The Hazards of Loyalty

The Wall Street Journal ^ | 1/31/2010 | Aram Bakshian

[Servant of the Cross]

For a man whose first—and only—winning election campaign was waged against an inarticulate septuagenarian hog farmer, John Edwards made quite a splash when he arrived in Washington in 1999 as the new junior senator from North Carolina. Lauch Faircloth (the hog farmer in question) had been anything but a formidable opponent, and Mr. Edwards did seem like a fast-talking opportunist, the quintessential trial-lawyer-turned-politician. But the members of the liberal establishment swooned—pundits and politicians alike. They found themselves charmed by his enthusiasm, his good looks, his populist appeal. Here, they said, was a younger Bill Clinton without the baggage, a potential standard bearer who could help the Democratic Party reclaim the middle ground that Newt Gingrich had seized for the GOP with his mid-1990s "revolution."

No one swooned more than Andrew Young, whose memoir is aptly called "The Politician," referring to the man he served rather than himself. (snip)

But her husband was smitten. He would spend the next decade as a trusted—and all too trusting—aide to a man he idolized as "one of the most promising leaders of a generation." Mr. Young became a specimen of a familiar political type: the dedicated, servile staffer who subsists on the reflected power and glory of his boss, half-martyr, half-parasite. Mr. Young's duties included slaving away as domestic servant, errand boy and babysitter for the Edwards family in addition to working in the senator's office on Capitol Hill. Mr. Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, assured Mr. Young that he was "like family." Certainly Mr. Young subordinated his own family to the whims of his employers, sustained by a dream of accompanying them to the White House. "I was just a young, ambitious guy who saw a real opportunity in Edwards," he writes."(snip)

[Servant of the Cross]

Last paragraph of the WSJ book review:

We are reminded by Mr. Young that one of Mr. Edwards's early boosters was the late Ted Kennedy, who "saw almost unlimited potential in this young, energetic, well-spoken, good-looking Southerner." In a conversation with Mr. Young, Mr. Kennedy waxed sentimental about Washington in the early 1960s: "It used to be civilized. The media was on our side. We'd get our work done by one o'clock and by two we were at the White House chasing women. We got the job done, and the reporters focused on the issues. . . . It was civilized." We now know that Mr. Edwards's idea of civilization was much the same as Kennedy's.

[loveliberty2]

And, already, we have seen Joe Trippi on Fox, predicting that Edwards, in the future, may serve the country.

Will the old argument that private conduct is irrelevant to the quality of public service once again be offered when, and if, that time comes?

"He who is void of virtuous Attachments in private Life, is, or very soon will be void of all Regard for his Country. There is seldom an Instance of a Man guilty of betraying his Country, who had not before lost the Feeling of moral Obligations in his private Connections." - Letter to James Warren, November 4, 1775

[loveliberty2]

Ooops, that quotation is from Samuel Adams.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Scientists at UCLA have identified the lowest form of life on earth; John Edwards. Looks like Nancy Pelosi won’t be the only one to lose the house this year.
—Jay Leno.

[GOP_Raider]

From the article:

Mr. Young was just over 30 when he first saw Mr. Edwards in action. He was so impressed by an Edwards campaign speech that he turned to his wife, Cheri, and said: "This guy is going to be president one day. . . . I'm going to find a way to work for him." Cheri, who emerges as one of the few sensible, decent people in this sadly tangled tale, had a different reaction. "She looked at me, unimpressed, rolled her eyes, and said, 'Let's go to the beach.' "

Well, that puts the phrase "better half" into a whole new perspective, doesn't it?