Edwards comes clean about Rielle Hunter — Susan Kaiser Greenland and Seth Greenland

Given the unfortunate but necessary disclosure by Edwards today that he had an extra-marital affair with Rielle Hunter, this post is moving back into the featured spot. Even though dated given that it was written prior to Edwards disclosure, the issues of hypocrisy, and America’s fascination with other people’s private lives, are more timely and relevant than when originally posted.

11:01Susan
Hey Seth, have you been following the flap on the progressive blogs about coverage, or lack thereof, on the alleged Edwards affair?

11:04amSeth
With the corner of my eye. I like that he hid in the men’s room. I guess Larry Craig really set a trend.

11:07amSusan
Wonkette’s all over it, and a blogger called Stranahan got kicked off of Daily KOS for a series of posts he wrote about Edwards.

11:09amSeth
The bloggy left has a slightly Stalinist vibe. Deviation from orthodoxy is not tolerated.

11:12amSusan
Huh?

11:14amSeth
They’ve adopted Reagan’s saying about “Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill Of Another Republican.” In its lefty iteration it’s “Don’t diss any progressive, even a married one caught in a suspicious circumstance.”

11:18Susan
The bloggy left had no qualms going after Hillary and Bill, the stained dress has become iconic, so why not Edwards?

11:21amSeth
If I recall correctly, the bloggy left didn’t exist at the time of the blue Gap dress. As for the left media, they really didn’t take Bill to task. Correct me if I’m wrong here. Maybe I’m misremembering (is that a Bush word?)

11:25amSusan
No blogs, just cable, but in this primary both Hillary and Obama were pummeled, as were their spouses, not Edwards.

11:27Seth
Also, we should take the opportunity to point out no one actually knows what he was doing in that hotel at 2:00 AM (although it’s a safe bet they probably weren’t playing Boggle).

11:28amSusan
Yeah, right.

11:31amSeth
For some weird reason, I think the bloggy left believed Edwards was somehow purer. Thus, his being the lead actor in a scenario that could have been scripted by Feydeau is not something that is congruent with the narrative. People, you may have noticed, are very reluctant to jettison the narrative.

11:37amSusan
Sounds like you bought his act, hook line and sinker. Not me, there’s something squeaky clean about the public image that doesn’t ring true.

11:41Seth
Hook, line, and sinker? Whoa! First of all, I never trust anyone who has that kind of hair. No matter what he says about the state of the world, I know the thing he cares most about is his conditioner. Second, I also have a problem with extremely rich guys who reinvent themselves as populists. Yeah, yeah, I know - his daddy was a mill worker, but Edwards lives in a house the size of Vermont. I shouldn’t criticize, of course. Better a plutocrat who believes in helping people then one who believes in their further exploitation, but he’s a plutocrat nonetheless. So while I have nothing significant against him (who doesn’t like at least one plutocrat?) I was never really a fan.

But, Edwards gets a lot of sympathy: first he had to run with John Kerry (wasn’t that punishment enough for one lifetime?), then his wife gets cancer…bloggers who are sympatico with what the guy stands for don’t want to pile on.

11:45amSusan
Not to mention the tragedy with his son. So I guess those who are sympatico and still talk about it, they get the boot?

11:48amSeth
Everything should be open to debate. I don’t support the boot. That said, people’s private lives should be private unless they are engaging in behavior that contradicts their public stance on issues. In other words, Edwards gets a pass from me - his marriage and/or sex life is not my business - whereas anti-gay Larry Craig, who is cruising airport men’s rooms in search of gay sex, does not.

11:51amSusan
Of course Craig is a Republican and Edwards a Democrat . . .

11:53amSeth
Republican/Democrat has nothing to do with it. It’s hypocrite vs. non-hypocrite. Of course (assuming Edwards is guilty which is not entirely fair) you could argue that he is a hypocrite for violating his marital vows. But his marital vows do not affect public policy. Larry Craig, on the other hand, had a Senatorial vote which he wielded against gays, which would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. In other words, there’s hypocrisy and there’s hypocrisy. It really is a question of degree.

11:55amSusan
So Nat’l Enquirer or NY Times, still a pass from you?

11:57amSeth
The entire thing smells. Admittedly, if the guy were running for something, the story becomes more legitimate in some eyes, but I find the whole American bedroom obsession ludicrous, frankly.

12:00pmSusan
Will he be speaking in Denver?

12:02pmSeth
Not into a microphone.

12:05pmSusan
So much for his political career

12:07pmSeth
People have short memories.

12:09pmSusan
Would you vote for him?

12:11pmSeth
Would I vote for him? Hmm…let’s see…his judgment is so bad that he allowed himself to be discovered at a Beverly Hills hotel in the middle of the night by reporters who have been staking him out - something he had to have been aware of for months. In other words, he’s an idiot. That said, if he was the Democratic nominee and the other choice was McCain, a potential catastrophe as President, I would hold my nose and pull the lever for Edwards.

12:13pm Susan
I’d vote for him. For better or worse you gotta be a little wacky to run for President.

Meanwhile, check-out the YouTube video Wonkette just posted of Edwards’ accepting a Father of the Year award. Hold on ’till the end when he talks about how our kids learn more from what we do than what we say. Ironic, but a humanizing peek into his humiliation and all too public private life.

Read more on this story in the posts I‘m shocked, SHOCKED and Dog bites man again.

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