And the John Edwards verdict is...

Wow. Nice work by the headline writers at the NYP.

 

Gingrich was in political Siberia for a long time. Would it shock you if in 2028 Edwards comes out of nowhere to find a big donor and launch an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination?

 

yes, they are great with puns, but sometimes do better with personality

 

John Edwards really benefited from the two Americas didn't he?

It's nice for him that he lives in the America where rich, white guys can hire the best defense lawyers and get away with criminal behavior.

 

Yes, it would.

I think Gingrich was in political Siberia for political reasons, not because he was a front page adulterer. There are degrees of political and personal sin that can be overcome (with sufficient $). Eliot Spitzer, for instance, might rehabilitate himself. Edwards likely never will.

 

This. I don't think anyone is saying Gingrich is any better (he's a deplorable human being), but we'd all accepted that he was a deplorable human being decades ago, so nothing he does is shocking anymore. With Edwards it was vaguely surprising.

 

He didn't need the best defense lawyers. It was a weak case carried forward on the hopes that the jury would convict him of being a bad husband and get the U.S. Attorney a Congressional seat. It half-worked.

 

Pierce.

www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/john-edwards-acquitted-9340846?hootPostID=80610fc02e964347a644867f7998bd32

 

I think it was fully surprising.

I'll admit that I liked the guy, thought that he was less full of BS that the typical politician and was willing to speak about issues that others wouldn't touch. He also didn't need to become a politician -- it seemed like he wanted to do this later in his life after a tragedy because he wanted to do good. It is a shame that his message has been tarnished by his significant personal failings.

And I think that Pierce was correct -- the attacks on him pre-scandal by the right were basically attacking his masculinity.

 

I guess. But frankly, the phrase was probably uttered in about 1,300 newsrooms across the country, colleagues chuckled, and then somebody said, "OK, what is our REAL headline going to say?"

I guess they could have gone with Killick's douche photo as lead art. See, we're all capable of genius once you erase that pesky line of appropriateness.

Sometimes the NYP will come up with something that'll make me go, "Damn, that's good. And I never would have thought of it."

Not this time.

 

"David, a few years ago, I talked to people in this country about how there were Two Americas. I realize now that I was suffering from that mentality as well. I believed I needed two vaginas -- one from when I was living paycheck to paycheck, and one from when I became privileged and wealthy. I realize now we need to close the vagina loopholes in this country that encourage people like me to live beyond their means."