Apart from the moral implications...

It's been interesting to observe the commentary on not only the gross actions taken by John Edwards in the face of the revelation about his affair, child, Andrew Young's looming book release (The Politician, February 2010) and Game Change, but on the standards of political coverage on this and other scandals, some true, some false.

For example (from here):

"The book Game Change, on the 2008 presidential campaign, continues to be in the news because people are fascinated to find out what was going on. Imagine if a book came out reporting the blockbusting news that during the campaign Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's unmarried teenaged daughter had been pregnant. Or that Palin's ex-brother-in-law was fired from his job as a highway patrolman in Alaska. Who would buy that book? Nobody, because we all know that, along with a whole lot of intimate details about the extended Palin family, because that was considered news during the campaign.

What wasn't considered news was that John Edwards was very openly having an affair with a Rielle Hunter, who was supposedly videotaping segments of his campaign. But as everyone involved in the campaign knew, the real reason she was traveling with the campaign had nothing to do with videotape, or at least not the videotaping she was doing during the day.

The campaign staff knew; the reporters covering the campaign knew because it was obvious; and the National Enquirer reported the affair and reported that Edwards was the father of Hunter's baby.

Now for a presidential candidate to father a child with a supposed member of his campaign staff during the campaign is still big news, and when the story finally came out it cost Edwards his political career. All they had to do was follow the money. Hunter didn't have a real job with the campaign and the campaign paid her over $100,000.

But none of the mainstream reporters would touch it during the campaign.
...
By comparison, on the Republican side there is no level that is too low to go. The result is that a rumor that John McCain had had an affair with a Capitol Hill lobbyist was on the front page of The New York Times. It was a front page story despite the fact that after devoting a team of reporters to the rumor for months, all the reporters could come up with was that some McCain staffers said they thought McCain spent too much time with this attractive female lobbyist. That's front page news. The fact that Edwards fathered a child with a woman who he had hired ostensibly to videotape his campaign is not news. The fact that Elizabeth Edwards ripped off her own shirt at an airport in an argument with John Edwards is not news."

Hm. Solid points. I would say, while I know this is a right-leaning columnist, a person from any party should be able to see the bias in this. (It's interesting to note that I saw nary a Tweet about the whole debacle. John Edwards was not a Tweeting topic. Astounding.)

Either way, it's disgusting to realize the levels some people will stoop to. Even before I read the excerpt from Game Change, I was mortified at the idea that a man would not only commit adultery against his ill wife and children (who are absolutely victims too), but father a child. And not only father a child, but DENY his paternity, knowing full well that it is his. Despicable.

(And what about birth control? Considering Edwards' support sex education which includes instruction on how to acquire and use it, he's not really holding up his end.)

After reading the excerpt, I was appalled. Appalled at the recklessness, carelessness, and sheer egocentricity of this man. Naturally, I can understand that this testimony could very well be exaggerated, but it is still an amazing set of events to be revealed.

Now, as a Conservative, it was not even possible for me to consider Edwards as a leader of this country in politics alone. Political leanings aside, this situation positively murders any ounce of credibility in his personal character. Don't get me wrong--politicians from both parties have made utter fools of themselves

In other news, the plans set in motion on the subject of health care reform have been put on hold since Scott Brown's election. Brown officially ended the super-majority in the senate, reclaiming filibuster-rights for the Republicans. As far as its supporters, this puts the state of the health care bill originally set to go through to Massachusetts in jeopardy. We'll see where this ends up.

This is the most I've commented on politics publicly (ish) ever. I like it.

-A.