Axis Mundi X discussion

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?i...

I don't know if you guys had been hearing about those rumors (I live in DC, so it was a topic of discussion), but he just admitted it.

That guy is getting reincarnated as a creepy, crawly, slimy slug. Cheating on your wife dying of cancer? And then excusing it with a, "but I totally didn't /love/ the other woman"??

Good thing we (the Dems) didn't nominate him, or that would have screwed us out of what's looking like a likely White House victory.

Very classy guy.

Seriously. I knew he was an ambitious narcissist, but a full on asshole? Wow.

Clintonesque, isn't it?
I'm glad Hillary didn't get the nomination, because this scandal will just remind everyone of Bill's shenanigans all over again.

This must be why he was spending so much money on his hair!

this story is two weeks old now. but i guess if you rely on NPR and the daily show you might have missed it.

i just find it hard to believe that his wife knew. i don't see her on stage aggressively defending her husbands honor through the whole campaign with that in the back of her mind.

lol now thats funny King!

I knew it! I was telling everybody he was a sleaze even before this, at least in my mind.

Hmm. Bunny, I think something like this speaks a lot about a person's character, trustworthiness, and integrity. And those are things I look for in a leader.

The people who know what is going on in the Edwards' marriage are the Edwards.
True.

The rest of us are just being prurient voyeurs on something that is none of our damn business.
I disagree. When you run for public office, you make it our damn business.

No, but this happened when he was running.

I think we're gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't see any point in arguing about it.

Whether or not it's any of our business, it's still disappointing. I thought Edwards had more integrity than that. If he were a candidate, I don't know that it would influence my vote, but it certainly would make me think twice.

And I feel very bad on behalf of his wife, who I have a lot of respect for. Just what she needs in her life right now - more stress, like fighting cancer isn't stressful enough.

Hah, THAT was a good one... trustworthiness and integrity... I've very much enjoyed the past 8 years of trustworthiness and integrity.

edwards was on the short list for vice president. that makes him very much still in the game.


here's the question that's been bugging me, and that should enfuriate anyone who donated to his campaign, why did it fall to the enquirer to break the story? the rumor has been out there for a year. where were cnn, cbs, abc, fox, the nyt, etc?

Maybe those organizations only report news and not rumors?

"Maybe those organizations only report news and not rumors?"



maybe those organizations let themselves be lied to, and then repeated the lie to their readers, while the enquirer went out and uncovered the truth.

maybe the "journalists" on those organizations should look for other less demanding work.

Proving negatives is so easy.

It's clearly cloudy.

I feel a profound sense of apathy towards this whole story. I think it's because we're living in a post-David Vitter-Larry Craig world. I mean those crazy bastards pushed that envelope pretty far. The Edwards story is so 1998. It's as if someone hit 60 home runs in a single season again. Maybe if Edwards were caught with a transsexual prostitute and her pet goat, I might care more about this story, but as it stands now I care less about this story than about what team Bret Farve is playing for, and I don't care at all what team Bret Farve is playing for!

character matters.

the guy betrayed his wife, betrayed his friends, screwed everyone who worked to support his candidacy. guess i'm alone in wanting to know something like this before voting.

God, I'm jaded.

Well, in all fairness, I wouldn't have voted for him anyway. Even if he were as pure as the driven snow.

The biggest problem I see with an issue like this in a powerful government official - when kept hidden - is that it sets that person up for blackmail.

it is sort of a moot point now. the guy needs to slin k off and never be heard from again.



i'm going to turn off the computer and read for the evening. maybe leave the tv on though. they're running "puppy bowl 2008" on animal planet.

Me three (turning off the computer to read).

Amen, sister.

I think Edwards is a waste of a spleen and I wouldn't trust him to walk my dog, but his affair is not news. Then again, I don't think anything Paris Hilton has ever done was news - apparently I'm wrong.

I dont 'give two shits who politicians are screwing. Or anyone else for that matter. It's no one's business except the people involved.

The age of puritanism is over. American needs to build a bridge and get over it.

I'm embarrassed for "professional journalists" who spend hours reporting on crap like this. There have to be bigger things going on in the world. At some point, news and tabloid sensationalism merged, and it's a damn shame.

That said, Edwards did this to himself, so I have no sympathy for him, but his family does not deserve the media circus.

I dunno, sounds like Rielle Hunter have done some of it to him. *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* say no more ;)

How come they always cheat on their wives with kind of ugly women? I just don't get it.

Uh, um, and it's wrong, I tell you, wrong...

I dunno, Cindy McCain wasn't bad lookin' when Johnny McC was cheating on his sickly wife with her.

Hm. That might be the exception. Good point, Gary.

Yeah, and don't forget Paula Jones. She was HOT HOT HOT before her nose job!

But, Sarah, I must ask you why?

When you interview for a job, do you expect a prospective employer to ask you if you've ever cheated on your spouse? If so, would you answer? If not, why expect it of someone else?

It may speak to character only slightly. After all, JFK and a host of others (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5297) had mistresses and most of them were extremely competent to do their jobs.

I worry about the neo-Puritanism of it all. Alpha males by definition often have high sex drives, and yet we insist on Alpha males as commander in chief and then expect them to live to a higher standard than we do ourselves.

I think we force hypocrisy on these leaders because we use this as an (unfair) barometer on their character, when it's only a small portion of their lives.

I agree with Jackie that it's disappointing, but I also balk at the idea of leaders as 'saviors' whose behavior must always be above reproach. It's an impossible standard for them to meet, and I can't help going back to the days when Bob Barr and Newt Gingrich were hamstringing Bill Clinton while simultaneously conducting their *own* affairs.

Wow, this conversation has exploded since last night. Just to clarify: I do not believe that the fact that Edwards cheated on his wife necessarily affects his professional abilities. I also thought the whole Monica Lewinsky thing was overblown and the impeachment thing ridiculous.

I do think it makes the guy, personally, a douchebag. That, I do stand by. I meant to comment on that only. Also: I meant to comment that it would have ruined his chances of becoming President if he had been nominated by the Democrats, 'cause that's how our politics work. Had he become the nominee, I still would have voted for him over McCain, and not liked either of them, but since I don't like McCain for political reasons, that would have had more bearing on my vote. I meant to comment on a political reality when I expressed my relief that he wasn't the nominee, as I want the dems to take the White House.

Sherri: Psss, Thomas Jefferson is my favorite founding father. :)

anybody who's ever been up for a security clearance knows they take those things seriously. this is not some ordinary job interview.


it does not look like we have the option of a morally pure candidate this time out. mccain, adulterer thirty years back. versus obama, cokehead twenty years back.


the clinton cascade failure was not about a "blowjob". it was about the president of the united states caught trying to lie his way out of a sexual harrassment lawsuit. web effectively didn't have a chief executive for three years because of the scandal.

everyone in arkansas knew what he was. but the media decided to not report it. would have been nice if the country had known.

personally I feel that guys who are unfaithful ought to have it branded on their forehead as a warning to future prospects. It's only fair I think. That way a girl could decide based on all the evidence if she's willing to hop aboard the loser mobile.

I see your point Varmint.But he is human and he had a judgement lapse,if people werent so eager to persecute everyone with the media these days it wouldnt have been that big a deal he wasnt the 1st philandering official and wont be the last!

And does what Mccain did 30 years ago or Obama 20 years ago have any bearing in there ability to perform as President would you say what you did in you past effects the way you do your own job?

Grant it your not President but if you didnt fuck up sometimes you wouldnt be human!

I think you almost have to be a little bad to be a politician these days a straight arrow might not be able to make the decisions to lead a nation at the moment its a cutthroat world we live in and sometimes whats best for the people isnt always pretty.

Can you name a single president that hasnt had somekind of dirt on them.

warning, pure cynicism ahead.

it looks like the mistress went after him. she's now managed to have a child by a guy worth several hundred million. and get her attention seeking face on national tv. expect a book deal and crying on oprah soon. maybe a playboy spread with ashley dupree.

none of this absoloves edwards.

mole,


my primary point has been that the media protected edwards for over a year.

The mention of the founding fathers, who were fathers of another sort as well (illegitimate children) has given me pause.

Your point is impossible to prove. Edwards protected himself by not publicly admitting to something that by all rights should be a private matter.

Absolution is not required in the grand scheme of things. The only absolution he requires is from his family.

It's an insignificant event compared to the travesty that's been made of our government in the past 8 years.

I'd invite us all to celebrate the high-level politicians who don't have something questionable hiding in their closets.

Make a list.

It's true, people are fallible. I guess I am interested in how they handle their flaws. Are they honest in admitting they have made mistakes, and try to make amends? Are they forgiving of others?
That is the measure of a person, I think.

Me, too, Bunny.

Yes, please! I just made some popcorn - not microwave, real on the stove popcorn. Want some?

Are there any more marshmallows, Donna? I need more fortification if I'm going to contemplate smug judgmentalism.
:::shudder:::

Yay! A fort!

Night, Bunny! I'm watching bicycling Olympians until I get sleepy.

Yeah, they just aren't as exciting as the gymnasts. But you get to see more of Beijing.