John Edwards is full of more bullshit today than he was yesterday

So John Edwards has finally come forward to admit to cheating on his wife, a fact that had to be unearthed by the National Enquirer with the help of the angry citizen mob that is the Internet. The "main stream media" all but ignored it, which is both mind-boggling and tragic, tragic because of the fundamental damage it does to their credibility in terms of objectivity...this whole instance will be cited by every conservative talking head as an example of liberal media bias for the next 50 years, and mind-boggling because, well, isn't this the type of shit they're supposed to do?! You can't look me in the eye and tell me that if this had been Mitt Romney that there would not have at least been a mention of this in every major newspaper in the country. It stinks. I've heard the arguments that have been made defending the media's silence in this, mainly that he's a private citizen now and this is a private matter, and frankly I think they're shit. This is a guy who was rumored to be a possible nominee for VP, not to mention the possible attorney general in an Obama administration.

Now, I've watched the interview Edwards gave to ABC News last night and I've read his statement that was released to the media, and as much as he is probably hoping this will all go away I doubt that it will because it all reeks of even more bullshit. I just don't believe him when he says that this was a one time thing that happened in 2006 when his wife wasn't sick. I don't believe him when he says that he was only visiting Rielle Hunter at a hotel in LA to hear about her troubles. I don't believe him when he says that he could not have possibly fathered her baby. I don't believe him when he says that he didn't know anything about hush money being forwarded to her. I just don't believe any of it. He's lying again, and I have the sense that others feel the same way, which will only lead to this story not going away.

What may be the most fucked up thing of all about this is, if you watch the interview he gave to ABC, he tries to play down his misgivings by mentioning that many other politicians have cheated on their wives, including John McCain in his first marriage. The guy just couldn't help using the "well everyone else is doing it" excuse AND take a cheap shot at the Republican nominee. I mean, was it just too much to sit there and come clean without trying to make excuses. What a jerkoff. Good riddance.

About the interview itself, Mary McNamara of the LA Times made some good points on the paper's website...

He had spent the last week strenuously denying charges made by the National Enquirer that he cheated on Elizabeth, his cancer-stricken wife of 30 years. But as it turns out, he did have an affair, with Rielle Hunter, who had filmed Web content for his campaign in 2006, and possibly bore his child. And since mainstream media were beginning to get involved, ABC's Bob Woodruff was invited to the Edwards home for a chat to air on Friday. A chat that could only appear on "Nightline." Which airs at 11:35. On the day of the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

Not that the interview was about control or anything. Edwards just wanted to come clean, in a highly scripted sort of way. But the talking points -- yes, he did have the affair but it was while Elizabeth was in remission; no, he did not father Hunter's baby; yes, he and Elizabeth remain committed to each other; no, he did not know of any payments to Hunter -- were less telling than the subtext. Which seems to be that discovering that he is not a perfect person has made John Edwards a better, more self-aware man. Thanks for asking.

The word "affair" and any of its synonyms were, for example, consistently avoided. Looking calm, boyish and oddly upbeat, Edwards seemed taken aback when Woodruff jumped right in with questions rather than friendly greetings, going out of his way to thank Woodruff for coming down to talk with him before he answered those questions. Then he carefully explained, as you might to a child, that in 2006, he had made a big mistake. That he had told Elizabeth about the mistake, had asked forgiveness from her and God, and that he took full responsibility for his mistake. When asked how long the affair lasted and when it ended, he declined to answer, explaining that he had made all the details known to his family but beyond that it wasn't anyone's business.

Of the two, Woodruff was so obviously more upset by the situation that it became, at times, just plain weird. "Were you in love with her?" he asked, his voice shaking, and I thought the man would burst into tears. Not Edwards, but Woodruff. Edwards simply shook his head in disbelief, reiterating that he has been in love with only one woman for more than 31 years and that it remains "a deep and abiding love."
Determined to find something approaching emotion in his subject, Woodruff pressed on, asking point-blank: "How could you have done this?" which Edwards used as an opportunity to "explain," with a brief tour through his own life story.

"I went from being a senator, a young senator, to being considered for vice president, running for president, being a vice presidential candidate and becoming a national public figure," he said. "All of which fed a self-focus, an egotism, a narcissism that leads you to believe that you can do whatever you want. You're invincible. And there will be no consequences."

If you haven't seen the interview, you can watch it below and form your own opinions. Watch it and ask yourself this question..."Would I buy a used car from this man?"



And here's one of the campaign videos that Hunter, who claims she met Edwards in bar and he hired her to make videos for his campaign though she had very little experience making videos, made that was mysteriously pulled from the Internet last year.