Althouse: "Mrs Edwards had screamed: 'You don't see me any more.'"

May 3, 2012

"Mrs Edwards had screamed: 'You don't see me any more.'"

"Then she took off her shirt and bra, exposing herself to her husband in front of his staff, the court heard. 'He didn't have much of a reaction."

71 comments:

bagoh20 said...: OK, honest question. Who would you vote for as President:

Edwards or Nixon?

How about husband?

Personal lawyer?; 5/3/12, 9:20 AM
TWM said...: Nixon. No contest. He was dishonest but not loathsome . . .; 5/3/12, 9:27 AM
Known Unknown said...: At least you could talk football with Nixon.; 5/3/12, 9:28 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Mrs. Edwards gives new meaning to the rending of garments.; 5/3/12, 9:32 AM
Carl Vero said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/3/12, 9:34 AM
ndspinelli said...: Pat Nixon; 5/3/12, 9:35 AM
joewxman said...: Edwards..its all about, has always been about, and always will be about...HAIR!; 5/3/12, 9:35 AM
ndspinelli said...: or Otis Nixon, great outfielder.; 5/3/12, 9:36 AM
BarrySanders20 said...: Of course he did not see her anymore. It was impossible for him to see anyone else when he was all consumed with himself all of the time. The video of Edwards fluffing his hair is window to his soul. He believed in nothing but himself, and his wife, staffers, press, all allowed it to happen. Sucks for her, but I feel little sympathy.

The only positive from Obama's win was that we narrowly avoided a nightmare with Edwards.; 5/3/12, 9:36 AM
Carl Vero said...: A pity she didn't twitter her image(es); though that might have caused an upsurge of sympathy for Mr. Edwards.; 5/3/12, 9:39 AM
Cha Cho! said...: a good queen NEVER takes off her clothes. it cost yara sofia a spot in the final 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VJbrqLX6aI; 5/3/12, 9:39 AM
FedkaTheConvict said...: While I have some sympathy for Mrs. Edwards, I still have to remember that they were two venal characters. Even after all this she still attempted to hide Johnny's affair from the public so he could win the Democratic nomination.

This account isn't anywhere in her book...ask yourself what else did she hide.; 5/3/12, 9:41 AM
edutcher said...: Edwards hit bottom when he tried to get Darth to denounce his daughter in the '04 Veep Debate. Anybody who couldn't see then what a sack of slime he was didn't want to.

At one point, I thought Elizabeth Edwards, being the brains and ideologue to her husband's empty suit (notice how many of those marriages there are among the Lefties?), might have agreed to letting him stray since she couldn't fulfill her martial obligation. Apparently not.

PS Disagree about Nixon being dishonest. He played hardball politics harder than most and a lot of times that meant no prisoners, but so did the Kennedys and a good many more on the other side.; 5/3/12, 9:42 AM
bagoh20 said...: "People have got to know whether or not their president's a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I'm just horny." ~ J.E.; 5/3/12, 9:53 AM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: It's tempting to tar all Democrats with Edwards' sins-- so I will.

The real lesson here though is the failure of mainstream "journalists" to give this story the attention it deserved. Any political reporter with a modicum of curiosity must have known what Edwards was up to, but clearly the story was off limits. How embarrassing is it to get scooped by The National Enquirer?; 5/3/12, 9:54 AM
Donna B. said...: So we've got corrupt politician, his enablers, greed, bad marriage, affairs, illegitimate children, breast cancer...

And it's "entertainment-art" news to the BBC.

To be truly effective as melodrama, the trial should have musical interludes. Did John and Rielle have a "song"?; 5/3/12, 9:55 AM
MadisonMan said...: I'm a little squeamish when it comes to having a front-row seat to the machinations in someone else's marriage.

I feel very much for the daughter.; 5/3/12, 9:57 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Just another reminder of how normally and casually adultery is handled by the betrayed spouse these days. Happens all-the-time now, right? No big deal, according to most people. Edwards, Hunter, and also the hippies and feminists, that set us all on this course should be so proud.

I can still remember someone, here, telling me what a small little man I am for not immediately getting over my wife's betrayal. Meanwhile, everyday, I read about the deaths of cheaters at the hands of the betrayed and know, in many of those cases, that's the only justice available because this society - especially through Family Court - has sanctioned the abuse of the innocent to the point where (once you understand the set-up) breaking the law like anyone's allowed to break their public vows and bonds becomes really no big deal. Their getting police protection to destroy you makes a mockery of everything. I've almost become numb to all of it. Human life definitely doesn't mean what it used to.

Again, thanks.

Oh well. It's over, at least, for Elizabeth Edwards, poor thing. Reille Hunter, the great NewAge Princess, got her husband's mind, crushed her dreams, and is now torturing her kids as all of this is spilling out in a courtroom - and she still feels, and is allowed to feel, "special" and superior.

But - the workings of a lawless unethical society and sick NewAge culture or not - you can't do that to the dead.

Considering how NewAge has turned everything upside-down, I'd say EE is probably the luckiest person in this entire fucking story.; 5/3/12, 10:02 AM
MayBee said...: Let's just remember how much the media and the Edwardses tried to sell us on the idea they were an amazingly close couple.

The two of them were part of his political profile.; 5/3/12, 10:05 AM
cassandra lite said...: Which of Edwards's two Americas did this happen in?

I'm with FedkaThe Convict about feeling conflicted over her fate. Among other things, this is a woman who, on the morning after Kerry announced her husband as his veep pick, told one of the morning shows that Bush had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks.

Something about her reminded me of Thomas Howard, Henry VIII's Machiavellian Duke of Norfolk, though of course it was her death that (temporarily) saved John Edwards.; 5/3/12, 10:05 AM
bagoh20 said...: "Did John and Rielle have a "song"?"

"Having my Baby - What a lovely way of saying how much you love me"

I get teary.; 5/3/12, 10:07 AM
Known Unknown said...: or Otis Nixon, great outfielder.

While he stole 620 bases, Otis Nixon only OPS'd .658 for his career and could muster only 11.2 wins above replacement over 17 seasons.

'; 5/3/12, 10:15 AM
Kev said...: (the other kav)

I have to agree with those who find it difficult to sympathize with Mrs. Edwards. She had to be either very calculating or very stupid. Neither quality is admirable.; 5/3/12, 10:26 AM
damikesc said...: The real lesson here though is the failure of mainstream "journalists" to give this story the attention it deserved. Any political reporter with a modicum of curiosity must have known what Edwards was up to, but clearly the story was off limits. How embarrassing is it to get scooped by The National Enquirer?

The LA Times specifically spiked coverage of the story.; 5/3/12, 10:28 AM
Justin said...: Honestly, what the fuck? John Edwards is such a piece of shit. But from everything I've read about Elizabeth Edwards, including this story, so was she.

I'll be glad when this trial is over. Hopefully we won't have to hear about any of these people any more.

(Side bar: Imagine if this had all come out in 2007, before this asshole ran for the Democratic nomination. I'd bet we'd have Hillary Clinton as our president. And be much better off.); 5/3/12, 10:30 AM
Anonymous said...: I remember how when a woman told me years ago about how her husband had left her as her cancer worsened, I thought, now, that is the very definition of rat. But that was before I read about John Edwards.

The mystery to me now is how Cate can be so supportive of him! That's a real tragedy.; 5/3/12, 10:31 AM
Justin said...: "Having my Baby - What a lovely way of saying how much you love me"

I get teary.

Hah. Nice one.

I was thinking this:

"He says that he's going to marry me
We can raise a little family
Maybe we'll be all right
It's a sacrifice..."; 5/3/12, 10:33 AM
pm317 said...: This is all very sad. I don't think Edwards feels any remorse. There was something about him during the campaign 08, something unreal, plastic. One image sticks in my head -- his wife introduced him on the stage and he came on and hugged her briefly and then pushed her aside. Yeah, pushed. I never could get over that sight.; 5/3/12, 10:37 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Edwards is the poster boy for everything that is wrong with our political system and why we are circling the drain as a country.

We elect pretty faces instead of people with competence and good character.

He has been greedy, venal and corrupt for decades and no one has the desire or guts to investigate.

His misdeeds are covered up by the corrupt media with an agenda and by associates who don't want to lose their ride on the gravy train.

Once in office, the gravy train gets bigger and better and the media still turns a blind eye.

The misinformed, ignorant public still sees the pretty face and continues to just act the part of the abused wife. She wants to believe the promises and accepting the abuse and keeps taking the bastard back.

Elizabeth Edwards knew who he was for years and years and was complicit in helping him continue his abusive behavior. She didn't want to lose her ride on the gravy train either.

No one is held accountable and the abusers get away with their graft, corruption and incompetence over and over and over.

We get the government we deserve when we don't take initiative and get control.; 5/3/12, 10:38 AM
Richard Dolan said...: Ann's posts today offer a nice comparison/contrast between Edwards and Obama, each of whom is so wrapped up in himself that he has trouble seeing his lover.

With Obama, it's an episode in
his early adulthood (he was 22); with Edwards, it's much later and involves betrayal just as much as self-absorbion. Where they are alike is in the bizarre display of coldness at an intensely emotional moment -- Obama's 'thank you' to his girlfriend's declaration of love, and Edwards' impassive reaction to his wife's tormented melt-down as he goes on to the next campaign stop. Yet both in their way are (in Edwaeds' case, were) able to charm people into doing all sorts of things for them, to the point of believing really preposterous stuff rather than doubting the Charmer.

So stop for a minute and look at the idea of a heart of ice at the center of a personality publicly projecting warmth, and all wrapped up in a program focused on the '99%' that is the 'other America'. It's a creepy image that calls Dante and (even more) Shakespeare to mind.; 5/3/12, 10:49 AM
karrde said...: You mean no one in that campaign staff tweeted, posted on FB, or otherwise hinted to friends that they saw Mrs. Edwards do this in front of her husband and the whole team?

That is surprising. Talk about message control, and keeping inside-the-campaign events from leaking to the outside world.

Anyway...

It is sad that Mrs. Edwards fell to that level. She and John put on a different image in public.

Maybe we should say that there aren't "Two Americas", but that there are "Two Edwards-family marriages."

One marriage was acrimonious, spiteful, full of unfaithfulness, and only seen behind closed doors.

The other marriage was solid, focused, loving, and full of teamwork to get the couple into a position of power.; 5/3/12, 10:51 AM
Titus said...: Was this before or after her tits got chopped off?

tits.; 5/3/12, 11:04 AM
Once written, twice... said...: Newt Gingrich also had an affair behind the back of his cancer scarred wife. the difference is that Republicans then elected him their Speaker and continue to keep him as a leading voice of the party.; 5/3/12, 11:18 AM
Martha said...: The rending of garments was AFTER Elizabeth had the cancer surgery--a lumpectomy I believe.

John Edwards is a man without character--an empty suit in love with himself. But I have some sympathy for him. Many react to spousal cancer in less than honorable ways. They flee from the horror. Then there are those who don't. They have character and strength. John Edwards belongs to the other America.; 5/3/12, 11:21 AM
FedkaTheConvict said...: Anyone remembers Elizabeth Edwards' interview with Oprah in 2009?

Elizabeth Edwards on the Affair Video; 5/3/12, 11:28 AM
FedkaTheConvict said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/3/12, 11:29 AM
traditionalguy said...: John Edwards is an opportunist.

She was a good wife and provided him a prop of a family when he needed one. But the wealth in being a Power Broker in the Democrat Party was too big an opportunity to turn down for her.

What did she expect from her man? Loyalty and love for life? Those traits are so old fashioned.

Tipper Gore would understand better. It is a War on Wives done in the wealth and power style.; 5/3/12, 11:36 AM
Bob B said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/3/12, 11:54 AM
bgates said...: Talk about message control

That's what gets me. Omerta has spread from the mob to their friends in organized labor to their friends in the Democratic party.

I guess I'm conflicted about Mrs Edwards' fate as well, since I had hoped she'd live to be 120 in a country that came to its senses and despised her for her shameful behavior.; 5/3/12, 11:56 AM
Bob B said...: OK, honest question. Who would you vote for as President:

Edwards or Nixon?

Nixon. Reminds me of discussions I had back when Nixon and McGovern were running. I won a lot of votes for Nixon with the simple argument:

You can watch a crook to keep him honest, but there is nothing you can do with crazy.; 5/3/12, 11:56 AM
Known Unknown said...: Newt Gingrich also had an affair behind the back of his cancer scarred wife. the difference is that Republicans then elected him their Speaker and continue to keep him as a leading voice of the party.

Maybe I've missed the shitload of comments here praising Gingrich as a paragon of virtue, and not recognizing him as the complete asshole he is.

I also can't believe the L.A. Times covered for Gingrich as long as they did.; 5/3/12, 11:57 AM
Alex said...: Look there are inhuman politicos on both sides. Look at Mittens, telling that woman back in 1970 that she had to give up her baby because she wasn't married. He's just as much a ghoul as Edwards.

Now that Obama fellow, he's a real mensch.; 5/3/12, 11:57 AM
bagoh20 said...: "Newt Gingrich also had an affair behind the back of his cancer scarred wife. the difference is that Republicans then elected him their Speaker and continue to keep him as a leading voice of the party."

That's democracy.

The difference is how the media handled it.

They dug up the Gingrich dirt, but they paved over Edwards'.

That's thwarting democracy

Also a difference is that the right does not hire politicians to be heroes, but as servants. We care more about their qualification to do the job, rather than if make us feel a tingle. Edwards was all tingle.; 5/3/12, 12:23 PM
Balfegor said...: Re: Leslyn:

In all the slicing and dicing, this young woman doesn't deserve to be thrown in the middle.

The man's prosecution is absurd, yes, but (a) the "young woman" is thirty, well past the age when a tender concern for her feelings would cause decent people to refrain from criticism of her horrid cad of a father, and (b) loathsome though journalists may be, the default in the Anglo-American tradition is for trials to be open and public, which means journalists and their ilk get to write about it.; 5/3/12, 12:27 PM
Curious George said...: "leslyn said...
"Mr Edwards' daughter left the court in tears during the latest evidence in her father's campaign finance trial."

In all the slicing and dicing, this young woman doesn't deserve to be thrown in the middle.

Get this circus over and off the airwaves--and blogwaves."

Give me a break...she's 30 years old. And she chose to be at the trial.; 5/3/12, 12:40 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Jay Retread,

Newt Gingrich also had an affair behind the back of his cancer scarred wife. the difference is that Republicans then elected him their Speaker and continue to keep him as a leading voice of the party.

Man, how you people LOVE spreading misinformation:

Newt was already Speaker and, yeah, he's such a guiding light he only carried two states in his quest for the presidency - one being his home.

Change your name to "Jay Notread" because your bullshit gets no traction around me,...; 5/3/12, 12:47 PM
Titus said...: I thought it was called a titepedimy.

Where do the chopped off tits go?; 5/3/12, 1:25 PM
n.n said...: It is sad that human relationships can and do deteriorate to an undignified end. In America, it has progressively become the rule, rather than the exception. Then again, maybe the sordid details have just become increasingly public, and this is, in fact, the default condition of humanity. I would guess that it isn't, but there is a cultural factor which is promoting its realization.; 5/3/12, 1:48 PM
ndspinelli said...: Titus, Hot dogs and sausage.; 5/3/12, 1:51 PM
Patrick said...: I'll agree with Leslyn that it is sad to see the effects of what her father did cause her to suffer. That's not the fault of the prosecutor or reporters, though. It's all on Edwards.; 5/3/12, 2:03 PM
Kirk Parker said...: "One marriage was acrimonious, spiteful, full of unfaithfulness, and only seen behind closed doors.

The other marriage was solid, focused, loving, and full of teamwork to get the couple into a position of power. "

You know, maybe I shouldn't go here, but somehow this reminds me of the Southern rural mindset clearly presented by both Fanny Kemble and Fredrick Douglass. Actually now that I think of it, it's not absent from Faulkner or Walker Percy, either.; 5/3/12, 2:23 PM
Amartel said...: "We elect pretty faces."

Yes, but I think it's more than that. As a nation, a lot of us want to believe the story the Dems are selling, that the government, our collective betters, can and should be the fixer, mediator, judge and jury in our lives. We've given up a lot of personal autonomy in favor of security and warm feelings of good intentions.; 5/3/12, 2:27 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: Jay Retread said...

Newt Gingrich also had an affair behind the back of his cancer scarred wife. the difference is that Republicans then elected him their Speaker and continue to keep him as a leading voice of the party.

Nobody is claiming that Republicans have a monopoly on character. It is obvious, however, (and if you are intellectually honest you will admit it, Jay) that the fourth estate only bothers with scandals involving Republicans. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable only applies when the comfortable have an "-R" after their names. This is just one more instance in a parade of events going back eighty years. The MSM had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the Edwards story by a tabloid. They have no integrity. None. They are your people, Jay. This is what garage would call whining-- I call it the truth.; 5/3/12, 2:31 PM
Kirk Parker said...: OR Flannery O'Connor (how on earth could I forget her???); 5/3/12, 2:32 PM
Kirk Parker said...: n.n.,

"It is sad that human relationships can and do deteriorate to an undignified end. In America, it has progressively become the rule, rather than the exception."

Well, the aftermath of Admiral Nelson's demise was no picnic, either.; 5/3/12, 2:32 PM
Steve Koch said...: Jay Retread said...

"Newt Gingrich also had an affair behind the back of his cancer scarred wife. the difference is that Republicans then elected him their Speaker and continue to keep him as a leading voice of the party."

Partially true but misleading. GOP voters did not elect Newt Speaker, GOP House members did. When GOP voters nationwide had a chance to vote for Newt in this year's prez primaries, he was clearly defeated.

BTW, Newt had been out of politics for many years before this campaign and was hardly a leading voice of the party. More like a forgotten voice.

In general, dems are muuuuch more tolerant of pol philandering than GOP voters are.; 5/3/12, 3:03 PM
Steve Koch said...: BTW, Newt ran up $4,000,000 in campaign debt before he stopped his campaign this week.; 5/3/12, 3:28 PM
MadisonMan said...: The best editorial cartoon re: Newt was him visiting his dying campaign in the Hospital -- it was hooked up on IVs and all -- and telling it he was leaving.; 5/3/12, 3:36 PM
Titus said...: My sister had her tits chopped off.

Not because cancer.

Because she thought they were too large and was called two ton titty monster when she was in high school.

Isn't that sad?; 5/3/12, 3:57 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Sorry, MadMan, I'll grant you second best for that cartoon, but not best.

Best is unquestionably the one where a guy (labeled "American Public") is visiting the doctor, who is Bill Clinton. Dr. Clinton is holding a football-sized capsule labeled "Government health care." The patient says, "Sorry, Doc, I don't think I can swallow that". Doc Clinton replies, "It's a suppository."; 5/3/12, 4:08 PM
Comanche Voter said...: Don't give me any of this "she couldn't fulfill marital obligation" junk because the lady had breast cancer.

When you marry you promise to take what comes to your partner "in sickness and in health". She had breast cancer. She may have been "disfigured" in the eyes of some.

But that is not the time that a decent man quits on his wife.

However we are talking John Edwards and the words "decent man" don't come into the equation. Jerk.; 5/3/12, 4:11 PM
Bill said...: Titus said...
Was this before or after her tits got chopped off?

tits.

Titus, You are an asshole.; 5/3/12, 4:28 PM
jeff said...: Dont have any family members that went thru that, do ya titus. Must be some of that hilarious humor Ann claims you bring to this.; 5/3/12, 5:00 PM
Carnifex said...: @Alex

I think you mean meshugge, not mensch.

Being the contrarian you are, I can't honestly say.; 5/3/12, 7:53 PM
SabrinaTheArizonaDesertRose said...: Unfortunately, I've known of several cases when the man couldn't handle the wife's breast cancer diagnosis and then he either treated her shabbily or just plain bailed out of the marriage either figuratively or literally. I suspect Mr. Edwards is a passive aggressive and they were having problems long before her cancer diagnosis. Sad thing here is now thanks to the media coverage of the trial, some will see Mrs. Edwards as behaving as a desperate woman or a psycho when in reality it was Mr. Edwards who was clearly in the wrong. His behavior is inexcusable! A most reprehensible individual who doesn't deserve to be the county dog catcher let alone POTUS.; 5/3/12, 9:01 PM
bagoh20 said...: Well said, leslyn.; 5/3/12, 11:54 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Leslyn,

Your 9:53 pm makes a lot of sense; thanks!; 5/4/12, 12:16 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: leslyn,

Elizabeth Edwards is a tragic figure any way you look at her.

Though Ann dislikes me always saying it, I've expressed that same sentiment here many times, never condemning Elizabeth for her role. She WAS tragic, and brave (a word I usually resent being used for those who have cancer) and her end is a symbol, to me anyway, of all life can hold even when you try to do it right. She isn't/wasn't responsible for John, NewAge, or an unethical society - we did all that - and, as I see it, those who snipe about her are as guilty as the remaining players because they, too, can always say "no" but they don't. They're happy to point, and make jokes, but where's the integrity in that? Tarantulas are more honest - and more trustworthy. Definitely more beautiful.

That so few understand something as obvious as this is damning to us all.

And we are damned.; 5/4/12, 12:48 AM
William said...: Leslyn has a charitable and insightful comment.....I'm not so nice. I think Edwards probably had a thing for women who dramatized themselves. I scream, therefore I am....Any way you look at this story, everybody involved looks shabby. The least shabby character is not well dressed.... It doesn't even have the prurient interest of the Kennedy and Clinton scandals.; 5/4/12, 1:22 AM
pm317 said...: I wonder when the public at large will put 2 and 2 together — that how the affair was kept under wraps for so long and how if it had come out when it should have, Hillary would have won the nomination (without Edwards in the race) and would now be the president. Will the people realize the lengths big media went to keep Edwards in the race so Obama could get the nomination?; 5/4/12, 7:21 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: William,

I think Edwards probably had a thing for women who dramatized themselves. I scream, therefore I am....

Wow. Just,...wow. I mean, that statement shows such an ignorance of the pain adultery inflicts on spouses - and, after having been through it, I can't even imagine what a blow it was while dying from cancer.

Really, that comment is practically criminally stupid. How was she supposed to behave as her existence, and identity, were being destroyed - publicly - by the people she loves and hates the most? Plant a smile on her face and say, "It's all good"? For who? For what?

You really take the cake,...; 5/4/12, 7:09 PM