Free Republic

Washington - Senator. Vice presidential nominee. Leading presidential candidate. Political outcast. It was a rapid career ascent for John Edwards. Then it all came crashing down when the North Carolina Democrat on Friday admitted that he had an extramarital affair, though he denied fathering a daughter with the woman. The revelation shattered the family-friendly image he had cultivated and drained the reservoir of sympathy he had built up when he campaigned side by side with his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth. The political damage is so severe that Edwards, mentioned as a possible running mate to Barack Obama, is not expected to...

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a geek as "an unfashionable or socially inept person or a knowledgeable and obsessive enthusiast, such a computer geek." A dork probably wrote that. Because television, cinema and even the fashion runways are thronging with a new class of beta male with more brains than brawn and a wardrobe that is so far from cool it circles round and links up with cool at the other end. People are letting their geek flag fly. The reigning leading man at the box office is not some pumped-up action hero, but a sweet, lovable doofus who collects...