Posted on 08/06/2008 8:50:44 AM PDT by LdSentinal
Hooray! The National Enquirer has published photos of former political person John Edwards with a baby. The baby is almost certainly made up in part of DNA he left in a woman named Rielle Hunter, a former Edwards staffer who now spends her time cashing checks and hiding in hotels and denying everything to the media (until Good Morning America finally books her!). So now would be a perfect time for, like, established print media to cover this story, right? Anyone? Ha, no, they are all too embarrassed. Once again, it's up to the internet!
The story is still sneaking in through the cracks. McClatchy ran a "why isn't Edwards answering our questions" piece that will set the tone for future MSM stories on this terrible subject. Leno and Conan have mentioned the story too, which definitely suggests that the era when no one would've known about this unless the Times picked it up is finally over.But now it is the internet's time to shine! Slate's done great by the story, with cranky Mickey Kaus justifying his insane anti-MSM crusade and Jack Shafer being his usual cantankerous and inarguably correct self. And hey, it's been good for Gawker too—nothing helps beat the August doldrums like a sex scandal that also allows for excoriation of Olde Media.
Of course, not everyone on the internet has performed so honorably. It's bannable to mention the story at liberal blog powerhouse DailyKos, the HuffPo is still mostly quiet on it, and the Wikipedia edit war is staggering into its second contentious week.
But now we have photos! Once there are pictures, the story is ready for television. If the Edwards love child was the Montauk Monster, CNN would've been all over it last week! And once the story is on television, the newspapers can finally go back and write about it, even if it's just a meta-media "oh dear what happened to the press on this one" kind of story.
John himself has played this stupidly, running from reporters and hoping they'll maintain their vow of silence as long as he keeps his mouth shut. They will, John, because they love your wife, but they can only justify this to themselves for so long.
Because, as you can see above, the photo is damning and ready-made for distribution on the internet or cable television.
John! You got sum ‘plaining to do!
why is everyone so interested in these trashy stories from trashy magazines?
At least he was man enough to go and visit his child. lol
Because it is true, and the lame stream media won’t cover it.
I think you’ll see John’s suit-wearin’ days are over for awhile.
Evidently the N.E. was willing to pay more than you!
very strange pictures
Turnabout is fair play. Conservatives have been trashed by Liberals for decades.
Because this one is about trashy behavior by a former US Senator who has twice run for President using public money, and is still angling to be Vice President or hold a Cabinet Post(Attorney General) in the next democrat administartion.
because enquiring minds want to know
Hey jwalsh...thought of you for some reason...sanity check. Am I wrong? Is it good that these pictures are out?
P
"..but you already knew that, didn't ya fella!"
Are you kidding? Considering that the MSM refuses to give any coverage to this story (and it is a valid story), we are forced to rely on the Natl. Enquirer.
You must be spending too much time at DU.
yes but don’t we look a little silly for using National Enquirer as a source? It makes even wikipedia look authoritative.
No problem here. This is his Jessie Jackson love child moment. Jessie is a liberal hero for fathering a child out of wedlock. This will help Edwards’ come back in future elections. After his wife passes on, this might be her replacement. A replacement in waiting.
Obtain a clear photo of him, photoshop the baby into the photo, and print. Take a blurred photo of the print and tada.
“why is everyone so interested in these trashy stories from trashy magazines?”
I don’t know. This isn’t a story- —yet. It may never be. Besides, whenever my husband visits a friend with a baby he holds it- does that make him the baby’s father? So far, this doesn’t pass the smell test.
The NE may have been right sometimes- but they are wrong more often than not ( Bushes divorcing- W back on the bottle- the condi affair) just remember that. You can’t believe them when it fits your political views and think they lie when they go after your own.
I would think that DU people tend to celebrate promiscuity.
I view the child differently. It is a child that did not get aborted because it was inconvenient, and that is an unmitigated good.
Now if this were a Republican, you just know there would be wall-to-wall coverage.
if it’s at the supermarket checkouts,
it’s not exactly a secret.
No, I don’t think you’re talking crazy talk. As much as I loathe The Silky Pony, and would love nothing more than to see him exposed for the scumbag hypocrite that he is, the ‘love child’ in question didn’t ask to be brought into this.
Put Elizabeth and Rielle on the stage for the big reveal. I bet old Liz would kick that skank’s ass.
I hope I will be allowed to say something here about a concurrent tragedy happening.
John Edwards’ wife who has incurable cancer after battling the same monster earlier when he was campaigning: which is tough enough for someone who is in top shape, Edwards’ existing children of the marriage who are faced with the loss of their mother in the future and now this story surfacing. Talk about fear and abandonment and a lovely seemingly comfortable and happy family disintegrating in a few short moments.
It’s heartbreak all around. While I understand things like this happen in our lives, and some politicians soar above reality like they are gifted for more than regular people and deserve to cross boundaries of normal behavior, it just seems to me to be a sad and tawdry bit of public
gossip which we could all do without right now.
I think the American people have better and bigger things to do. Perhaps not John Edwards’ nor the Trash News - but we regular people who get on with it and pay the bills for the idiots of this world who can’t handle celebrity.
Perhaps send a kind thought in your heart to that family and the new child and the sadness which surrounds everyone.
John will now do what he loves to do - sue, sue, sue.
Edwards sure is sweaty in those pics.
I remember Michael Kinsley arguing that Bill Bennett's gambling habits were a legitimate news story.
Did you notice that noone else is covering this? It turns out Silky Pony still wants to be Attorney General in an Obama administration (if it gets that far) or some other high profile position, and a slimy hypocrite like that ought to be shamed into obscurity instead. .. You got a problem with this, for some reason?
After issuing a denial, the National Enquirer apparently followed Edwards and mistress around until they scored today. Edwards was seen leaving Rielle Hunter’s hotel room where she had brought the baby. He stayed until the wee hours of the morning when he was confronted by reporters. Edwards reportedly ran away and hid in a hotel bathroom. Read the story.
Right now, the kid is too young for this to matter much ('cept for the absent dad - see Obe's life history).
Later it could be good as the kid's genes could propel it to be POTUS. Who knows?
Sorry for the Edwards wife and children, but...
There was a chance this SOB could have ended up VP, Attorney General, or some other cabinet position.
why was he still running for pres if he knew this was going on?
Who broke the Monica Lewinski story, hmmmmm?
Forrest Gump (aka "The Hypocrite")
The Mistress
It takes two to tango...
The guy is sweatin’ like a whore in church. Didn’t the hotel room have A/C ?
Obama: "I hope they don't dig too deep into my affairs. Digging up that forged birth certificate was bad enough." Edwards: "Hey, I got a couple of good numbers for you."
The child had no choice in any of this and probably will suffer some later on. (who knows in this sick world nowadays)
I hold the Mother completely responsible. I think she wanted to out him and got her friend(s) to help her. He was already paying her so why else. He certainly wasn’t going to have a press conference.
As much as I detest the politics of his wife, I do have sympathy for her and their children. If she knew about it, then she gets no sympathy as her own children will be more hurt because they are older and understand. School kids can be cruel. JMO
But he WAS at the hotel where the baby and mommy were at...at 2 something AM. That’s indisputable. If he were MY husband I’d want some answers to that.
There are 3 innocent children mixed up in this- the two IVF babies Elizabeth Edwards produced for John by flooding her 50 year old body with hormones (to what effect on her health?), and now this one,
Public figures give up their rights to privacy and usually they and their associate enjoy the power wealth and privilge that result. But when their misbehavior drags them down, it drags down thier friends and families, too. That is what makes up human interest stories. You might as well argue to keep crime stories or anything that embarrasses anyone out of the “news”-
so what’s left? Well, for examples of sanitized feel-good “news” you might check out official wire services of Iran and North Korea.
BTW, kudos to the National Enquirer. They were also the first, and lone outlet, to tell the world about Jesse Jackson’s “love child” and expose his hypocritical lifestyle.
Well said. Thanks.
I wish that someone would go back in the archives and dig up a photo of Bubba Clinton’s little black baby that was kickin’ around the internet during the Lewinski scandle...The kid looked just like the Bubba.....It would be nice to see him now, the little guy must be 11 or 12..I wonder if he still looks like the Bubba.....
He's a terrific lawyer who could sue his way out of any predicament.
edwards isn’t really a liberal. he’s a politician who says what it takes to get elected.
Perhaps in a “golden age” of decorum (that probably never existed):
The Silky Pony would be privately confronted with the story, and told that either he could quietly stay in the background or the story would be publicized. Then it was up to him to decide whether the public honor of his family was worth more than his ambition.
Yeah, I’m sure that golden age never really existed....
I agree. I am surprised many here are criticizing Edwards for the choice. Life is Good!
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