Elizabeth Edwards is a better woman than I am
 

After all they've been through and her unfailing support of him even in the face of incurable cancer, how in god's name did THIS happen???

Edwards Admits Affair

Part of Nightline Report

I hate to say this, but I'm at the point where I think all politicians have extra-marital affairs, lie about it and have their spouse's forgive them. I am so tainted and immune to all of this now (particularly when they are smooth-talking, southern lawyers)

Damn liberals and their infidelity.

Are we a bit miopic?

President Bill Clinton, Democrat
New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, Democrat
Idaho Senator Larry Craig, Republican
Louisiana Senator David Vitter, Republican
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Democrat
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Democrat
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Republican
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Democrat

Well at least he can admit it unlike Larry Craig...who isn't a liberal though, hmmmm.

What I don't understand is that this lady, Rielle Hunter, is claiming that Edwards fathered her 5 month old daughter.

Yet Edwards claims the affair ended in 2006.

The baby was born Feb. 27, 2008. I'm not a mother, and I don't know the particulars about conception, but that would have put the date of conception around May of '07.

How can the baby be his?

Reports said that Ms. Hunter will not persue a paternity test. Somewhere today I heard that another man admitted to being the father. Can't remember where I heard it or the source.

Do we need to call Maury?

It says it in the link that nittany posted. Someone involved in Edwards campaign says he's the father.

Yet, Ms. Hunter hasn't said he was. I was looking for the source that I read where it said that she wanted to prove Edwards was the father, but I can't find it.

The fact that she doesn't want a paternity test anymore just shows to me that Edwards couldn't be the father, and she knows it.

I just read something on theHuffington Post that it was her sister, Melissa, that wants to prove it. From a couple of articles that I Googled under her name, it said Rielle is in hiding.

"The family of John Edwards’ former mistress, Rielle Hunter, is challenging the former senator to take a DNA paternity test after his claim that he did not father Hunter’s 6-months-old child.
In the first reaction from Hunter’s family, her younger sister Melissa told ABC News that Edwards should immediately follow through on his pledge to take a paternity test.
“I would challenge him to do so,” the sister said.
“Somebody must stand up and defend my sister,” she said. “I wish that those involved would refrain from bad-mouthing my sister.”"

So what was Newt Gingrich's excuse? :rolleyes:

The Enquirer also claims that people close to Hunter have been saying that she's in love with Edwards and truly believes they will be together in the near future.... how creepy...it's like she's waiting for Elizabeth to pass :mad:

All day on the news, I have heard that Hunter refuses to take a paternity test and that she wants to keep her life private! Is she kidding? This really makes me believe John is the father. It's like she's protecting him!

I couldn't have said it better! ;)

In the political arena, philandering is equal-opportunity. Liberal, conservative, black, white, Catholic, Protestant, Gay, Straight....you name it, they all screw around.

I'm sure she's beating his butt behind closed doors. If she can muster the strength.

Though not married at the time, Strom Thurmond had an illegitimate daughter as well, and I'm pretty sure he's not a liberal.

I'm not saying one group or the other does it more often, I think people in general are equally prone to infidelity regardless of their politics.

Oh, this is definitely a "both sides of the aisle are guilty" situation. This, to me, is not about politics whatsoever it's about MEN and making the right decisions in your life.

I firmly believe that men CAN keep it in their pants and stay faithful regardless of temptation WHEN THEY WANT TO. I had the impression John Edwards was that kind of guy. The way he always spoke about and doted on Elizabeth and seemed so geared toward his family, he just didn't seem like the type to "stray". And especially with what they've been through in losing their oldest son, her ongoing battles with cancer (oh, and his running for the nation's highest office - duh, idiot!) I just wouldn't have guessed he'd break that trust and commitment.

I guess it just goes to show that you just never know.... (*eyes husband suspiciously over the top of her laptop* :p)

Infidelity knows no boundaries - it can be found in every racial, religious, political and every other kind of group you can name.

But cheating on your cancer-stricken wife? I'm doubly glad he didn't become the nominee. And I refuse to give politicans a pass - they are still scum if they do it.

Cheating on your wife while she's going through cancer treatments is a special kind of horrible. I couldn't even understand why he was in the race with Elizabeth having a relapse.

I hate it when the family goes on "hostile" defense of the involved family member. She knew good and well he was married...what positive portrayal could the press give her when she KNEW his wife had cancer!!

On another note, I'm surprised no one has mentioned that Hunter looks a hot mess!!!:D

Well, this explains why his wife chose to follow him on the campaign trail instead of staying at home for her cancer treatments.

Her given name at birth was Lisa Druck. Hunter came from a former husband and from what I read, she had a wild side to her

"Author Jay McInerney told the New York Post that Alison Poole, the protagonist of his 1988 novel “Story of My Life,” was based on Hunter, whom he dated for a few months in 1987 for six months back when she was named Lisa Druck"

.................

"I told her. She smiled, and began telling me her life story: how she was working as a documentary-film maker, living with a friend in South Orange, N.J., but how she'd previously had 'many lives.'

She'd worked, she said, as an actress and as a spiritual adviser. She was fiercely devoted to astrology and New Age spirituality. She'd been a New York party girl, she'd been married and divorced, she'd been a seeker and a teacher and was a firm believer in the power of truth.""

I know what book I want to read now.

It's actually a pretty good book.

But the main character is pretty dysfunctional wouldn't you say?

I think what continues to bug me the most about stories like this is that they and their handlers deny with outrage and hostility first for as long as they can get away with, and then, only after being confronted with some kind of proof, do they then try the truth.

I think adultery is equally as likely to happen in both parties. I think it's just a function of politicians being a narcissistic lot generally.

Isn't it funny that the politicians that scream the loudest about "life's evils" are the ones guilty of these "evils". Lol

I'd love to say that someone's private life shouldn't effect their professional life, but with public service, the two are so frequently, one in the same.

I assume you're not supporting the guy he would have been running against if he had been the nominee, then?

Yes, he's gotten shockingly little judgment for that part of his life, he's a dirtbag too.
http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature...rol/index.html

Democrats? Republicans?
I no longer have a dog in that fight. :cool:
I will be voting third party - haven't decided which.

But yes, I did think Edwards was super-sleazy, although I couldn't put my finger on why during the campaign. It might be the Ken-like hairstyle (the Kens with the plastic hair, not the ones with the "real" hair.)

This post FTW.

I saw some tabloid at the grocery store the other day accusing Obama of infidelity and I was like "probably so." I'd believe it of anyone at this point.

AMEN! you know i really liked him/them a lot. NOW i have lost all respect for him doing this while she relapsed......I mean how low can one be to do that to your ailing wife but your wife in general! Creep! good thing he didnt make it to this point in time in the campaign for president,,,proberly couldn't get elected dog catcher now if he even tried.

I was surprised at Edwards, too. I usually think he's a cutie but he's been looking ROUGH since this story broke.

I agree with everything you said 100%. It bothers me that people pretend that men can't help themselves, regardless of who they are. Men CAN and some DO control themselves. I think that PEOPLE should be able to control themselves.

I can see why he comes off that way, but sleazy has never been his reputation. I think most people who know him around here have been genuinely surprised.

And there were other affairs before Cindy. :rolleyes:

Wonder if John will take Elizabeth to Wendy's this year for their anniversary (as has been their tradition)?

And god, this Hunter woman sounds like a piece of work, what did he even see in this new-age weirdo? http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...she_doe-2.html

She reminds me of a woman that works for my company. She has broken up 3 marriages and just married for the 3rd time on Saturday (this one is only 14 years older than her). We have a hard time keeping track of her last name.

How Is John McCain's Affair Different from John Edwards'?
By Cenk Uygur, Huffington Post
Posted on August 11, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/94550/
We have this weird notion in America now that if a politician is caught in an affair that his career is done. We seem to be saying that what he did in his private life effects his policies or how he governs. But we all know that isn't true. We know that because almost all of our great presidents, and great leaders throughout history, have had numerous affairs. Obviously it didn't hurt how they governed at all.



I love the idea of someone saying Alexander the Great can't lead his empire because he's cheating on his wife (by the way, doesn't Alexander's bisexuality single-handedly destroy the idea that gays can't serve in the military). How about Genghis Khan? He had so many affairs that nearly 1% of the entire world population has his genes. Not fit to lead? And there have also been men of great compassion who led noble fights while still doing ignoble things in their private lives. We are all human at home.



We have now heard the stories of JFK receiving sexual favors after speeches in his limo and partying with several women on a yacht while his wife was delivering. But those are all in the past -- so they don't count. But John Edwards is caught having an extramarital affair and the overwhelming assumption is that his political career is absolutely over. How does that make any sense?



Does John Edwards care less about poor people today than he did yesterday? Would his affair lead him to change his position on NAFTA? How would it alter his policy on Iran?



Some will claim, as they did with Bill Clinton, that it's not the affair but the lies that went along with it. Really? Did JFK come out and tell the American people - or his wife - "by the way, while my wife was in the hospital I was having an affair with not one, but several women at the same time"? No, of course, he lied too. Every man that has ever cheated on his wife has lied (and so has every woman who has ever cheated). It is part and parcel of the affair.



Now, we get to the most relevant question - if John Edwards' political career is done, why isn't John McCain's? John McCain had a well-documented affair on his first wife, with his current wife. He has admitted in the books he has written about his life that he ran around with several different women while still married to his first wife. And don't forget that he left her for a younger, richer woman - multi-millionaire Cindy Hensley who is now Cindy McCain - after she had been severely hurt in a car accident.



So, why are McCain's actions any more excusable than Edwards'? Because it was thirty years ago? Does that wash it away? Will we be fine with Edwards running for office again in a couple of years because then it will all be in the past? What is the statute of limitations on an affair?



Cenk Uygur is co-host of The Young Turks, the first liberal radio show to air nationwide.

© 2008 Huffington Post All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/94550/

I read somewhere that our preoccupation with infedility is a cultural thing.

Is it true that in countries like France the affairs and things like nude pictures of public figures don't cause as many blips on the radar?

You have it the nail on the head. In Greece, women expect it of their husbands, but turn their head because their fathers did it and their brothers do it. Not that they like it, but many Greek (nationality) women know that the hubby always comes back and he always buys them a big house filled with nice things.

Back futher in the post I indicate that I've grown immune to this, particularly with politicians. Maybe I'm starting to expect it?

I love how this is being turned into a political thing on both sides. Some of the posts in this thread make it seem like its just the Republicans criticizing Edwards, and it's not.

Whether or not he cheated doesn't really matter, but the perception of a guy who would cheat on his cancer-stricken wife isn't a good one, and that's the kind of thing that tends to kill political careers. McCain's screw-ups were 30 years ago, when the media didn't scrutinize politicians' personal lives to quite this degree. If he gets caught cheating on Cindy McCain now, he'll get the same type of public flogging that Edwards is suffering. His cheating was no better, no worse; the public reaction is all a matter of the era in which it occurred.

I disagree with the idea that McCain is getting a free pass on this, and that Uygar column seems to be short-sighted to the point of hilarity. This has to be a political thing, because lord knows no one thinks of Giuliani as some sort of cheater/dirtbag, right?

I don't think Edwards killed his political career here. I think he killed it when he hooked up with the Kerry campaign. In all likelihood, this whole affair will be forgotten in a few years when Edwards is making a boatload of money on the speaking circuit, and as counsel to some big law firm.

DS, John has said:

Do not post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or you have permission from the copyright owner. This has been part of the site rules since these forums were started.

If you are posting a news article it is fine to post an excerpt/summary along with a link to the full article on the news publication's website.

(Why the moderators never worry about this, when it could have legal implications, I simply do not understand.)

I imagine that's the case. That's why the article's citations of Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan are completely unpursuasive. They didn't live in cultures with the same understanding of marriage, much less marital infidelity by a monarch, that holds today in this country.

And I agree with KSigkid that (1) the atmosphere was different when JFk was president (and the public knew little if anything about his affairs because the press didn't report on those kinds of things) and when John McCain cheated on his first wife (though I find the parallels to his first wife's physical conditions and Elizabeth Edward's cancer interesting); and (2) the article showed a lack of real analysis.

And I don't think it should be a GOP vs. Dems thing. Thiough certainly campaigns on both sides have shown themselves more than willing to use these things to their advantage.

I think one reason these things get so much play now is the rise of the "social conservative/family values" voter. Then there's a whole segment of the press (if media like the National Enquirer and Extra can be called that) that won't turn a blind eye as was once the norm.

Bu I think the main reason affairs gets such play now is because of what they say about the candidate's character. And while I don't ignore McCain's "indiscretions," what he did 30 years ago could be said to indicate less about his character now than what he did two years ago.

Come on - you know that stuff isn't as important as deleting posts about helicopter moms...

I agree, and I think these ideas are one in the same. "Character" has become such a buzzword now, even though you get 100 different responses from 100 different people about what it means. If a candidate is good to his family, but goes back on campaign promises, does he have good character? How about one who goes to church every Sunday, but is a bad father/mother? One who cheats on his/her spouse, but has given significant amounts of their time and money to a charity?

I'm not saying that I expect the electorate to look that closely at things, but it's amazing how quickly the lines get blurred.