John Edwards RIP
John Edwards, whom I supported in his bid for the Presidency, has admitted that he had an affair in 2006 with a staffer. That staffer now claims she is pregnant by Edwards, who denies the child is his. Another staffer has stepped forward as the father and Rielle whatever her name is has refused to take a paternity test.
I supported John Edwards because I believed he had a humane and just vision of America and because he had the most realistic vision of how that American could be achieved. I still believe this and still consider Edwards to be a fine, if flawed, man. But he is done politically and here is why.
Some people treat adultery has a pedestrian offense, the equivalent of jay walking. An oops. Other see it as a crime on par with a major felony and cannot seem to muster enough approbation about the whole thing. Others keep their feeling about adultery to themselves but think it is a private affair to best be handled out of the private spotlight and certainly not a disqualifier from high office .... given that adultery has been almost a prerequisite to the ledger of successful men in America.
The trouble is, these groups obviously disagree. And every time Mr. Edwards opens his mouth they will have an argument. The ruckus they raise will drown out anything Mr. Edwards says about the indefensible treatment of the weak in our society, about the shame of our foreign policy, or the two Americas. Every speech, every idea and any initiative will be drowned as Americans fascinate themselves with the where and hows, and little men will bask in a large man's downfall, using the hatchet of adultery to cut down the tree of the man's life.
Do not get me wrong. I am angry at Mr. Edwards. He knew full well the depth of American hypocrisy, prurience and puritanism on all things sexual. He knew full well there were those who would jump at the chance to muddy him either for money or for political advantage. But like another Southern Democrat, he could not keep eros (or his ego) at bay. He took a silly risk, and while judgment and forgivness belong to Mrs. Edwards, I am still pissed.
Mr. Edwards' Affair does not change the plight of the growing number of Americans who now fall "below the line." It does not unite the two Americas. It doesn't make the moral and political problems John Edwards addressed go away. But it may as well have, because we will not talk about them anymore. And that is a shame.
I supported John Edwards because I believed he had a humane and just vision of America and because he had the most realistic vision of how that American could be achieved. I still believe this and still consider Edwards to be a fine, if flawed, man. But he is done politically and here is why.
Some people treat adultery has a pedestrian offense, the equivalent of jay walking. An oops. Other see it as a crime on par with a major felony and cannot seem to muster enough approbation about the whole thing. Others keep their feeling about adultery to themselves but think it is a private affair to best be handled out of the private spotlight and certainly not a disqualifier from high office .... given that adultery has been almost a prerequisite to the ledger of successful men in America.
The trouble is, these groups obviously disagree. And every time Mr. Edwards opens his mouth they will have an argument. The ruckus they raise will drown out anything Mr. Edwards says about the indefensible treatment of the weak in our society, about the shame of our foreign policy, or the two Americas. Every speech, every idea and any initiative will be drowned as Americans fascinate themselves with the where and hows, and little men will bask in a large man's downfall, using the hatchet of adultery to cut down the tree of the man's life.
Do not get me wrong. I am angry at Mr. Edwards. He knew full well the depth of American hypocrisy, prurience and puritanism on all things sexual. He knew full well there were those who would jump at the chance to muddy him either for money or for political advantage. But like another Southern Democrat, he could not keep eros (or his ego) at bay. He took a silly risk, and while judgment and forgivness belong to Mrs. Edwards, I am still pissed.
Mr. Edwards' Affair does not change the plight of the growing number of Americans who now fall "below the line." It does not unite the two Americas. It doesn't make the moral and political problems John Edwards addressed go away. But it may as well have, because we will not talk about them anymore. And that is a shame.
posted by Jack Reed at 6:01 PM
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