income inequality?!? Our society venerates wealth and privilege. There are popular shows on MTV which consist entirely of spoiled brats showing the cameras around the palatial estates (i.e. “cribs”) their parents have bought for them or else throwing a tantrum because the cars they got for their Super Sweet 16th were only worth $100K instead of $200K. The only realistic chance for our polity to do something about income inequality before we have a complete social meltdown is if there is a critical mass of wealthy types who agree that income inequality is a problem which threatens the future of capitalism itself. Since we plainly don’t have such a critical mass of sensible wealthy Americans, I’m bracing for a good old-fashioned French-style revolution. “Death to the aristos!” and all that.
Svensker
@Colette:
Zing.
demo woman
After reading Hunter’s interview with GQ and viewing the photos that she allowed them to take all I can say is that I hope that both she and John ride off into the sunset never to be seen again.
Enough is enough.
Svensker
@Mike Kay:
Not this hippy, either. Always thought he was a phony baloney.
Colette
@jibeaux: Lots of people apparently still think that Priuses are sluggish. Not so. (And I’ve driven over 100 mph in mine, too.)
Jay B.
Leave it to Mike to bring up the stupidest argument of all time.
Just like with Clinton, I don’t give a flying fuck about them personally. Edwards is an asshole! OMG!!! Who’d a thunk it? It’s impossible that a politician fucks around on his wife. I’ve never ever ever heard of such a thing. Shocked, I am! And I’m not even a hippie. Could you imagine if panty sniffers ever find out?
You, like Mickey Kaus, are in love with the fact that you, against all odds, found a politician who couldn’t keep his cock in his pants. It’s a testament to your sharp personal skills and political savvy, I’m sure.
And not that it matters in the least, but I supported Obama from the start. Because Edward’s best days came in 2004, which means, what, exactly?
Really, you are through and through a bigger loser than former Edwards supporter Gen. Stuck.
Mike Kay
@The Grand Panjandrum: Hubba! Hubba!
Mike Kay
@Jay B.: Huh? I didn’t say a word about his love life. I said his six year voting record sucked, as well as his greed after leaving office sucked.
jibeaux
@Colette:
Well, shut my mouth! Go Priuses! (I wouldn’t have thought sluggish, exactly, just that they wouldn’t necessarily be built to go high speeds, as distinct from having good acceleration at lower speeds.)
Leelee for Obama
@Mike Kay: I, myself, admit when I am wrong, as well as try to see both sides of an argument, unless the opposition is batshit insane. And I am an original Hippie, thanks very much.
Never planned to vote for Edwards, either in 2004 or 2008. No choice in 2004, he was chosen by the guy I did plan to vote for. And, he wasn’t cheating on his wife the AFAIK.
All that being said: these two deserve each other. Ewww, just ewww!
Redshirt
This DFH never jumped on the Edwards train. I had/have no idea why anyone did. All it took was for me to hear the MILLS story twice, and I knew all I needed to know. MILLS!
brendancalling
“if you were an Edwards supporter, do you question your judgement as a result of this whole mishagas?”
I could say that about the entire fuckin’ Democratic party at this point.
Mike Kay
@Leelee for Obama: I bet back in the day ya were as hwat as Goldie Hawn or Julie Christie.
nancydarling
I gave serious money to Edwards early in the primary which I wish I could have back. I liked what I saw of Massa in his early days in the House. I am starting to question my judgment about almost everyone. I hope I’m not wrong about Halter. My BS meter is really on the fritz. I believe my character assessment of Obama is correct. I just hope something gets done on health care and banking rules. He can’t do it alone though. We need to keep calling our reps and run interference for him at every opportunity.
Jay B.
You’re right! You were only agreeing with Max’s idiotic “because Edwards slept with a woman in 2007, [the pretend] hippies [who live only in my head] were stupid for supporting him in 2004” premise. My apologies.
But again, I suggest you take up the question of Edwards’ allure on your equally stunted buddy Suck.
Ana Gama
More Alan Grayson. Apologies if this is a repeat.
Brachiator
@Daddy Biggs:
Let’s see now. She’s been involved in the media, been a filmmaker, and somehow magically doesn’t know how the publicity game is played.
I think not.
Even a photo accompanying a Yahoo news story, a shot of her lying on a bed in grey sweat pants is kinda sexy, even though she is holding her son.
Now can we please get back to more important stuff, like the Tiger Woods’ mistress beauty pageant?
El Cid
You gotta admit, Edwards is much more convincing now in the role of Southern factory worker now that he’s got a kid by a mistress born out of wedlock even while still appearing in public talking about his dedication to his wife.
Hell, I knew a lot of millworkers like that in my neighborhood.
FlipYrWhig
@Egilsson:
I don’t think there’s any dispute that liberal-to-left ideas are worlds better than the alternative. The dispute arises from how to put those ideas into practice: whether it involves (a) watering things down in order to attract the 30-35% currently in the middle of the political spectrum by tapping into things they already believe; or whether it involves (b) standing firm, refusing to compromise, and challenging the minds of the middle of the spectrum in order to change them.
I think (b) is the “hippie” view, and (a) is the, um, “non-hippie liberal” view. Hippies seem to think that non-hippie liberals are “centrists” who _like_ the political system the way it is. Since I’m a bit more on the non-hippie liberal side, I’d say, no, I don’t like that system, but I’m not willing to wait until it changes, either, so I’ll always take the half-a-loaf solution, because I’m risk-averse and a pessimist and have a bad feeling that this is, sadly, the most liberal moment we’ll see in a long time. I think that makes me an appeaser or a patsy in many people’s books, but I’m OK with that.
Of course as a white middle-class educated dude there are many perks I get that I haven’t had to fight for; I’ve had the privilege of never having had to be militant, almost never felt silenced, etc. So I know that other people answer these questions differently and end up in the “hippie” camp for good and deeply-felt reasons.
Max
@Jay B.: Please show me where I said that.
I said nothing about 2004 or hippies in my comment, so kindly go fuck yourself.
And yes, I agreed with Mike Kay’s comments about hippies not admitting they were wrong, in the context, in which I provided, that my hippy parents have never admitted they were wrong, on anything.
So truly, fuck off.
les
@ellaesther:
Well, you might have something here; if he’s godless, the notion of heresy could have some negative connotation, or somethin’. Although I do like the notion that my lack of belief in one more god than (generic) you makes it more difficult to insult me.
Leelee for Obama
@Mike Kay: No, I wasn’t and I knew it. It wasn’t something I aspired to, so that was fine. Funny thing is, I’ve aged better than they have. Clean living and very little sun-that’s the ticket.
Mike Kay
@Jay B.:
I really could care about his personal life, but I’m sure you remember the countless blog posts about Edwards’ superior character over how well he took care of Elizabeth when her cancer returned. So I can see why someone would bring the mistress thing up.
licensed to kill time
Robert Gibbs and The Secret Code Bracelet, read all about it!
From a fervid imagination at Big Government, via Steve Benen
Mike Kay
@FlipYrWhig:
There’s some of that. But there’s also those “who stand on principal” because they’re financially insulated. If Kucinich wasn’t making $176,000 with great benefits and instead couldn’t afford healthcare, he wouldn’t be pissing on an expansion of medicade and significant subsidies for working class families.
Mike Kay
@Brachiator: No kiddin’ I bet she can suck the chrome off a pick-up truck.
Jay B.
@Max:
You:
You, after some stupid stock hippie joke:
You again:
So it just begs the question, genius. What the fuck were you talking about? Why would an Edwards supporter question their judgment any more than a Clinton supporter question theirs? I assume they weren’t supporting him on his “I’m going to secretly sleep with other women” platform, so I’m not sure why that matters at all.
And since Edwards did run in 2004, when he had more supporters, it seems pretty fucking obvious you were talking about him as a candidate, which spans 2008 AND 2004.
I’ll admit to getting confused between you and Mike’s mutual admiration, so I lost track of why Kos’ is to blame for all of this somehow (points to Mike for not blaming Hamsher) and why his supporters should question their judgment and whose hippie parents never admitted they were wrong. But I’m sure we’ll find the answers in the stars.
FlipYrWhig
@Mike Kay: Yeah, that’s the “Trustafarian” element of the hippie/radical side. But I don’t think it’s that prevalent. I don’t even think that explains Hamsher, who’s been tarred for the same thing: I think she’s just a believer in fighting every fight full tilt all the time, even if you lose. Which I still think is strategically wrong.
Svensker
Screw all this depressing stuff. I’m listening to Vivaldi with Andreas Scholl. Beyond beautiful. My goosebumps got goosebumps.
numbskull
@Egilsson: Eggs-zakly.
Edwards’ stated positions on several issues were and are correct. In fact, you’d almost have to believe the sun rises in the west to disagree. As to the man, he’s scum.
Do you some of you here so desperately need to punch DFHs that you think the sun rises in the west? Really? How did the plastic surgery go after you cut your noses off? You know, to spite your face ‘n all.
Mike Kay
@Svensker: How are hwat photos of Rielle Hunter depressing? She’s got great legs.
goblue72
@Svensker: Yeah and I sure took flak for it during the primaries at the GOS whenever I pointed out Edward’s phoniness in comparison to his actual voting record or lifestyle.
Course, these are the same hippies who went full firebag during HCR debates last year and are now professing it was just all a “negotiating” position – as if the Interweb Hippie Army was (a) organized, (b) strategic, or (c) had an actual seat at the bargaining table.
Although, IMHO, they aren’t really hippies – it’s kind of an insult to real hippies to call them hippies. They’re the same kind of authoritarian lefty douches we’ve always been stuck with.
TruthOfAngels
@The Grand Panjandrum: Please tell me it wasn’t with Kermit. Don’t ruin a young boy’s illusions.
Mike Kay
@goblue72: THIS!
Sentient Puddle
Open threadish: I have the job of going through a round of performance reviews at work. And Christ, how I hate these things.
Not so much the “meet with your boss and hear them lay it all out about how much you suck” part, but more the questionnaire part that I have to do beforehand. What have you accomplished in the last six months? Why are you awesome? About five different questions that amount to “In what areas do you suck?”, just worded slightly differently.
No, filling that spawn-of-Satan form out is what I absolutely detest.
I think the only saving grace is that my boss seems to think that most of this is HR bullshit, and we only do it because they make us. Which would explain why I don’t think the meeting is that bad.
Max
@Jay B.: You are mentally ill, seriously.
Where does Kos come into all of this?
Being almost 39, geg6 at #45 has already said that Mike Kay thinks I’m a piece of shit.
So, by your logic, I’m in a mutual admiration club with a guy that thinks I’m a POS.
Sorry, I stopped having those types of relationships in my early 20’s.
Geeno
As a hippy, I must say that I liked Edwards’ stump speech and position papers, but always thought he sounded a little smarmy. Kinda left me feeling like I was watching a televangelist. I supported him at the start for a general lack options; it was all Clinton v. Edwards in the early going. After that silliness with Bill Donahue and Amanda Marcotte & Melissa McEwen (sp?), I was less supportive. Once Obama arrived as a “legitimate” candidate by posting good Q4 ’07 money numbers, I switched to being an O-bot.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Jay B.: Bad form dude to attack BJ commenters when they are not on a thread. Sign of a pissant wanker.
You have harshed my galt dude, and can DIAF for that.
Stooleo
Okay, I know that this has been kicked about before, but seriously WTF is going on over at FDL? Has it been overrun by all the PUMAs that used to hang out at Open Left? Seriously it’s fucking crazy.
Tax Analyst
@joes527:
Almost reminds me of the old “Simon says” game. It gets going so fast you just follow the instruction even though “Simon” never “said” shit.
Like you said, ya’ gotta keep yourself totally focused or next thing ya’ know folks are noticing your winsome expression and luscious milky white thighs in a glossy magazine picture.
:Libertini
@Citizen Alan: You nailed it. I have to quote the whole thing.
My sentiments exactly. I maxed out for Edwards. I was naive about the man, but it’s still a needed message.
And I am an odd fit in the DFH camp, but if believing that income inequality is the biggest problem we face in this country, then I better go find some Birkenstocks. Or something. I think I have a tye-die T-shirt somewhere.
Jay B.
@Max:
“GOS” = Kos. It’s proof that no matter what the issue, they are always on the wrong side and total assholes about it — in this case, Edwards. See # 86 and # 37 for proof.
Bootlegger
Balloon Juice NCAA tourney pool is open for business on Yahoo. Don’t forget the “seed bonuses” when you make your picks. You’ll need the group ID# in the group label below.
Sentient Puddle
@Bootlegger: I have no interest whatsoever in the NCAA. So for shits ‘n giggles, I may submit a bracket that is determined by 63 coin flips.
SiubhanDuinne
@Citizen Alan:
You put it very well. I was actually an Obot from the beginning of the campaign, but I sure liked Edwards’ message about income inequality, and would have been delighted with an Obama-Edwards ticket. I certainly was a fan of his (and Elizabeth’s) back in 2004 when he was Kerry’s running mate.
Every time I think of him, I am torn between rage and great deep sorrow. This betrayal hurt in a visceral way. And yes, he not only betrayed his wife and children and a ton of supporters, but he took a giant dump on the one issue that made him stand out from the other candidates. And because of that, our terrific media in their infinite wisdom will commit the syllogistic fallacy of the undistributed middle and decide that because Edwards supported anti-poverty measures and Edwards is demonstrably a scumbag, therefore everyone who supports anti-poverty measures is a scumbag. (I think I have that right — it’s been a few decades since I took an introductory logic course.)
I don’t even want to think about Rielle Hunter. But I do feel sorry for their kid. (A bit O/T here, but you know how in the past 10 years or so we’ve seen a lot of documentaries and reality programs and so on with child actors talking about the terrible pressures on their young selves? I’m thinking in another decade or two we’ll see something similar, but with kids of wayward politicians this time. For starters, the Edwards-Hunter kid, and, well, really ANY of Sarah’s brood. There’s no dearth of possibilities, for sure.)
mak
Given the snore-inducing pablum that usually fills official political websites, Grayson’s relentless counter attack on Palin is remarkably, refreshingly nasty:
I realize it’s his campaign site, and not his official congressional site, but still. Like Collette said, awesome.
Mike Kay
@Stooleo: Fill us in. Tell us more.
Open left used to be PUMA central? I thought it was talk left who had all of the blue-haired ladies who hated Obama.
eemom
@Stooleo:
What is going on is that Jane Hamsher and Dennis Kucinich are the only true progressives left in this country. Everyone else is a sellout whore for the insurance companies or big pharma, including not only every “Yes” vote for HCR in Congress but also MoveOn, the unions, Krugman, Ezra Klein, Nate Silver, Kevin Drummond, every actual expert on the subject of health care reform, and last but not least, the Catholic charities.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
I will say that I supported Edwards early on for one reason. He was the only candidate that I believed would seriously take on the plutocrats and big bidness. Based on the fact he wasn’t shy about dong that as a trial attorney and a good trial attorney taking on moneyed interests. It wasn’t because I liked him or otherwise trusted him more than any other candidate. I didn’t give him any money, nor at that stage in the primary, to any candidate. When he dropped out, I had no preferred dem and didn’t until Obama started to run away with the race and Hillary went batshit crazy. I hadn’t known very much about Obama before this point in time, but was beginning to like him in addition to his winning the dem nom long before it was over. I still personally like the dude, and trust him as much as I can any politician. Not in my lifetime has a new president faced the array of serious problems in this country, and a polarized hyper partisan environment, plus, did you notice he is the first black president in a country that stubbornly held on to slavery and Jim Crow, the latter of which only ended a few decades ago, if it has ended at all in spirit for too many Americans.
I look forward to HCR passing soon and the subsequent taking of credit for that from our progressive masters.
Also, too, About the only thing I can think of that Reagan said worth hearing was when he opined that you can get much done if you don’t worry about who takes credit for it. So be it.
goblue72
@eemom: Yeah, but Dennis’ wife is smokin’, so it all evens out in the end. Or something.
Leelee for Obama
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: What you said!
Re: Reagan, the proverbial broken watch analogy.
I have to say, Obama made me proud when he said “We need COURAGE!” today in Ohio. We do. When did this become the land of the scared and the home of the bedwetters? A bit of courage would do wonders for us.
FlipYrWhig
@Mike Kay: What’s funny to me is that for a long time it was the shouty swarming aspect of the Obama online fan base that was deterring me from throwing in my lot with The Big O. Then the louder shouters and wilder swarmers built up _against_ him, and they started taking over so many blogs… But now the shouters and swarmers even seem to be on the outs at Kos! I guess there’s merit to the flypaper theory after all, and they all congregated at FDL.
SiubhanDuinne
@drunken hausfrau:
Yes to this, and yes again. I’d love to see more of Al Franken than I actually am seeing. Is he keeping a pretty low media profile, or am I just always missing him? And everything I’ve seen about Alan Grayson is teh awesum.
Stooleo
Mike KAY @101.
Thanks for the correction, you are right it was Talk Left.
FlipYrWhig
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
I kinda liked Hillary because I didn’t like Obama’s bipartisan shtick and I thought Hillary would relish cutting her opponents to ribbons. Then I concluded that bipartisanship was merely a shtick for O too, and that he really has a kind of consensus-building strategy that isn’t the same as Broder-Brooks “bipartisanship,” but looks like it enough to placate the media. And that, of course, has been the aspect that most of the people further to my left have disliked the most about Obama. Interesting.
Mike Kay
@goblue72: WHAT! THAT’S HIS WIFE! I thought it was his great granddaughter?
Are you sure, the tall amazon red head is his wife?
gwangung
I get the impression that he’s focussed on getting work done.
Mike Kay
@FlipYrWhig: I liked Hillary, too.
SiubhanDuinne
@gwangung:
I love it! Great riposte!
trollhattan
@ Colette
Thanks, that’s a major tonic right there. I know nothing of his district but it seems Grayson would nevertheless benefit greatly from as much Sarah as the oppostion cares to throw his way. Her word salads look so nice displayed there on the buffet table.
Which brings to mind the question of how much the Wasilla griftress charges for congressional campaign stops? That’s a lot of frequent flyer miles between Anchorage and Florida, and there’s Piper’s junior college account to fund.
FlipYrWhig
@SiubhanDuinne:
It seems like newer Senators are hampered from being significant public presences. I thought Mark Warner would be all over the place by now. Instead I just hear nothing about the guy. Although that 2006 crowd shows up fairly regularly in the media: Sanders, McCaskill, Sherrod Brown, Whitehouse…
trollhattan
@Mike Kay
I don’t have a linky but there’s an absolutely hilarious Jason Jones–I’ll call it an interview–with missus Kucinich that ran on TDS during the primaries. As if her obvious hotness weren’t enough, she is also blessed with an accent and an ample helping of brains.
Giving hope to wonks the world over.
WaterGirl
@A Mom Anon: I’ve been away for the better part of a week. I caught one post by John that said a couple of people had gotten jobs. That’s great news but no names were mentioned – hoping to hear that your husband was one of them and who the others were.
Xantar
@leinie:
Don’t know if you’re still reading, but I don’t think you can go wrong with mSecure. I use it myself. It works, it makes backups on your computer every time you sync your iPod, and it’s very customizable. It has standard forms for bank accounts, insurance, credit cards and such but also allows you to create a new category with whatever fields you like.
That said, I haven’t tried any other password app so I can’t really do a cross comparison. All I know is I’ve been perfectly happy with it and haven’t had to worry about remembering my car’s VIN ever since.
goblue72
@Mike Kay: I’ll assume that’s feigned ignorance sarcasm (or if not, my apologies), but yes, that’s his wife.
She’s 32 years old – like 30 years younger than him. She’s 5 foot 10. She’s British. Her graduate degree is in “International Conflict Analysis”. She’s a vegan hippie who worked for the Red Cross and other hippie NGOs. She has a pierced tongue.
I really can’t stand Dennis Kucinich but in this one instance, I must say “Bra-vo.”
That and he must be hung like a horse.
Admiral_Komack
I never liked John Edwards, and after his lackluster performance in the 2004 VP debate, I figured he wasn’t ready for prime time.
I’ve said this about Rielle Hunter in two other blogs, so I’ll say it here, too:
I think she’s a crazy slut.
Now she’s not happy about the pictures in the piece…’cause the pictures make her look like a crazy slut.
I thought she would have figured it out, her being a media consultant and all.
I could be wrong, but I think this will end badly.
Mark
“Mike Kay
@Egilsson:
The “hippies” supported Edwards for being right about the issues.
And there lies the rub. He was wrong on invading Iraq. He was wrong on voting for the Bankruptcy bill. He was wrong on voting to repeal Glass-Steagall. He was wrong for voting for the Chinese trade agreement.”
I thought Obama’s two year Senate voting record was every bit as much center right as Edwards (ie blue doggish esp on trade, big finanacial biz and security). Me thinks they are all mostly very rich talking asshats on the campaign trail, no matter if they wag their dog in the wrong bun or not.
Mike Kay
@Mark: National Journal ranked him the most liberal senator.
Mike Kay
@Admiral_Komack: I hear ya. She’s got the whole Glenn Close “boiling bunnies” look.
Sly
There isn’t one great social policy, perhaps in the world, that wasn’t implemented incrementally. Hippies proclaim the “Overton Window” bullshit, but they misunderstand even that. You don’t get people to be in favor of social welfare and justice policies all at once. Especially in America, which has various cultural disinclinations towards state spending and “interference” toward those ends. You get them there with a slow introduction. You get them to dip their feet in the water and find out that they won’t start wearing ushankas and singing the Internationale because the government is taking some steps to make sure the most vulnerable aren’t being fucked over their entire lives.
The original Social Security Act had all sorts of great stuff in it that didn’t make it out of committee. So did Medicare, AFDC, the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Family and Medical Leave Act (which I would argue is Bill Clinton’s greatest legacy), SCHIP (his second), etc. All of these great things that hippies love were created through legislative compromises. If they think that the United States would be better off without any of these things because they were watered-down, I hope that they’re preferred candidates for any level of public office never win election.
Not just because I think it would hurt the country to elect incompetents. But also because I’m mean and they deserve it.
The Senate passed a weakened version of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to break the Southern bloc, for fucks sake. The House version prohibited discrimination in private businesses. Which is great, but its removal from the final bill does not make the fucking Civil Rights Act worthless.
As for John Edwards, fuck him too. His entire Presidential campaign was one apology after another for every shitty vote he managed to make in 6 years. Unimpressive, to say the least.
Egilsson
@Mike Kay:
The “hippies”, as you stupidly put it, supported Edwards for his poverty / social justice message, that he actually started talking about after 2004. No one else was really doing that, and he did a pretty good job of it on the stump.
Now, I didn’t really buy Edwards (because he was so weak as VP candidate), so I didn’t support him, but that was good stuff.
Right message, imperfect messenger.
And you owe the hippies an apology because they’ve been so right about so much for so long. I’m sick of hippie punching. It’s bullshit.
John
@FlipYrWhig:
I think virtually all “hippies” are white middle class educated people. Working class Democrats (and their representatives, the unions) and minority Democrats are generally pretty strongly in the “get half a loaf” crowd.
Mr Furious
If you look really closely at the picture, in the pile of stuffed animals, you’ll see it…
The world’s tiniest violin.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Whenever I start feeling a little guilty about punching so called “hippies” along comes someone who delivers the whiny ass supremacy shit, and then I want to punch them even more than before.
Mike Kay
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: That’s the thing, hippies are always throwing punches. Always.
Mike Kay
@Egilsson:
Dude, get a haircut.
Mark
Mike Kay
@Mark: National Journal ranked him the most liberal senator.
Yeah, yeah, and they just happened to rank John Kerry the most liberal in 2004. Funny how that works.
Back to my point, can you provide any specifics as far as liberal Obama US Senate votes on trade, big finance and national security; – the big ones when they counted not when it was easy to hide in a big minority. Illegal telecom wire taps, FISA, Patriot etc.?
Egilsson
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
I was born after the “hippies” you douchebag.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Egilsson: You’re about dumb enough to think that the internet progs who call themselves hippies has something to do with real hippies of the 60’s and 70′ when I was one of them. So just for you, I will call them the left wing internet morons they are, which has nothing to do with actual hippies. There now, I hope that educates your ignorant self.
Egilsson
Ok, you are a self-hating douchebag.
Now I’m educated.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Now you’re an idiot