August 15th /17th, 2008
"Egocentricity Catches up with Edwards"
“Who so ever is without sin, let him cast the first stone”. It is an
appropriate phrase to recall as we examine the recent implosion of John Edwards
and his political career. And yet, Edwards wasn’t just any man caught in an
illicit affair.
He is a very public figure who, as Dana Milbank of the Washington Post put
it, “campaigned about the two Americas he had seen, and now America has seen
that there are two John Edwards.”
Edwards is a liar and a hypocrite whose every move was and still is
calculated to serve his career. He only fessed up to his affair with Rielle Hunter
when forced to do so, and then, his public admission was carefully timed to
break on a Friday evening at the end of a news cycle (and overshadowed by
Olympic coverage).
And his public statement was carefully crafted, not to apologize to his wife
Elizabeth (who is suffering from a terminal disease), but to make us think
of him as the suffering victim of unfortunate circumstances.
To some degree, the mainstream press (who at first refused to cover the
mistress scandal reported with accuracy by the National Enquirer) is still giving
him preferential treatment. CBS’s Bob Schieffer related a private phone
conversation he had with John and Elizabeth the night of the breaking story.
Schieffer showed great empathy for the couple, but somehow forgot to call
Edwards out on his continuing conundrum. Specifically, Edwards said that he had
an affair with Hunter in 2006, then confessed his deed to Elizabeth that same
year. He also denied that Hunter’s child is his. But if Edwards is to be
believed, then why was he caught coming out of Hunter’s Beverly Hills hotel
room just two weeks ago at 2:40 in the morning? If the affair was over two
years ago and the child isn’t his, then he must have been explaining the two
America’s to Rielle.
The truth is, Edwards is still hiding something, but he’s good at that. In
fact, he’s been hiding his real persona from the nation for many years.
He also is one of the most egocentric politicians this nation has ever
produced, evidenced by his disregard for his supporters, his party, and especially
for his wife.
Edwards claimed to care about us ordinary folk, but in reality he only cared
for ordinary folk who could win him millions of dollars in ambulance chasing
litigation, or who could advance his political career.
His short stay in the U.S. Senate was designed to catapult him to the
national stage quickly. And while many idealistic Americans looked to him as the
next John Kennedy, voters here in North Carolina knew he stood for nothing but
himself. That’s why he couldn’t even carry the Tar Heel state in 2004 after
John Kerry picked him as his running mate in order to do just that.
Edwards then created a poverty center at UNC-Chapel Hill and accepted a
substantial salary (at taxpayer expense) for doing essentially nothing. One of
the center’s staff members once told me in confidence that Edwards was seldom
there, and that he was always out campaigning. Again, lots of folks around
the country were enamored with and fooled by Edwards’ act. But last week,
after his duplicity became public knowledge, those dissolusioned supporters left
him in droves.
We all make mistakes, but few of us are guilty of the mammoth hypocrisy and
arrogance displayed by Gentleman John Edwards. That’s why we ordinary folks
are entitled to cast stones at this man, and those stones will slay any
chances he has of effecting public policy from the highest levels of government.
Edwards had been on a list of possible Vice Presidential candidates for
Barack Obama, and perhaps an even shorter list to be Attorney General. But that
train left the station last Friday.
Yes, most ordinary folks like us deserve a second chance when we make a
mistake. But arrogant public figures like John Edwards (who receives $400
haircuts, and who cheats on a wife dying of cancer), don’t deserve a second chance
- at least not one from us lowly voters. It’s time we paid him back for
doing to us what he did to his mistress.
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