The Anatomy Of The Edwards Affair

[ProSense]

(edited for copyright purposes-proud patriot Moderator Democratic Underground)

Sam Stein

The Anatomy Of The Edwards Affair

August 8, 2008 07:30 PM

(snip)
The secret has now officially come to an end. Edwards copped to the extramarital affair during an interview on ABC this Friday - the nadir of a political career that, at one point in time, seemed pointed towards the White House. By then, the peculiarities of his relationship with Hunter had been much discussed. While mainstream press attention was scant, the National Enquirer and a select number of online sites - most prominently Mickey Kaus at Slate - had been poring over the issue for months.

The Huffington Post had too. Back in September 2007, we reported that the videos, which Hunter had been paid to produce for Edwards' One America Committee, had gone mysteriously missing. Perhaps even more curious: no one seemed to claim ownership. Staffers for Edwards, who by then was in the throes of the primary, said they had no access to the film: four shorts on the Senator's efforts to promote the eradication of poverty. Meanwhile, the film company, Midline Groove Productions, said the videos were the product of the campaign. Not only that, they were for some reason prohibited from even discussing the content.

The videos, it turned out, told a bit more than it first seemed. On several occasions one could detect flirting between Hunter and Edwards, including blatant shots of his crotch and rear end. In one exchange the Senator admits to having gone shoe shopping with Hunter as he smiles at the camera (held by her).

Each several minutes in length, the political films were hardly traditional; perhaps because Hunter had zero history in the industry. In a follow up story, the Huffington Post unearthed Hunter's website - erased from the web shortly after Edwards launched his presidential campaign - in which it was revealed that she had never made films before. Moreover, she had no current Internet presence, a curious anonymity from someone who had just recently scored a great gig following around a prominent presidential candidate.

(snip)

"I think every single candidate for president, Republican and Democratic have lives, personal lives, that indicate something about what kind of human being they are. And I think it is a fair evaluation for America to engage in, to look at, what kind of human beings each of us are, and what kind of president we'd make."

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Edwards made the similar point in a statement during the Lewinsky affair:

I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen.

link

From Elizabeth Edwards' statement:

John made a terrible mistake in 2006. The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done. But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007. This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well. Because of a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private.

Why did they decide to run for public office if they didn't want to "play it out on a public stage"? If Elizabeth knew about the affair in 2006, why was this woman still doing work (if one can call it that) for Edwards in 2007, after he announced his run for the Presidency? Why continue playing up the morality iissue?

The Edwardses story doesn't add up. There would have been nothing wrong if they had waited to issue statements when they felt comfortable with telling the whole true. You don't put something behind you and apologize to people by compounding it with lies.






edited extra word, for clarity

[LonelyLRLiberal]

1. Good post - thanks for this viewpoint.

recommended

[thewiseguy]

2. John Edwards is a phony person

I bet you he still has not come clean about his affair. :puke:

He was about to screw the Democratic party for selfish reasons. Reminds you of his days as a VP choice for Kerry and a trial lawyer... x(

[LisaL]

5. And to all of you nay-sayers, claiming

Edwards personal life doesn't matter, it's his own business. Hello? Read Edwards own words about personal life of a politician. And what about this woman being paid to make these movies? What about the lawyer claiming he paid this woman (his own money) to move?

[thewiseguy]

6. I actually thought there was some truth to the affair rumors

Its very disappointing to see that fellow democrats think its OK to use campaign donation money to pay off a woman for her "special services".

Interestingly enough, Edwards presidential campaign is still collecting donations!

[izquierdista]

7. It only matters to stupid Americans

A truly insipid culture that elevates gossip to serious political discourse. Attention Americans: who fucks, used to fuck, or wants to fuck whom DOESN'T MATTER! Not one little bit, not to you, not to the performance of their job, not to the worthiness of the public policy they advocate, and not to their employers.

Here's how you get over it: don't listen, don't repeat, pay no attention and let your eyes glaze over. Instead of worrying about how someone else gets off, close your eyes and think about how YOU would like to get off. You can remember your own sex life, can't you? Or has it been so long since you experienced some sexual gratification that you have to live vicariously through entertainers, athletes, and politicians that appear on the nightly news?

[ProSense]

8. Lying should matter to all Americans

Personal life is this: age of partner, sex of partner, number of partners, and "who fucks, used to fuck, or wants to fuck whom"

Public life is this: lying, which one has to do to cheat on a spouse. Not just lying to one's spouse, but lying to supporters and voters.

That makes the person a liar, and elevates it to a public matter.

If someone can get away with lying, where do the lies stop?

Any Democrat anywhere who cheats on his wife has problems. Deciding to run for the highest elected office in the land with this secret, is beyond selfish; it's downright arrogant.

Maybe people need a little time to get over being lied to.


Edited title, lying doesn't matter to Bush supporters.

[JDPriestly]

10. Thank you.

[RC]

18. Lying should matter in private matters that are no one else's concern?

Have you ever cheated on your partner and tried to keep it secret while they thought everything was hunky dory? Or maybe did something that could be construed as cheating? Inquiring minds want to know.

[girl gone mad]

11. Thanks for telling us how to think.

Guess what? You can't control the thoughts and reactions of others.

Despite your immature pop-psychology analysis, for most of us this isn't about sex, it's about character and judgment. Edwards knowingly put our party at risk of losing the Presidency.

[izquierdista]

14. It isn't about the money

When you hear that one, it's ALL about the money. In this case, it's ALL about the sex.

I do realize I can't tell you HOW to think; no matter how much you could be schooled in the issue, your cultural attitudes will do the thinking for you.

[girl gone mad]

25. It may be all about the sex to you.

but it sure as hell is not to me. I don't give a rat's ass about the sex. This man should not have been running for the nomination of our party with this shit hanging over his head. He made several very significant errors in judgment. He knew the media was sniffing around the story, yet he chose to dig himself in deeper and continue to lie to his staffers and reporters. If he had chosen to stay out of the race, nobody would care about this story.

[sandyj999]

17. It Is Absolutely about Character or Lack of It.

Otherwise I couldn't care less. I always thought he was on the sleazy side anyway but actually did support him for a while. Thankfully with no donation!

[cherokeeprogressive]

20. Who the fuck are you to tell Americans what's important to them and what's not?

[Joe Chi Minh]

22. And how much do we know about their characters - apart from their

deeply un-Christian, Pharisaic judgmental behaviour - for which they will be repaid by God with equal zeal.

[LisaL]

27. Why don't you read his own words and try to figure it out?

You know, about someones' personal life indicating what kind of person they are. In the OP? Hello?

[renie408]

3. Thank you. K&R

[DURHAM D]

4. I don't think the whole mess is as yet revealed.

On the other hand - I don't care.

If they want their lives to be private at this point - then we should all help them toward that end.

[girl gone mad]

9. I also wondered why he still..

so adamantly denies that the child is his, when evidence seems to indicate otherwise. Could it be because paternity would mean that he was having unprotected sex with Ms. Hunter in the weeks following his wife's terminal diagnosis?

[Bobbieo]

13. I just realized how this Edwards affair has left me absolutely numb

I hope to hell I pull out of this black mood, SOON as I never was an Edwards supporter.

[Inspired]

15. Today while grocery shopping this wave of depression just hit me.

I was a huge supporter and have been for years so I guess I'm kind of grieving or something.

[Joe Chi Minh]

23. I take it you people are being satirical. It's in bad taste, even if the

maundering simperers deserve it spades.

[npincus]

19. I'm thinking it's because he hasn't come (fully) clean w/Elizabeth

and is doing (futile) damage control at this time.

[JVS]

24. The "unprotected" part can never be proven. Protection can fail.

Timing however might be problematic.

[ProSense]

12. The Recent Unpleasantness

The Recent Unpleasantness

You've seen the news as our feature for almost a day now and no doubt at every other news outlet in the country. So I thought I'd share a few thoughts about the Edwards matter. His personal failing speaks for itself. And I don't think I have anything to add to the obvious. Fundamentally, it's between him and his wife and their family. And I wish them the best.

But this decision on his part involved several overlapping betrayals. And the one that is very much a public matter is his betrayal of his supporters and, really, all Democrats nationwide -- one that continued at least until he dropped out in the spring. Edwards made a strong run for the presidency knowing full well that he was carrying on an affair, at least in the early stages of the campaign, which could come to light in the midst of the general election and fatally damage all Democrats' hopes for regaining the presidency. Just think how fun this weekend would be if John Edwards had won the nomination. Indeed, it seems clear that the aftermath of the affair was such that the chances of its coming to light were substantial. It's a level of recklessness and selfishness that I probably shouldn't but still do find shocking.

One can only hope that the scrutiny into such unfortunate matters will now be applied on a bipartisan basis, as it has not been heretofore.

[RC]

16. Is John Edwards infidelity meaningful outside his family & friends?

Do this poll and find out where DU stands.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3762525

:hi:

[ProSense]

21. Here is Obama's

statement

In it he mentions that the Edwardses will not be attending the Democratic Convention. Edwards recently ended a scholarship program he once hailed as a national model.

Other than disappointing a lot of people and turning off avid supporters, he had to remove himself from the national spotlight in one of the most crucial campaign years for Democrats. Now it's clear why he hasn't been a stronger advocate for the issues he campaigned on since ending his run.

[Dora]

26. How did John Edwards meet or first become aware of Rielle Hunter?

Does anybody know who facilitated that introduction?

[LisaL]

28. Supposedly they met in a bar.

There is information about it on here somewhere.

[ProSense]

29. Keeping It Rielle

Keeping It Rielle

By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: August 9, 2008

John Edwards’s confession was a little bit breathtaking.

Not the sex stuff. That happens here all the time.

And certainly not covering up the sex stuff. That happens here all the time, too. First people uncover; then they cover up. Nobody’s ever had sex with that woman until, suddenly, they have.

The stunning admission Edwards made to ABC’s Bob Woodruff, and in a written statement from Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon, was that he’s a narcissist.

He admitted that wallowing in “self-focus” out on the trail and thinking you’re “special” can result in a solipsism that “leads you to believe you can do whatever you want, you’re invincible and there’ll be no consequences.”

Auto-psychoanalysis by the perp. That’s really rich. When Bill Clinton acknowledged an affair, after equally adamant denials, he simply went into an old-fashioned spiral of penitence, his allegedly long, dark night of his alleged soul.

Even in confessing to preening, Edwards was preening. His diagnosis of narcissism was weirdly narcissistic, or was it self-narcissistic? Given his diagnosis, I’m sure his H.M.O. would pay.

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[deaniac21]

30. I guess they were right