August 11, 2008

The complicated story of Rielle Hunter and Jonathan Darman, the Newsweek reporter.

Jonathan Darman has his claws out:
The first time I laid eyes on , I could tell she was a story. She had frizzy blond hair with DARK roots, wore bright nail polish and moved like someone who knew how to work a room.
Huh? This made me a little suspicious of Darman. So what if her hair was frizzy and she wore bright nail polish? Lots of boring people do. And there's nothing amazing about dark roots. Why do you appear to be FREAKING OUT about it?
She was on a cramped commuter flight and she was flirting with a candidate for president of the United States. It was July 7, 2006.
I'm still not seeing it. Women flirt with the male candidates all the time.
Most of the other passengers seemed to have no idea who Edwards was. But this blond woman, putting away her bags, was visibly captivated by him.
One person recognizes a celebrity and others don't. The one that does is way more excited than the others. But in fact, Edwards and Hunter were already having an affair, and Darman is showing off — now — that he smelled something fishy back then. But give the man credit. He noticed, and he talked to her:
She told me her name and asked me what my astrological sign was, which I thought was a little unusual. I told her. She smiled, and began telling me her life story: how she was working as a documentary-film maker, living with a friend in South Orange, N.J., but how she'd previously had "many lives." She'd worked, she said, as an actress and as a spiritual adviser. She was fiercely devoted to astrology and New Age spirituality. She'd been a New York party girl, she'd been married and divorced, she'd been a seeker and a teacher and was a firm believer in the power of truth.
All right, then! We know a little more about John Edwards's judgment.
She told me that she had met Edwards at a bar, at the Regency Hotel in New York. She thought he was giving off a special "energy."
Blech. Energy. The buzzword of idiots.

Four months later, Rielle emailed Darman offering him a story. They meet for lunch at a restaurant in NYC and — shocking! — she's into drinking wine and is being smoochily friendly.
She told me that she'd felt a connection to me when we'd first met, that she could tell I was a very old soul. This meant a lot to Rielle.
Oh, did it? Sounds like one of her lines — along with what's your sign, sensing your energy, and feeling a connection.

At this point, I go looking for a picture of Darman. Well, damn! I feel a connection, sense his energy, and — sure — detect that he's an old soul. Let's meet for lunch and wine in SoHo, Jonathan.
Her speech was peppered with New Age jargon—human beings were dragged down by "blockages" to their actual potential; history was the story of souls entering and escaping our field of consciousness. A seminal book for her had been Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now." Her purpose on this Earth, she said, was to help raise awareness about all this, to help the unenlightened become better reflections of their true, repressed selves.
So I guess we know the seduction routine she aimed at Edwards — who perhaps got to thinking that Elizabeth was a blockage.
Her latest project was John Edwards. Edwards, she said, was an old soul who had barely tapped into any of his potential. The real John Edwards, she believed, was a brilliant, generous, giving man who was driven by competing impulses—to feed his ego and serve the world. If he could only tap into his heart more, and use his head less, he had the power to be a "transformational leader" on par with Gandhi and Martin Luther King. "He has the power to change the world," she said.
To feed his ego and serve the world. Ha. Note how that chimes with Edwards's self-analysis (in the "Nightline" interview):
Ego. Self-focus, self-importance... a self-focus, an egotism, a narcissism that leads you to believe that you can do whatever you want. You're invincible. And there will be no consequences. And nothing, nothing could be further from the truth.
But the frizzy-haired energy lady said I could remove blockages, release my old soul, and serve the world....

Back to Darman:
"Do you talk about this stuff with the candidate?" I asked. "All the time," Rielle replied. "I'll lecture him on it when he's getting too much up in here," she said, gesturing toward her head.
And not enough down here, she said, pointing to her crotch. (Kidding!)
"He'll see a look on my face and say, 'Yes, I know, Rielle, "Power of Now" says …' " Rielle wanted me to know all these things because she wanted me to write about them.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. There was no confessing to the sexual relationship here. She was trying to get the news out to the world that John Edwards would make a great President, with his old soulfulness and his ability — encouraged by Hunter — to get through the blockages and release his powers that are somewhere other than in his head.

Even if they didn't have an affair, we should question his judgment in wanting to put up with listening to this bullshit and, certainly, in wanting her to film a documentary about him.

After Hunter is fired, she tells Darman she's working with novelist Jay McInerney "on a 'genius' idea for a television show about women who help men get out of failing marriages by having affairs with them." She also says she's in love but won't say with whom. When the National Enquirer starts writing about the affair, she calls Darman for advice and seems to be trying to pressure him to think that he can't use all the material she'd given him. He refuses — it was never off the record — and she stops talking to him. Darman opines that she must have been "saddened" to realize he'd always been a reporter when she thought he was her friend — I'm sure he's read "The Journalist and the Murderer" — but I would guess that she was using him as a media connection all along and that she was now, on stern advice from Edwards, doing what she could to keep him from writing anything that would corroborate The National Enquirer.

So now I have "a 'genius' idea for a television show about a woman" who has an affair with a presidential candidate and who befriends a reporter — leading to all sorts of complexities about whether the woman is falling for the reporter, looking to him as a friend, or — most likely — massaging him into writing stories promoting the interests of the candidate. The woman travels with the campaign in the guise of a film documentarian, so our show can use her badly done and embarrassingly revealing video clips as a narrative device — in the manner of "The Office" or "The Comeback." And maybe her real job — for which she deserves the money that seems thrown away on her as a filmmaker — is to hand-feed favorable stories to reporters. Our adorable reporter tries to do his job as he teeters between falling for her and figuring out what is going on.

Email me, Jay. Lunch in SoHo?

UPDATE: The complicated story continues.

135 comments:

ricpic said...

Spiritual women come in two types --
The certifiable nuts
And
The old soul ass wipes.

Original Mike said...

Even if they didn't have an affair, we should question his judgment in wanting to put up with listening to this bullshit

I hope the only reason he listened to that bullshit is because he wanted to have an affair. Not even John Edwards can be that empty headed (can he?).

bill said...

I prefer the Audra McDonald version, but this is a great song: Mistress to the Senator (youtube)

Bob said...

I wonder if Rielle screwed Darman, too? Old party girl; screwed Edwards, screwed Andrew Young; presumably she likes to screw. Maybe the "old soul" crap is a pickup line for her.

bleeper said...

Ok, help me out here - was Edwards running for president in July of 2006? He was still a VP loser then, but what can I say - once he stopped being my senator, I kind of lost track of him.

Peter V. Bella said...

“At this point, I go looking for a picture of Darman. Well, damn! I feel a connection, sense his energy, and — sure — detect that he's an old soul. Let's meet for lunch and wine in SoHo, Jonathan.”

And what if he told you he has a white ferret?

“After Hunter is fired, she tells Darman she's working with novelist Jay McInerney…”

Who just happens to be her ex-boyfriend and used her life for the party girl character in his novel.

Freder Frederson said...

And now I will learn how Nancy Reagan's devotion to astrology was entirely different.

So this woman was into astrology? Even if they didn't have an affair, we should question his judgment in wanting to put up with listening to this bullshit

This demonstrates your absolute lack of understanding of what men will put up with to get sex. Listening to this bullshit is preferable to a day at the mall waiting in front of the dressing room as you try on your twentieth pair of jeans (and pray to God there is at least a chair there). But we put up with that bullshit too.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Edwards' egotism and narcissism was on display long before he bedded Ms. Hunter. A one-term-who-wouldn't-run-for-two-term senator who had nothing other candidates didn't offer ran for president both times because of his ego.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Email me, Jay. Lunch in SoHo?

Grrrraaaaoooo. Althouse the Cougar.

garage mahal said...

Yet another long post for someone that claims they aren't paying attention.

Palladian said...

"But we put up with that bullshit too."

Well, we've put up with your bullshit in the comments here for years in hope that it might eventually yield something, anything, interesting or worthwhile (which is, I suppose, the blog comment section equivalent of a good fuck).

Disappointingly, you still haven't put out, and you still haven't shut up.

TitusGlassmen said...

I would of done that reporter after a few wines at a bar in Soho. He is kind of hot.

John Edwards-wow what poor judgment. Sad, sad, sad.

Well, I guess...at least he isn't gay.

TitusGlassmen said...

Your comment about her pointing at her crotch was funny.

Ann Althouse said...

"And what if he told you he has a white ferret?"

I'd be like this.

"Grrrraaaaoooo. Althouse the Cougar."

With a ferret.

Peter V. Bella said...

Freder Frederson said...
Listening to this bullshit is preferable to a day at the mall waiting in front of the dressing room as you try on your twentieth pair of jeans (and pray to God there is at least a chair there). But we put up with that bullshit too.

You mean you reallllllllllly never truthfully answer the question about jeans?

Anonymous said...

Andrew Young of the John Edwards story: The arrests for worthless checks, DWI, burglary, criminal mischief, the federal tax lien

webofdeception.com

Simon said...

"If he could only tap into his heart more"

A goal to be accomplished, it appears, by tapping into her vagina more. I thought that the usual method was crystals and incense, and looking at her picture, I can't help but think that the traditional approach might be more enjoyable.

"[She said she] was a firm believer in the power of truth."

Anyone who actually verbalizes this kind of pompous inanity and thinks it means something is not someone worth carrying on a conversation with. It's the sort of second-rate claptrap you'd expect on a leftosphere blog. If only it was nine redundant and repetitive paragraphs to the same effect and Glenn Greenwald could take her for copyright violation.

Swifty Quick said...

I'm wondering if Rielle and John might have a future together if and when Elizabeth has, you know, migrated to the astral plane.

ron st.amant said...

For me the paradox here is that from Darman she sounds like someone trying to get media attention, a famewhore, a self-promoter; and yet now when she could presumably have all those things she's refusing to do so (at least to this point).

Anonymous said...

I am pretty sure why men put up with utter bullshit but not so sure why women do. Although, I'm thankful for whatever it is.

Bob said...

Here is Ann's definitive Cougar shot, when she's just about to start hitting on the handsome Hispanic waiter.

*grins*

Original Mike said...

Ron: Follow the money.

Simon said...

Bob, you can't keep doing things like that to me.

Bissage said...

Regarding “The complicated story of Rielle Hunter and Jonathan Darman”, my inner child has channeled the life force of the harmonic convergence to inform me that this is one of the ALL-TIME GREAT Althouse posts!

*radiates positive energy*

save_the_rustbelt said...

Wolfson is now spinning that if Edwards had been discovered earlier he would have dropped out of Iowa, and Hillary would have won Iowa by a narrow margin, and now Hillary would be the nominee.

One bleached blond changed the entire course of history!!!!

sonicfrog said...

Why does so much of this sound like an alternate universe Dharma and Greg episode.

save_the_rustbelt said...

Me to my beloved wife of 36 years:

"Sometimes your capacity to talk exceeds my capacity to listen."

Never made that mistake again - wow.

TitusGlassmen said...

Putting up with other people's bullshit as well as someone putting up with my own is the reason I don't get involved-or at least that is what I tell myself.

I am kind of like an In and Out Burger restaurant.

TitusGlassmen said...

I was in Ptown this weekend with 5 couples and 2 single girls-myself and another friend.

The couples were fighting the entire time. I was like no thank you.

Original Mike said...

One bleached blond changed the entire course of history!!!!

Well, it's not the first time. There was that little dust up in Troy a few millennia back.

sonicfrog said...

When I was in my twenties, my best friend's mom was big into all the new age stuff. She hung out with George Winston among others. She was a very smart woman, and not an airhead, but when she started reading my aura, man, I really had to fight the impulse to roll my eyes to the back of my head.

I'm a Yellow, BTW!

Anonymous said...

ron said: "...when she could presumably have all those things she's refusing to do so (at least to this point)."

Random House book contract.

TitusGlassmen said...

Who is going to be playing her in the Lifetime movie?

sonicfrog said...

Hey, maybe she could star in the remake of Dharma and Greg!!!

In this case, would it be Darman and Greg?

Mrs. Mabel Krankwurther said...

This is a matter of semantics.

What some men call 'frizzy', is really a very luxuriously crimped look, that takes hours of sectioning and use of a crimping iron.

'Bright nail polish', could mean a very tasteful muted pink, or even the conservatively classic French manicure, which I've long urged Althouse to get.

Trooper York said...

"Who is going to be playing her in the Lifetime movie?"

Tara Reid.

Simon said...

save_the_rustbelt said...
"Wolfson is now spinning that if Edwards had been discovered earlier he would have dropped out of Iowa, and Hillary would have won Iowa by a narrow margin, and now Hillary would be the nominee."

Probably true.

"One bleached blond changed the entire course of history!!!!"

I seem to remember that the media knew about this story and sat on it. Weren't there rumors last fall - from Kaus inter alios - about dirt that the media had on a candidate but were holding back on? It seems more accurate to say that the media changed the entire course of history.

Simon said...

Trooper York said...
"'Who is going to be playing her in the Lifetime movie?' Tara Reid."

Too classy. Aim lower.

Mrs. Mabel Krankwurther said...

A crimping iron, is always a much prettier look, than the harsh looks that result from use of a flat-iron.

Women who use flat-irons are burning their hair, and it's an ungainly look.

You don't even need a crimper. You can just sleep in braids.

AllenS said...

"Too classy. Aim lower."

Ok, how about Maxine.

Mrs. Mabel Krankwurther said...

There's a difference between an affair and a tryst.

Women who use flat-irons tryst.

Women with 'crimped' hair indulge in extravagantly elaborate 'affairs'.

Peter V. Bella said...

Simon said...
…It seems more accurate to say that the media changed the entire course of history.


It would even be more accurate to say the National Enquirer, which the so called professional media eschews, changed the entire course of history.



Simon said...
Trooper York said...
"'Who is going to be playing her in the Lifetime movie?' Tara Reid."

Too classy. Aim lower.



Linda Lovelace?

Trooper York said...

With Ted McGinley as John Edwards, Edie McClurg as Elizabeth Edwards,
Margaret Hamilton as Hillary Clinton and Jaleel White as Barack Obama.

Trooper York said...

With special appearances by Rip Taylor as Chris Matthews, a constipated chihuahua as Keith Olberman and Mr. Potato Head as Bill O’Reilly.

Jude Nagurney Camwell said...

More slimy stuff from Jonathan Darman about John Edwards? I'm not at all surprised.

ron st.amant said...

Original Mike, oh I'd really prefer not to follow any money associated with politics or the National Enquirer...ew, don't you realize where it's been?

Simon said...

Middle Class Guy said...
"It would even be more accurate to say the National Enquirer, which the so called professional media eschews, changed the entire course of history."

No they didn't. The point (accurate vel non) is that the course of history was changed because Hillary would have got the nomination if the story had been broken before Iowa. That the story has now come out doesn't "change[] the entire course of history" because it is now irrelevant; it does nothing of historical note unless you think that Edwards was a serious contender for Obama's veep.

And the fact that the Enquirer got it right in this instance does nothing to salvage its richly deserved reputation as the print journalism equivalent of the Huffington Post. Even a broken watch is right twice a day, as they say.

Icepick said...

Jaleel White as Barack Obama.

Jaleel White is a big dude now. He's way to butch to play Barrie.

Mr. Potato Head as Bill O’Reilly.

I know a job is a job but ... I can't imagine Mr. Potato Head stooping to play Bill O'Reilly.

E Buzz said...

So now they wonder about this flaky ex-cokehead chick hanging out with Edwards.

How many times do those Decider-types think they can keep on doing this and no one will notice?

Or do they not give a shit if anyone notices?

Probably the latter.

michael farris said...

"Energy. The buzzword of idiots."

This is so perfect. I can't imagine it being put any better. You ought to pantent it.

And one of my worst nightmares is finding myself in a broken elevator (or airplane seat or dinner party) sitting next to someone like Rielle Hunter.

Mrs. Bethel Splat said...

Nobody here seems to understand the difference--the intricate distinctions between.... a tryst, an affair, a dalliance, an assignation...

...and a simple gesture of good-will, like a handshake.

There's a difference between being a Good Smaratin and a Good Surrogate.

William said...

Darman makes her out to be a complete airhead, and maybe she is. However, for her age group and wt class (i.e. Washington) she is attractive. If McInerney really based a novel on her, she must have a few more hooks to her personality than astrobabble....This is more a story of emptiness and need than a sex farce.

Chip Ahoy said...

Ha ha ha ha X 1,000. SoHo. Ha ha ha ha X another 1,000.

I'm sitting on an elevated patio in the morning having coffee and notice a woman across the street enter a subcompact and begin to balance a checkbook. Sort of odd, that. Within a minute a young teenager runs up from behind the car and leaps onto the rear wing, jolting it, the boot, the top, the bonnet, BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG, and disappears down the block. A way of saying "Hi mommy, I know you're in there." Poor dear, thought she could find a moment of solitude from the tyranny of her affected energetic children. I turned to my friend whose neighbor it was and said to her, "That woman's hair, " frizzled red and shockingly disordered, as if she had inserted a fork into an electrical socket, "represents perfectly her state of mind." A moment elapsed. My friend, who knew the woman, burst out laughing.

A firm believer in the power of truth.

Truth. That's the thing you make up as you go along, right? After you, what? Plunge the blockages?

This is the truth I get out of this post that I just made up once I took the plunge: Rielle thought she could encourage Edward's inner Clinton and benefit from it herself and she was right She got a house, a handsome sinecure, some at DNC donor's expense, the rest from a self-absorbed millionaire, and a baby.

Peter V. Bella said...

Mike Lupica has a great column in the New York Daily News on this today. It is worth a read.

Palladian said...

You know, all I can think about after reading this and looking at Rielle Hunter is this brutal, wonderful scene from Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives".

TJ said...

Simon said, "Hillary would have got the nomination if the story had been broken before Iowa."

You could certainly try to argue that, but you'd be wrong. For many Edwards voters, Obama was a strong second choice. Clinton's refusal to renounce her Iraq war vote, coupled with a misunderstanding of how the caucus system worked hurt her in Iowa. Certainly she'd have come in a much stronger second place in Iowa, but she still would have lost.

Even more, since we're playing "what if," I wonder how badly Edwards would have been hurt if he had come clean about the affair in 2006. It's possible that he would have been able to beat some media bias against covering his campaign at all.

Pastafarian said...

This is one of the best posts I've read in a long time, on any blog. Very funny stuff.

Chip Ahoy said...

Link fixed.

baby.

rcocean said...

Wow, what's so wonderful about that scene from "Husbands and Wives"? The Pollack character comes off as complete jerk, who could be charged with Physical assault, kidnapping, and smashing into 2 cars & then driving off. Not to mention being rude, overbearing, and a pompous asshole.

The weird part is that Woody Allen probably thought that was normal behavior.

Palladian said...

"Wow, what's so wonderful about that scene from "Husbands and Wives"? The Pollack character comes off as complete jerk, who could be charged with Physical assault, kidnapping, and smashing into 2 cars & then driving off. Not to mention being rude, overbearing, and a pompous asshole.

The weird part is that Woody Allen probably thought that was normal behavior."

It's a wonderful scene, darling, I'm not saying that the behavior in the scene is wonderful. It was brilliantly acted and written, and if you'd seen the movie you'd know that Pollack's character is certainly not depicted as sympathetic. In fact, none of the characters are depicted as sympathetic.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Grrrraaaaoooo. Althouse the Cougar.

It screams: MASTHEAD.

And you should resurrect the Micky Kaus quote, too. "Althouse: the go-to blogger for breasts."

And complete the cougar tri-fecta with the Sundance photo as your profile shot.

~~~

I'm trying hard to read "Rielle" and think "Reilly," but it keeps sounding like "ry-ELL."

Palladian said...

"I'm trying hard to read "Rielle" and think "Reilly," but it keeps sounding like "ry-ELL."

O RLY?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ruth Anne Adams said...

Aren't John and Elizabeth Edwards giving off a real Bill and Hillary Clinton vibe with this?

Zachary Sire said...

Wow Ann is on fire this morning. This is great...love it.

Best. Post. Ever.

vbspurs said...

Ann wrote about Hunter:

Oh, did it? Sounds like one of her lines — along with what's your sign, sensing your energy, and feeling a connection.

Bingo.

Let me just say that women who want to pick up men are not in the least shy about it.

Talking of sensing a man's "energy" is just a New Agey version of Monica snapping her thong at Bill.

They get the picture.

Cheers,
Victoria

vbspurs said...

Ruth Anne wrote:

Aren't John and Elizabeth Edwards giving off a real Bill and Hillary Clinton vibe with this?

Yes.

There's something about two lawyers who get together to conspire to keep the political partner in power, that just makes for an unfathomably ruthless life.

Thank God there's no couple like that currently vying for the White House.

Cheers,
Victoria

Trooper York said...

Wait a minute.

Simon thinks Tara Reid is too "classy."

So it's not an older babe thing, it's a skanky blonde thing.

Sorry, I will adjust my jokes accordingly.

Simon said...

Trooper York said...
"Wait a minute. Simon thinks Tara Reid is too 'classy.'"

I think she's too classy to play Rielle Hunter. That says nothing about whether Tara Reid is in any way, shape or form "classy" per se.

"So it's not an older babe thing, it's a skanky blonde thing."

At risk of mis- or overreading your comment, I hope that you did not make any implication about our hostess therein, Trooper...

Simon said...

^ I mean, I think Tara Reid is too classy to play Hunter in much the same way that Ted Stevens is too incorruptible to play J. Edgar Hoover.

Mrs. Mabel Krankwurther said...

STARTLING REVELATION:

" baby, Frances Quinn Hunter, who was born Feb. 27. "

Wait a second.....isn't that the ubiqitous Maxine's birthday ???

I can only imagine the shame and embarrassment Maxine feels, having to share her birthday with an illegitimate child.

Chet said...

There is no greater shame than a illegitimate child having to go through life with dubious parentage.

The kids at school tease, and taunt, illegitimate children unmercifully, even today.

FairWitness said...

I understand Rielle made many unkind statements about Elizabeth Edwards to reporter Darman, too. This tramp should be bitch-slapped, a hundred times. So should John Edwards. I hope they do wind up together, the two POS' deserve each other. What a disgustingly sordid affair this is. And we all know it wasn't over when Edwards was caught at her hotel last month. What does he think we all are? Well ... we're not. He's the stupid idiot. Poor Elizabeth.

Kansas City said...

Why did Newsweek sit on this story since last Fall when the NE alleged the affair or at least since several weeks ago the NE caught Edwards meeting her at the hotel? It is like the MSM has a suicide wish.

Fascinating input on Edwards. Anyone with any significant experience dealing with trial attorneys would have always recognized him as a total phony.

But now, he is revealed as so self absorbed that this 43 year old okay looking woman can get him into bed and into a disastrous affair by spouting new age nonsense about how great he is.

Edwards obviously is not stupid, but I can hardly imagine a politician doing anything more stupid than those web videos showing him playfully interacting with Hunter while he is having an affair with her. Amazing.

vbspurs said...

Maybe Edwards fathered Maxine.

vbspurs said...

web videos showing him playfully interacting with Hunter while he is having an affair with her. Amazing.

But Kansas City, doesn't that remind you of this? Not to mention this?

What's the point of being a man with power if you can't flaunt your floozies?

Kansas City said...

fairestwitness:

I know Elizabeth Edwards lost her 16 year old son and now has terminal cancer, so I join everyone in feeling bad for her on those issues.

But any sympathy for her with regard to John Edwards' conduct seems entirely unjustified. If you believe him and her, he told her about the affair in 2006, yet she and he then joined together in trying to con the American people into believing John was a devoted husband and then that the NE report of the affair was "entirely false and ridiculous." They staged a renewal of their marriage vows in June 2007 with photos to People Magazine, endlessly talked about their annual anniversary dinner at Wendy's and her $11 wedding ring, and then their first television ads were focused on their marriage. As to the deception of the American people, she is almost as guilty as him.

She also has been married to the insufferable guy for 32 years and enoyed the millions that he bilked out of hospitals, doctors and insurance companies. I am all in favor of sympathy for her health and the loss of her son, but otherwise she has been a dishonest, power hungry wife of a dishonest, power hungry politician.

Original Mike said...

They staged a renewal of their marriage vows in June 2007

Kinda makes sense, now, doesn't it?

Kansas City said...

vbspurs,

You are right about Kennedy, although it was a different time and presumably he felt pretty certain that no one would blow the lid (amazingly enough)

As to Clinton, I think Lewinsky would stake out rope line positions that really left him with no choice but to acknowledge her and try to make sure he did not do anything that made her mad.

Cedarford said...

This was one of the best Althouse blogs ever. It would have made suitable NY tImes op-ed fare if the Times wasn't so far in the tank suppressing this scandal from voters.

"Blech. Energy. The buzzword of idiots."

Classic.

===================
Kansas City on maybe a fitting epitaph for the life of "poor" Elizabeth Edwards: She also has been married to the insufferable guy for 32 years and enoyed the millions that he bilked out of hospitals, doctors and insurance companies. I am all in favor of sympathy for her health and the loss of her son, but otherwise she has been a dishonest, power hungry wife of a dishonest, power hungry politician.

Guesst said...

The timeline does not add up for Elizabeth Edwards to have been informed when she said she was.

Gosh. The Edwards family are turning out to be sort of dishonest.

vnjagvet said...

The kids at school tease, and taunt, illegitimate children unmercifully, even today.

From over 100 years ago, the old question arose in a presidential campaign, "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa"? was a Republican campaign slogan in 1884.

Grover Cleveland, a bachelor had admitted an affair with a "sleeparound" woman who subsequently had a child. Cleveland and several prominent married men of the day were candidates for paternity, but Cleveland took responsibility.

When Cleveland beat James Blaine, the Democrats answered the above question with, "Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha".

AlphaLiberal said...

"Blech. Energy. The buzzword of idiots."

Amen to that. It's a warning sign to put up the idiot filters.

(though this is all probably quite unfair to real idiots).

vbspurs said...

As to Clinton, I think Lewinsky would stake out rope line positions that really left him with no choice but to acknowledge her and try to make sure he did not do anything that made her mad.

Kansas, when the Lewinsky story came out, and the photos of them hugging came out (which happened on more than one occasion, if you recall), I remember one journalist making a very keen observation:

Do you know how difficult it is to consistently get into the front row, just behind the red rope? Do you know how many hours you have to stand there, just waiting?

Whilst it is possible she bulldozed her way to the front, it's also not incredible to think she was escorted there, or had help of some kind for her juicy vantage point.

Cheers,
Victoria

AlphaLiberal said...

Cenk Uygur raises an important point, though. If Edwards' martial infidelity was career-ending, then why does serial philanderer John McCain still have a political career?

Ron and Nancy Reagan shunned John McCain because of how he cheated on, and treated, his first wife.

IOKIYAR! Not!

We need to get all of John McCain's affairs out in the open.

FairWitness said...

You've made some valid points, KC. The thing is, the woman has terminal cancer. At this stage in her life, facing a premature death ... her husband forsakes her and their vows, violates their family ... what does a woman in her predicament do? I can't blame her for sticking by the SOB. I'd be terrified of being dumped by my hubby while I was dying, thereby letting me know my entire life with him and family had amounted to nothing. That it had all been a lie. She doesn't have any time left to make a new life, to start over, her life is almost over. Can you think of anything worse? Regardless of how she reacted to support her husband at this time, she was not the one who betrayed her family. That disgrace is completely owned by John Edwards.

I don't like or agree with any of Elizabeth Edwards politics, but as a woman and mother, facing her untimely death, I feel nothing but compassion and pity for her.

Kansas City said...

Victoria,

You may be correct, but I think the rope line situations were often "private," such as when Clinton returned to the White House from a trip abroad.

Original Mike said...

That's so last Friday, AL

Palladian said...

"That's so last Friday, AL"

It's actually so 28 years ago. But Democrats are the party of the past, as they have repeatedly shown.

Two words of advice: MOVE ON.

Trooper York said...

Well Simon, sometimes when I am mocking you there is some collateral damage. Comedy has to let the chips fall where they may.

I understand you got a little over excited when Althouse said she wanted to horse around with a weasel. So I will tone it down. Sorry.

Plus if we keep having more vlogs in just a sheet and a lacy bra, what’s a guy to think. Just sayn’

AlphaLiberal said...

Palladian:
"Two words of advice: MOVE ON."

As in,
"Keep moving, folks! Nothing to see here!"

McCain is a philanderer. Why doesn't that matter? Can't answer the question?

Kansas City said...

fairwitness,

Excellent points. I was separating the personal health situation from the political con job, but maybe that cannot be done fairly here.

I also assumed that she would have had the clout to keep him from running if he actually told her in 2006, but maybe that is not realistic either. And, if he just told her the truth (or some part of it) in the last two weeks (probably the most likely scenario), then your points may be even more valid.

Maybe the best approach is to leave her out of it both ways, no "poor Elizabeth" points and also no criticism of her like what I stated in my response.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Gosh. Where's a good 'bimbo eruption' hazmat team when you need one?

vbspurs said...

McCain is a philanderer.

When Republican presidential candidates get smeared with having an affair, it's the NYT which does it. When a Democratic candidate for the Presidency falters in their marriage, it's left to the National Enquirer to get the goods.

We are hardwired to believe in the former, and to dismiss the latter -- so the question becomes, where was the Newspaper of Record during this past year, about this story?

It's also no coincidence that TWO Democrats have now viciously and publicly denied having done anything wrong, that later proved they had been guilty, whereas attempts at smearing Republicans (Bush and Rathergate, McCain and the affair with the lobbyist) found their targets exonerated, and in Bush's case, re-elected.

Cheers,
Victoria

Simon said...

AlphaLiberal said...
"McCain is a philanderer. Why doesn't that matter? Can't answer the question?"

The reason you can't see the answer to your question is your insistence on erroneously phrasing your point in the present tense. McCain was a philanderer. Decades ago. It's like pointing out that Bush was once a drunk - so what? Another way to distinguish McCain from Edwards is that the Edwards affair neatly plays into the usual characterization of Edwards, so is taken to confirm the conventional wisdom about him, a conventional wisdom that is not in his favor.

Trooper York said...
"I understand you got a little over excited when Althouse said she wanted to horse around with a weasel."

LOL. I'm really not a weasel.

"Plus if we keep having more vlogs in just a sheet and a lacy bra, what’s a guy to think. Just sayn’"

Dude, it was a tank top. And very nice it was too. :p

I'm Full of Soup said...

"Bimbo eruption Hazmat team"

Good one Ruth Ann.

Richard said...

I noticed her the moment she walked in. Her blonde hair blazed like bottled sunshine. But below that radiance were dark and stormy roots. I knew at a glance, this gal was trouble.

Trooper York said...

Simon, I really respect your knowledge of the law, and although you have said you are not a lawyer, since you know so much about the law I think you definitely qualify as a weasel.

So you have a shot dude.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

She goes for writers. Or haven't you figured that out yet?

Trooper York said...

But Simon is an excellent legal writer. Haven't you read his blog? If the professor asks nicely I am sure he will show her his briefs.

So to speak.

(Get that sploog hazmat team ready)

blake said...

You guys don't understaaaaaaand.

McCain treating his wife badly decades ago is EXACTLY THE SAME AS IF NOT WORSE THAN Edwards mistreating his wife now, and the two of them colluding on keeping it from the public during a Presidential primary when Edwards was in the running and vying for at least a cabinet position, and all major media outlets blacking the story out until they had no choice.

McSame EXACTLY THE SAME! OR WORSE!

AlphaLiberal said...

Victoria spouts fantasy, not fact:
"When Republican presidential candidates get smeared with having an affair, it's the NYT which does it."

Uhh, no. The New York Times was in the front of the pack on the Lewinsky mess. You can look it up. It's one of them "facts.'

And the liberal Huffington Post led the pack on the Edwards affair.

Simon is more interesting:
"The reason you can't see the answer to your question is your insistence on erroneously phrasing your point in the present tense. McCain was a philanderer. Decades ago."

Then why wasn't his career over decades ago? Will Edwards career be back on track, when? 10 years, 20?

And, I wouldn't be so quick to defend him on this score...

Palladian said...

I love watching you flail around helplessly in the water, AlphaLiberal but I feel a little guilty, like I should at least try to throw you a life preserver.

Simon said...

Oh, Trooper... You have left me speechless.

Simon said...

AlphaLiberal said...
"Then why wasn't his career over decades ago?"

Different circumstances, one imagines. McCain wasn't caught lying about it, the story didn't confirm the conventional wisdom about him, extenuating circumstances and so forth.

"Will Edwards career be back on track, when? 10 years, 20?"

About ten, twenty minutes after Obama's inauguration, I fancy.

Asante Samuel said...

Some of you are beating up Lisa/Rielle about enjoying sex. I'm not seeing that as a flaw. But it is interesting how a woman of her age, after childlessly navigating her thoughtless and turbulent twenties and thirties could suddenly find herself in foal in her enlightened mid-forties. Even more interesting is Silky's lack of latex.It's a fucking condomenation of everything for which he supposedly stands.

It's only logical to ascribe to Druck/Hunter the basest of reasons for the changing reproductive status from filly to first-calf heifer, but what was Silky thinking? For lack of a condom the kingdom was lost.

Anonymous said...

At this point, I go looking for a picture of Darman. Well, damn! I feel a connection, sense his energy, and — sure — detect that he's an old soul. Let's meet for lunch and wine in SoHo, Jonathan.

Email me, Jay. Lunch in SoHo?


Calm down, the kid is about 27 years old. Here he is in 1999 as a senior in high school. You sound like Robert Lipsyte talking about girls gymnastics and beach volleyball.

"And what if he told you he has a white ferret?"

Ferret doesn't sound great but so much better than weasel or polecat.

serial philanderer John McCain

Yes, rumor has it McCain cheated on Wilford Brimley with Count Chocula.

ron st.amant said...

'extenuating nuances'...now there's a 21st century phrase for the internet world.

Simon, I'm willing to grant you that McCain's past infidelity(ies) and Edwards current one(s) can be viewed differently if for no other reason that the timeline...but you might want better reason that 'extenuating nuances'. That phrase makes it sounds as though you excuse McCain which I don't think you necessarily mean to do.
After all adultery is adultery, whether its a Clinton, a Gingrich, an Edwards, or a McCain. It all shows complete lack of judgment, control, and character that supposedly is how we should pick a president. (especially according to a healthy dose of Republicans)

Beth said...

McCain wasn't caught lying about it

Oh Simon, of course he lied about it. Is getting caught what makes it bad? He even got a marriage license to marry the mistress while he was still legally married to the first wife. He lied about the timing of the whole thing. He lied, just like all cheaters lie.

The only difference is he fucked around on his wife years ago and Edward fucked around on his last year. A few years from now and they're both former cheaters. Big fucking difference.

And wasn't he still in the military when he was in an adulterous affair with Cindy? I guess no one asked and he didn't tell.

Bissage said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bissage said...

I hope nobody saw that last attempt at a comment.

It was petty and kind of mean-spirited and probably mispelled.

I should butt out.

And I apologize.

Trooper York said...

Hey if you magnify the girl on the right really big and focus in just right, well you can actually see Bush at the Olympics.

Simon said...

Beth said...
"[Simon said that unlike Edwards,] McCain wasn't caught lying about [his affair.] Oh Simon, of course he lied about it. Is getting caught what makes it bad?"

You have to read that comment as it was written: as a reply to Alpha's question about why McCain's career wasn't ended by his affair. Getting caught isn't what makes it bad, but it's what makes it politically poisonous.

The only difference is he fucked around on his wife years ago and Edward fucked around on his last year. A few years from now and they're both former cheaters. Big fucking difference.

The big fucking difference - hey, that works on two levels - is that we don't live a few years from now, we live in right now. McCain can say right now, as Edwards obviously cannot yet, that it happened a long time ago, he's grown a lot since then, that he sincerely regrets what happened, and so forth.

Bissage, my file on latches? Is that in response to Trooper's compliment about my writing (which I appreciate by the way)? Or you mean in regard to McCain - do you mean laches, perchance?

DaLawGiver said...

I really don't see what the big deal is about. Edwards and O'Reilly got caught, so what? I mean so what if a younger man hungers after a more mature, experienced, older man? That Governor from New York got caught cheating with another guy and his wife didn't even get any alimony. I mean geez, O'Rielly does have his own TV show, "The No Spin Zone." They will both probably star in the next version of Big Brother with Brittany, Brett the Jet, and Pam Anderson.

Cedarford said...

Beth bitterly rails against male "cheaters" McCain and Edwards:

The only difference is he fucked around on his wife years ago and Edward fucked around on his last year. A few years from now and they're both former cheaters. Big fucking difference.

Yes, what big fucking difference is there between a man who is married and together with his wife less than 4 months before being separated for war, entually shot down, and royally messed up from his POW time - and fell out of love and wanted to go wild? And a man married 32 years to the same women who was too sick to satisfy his needs?

And wasn't he still in the military when he was in an adulterous affair with Cindy? I guess no one asked and he didn't tell.

McCains "wild man days" were known to superiors, as was his being well-liked by Senators of both parties. The Navy did the right thing and passed McCain over for Admiral in part from his misconduct and standing up to a couple of his Senate boosters for a more qualified man. Closing out a career as Captain in the Navy or Colonel in other branches is hardly a disgrace. It is better than 98% of career officers do.

And none of McCain's shenanigans involved lying to the public, plus getting his wife, lover, and campaign aides to also lie to the public.

Except for a few bitter bitches that cannot see the difference, a very dissimilar apples and oranges situation on a candidates bad faith - when evaluating that candidate's fitness for a job of high responsibility.

AlgonquinS said...

She had frizzy blond hair with DARK roots, I knew then and there that the curtains wouldn't match the carpet.

KCFleming said...

Beth,
I have no great faith in McCain. In fact, I wish both Obama and McCain could lose the election.

McCain was 42 when he met and began cheating with Cindy. This was 6 years after he was released from the Hanoi Hilton, where he was being tortured for 5 years as a prisoner of war. He's been married and seemingly faithful ever since.

But he did fuck up. And he has apologized for it. It's been almost 3 decades since then.

Edwards, in contrast, has had an easy life. But then his 17 year old son Wade was killed in a car accident in 1996, and Elizabeth was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004.

Then he started screwing around. He was around 53 years old.

People do unpredictable things when they are tested. Mild tests, like illness, and severe tests like death, are common to all. Few can say however how they would act following torture.

I can see how one might call this sufficient proof of bad character to obviate any chance of voting for McCain or Edwards. I think the cases are different by more than a degree, and believe McCain has grown up since then. Not so Edwards. Stress has revealed him to be too weak for responsibility.

Obama is younger still, and has only withstood very little in his life. What little stress he can point to caused him to write numerous autobiographies, whose number I have lost count of. In this race, he exhibits arrogance and ill humor, which do not bode well.

Beth, you are right to question the seeming different treatments, but you ignore the elephant in the room, that the media totally ignored Edwards and went after McCain. That's meaningful by itself.

You want to focus on the meaning behind it all, which is fair. That's hard to do when one side has pretended so long that their errors did not exist at all.

Kansas City said...

It is interesting, and a fair question, to ask those ripping Edwards to consider McCain's long ago infidelity. What McCain did reflects poorly on him, but in considering how much weight to put on it, there are a number of factors not present in the Edwards' case or, for that matter, in the case of Bill Clinton, e.g., long ago misconduct, subsequent good conduct, transcretions in the course of leaving one woman for another versus using one woman for sexual gratification while deceiving the other and using her for political gain, etc.

Many pro-Obama folks (or even pro-Edwards folks, if any remain) will be controlled by their partisanship -- lashing out at McCain and refusing to see the differences. McCain fans will easily see the differences and give McCain a pass. Independents likely will not consider the McCain misconduct to be a big deal at this point almost 30 years later.

I suspect the pros on both sides will want this to die down as fast as possible. McCain does not want it the subject of discussion. Obama probably does not have a way to effectively use it againt McCAin, and who knows whether Obama has secrets in his background.

Beth said...

Right now, years ago, Hanoi Hilton, cancer and dead son, the real story's the press...parse, parse, parse.

This story's long turned from tragedy to farce. Hunter's nasty little comments about Elizabeth Edwards and the inane New Agey subplot just makes that more apparent. The "no, McCain's cheating was DIFFERENT!" scramble is just icing on the cake, and the "Hillary would have won!" wailing lights the candles.

KCFleming said...

This story's long turned from tragedy to farce.
Long? Long???
Christ, Beth, you're the one bringing up a 30 year old divorce.

The left's version is always

Deny.
Deny.
Deny.
Admit, but Tu quoque
Tu quoque.
Tu quoque.
Tu quoque.
This is old news, move on.

Admission is optional.

blake said...

I love Alpha actually alleging, apparently with a straight fact, that the New York Times led the charge against Clinton.

Drudge owes his existence to their stonewalling. (The beginning of the end for the MSM?)

And where's the nuance guyus? Adultery is adultery? Is killing people killing people? Or do we differentiate between murder, self-defense, military conflicts, etc.?

Some couples swing. Some couples have "understandings". Etc.

blake said...

Nuance guyus?

Sounds like a body spray.

"Where's the nuance, guys?"

Beth said...

Sure, Pogo.

And the right's version is always "It's DIFFERENT for us!" Then you don your Toque Blanc and whip up another rationalization.

There's nothing different other than timing. Big deal. It's all tawdry.

And by "long turned to farce" I am referring to Edwards. It took only three days for what was perhaps sad to turn laughable.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Don't you love farce?

Send in the clowns.

Don't bother. They're here.

Meade said...

You know, if only I had a nickel for every time a beautiful blonde with dark roots has come up to me and said, "Meade, dude, even at your advanced age, you are a dead ringer for Jonathan Darman," (and I'm not even counting all the ones who then make a low guttural cat-like sound), I would have enough nickels to pay for some real energy work. Something cosmically trance inducingly meditatively old-soulful.

Maybe even get my karmic mantras aligned with some complicated documentary film directing chakras, if you get my heavenly bodied astrological drift and I think you do.

Beth said...

Ruth Anne,

My fault, I fear.

vbspurs said...

LOL, Meade.

Meade said...

vbspurs said...
LOL, Meade.

There. See? That ought to be worth a nickel.

save_the_rustbelt said...

Follow the money.

Read the e-mails.

save_the_rustbelt said...

Trooper York:

In recognition of exceptional service to this thread, an extra ration of beans and extra hay for your horse.

knox said...

She had frizzy blond hair with DARK roots...

"I will not be ignored, Dan!"

knox said...

How, where, and when John McCain cheated -- it doesn't really matter, or surprise me. He seems kind of like a jerk too, just in a totally different way from Edwards.

He has made some major, major errors in judgment (campaign finance, jumping on the AGW bandwagon) and sometimes--not all the time -- but sometimes I suspect it's just to be seen as the "maverick." Now maybe that's not as shallow as combing your hair for 2 minutes straight, but it's not exactly noble either.

(I would never discount his incredible courage as a POW but that's a separate issue from his behavior as a politician.)

Anyway, to the democrats out there, you should be relieved this happened and Edwards is gone. He would have been a disaster for you guys.

Beth said...

knox,

Yes, I'm relieved. Relieved he dropped out in spring, too. He has already been a disaster. Where did he go in 2004? He was a dud on the campaign trail.

I don't think he's "gone" just yet - I'm waiting for more cringeworthy Rielle Hunter stories to emerge. She's an odd sort of phenomenon, seemingly vacuous but nonetheless turning up again and again. I'm not surprised she's associated with McInerney and Brett Easton Ellis -- two of the worst writers to emerge in the 80s.

knox said...

I'm not surprised she's associated with McInerney and Brett Easton Ellis -- two of the worst writers to emerge in the 80s.

Yes, totally makes sense doesn't it. Dumb people orbit each other.

blake said...

Heh. My favorite Brett Easton Ellis story is "Less Than Zombie". But he didn't write it.