I am so disappointed in John Edwards

[sjdnb]

I am the child of a cancer victim who saw her 'father' (step-father) act at least as selfishly and immorally as John Edwards appears to have done. Why is it men are so weak that they cannot wait until their dying mates are gone (and, don't have to witness their selfishness) to betray them?

And, in Edward's case, he did not only betray his wife, he betrayed a cause he supposedly held dear.

I know the GOP pervs have done as much, if not worse .... but, I expect our guys and gals to be better than that.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. So was I, but I don't care any more. He's done in politics, and is not worth

any further discussion.

[Lost-in-FL]

8. +1, nt

[Maccagirl]

9. +2

n/t

[flyingfysh]

2. he disappointed a lot of us

[Beer on a stick]

3. While I understand, once their mates are dead, they're not 'betraying' them.

[sjdnb]

21. But their mates were not yet dead

What part of my original post did you not understand?

[iris27]

26. I think B.o.a.S. was objecting to 'why couldn't they wait until their

spouses were dead to betray them'...which seems to imply that it would be a betrayal even after they were dead. But thanks for the clarification.

[Beer on a stick]

45. Did your or did you not state....

"Why can't they wait until their mates are dead" before betraying them.

Once they're dead, no betrayal is possible.

[hlthe2b]

4. I don't know if it is the "nurturing" hard wire in women's dna

and certainly women can be selfish and uncaring, but it certainly does seem that men are far more likely to behave this way... as if nothing short of risking everything can make them feel alive after a certain age...

[sandnsea]

5. Oh brother. Let it go. n/t

[rwheeler31]

6. This story has been overblown and distorted.

When GOP members screw off they are applauded.

[Warpy]

10. No shit

and it has to be pointed out that Edwards, unlike religious right heels, didn't desert his wife and kids to marry the floozie.

He's not the first man to follow his dick into disaster and won't be the last. As usual, the coverup is worse than the tacky affair and if he'd have come clean at the beginning, it might have blown over by now.

Then again, there are too many people out there who feel personally wounded even though their own lives are proceeding exactly as they always have. I have a feeling they'll keep the story going until we're all long dead and buried.

[Nye Bevan]

12. The only reason the story is still going around

is that Edwards is supposedly interested in making a political comeback. If the selfish lying narcissist, who took money from DUers and gave it to his mistress as hush money, just went away into well-deserved obscurity, the story would die. Edwards is our version of Newt Gingrich, who served his wife with divorce papers while she was in the hospital with breast cancer. And he has about the same chance as Gingrich of making a political comeback.

[ampad]

15. Not only that

but he keeps digging himself into a hole with the denial and lies. Anyone who has a set of eyes can see that the baby is his. However, he denied that there was even a possibility that the baby was his. Now come to find out he may actually come out and publicly admit the baby is his. I feel so bad for the entire family. I'm not hung up on what could of been in regards to the country and Edward's political run because it never happened. His wife and kids are the ones that are continuously being humiliated and hurt.

[Whisp]

20. floozy? what century are You from?

that comes from a time where the women took the blame for what the man did in the affair. The wife didn't put out enough, or whatever, and the 'floozy' was just too tempting so whats a poor flesh and blood man to do?

protected over the ages by mothers, sisters, wives, mistresses - no wonder so many never get to grow up and take responsibility

[Warpy]

23. Oh, come off it

Check out that gal's history. She was auditioning for trophy wife.

That, to me, is a floozy. Throw in a wife with cancer and kids who aren't grown yet and it just completes the picture.

Note that I'm not letting him off the hook for following his dick around and trying to cover it up.

Just don't try to do this dance with me. You'll lose and badly.

[Whisp]

46. I'm not interested in winning or losing anything with you

but that language use - 'floozy' is a tip off for me that a mentality fits in with how my grandfather/father/other older males spoke of women and how it was always the womens fault (both the wife and the girlfriend and even the mother) when an affair happened. That they didn't do enough to prevent the poor guy from slipping from grace.

there is a lot of weight behind old timey words like that and there is not one that can describe a man in the same way. There is always an extra bit of intended stench to describe women in a negative way.

[bdamomma]

40. or continue to stay in office, like Mark Sanford.

stupid a$$es.

[karynnj]

41. Edwards gets no credit for NOT staying in office - he wasn't in one.

I would bet that if he were, he would have stayed.

[Deja Q]

7. I dunno. Ask Newt Gingrich. Or was it Bob Dole?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090409222944AApogLn
About America's favorite lizard, Newt...



http://www.perkel.com/politics/dole/divorce.htm
That's a nice piece on Dole, though like its author to have to sink to rejoicing is slightly unnerving. Then again, with geese and ganders goes Bob Dole...

[Dangerously Amused]

11. Meh. I figure that unless what he did was illegal, it's not my business.

He held himself out to the public as a politician, not as a (hypocritical) religious leader, or a bible-thumpin' model of virtuous "family values." I'm more interested in his value as a politician, and he's done a lot of good in that area. Besides, I figure that if his wife found a way to deal with it, then who am I to hold him to a higher standard?

[Nye Bevan]

13. It may well have been illegal

Laundering campaign contributions into hush money for his mistress, that is. The Grand Jury is deciding.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/21/crimesider/entry5327279.shtml

[Dangerously Amused]

34. Well, of course. If he did something illegal there, he should be held accountable.

But I was talking more about the morality aspect of his actions, as it seemed that was the gist of the OP.

[NRaleighLiberal]

14. me, too - but he is human. And all humans have faults. Some are big faults.

Clearly for him, power corrupted. It is tragic, I agree, especially for his wife.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

16. This is the "elephant in the Democratic LR.

The ramifications for the party could have been disastrous. I'm equally disappointed in Elizabeth for allowing his
campaign to continue while she knew the truth. Why she's still with him is beyond me.

[timo]

17. wake up

he aint shit, never was, and he never gave a shit about anybody but himself!!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. he only cared about his hair!

[UTUSN]

19. Let him go. And don't let him come back. n/t

[sjdnb]

22. I was never much of a 'feminist' but if men are this weak ...

the world might be a much better place if women took over.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

24. To bad by the time we get to the age

that we know how much power we really have, we don't want to deal with it.

That's the little secret to life every young woman should realize. They not only hold the power, they would use it more wisely.

[UTUSN]

25. Neh. Humans are just humans. "All too human" as NIETZCHE said. n/t

[EmeraldCityGrl]

27. NIETZCHE was a man. Enough said.n/t

[grasswire]

28. you mean Nietzsche? (eom)

[appamado amata padam]

31. What he did was wrong,

and I am not defending the guy, but to say "men are so weak" is an over-simplified, broad-brush characterization.

There are millions of men who have done strong/good things, and have stood by their wives and families in times of crises.

They just don't get their names splashed all over the media.

[proteus_lives]

36. Oh come off it.

Better place? Women have all the weaknesses of men. Your sexist comment doesn't cut it.

[Skittles]

29. he's a phony

I knew it before any of this shit was news

[Kaleva]

30. A man divorced his wife because she had breast cancer.

I was working at a woman's home and overheard the conversation she was having with a friend as they sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Apparently, the woman's ex-husband couldn't stand the idea of being married to her after she had lost her breasts.

[anigbrowl]

32. So am I, but him and your step-father don't represent the entire male gender

He's an asshole. A percentage of men are, unfortunately. Just like some women have character flaws, but they're not representative of women in general.

[KatieW]

38. You are so right on. Edwards does not represent the majority of men.

My sister is in the last stages of fighting breast cancer. After five years, she found out that the cancer had reappeared in her bones, as I believe has happened to Mrs. Edwards. She fought that for three years, and then about a year ago found out it had progressed to her brain. Unfortunately she's terminal and on her last legs. Her husband has been EXTRAORDINARY!!!! I don't know how my brother-in-law is handling it, but he's been the best husband you could ever want in helping my sister deal with all of this, especially the past year. If you ever want an example of what "for better or worse, in sickness and in health" in the marriage vows means, he's the living example of it. As I said, I don't know how's he's doing it.

[Unrepentant Fenian]

33. You're not only disappointed, you're sexist !

[uppityperson]

35. +1

[AspenRose]

37. Respectfully....

It sounds like you are pinning a very painful and personal experience onto strangers and public figures as a means to justify hatred of men.

I haven't been where you are, so I can't (and won't) judge your feelings, but it also isn't fair to broadly judge strangers on a message board who are (as far as we know - innocent until proven and all that) not guilty of what you have personally experienced.

That kind of hatred and biterness will consume you, blind you to reason, and guarantee a short and miserable life.

[Romulox]

39. Why do women stay with (coincedentally quite wealthy!) men, if they are so vile?

Turns out, we all have our foibles. :shrug:

[bridgit]

42. I remember the GaGa Factor working itself out over Edwards but I never really trusted him

[ddeclue]

43. Late hit - unsportsmanlike conduct - 5 yard penalty.

This is a pile on folks.

[Bucky]

44. (logic) Jesse Jackson fathers a child by a mistress; it's a brief scandal, but a personal matter

Fact: Jesse Jackson's wife does not have cancer.

Meanwhile, John Edwards fathers a child by a mistress. But his wife does have cancer so it turns into a big damn deal that ends his public career. So, what can we conclude from this? Is it a bigger deal to cheat on your wife if she has cancer... or is it just a bigger scandal if you don't use effective birth control?

Let me clarify right now that I do NOT have an ulterior motive for wanting to find out the relevancy of these distinctions.