What of poor Elizabeth Edwards in all this? I remember meeting her at the Personal Democracy Forum a few years back and listening to her speak. She was the highlight of the Forum at that time and, with Elliot Spitzer (ironically!) its keynote speaker. Although I thought her politics naive and conventional in the extreme, I thought Elizabeth was an honest, impassioned woman with an incredible, almost worshipful devotion to her husband. (We knew she had cancer at that point and it made her all the more sympathetic). She was also a huge fan and devotee of blogs and new media, which she surfed, although I doubt she was much of a reader of, say, Powerline. In all, an estimable person. Is she the victim in all this? In the obvious sense, of course. But if she separates himself from her mega-narcisstic husband, perhaps she has done herself a favor.
UPDATE: Some cheap psychoanalysis. I would guess that Edwards, like many cheaters, wanted to be caught. After all, it is hard to conceive he would be that dumb as to conduct a tryst in this modern/post-Bill Clinton era in, of all places, the Beverly Hilton. The Hilton — where such events as the Pre-Oscar luncheon and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent victory celebration are held — would be among the last places you would choose. It’s often a virtual den of paparazzi with staff and others always standing by to tip the gossip press on the latest celeb sighting. There are thousands of places in Southern California more low key for such a meeting. If Edwards is indeed that dumb, we are certainly lucky he never became President. Among those who should be scratching their heads at this moment are his supporters.
What? No acknowledgement there of the sexual proclivities of Arnold? Was that a slip? Because trying to smear a Democrat while mentioning Arnold's name doesn't exactly make the point, does it? Nor is there any mention of how sexually deranged he was when it came to actually interacting with women, many of whom were on the receiving end of unwelcome groping. Do you want a guy who is all grabby hands--Arnold, Bush with German Chancellor Merkel--or do you want Edwards? Don't answer that--it just leads to Rush Limbaugh's sex tours of the Caribbean, and no one needs to revisit all of that.
You can almost hear the backflips and the maniacal laughter--these people are so obsessed with the idea that they can write about someone's imagined sex life that it makes you wonder what it was that made their minds snap in the first place. Anyone who can sit and speculate like that removes themselves from consideration for being well-adjusted and intelligent. Guess what? People have sex--and quite a few of them enjoy it. And it's nobody's fucking business, of course. When do we see the backlash against people who have an unhealthy obsession with this shit? When do we see these people exposed as hacks and shills?
Clinton left office a hell of a lot more popular than Bush ever will--and sex had nothing to do with why he did. The American people are smart enough to know that a guy who can't keep his pants on does a hell of a lot less harm than a daddy-hating dry drunk who parades around in a flight suit, bellows "bring 'em on" in front of reporters, and starts wars in order to prove his masculinity. Good God, yes--Edwards definitely would be a better President or Vice President, if only because he's not fucking insane.
--WS
