The National Enquirer was right after all. John Edwards did have an affair and did meet her in her hotel last month.
An affair is one thing, and it’s bad enough. But to have an affair while your wife is battling cancer (yeah, cancer in remission, whatever)? It’s so Republican. I supported Edwards throughout his campaign. Now he just makes me ill.
Edwards denied paying any money to Hunter to keep her from going public but said it was possible some of his friends or supporters may have made payments without telling him.
I don’t believe him. Why would I?
Just Some Fuckhead
Only you can make me have sympathy for John Edwards, Michael. Thank you.
SpotWeld
It’ll be interesting to see how hard the push is to make this relevant to the current presidential campaign.
Noah
Nice job announcing it right when the Olympics start.
John Edwards gets the gold medal in douchebaggery!
TomK
It’s not like John Edwards was a religious right family values nut. No hypocrisy, just someone being human. We should only care about these things when the person involved is a hypocrite.
Davis X. Machina
There’s an upper limit on how bad I’m prepared to feel…and I’ll have hit it by suppertime.
Three words: Charles Stewart Parnell.
And they though it was the end of the world. Split the party over it, too.
Now there’s a Parnell Street, or Sráid Parnell, or Parnell Bridge, or the like, in every town in Ireland, though they were bigger prudes, at the time, and later at the time of the various dedications,
And don’t get me started on Vice-Admiral Horatio, Viscount Nelson, KB..
gypsy howell
Oh who the fuck cares.
Really.
Ed in NJ
I originally backed Edwards, both in ’04 and ’08, so this is certainly disappointing. But not surprising. I think I’ve become numb to political hypocrisy.
I do wonder how much, outside of the conservative bloggers chortling about catching a Democrat for once, this story will be trumped up by the MSM. It certainly brings up comparisons between Edwards, and McCain leaving his wife after she was disfigured in a accident.
It would almost be worth it to see some campaign surrogate, faced with almost certain attempt by some hack to tie this to Obama, throw out something like “it’s unfortunate, but it happens. Even the Republican nominee is guilty of infidelity”. For all the teeth-gnashing it would cause on the right, it would force McCain to speak about how he came to be married to Cindy BigBucks.
Warren Terra
From a comment to the orthologous thread at Pandagon:
There’s no link to documentation in the comment, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be real. Giving someone good pay for a job, even one they’re great at, could be a payoff. And the comment at least suggests there’s no evidence Hunter is great at this job.
Darn good thing Edwards isn’t on the ticket, that’s for sure. And curses on him for not bowing out at least once it was clear that the gutter press knew where to dig for genuine scandal.
I would differ with John Cole on one thing, though: it may have been cowardly of him to quietly admit it in the middle of the silly season, just before the wekeend and the Olympics and weeks before the Conventions – but while that was convenient for him, it was also convenient for the Party and for Obama; they could do without a lot of focus on this in the press.
The most generous (and, I admit, somewhat absurd) version would be that Edwards – or, more plausibly, someone more interested in the Party’s wellbeing than in Edwards’s – arranged for the exposure of his Beverly Hills visit at that time, so ensure the disclosure and with it Edwards were put out of the way at an optimal time.
Incertus
Didn’t care before, don’t care now. Didn’t care when it was Bill Clinton, or John McCain or any of the thousands of other politicians who’ve cheated on their spouses. I start caring when it affects legislation (or impeachment charges), and not one moment before.
Jim Henley
Why diss the Enquirer? Do they really have a record of getting stories wrong? Or just a record of getting sleazy stories? My hazy understanding is that their accuracy compares favorably with the leading Emm Ess Emm outlets. I admit that’s a low bar, but you go to stakeouts with the media you have, not the media you might wish to have.
droog
It matters because that wanker* was ready to run the party to the ground in order to feed his ego.
*Figuratively. Wanking is what he should have done.
Paul L.
Daddy issues from a moonbat at MYDD.
Was Mccain running for President at the time?
Did Mccain lie about his affair like this?
Incertus
John might feel that way–far be it from me to speak for him–but Michael D. is the one who wrote the post.
tim
Who cares if you “believe him,” Michael? It’s none of your business, nor anyone else’s of course.
For all you know, Elizabeth gave him the green light to find another outlet because she has been so ill. Shit like this goes on EVERY DAY in thousands of marriages; people cope and deal with horrible situations and being human, and having needs and vaginas and penises.
It’s always fun when a sex “scandal” hits in America and the inner prudery of so many on the left reveals itself.
Warren Terra
I shouldn’t feed the trolls, but yes, Paul L, McCain lies about his affair with Cindy all the time – not the relationship, but the chronology. McCain went out with Cindy while married to his first wife, and even got his marriage license before his divorce was finalized. McCain was also widely rumored to be highly unfaithful to his first wife with other women before he met Cindy. When he describes his relationship history, McCain says that his first marriage ended and then he started going out with Cindy.
Warren Terra
Ouch. I consider myself rightly rebuked by Incertus. My disagreement is with Michael D.
Paul L.
So widely rumored equals confessed after being caught.
Edwards was shown that the “wingnuts” were right about him being the primping slimy little weaselly ambulance chaser.
ed
Gee, I seem to remember Ann Coulter calling Edwards “a faggot”. Surely Miss Outer Wingnuttia, 1999, couldn’t be wrong. Are you sure Edwards didn’t confess to this affair just to cover up the “holla at cha’ boy” truth???
tomjones
Love how Paul L. completely ignores the first part of Warren Terra’s post, which is supported by facts and totally refutes Paul L., to focus on the second part of the post, which points to rumors.
There’s the Paul L. we knew and loved during the primaries!
gil mann
Henley’s right. I knew this story was true because of–not in spite of–the fact that it came from TNE. They got sued so much in the 80s that they never run with anything unless it’s bulletproof.
Still don’t give a shit, but then, I haven’t given a shit about this guy since he let Cheney make him his bitch in ’04.
Brachiator
Abso-friggin-lutely!
Ireland might have avoided the worst of its later civil war had the prudes and political intriguers not forced Parnell out of his political leadership role because of his affair with Mrs O’Shea.
Life is complicated. I don’t know squat about the Edwards’ marriage and the compromises that they made.
But the larger problem is that I don’t know that Edwards could have “explained” the affair and still have run for president.
And the larger irony is that McCain, whose life is also complicated, gets the wounded war hero discount with respect to dumping his wife for Cindy.
Kathy
Anyone hear the “director’s cut” discussion of this at the Slate Political Gabfest? Quite interesting, Emily Bazillon made the argument that how can anyone who is stupid enough to deny this when the Enquirer is on his tail at the hotel he visited, possibly be qualified to be President. The fact that he is (was) a possible VP candidate made the issue relevant. Had his name not been in the mix, it wouldn’t be.
Just Some Fuckhead
The North Vietnamese broke John McCain’s capacity to feel, my friends.
rasscot
Why is it anyone’s business. Christ, get over it you
self-righteous bastards.
vanya
An affair is one thing, and it’s bad enough. But to have an affair while your wife is battling cancer (yeah, cancer in remission, whatever)?
Actually when your wife is battling cancer is exactly when it is most excusable to have an affair. Why are husbands (or wives) required to take vows of chastity if their spouses are too ill to be sexual partners?