John Edwards admits to affair, denies fathering child

[Musicman408]

Originally Posted by Tango

Of course you do. We all do. You called him a pig. You use your discernment every day. There's nothing wrong with that.

But you're right. It's sad. Not shocking.




And we are not the victims.

And it's so sad to see this happen because he has such a precious family.........

And on a different, more uplifiting note, his eldest daughter I find to be very attractive.

[strandinthewind]

On edit --

Edwards did hold himself out as morally superior. In 1999 and in ref. to Clinton's affair, Edwards said:

"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."

So, I think Edwards' affair is public domain.

On edit - I have always said I did not care that Clinton had an affair and I think the public really had no right to know that he did. To me, that is irrelevant as noted above.

My beef with Clinton was that he violated the rule of law and also abused his office and public money by getting govt. people to lie on his behalf. If he had said "Yes, I had an affair," that would have been fine with me and I'd have still voted for him.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by gretchen

. . . especially to engage in this rubbish amidst his wife battling cancer . . . .

I thought it said the affair happened when her cancer was in remission

Originally Posted by gretchen

Then, to subsequently appear on talk shows with him acting as if she is his rock and life long love with his puppy dog eyes...pure douchebaggery . . . .

I don't know. It is possible that he loved her very much and that was not an act. Many men cheat and still adore their wives and consider them their rock, etc. So, I think the jury is still out on that. But, he is a jerk for condomning one person when he later did the same thing.

Personally, I think the sooner people stop caring about the so called perfect family and whether or not some person had an affair, the better off we all will be. But, human nature is just not that way.

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

On edit --

Edwards did hold himself out as morally superior. In 1999 and in ref. to Clinton's affair, Edwards said:

"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."

So, I think Edwards' affair is public domain.

On edit - I have always said I did not care that Clinton had an affair and I think the public really had no right to know that he did. To me, that is irrelevant as noted above.

My beef with Clinton was that he violated the rule of law and also abused his office and public money by getting govt. people to lie on his behalf. If he had said "Yes, I had an affair," that would have been fine with me and I'd have still voted for him.

I am no longer surprised by politicians having affairs, period. Although Edwards did come off as a white knight and that pisses me off. Go to hell, Edwards! Thank god he didn't wind up the frontrunner, what a mess that would've been.

[Serrart]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

1. I could give a shiitte about anyone having an affair.

I agree on that, but I think it's part of your political arena, because American politicians sell themselves as family men and bring wife and kids everywhere to let see how reliable they are. I have to say Edwards probably is a serious contender for the Hypocrite of the year award. Just think to Italy where we just have got a minor scandal about all the possible lovers (real, potential...) that Silvio Berlusconi placed in some tv series (and we're talking of a dozen of twentysomething girls). All the turmoil was on the public manager who was used as...ahem.. 'settler', but nobody even thought of some consequences on Berlusconi. He laughed about it.

Romy

[strandinthewind]

^^^

I know, the Europeans, esp. the Italians, likely expect affairs

But, what are ya gonna do, Americans are mostly hypocrtitical about such things.

[GypsySorcerer]

At least he is not the nominee. Imagine that going into the convention.

While I agree with him on most things, he's always struck me as a bit disingenuous. I remember during his VP debate with Cheney (which was bizarre anyway) he was talking about the number of troops killed in Iraq. He had his huge grin on his face, and he said something to the effect of: "There were more troops killed in June than in May!!! And there were more troops killed in July than in June!!!!! And more were killed in August than in JULY!!!!" It was truly odd.

[BombaySapphire3]

Very tacky..not so much that he had the affair but the lying and cover up ..I never much liked Edwards anyway..I'm glad he didn't get the nomination as it would guarantee that gramps and his horrible VP would win in November..Now if Barack had done this he would not have to worry about losing as I'm sure Michelle would not allow him to live to see election day.

[omigodstevie]

I didn't see that one coming.
I mean, John Edwards?! Eugh, come on, his poor wife has cancer and he goes and cheats on her. What a loser. And I thought he was better then that, too.

[strandinthewind]

From Mrs. Edwards:

"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. ... I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame."

So, she was in remission at the time of the affair

Note -- she obviously had a problem with it though and he is a jerk for hurting her.

[David]

Originally Posted by Serrart

I agree on that, but I think it's part of your political arena, because American politicians sell themselves as family men and bring wife and kids everywhere to let see how reliable they are. I have to say Edwards probably is a serious contender for the Hypocrite of the year award. Just think to Italy where we just have got a minor scandal about all the possible lovers (real, potential...) that Silvio Berlusconi placed in some tv series (and we're talking of a dozen of twentysomething girls). All the turmoil was on the public manager who was used as...ahem.. 'settler', but nobody even thought of some consequences on Berlusconi. He laughed about it.

Yes, our puritan heritage is still deeply ingrained in our collective psyche here. The pall of "family values" hangs over everything, absolutely everything -- in public life. (In private life, people continue to do exactly what they want, as they have always done.) Americans always have their ears pressed up against the adjoining walls with their neighbors, straining to hear everything.

[GODDESS6]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

From Mrs. Edwards:

"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. ... I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame."

So, she was in remission at the time of the affair

Note -- she obviously had a problem with it though and he is a jerk for hurting her.

she's the bigger person in this & my heart goes out to her, remission or not~ it's heartless~

[#1LiddyBuckFan]

The Mrs. is better than me. I would have grabbed the kids and maybe waved on my way out.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

1. I could give a shiitte about anyone having an affair and think it is an issue outside of the political arena. In other words, I fail to see how it effects his ability to be President.

2. He is a pig for doing it at all, even if his wife's cancer was in remission because apparently they did not have an agreement of an open marriage, etc.

3. I just do not get why poloticians lie. They always get caught. I'd have much more respect for him if he said "yes, I had an affair, what of it?"

4. He still has great hair.

Agree with all of the above, epsecially #4.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

.

On edit - I think he is still lying BTW. Otherwise, why would he recently have gone to visit her last week in a hotel and in a sneaky manner?

Yeah. I think there is more **** to hit the fan. Why would you admit the affair and deny paternity though? He might as well have gotten it all out there. Also, smooth PR move to announce it on a Friday night during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.