Well...John Edwards admitted to cheating on his wife after lying about it for a couple of years to the Press. Makes one think that he is not presidential or vice-presidential timber, don't it? The only reason he 'fessed up is because the (of all rags) National Enquirer got wind and wouldn't let it go. Who'da thunk the Enquirer would actually be telling the truth for once? Makes me wonder about their other stories that I once scoffed at, like: alien babies, aliens visiting every sitting president since Truman, crop circles, every celebrity ever known in a life and death battle with AIDS/cancer/weight, two-headed babies, lizard men, 1,200-year-old people walking the streets of New York, placentas in our Cheerios, Kirstie Alley making a comeback, Tom Cruise really being straight...really out there stuff.
But since they got this one right I have to truly reassess.
Back on track, though, is John Edwards really washed up now, because he finally admitted to an affair he had in the not-so-distant past? He's been named as a possible vice-president nominee. He was promised speaking time at the Democratic national Convention this year. Is he no longer washable and saleable to the American Public, because he transgressed, because he commited adultery? Because he lied to a tabloid and then was forced to eat crow in a very loud manner?
Well, if you say "Yes, he is done. Turn him over and stick a fork into him, because he is a sinner/liar/adulterer/cheat/traitor to the ones he claims to love, then let me introduce you to someone who is, also, political and involved in a much larger arena of growth:
John McCain. Thirty years ago, John cheated on his wife. Not only cheated once, but many times. And he documented all of this in a book written in later years when he was safely married to the last woman he cheated with (so far as we know). And the last woman he cheated with and eventually married? A heiress to a catsup (or ketchup for you Indianans) fortune. I say, John: good time to stop and smell the 57th spice.
So, if one John is to be condemned for an affair, is the other not as well? Or does 30 years wipe out the sin? I can guarantee that the one John's sin is too new to allow him to accept a nomination if such were to be offered (which I can say with all conviction it won't be), because the American Span of Attention is especially strong and harsh within the first 24 hours unless Paris Hilton tapes a rebuttal and dilutes the initial idiocy with more.
Suffice it to say, Edwards is done and forked for the amount of time it will take to uncover at least two more politicians' personal scandals that don't involve money, yachts or cocaine. Where the hell is Eliot Spitzer when you need him?
But let's get back to the man running for the White House. He cheated numerous times on his first wife, then documented it in a book fer cryin' out loud. But only after he was safely married to a very rich tomato and suger combo heiress. And everyone seems to have forgiven or forgot.
This is McCain: a man who claims to be a maverick for many years and actually voted in a manner that supports that supposition, but who recently began to mirror everything that the current Bush stands for in order to placate his constituents. He actually told supporters that offshore drilling would benefit us at the gas pump within months. He has, also, resorted to attack ads against Barack Obama, which defy everything he said after his ill-fated 2000 run against Shrub. He claimed then that he would never engage in that type of behavior against anyone of any stripe. But, now, he has.
So, he is a liar, an opportunist and a hypocrite.
Yet, it will be John Edwards who pays for right now, because our national memory lasts only as long as the newest tabloid headline.
Personally, I can't wait to hear what happens next to Britney's hair.