THE PUBLIC flogging of John Edwards is at long last over and A.G. Eric Holder’s embarrassing waste of millions of dollars on a trial that should never have been conducted deserves to be emblazoned on his resume. The pathological insanity of putting Mr. Edwards on a spit reached a fitting end.
The Justice Department said Wednesday it would not retry Mr. Edwards on the five charges of campaign finance fraud on which a North Carolina jury could not reach a verdict after a six-week trial that ended this month. The jury acquitted him on a sixth. – No New Trial for John Edwards
I assume Edwards will be forced to live outside politics now, no redeemable option available, because Democratic self-loathing won’t allow for his battle against poverty to rise at a time when it’s needed, with Republican self-righteousness sure to bludgeon him on all sides if he tries. But there is no one on the political landscape that has spoken to this issue since John Edwards’ disgrace.
Perhaps he will work once again to make the case for helping the poor in concrete ways. Start his own Super PAC to aggressively hit Democrats and Republicans on their Wall Street ways in an election season where the poor are never once mentioned.
The next spectacle due up in the Edwards soap opera is Rielle Hunter’s media tour for her book “What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter, and Me.” How is it that she doesn’t have her own reality TV show by now?
It’s also fitting to remember that it was the National Enquirer who got this story right from the start.
John Edwards had the occupy message back in 03! Such talent. Why do I get the feeling this man isnt done with this nation’s politics? Im sure he has warm feeling towards Obama afterbacking him in 08 the being hunted by the doj in a futile quest..
Ralph Reed came back, because the right is so self-righteous they feel beholden to rise again!
But Democratic self-loathing won’t allow it for John Edwards.
It’s a waste.
I say this as a feminist and someone who’s eviscerated John Edwards from all sides, while taking heat for also honestly writing about the late Mrs. Edwards in terms that are less than deifying.
Absolutely correct. Just check out the alleged “Progressive” yakkers and writers- they have been harder on Edwards than the Right has. And why? For no other reason, really, than that it’s a cheap opportunity to show how tough they can be against one of their own.
It’s the same reason they can’t stop ripping Bill Clinton at every opportunity- Clinton couldn’t even manage the successful freeing of two women from North Korea without sexual innuendo coming from the “Left,” and lately it’s been wall to wall “Clinton put his foot in his mouth” coverage because Bill has had the nerve to be less than 1000 percent supportive of the current “democratic” president.
This trial should never have happened. I hope Holder is satisfied, but I doubt it- he’s probably looking for another high profile Democrat to bring down between now and November.
Just check out the alleged “Progressive” yakkers and writers- they have been harder on Edwards than the Right has. And why? For no other reason, really, than that it’s a cheap opportunity to show how tough they can be against one of their own.
You strike me as a progressive that is still grounded in reality, so I will ask you a sincere question.
I haven’t read the right blogosphere on this Edwards’ stuff, but I would hope they chose not to bayonet the wounded in this matter since it is pretty obvious the legal case against him was poorly crafted and the jury put it down in no time flat. In short, it was not ripe grass to make real hay from.
But speaking of blogging idiosyncrasies between right and left, I am pretty sure most righty bloggers are aware of when they are taking a cheap shot. It doesn’t deter them from doing so, but they don’t actually believe their own press clippings. On the other side, however, there is an unmistakable aura of factual righteousness whenever they write something. Even when you’re chilling with these guys, do they still carry this self-righteous persecution complex around with them?
CO
I don’t read righty bloggers, but I do occasionally listen to righty talk radio, like Kilmeade, Gibson, etc. because quite frankly, they do it better than the Left does.
At the same time, I give- or used to give- Bill Press, Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Thom Hartmann a chance to prove to me that self-proclaimed “lefties” could get it right. I’m down to Hartmann now- Press and Miller are clowns who drown in their own self-confident condescension, Schultz is a blowhard who is 100 percent captive to the corpo-Democrats. All three have been cruelly dismissive of Clinton every chance they get. Hartmann is reasonable but is too often a wuss when it comes to dealing with the right, and is, like all the rest, a supplicant to the Democratic party.
I don’t “chill” with right wing bloggers, and I have no idea where you got the impression I do.
HEY! Jeebus forgave Ralph! It would be downright un-UBERChristian not to fill his pockets once again!!!
Art my brother and I are arguing about the health of Texas…he seems to think being a “right to work state” is good for the people. Can you point me to some info that proves him wrong?
Again, well done TM.
I couldn’t agree more with your question: How come Hunter does not have her own reality TV show by now? Maybe after her book tour. Such is the the depravity of this country.
It’s a perfect example of what it takes to get a publisher to back a wide book tour.
Thanks Ramsgate.
A couple of thoughts…. While Elizabeth always seemed to me to be the policy brain in the family business I do believe both Edwards were motivated to get into public life by good human instincts and maybe after allowing himself to be brought down by hubris he can do some good.If for no other reason than to redeem himself in his children’s eyes.
Poor Mary Kennedy, if the newsweek piece can be taken at face value and she did have BPD, I’m pretty sure it is a fairly hopeless diagnosis without much success from therapy. She and Bobby Jr. seemed to have been the triggers for each others illnesses, tragic combination. That is probably why most 12 step programs discourage relationships between recovering people.
The twelve step program has a phrase for a thread that runs through the stories of both women ” de Nile is a river in Egypt.” Surely Mary knew what she was getting into with the Kennedy men if I know it sitting here in podunk,surely Elizabeth had inklings that her husband was straying before it blasted through the universe. Surely Mary’s siblings knew she needed help, surely Zimmermans wife knew it was stupid to lie in court.
People get this perfect picture in their heads and deny reality.
I have long felt that it was important to the two major parties to totally crush John Edwards for speaking out the uncomfortable truth about the two Americas (the message of the 1% v 99% as Art says above). Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are interested in addressing the inequalities built in to our system.
Probably some truth to that Uh-oh but nobody led him to his party girl.
Long before this John Edwards soap opera; when he first came on the national political stage, there was always something about him. I could never understand how people supported him or could even vote for him. Listening to his little speech after the jury decided his fate, I saw absolutely nothing. There is no redemption for this type of person.
Frankly I had the same feeling about Edwards the first and every other time I saw him as I did about Obama…conman.
It’s hard to imagine anyone trusting John Edwards now. That will make it hard for him to be much of a factor in politics, in any capacity. Ralph Reed fooled the rubes. Edwards fooled people who just wanted a better option, and were willing to take a chance. That’s a difference that will make it a lot harder for Edwards to find redemption in politics than it was for Reed.