The Seduction of John Edwards

When it comes to politicians and sex, our expectations are not all that great. Human nature being what it is, there will continue to be adultery no matter how many instructive scandals they’re exposed to. But you really would think that by now they’d know how to make a decent public confession.

Yet there was John Edwards, ignoring the many, many previous examples of why it is so important to admit the truth quickly and keep it simple. Unable to deny any longer that he had had an affair with a campaign worker, he insisted on parsing. It was all a mistake. If she was paid off, it wasn’t my money. And, in what may be a new high in the annals of weaseldom: my wife’s cancer was in remission.

-- Gail Collins for The New York Times

Since Edwards is already out of the running, this outcome strikes me as trivial, but I couldn't pass up the 'cancer remission' line, in which I suppose he is asserting that he is at least better than the 'family values' Republican Newt Gingrich, who made his wife sign onto unfair divorce terms so that he could go to his other-woman while the wife was still in the hospital recovering from uterine cancer surgery - everything is relative.

___ ___ ___

"I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen."

-- John Edwards on Bill Clinton, 1999

The Seduction of John Edwards

When it comes to politicians and sex, our expectations are not all that great. Human nature being what it is, there will continue to be adultery no matter how many instructive scandals they’re exposed to. But you really would think that by now they’d know how to make a decent public confession.

Yet there was John Edwards, ignoring the many, many previous examples of why it is so important to admit the truth quickly and keep it simple. Unable to deny any longer that he had had an affair with a campaign worker, he insisted on parsing. It was all a mistake. If she was paid off, it wasn’t my money. And, in what may be a new high in the annals of weaseldom: my wife’s cancer was in remission.

-- Gail Collins for The New York Times

Since Edwards is already out of the running, this outcome strikes me as trivial, but I couldn't pass up the 'cancer remission' line, in which I suppose he is asserting that he is at least better than the 'family values' Republican Newt Gingrich, who made his wife sign onto unfair divorce terms so that he could go to his other-woman while the wife was still in the hospital recovering from uterine cancer surgery - everything is relative.

___ ___ ___

"I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen."

-- John Edwards on Bill Clinton, 1999

Russian Invasion of George a 3 a.m. Moment

When the North Caucasus slid into war Thursday night, it presented John McCain and Barack Obama with a true “3 a.m. moment,” and their responses to the crisis suggested dramatic differences in how each candidate, as president, would lead America in moments of international crisis.

While Obama offered a response largely in line with statements issued by democratically elected world leaders, including President Bush, first calling on both sides to negotiate, John McCain took a remarkably — and uniquely — more aggressive stance, siding clearly with Georgia’s pro-Western leaders and placing the blame for the conflict entirely on Russia.

The abrupt crisis in an obscure hotspot had the features of the real foreign policy situations presidents face — not the clean hypotheticals of candidates’ white papers and debating points.

-- Ben Smith for Politico.com

While my initial reaction is to favor McCain's strong moral position in this Russian conflict, when the first blush passes, reflecting on our poor performance in Iraq, one cannot help but appreciate that the strong response may represent more bark in the dog than an actual ability to bite back and defend the position, as there really doesn't seem to be more that we can do than offer words of moral suasion braced with no more than diplomatic posturings. Even Dubya has learned this harsh truth.

Russian Invasion of George a 3 a.m. Moment

When the North Caucasus slid into war Thursday night, it presented John McCain and Barack Obama with a true “3 a.m. moment,” and their responses to the crisis suggested dramatic differences in how each candidate, as president, would lead America in moments of international crisis.

While Obama offered a response largely in line with statements issued by democratically elected world leaders, including President Bush, first calling on both sides to negotiate, John McCain took a remarkably — and uniquely — more aggressive stance, siding clearly with Georgia’s pro-Western leaders and placing the blame for the conflict entirely on Russia.

The abrupt crisis in an obscure hotspot had the features of the real foreign policy situations presidents face — not the clean hypotheticals of candidates’ white papers and debating points.

-- Ben Smith for Politico.com

While my initial reaction is to favor McCain's strong moral position in this Russian conflict, when the first blush passes, reflecting on our poor performance in Iraq, one cannot help but appreciate that the strong response may represent more bark in the dog than an actual ability to bite back and defend the position, as there really doesn't seem to be more that we can do than offer words of moral suasion braced with no more than diplomatic posturings. Even Dubya has learned this harsh truth.

And I thought cats were cute

I'd hate to have to feed these guys, though.

And I thought cats were cute

I'd hate to have to feed these guys, though.