The news came out today that John Edwards admitted to having an affair with another woman in 2006. I was disheartened but not because of what he did with someone outside his marriage because that’s not for me to judge. What really bothered me was the idea that you can have this circumstance in your life (an affair) and still seek the highest office in the US in a hotly contested and critical race and somehow NOT think it was going to get out. That’s a mistake of epic proportions, IMO. Even I could have told you that was a BAD IDEA. You know the reptiles in power were salivating over this, despite him no longer being in the race. Yeesh. Either admit it up front and go from there or don’t even get into the race. Now his chances of ANY cabinet position in the Obama administration (if/when that comes to pass, God willing) are gone. Some lessons come really, really hard. (SIGH)
This from a diary over on Kos (which I really only skim anymore because it’s just a mess over there):
Note to all politicians: You are not special. You are seeking a job. We are your employers. You work for us. Never forget it.
And, regrettable as it may be, (what John Edwards does with his penis is none of my business), seekers of power have no privacy. Don’t like that deal? Don’t seek the power. That is the way of the world, and it’s unlikely to change so long as we all collectively insist on not minding our own fucking business.
Celebrities like Brad Pitt have made a devil’s bargain: They’ve chosen to give up their privacy in exchange for money. They don’t get to turn around later and bitch about the deal that they chose to participate in, unless of course they give back the money. The same goes for politicians, except that the coin of the realm is not dollars, it’s control over other people’s lives.
Yep. She said it all. You trade privacy for power. Me? That is so not a bargain I want or will ever, ever make. John Edwards, alas, rolled the dice and lost.
One problem is that the good’n’decent people who don’t have the juicy love affairs are the same people who are quite content with humble, low profile lives. It’s no coincidence in my mind that these power hungry people often run into these woes. Perhaps the power and sexual gratification are distractions from the real remedies they won’t let themselves see. :P That or they’re just big dummies.
True, John Edwards did trade in his privacy for power in the political offices he has sought, and indeed, he was irresponsible in thinking that he could get away with an infidelity in the kind of society we have in our nation today.
However, I still hate that we think it’s any of our business what this man does in the confines of his own marriage. As far as I’m concerned, that is between him, his mistress (or former mistress), his wife and his own conscience.
Another sad fact that I even hate to admit is that if he had been a Republican, this news would have hit the mainstream much sooner.
It reminds me of the people who questioned Sen. Hillary Clinton why she stayed in her marriage after the Monica scandal and claimed she only did so for political reasons.
That too was no one elses business. The only people who can define how a marriage is going to work and what components are necessary for its survival, are those people in that marriage.
I believe it’s up to the people in a marriage to set up the boundaries and the rules, and that no one else should place judgement on them for something that is clearly none of their concern.
How about focusing on our own behavior and deciding what will make us better individuals for our families, community, nation and world?
I was very saddened and disappointed over this. I really had hopes for Edwards. When his wife began her battle with BC, I felt connected for she had the same type and stage my own mother is going head to head with.
My goodness, I cannot imagine what Elizabeth is going through right now emotionally. One of the biggest battles when fighting any type of cancer, is your emotions and keeping up a hopeful and winning attitude. Never, ever let the cancer take you is what I say. What I mean by that, is letting cancer zap your inner smile and beauty.
It may take our life, but it never has to take away our soul!