Edwards: Narcissistic twerp to the end

He confesses to his narcissism, and you want to use it as a stick to beat him with? I have to confess, I'm absolutely baffled by your rage here. I'm not a fan of the guy, but his statement strikes me as truly humble.

"I have been stripped bare", &c., world without end...

The Pride Stripped Bare By His Bachelor's Evil, or, Dude Distending A Satyr Case*

*Apologies to Marcel "We Are Duchampions" Duchamp -

tinyurl.com/5vzc4w

and Snagglepuss, even:

tinyurl.com/5oqt6c

As John "Snaggedonpuss" Edwards exits, stage left, already, even: Heavens to Spermasoyd!

Posting comments takes WAY too long, and they don't show up immediately (if at all)

Rod, your last paragraph is right on target. As anybody who has ever confessed anything knows, this twaddle is contempible. There's a straight-up way to confess and acknowledge the wrongness and indefensibility of your behavior, and it doesn't sound at all like the portion of Edwards' statement that you quote. Yuck.

Rod,
No doubt it's both political and nauseating. Just...be careful. I don't envy you your job man.

"Me, me, me. I hate this therapeutic culture."

ROFL. It's comedy gold like this that keeps me coming back.

Rod -

Why don't you read what Elizabeth Edwards herself has to say?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/8/193337/7354/473/564989

Surely this cannot be -- Smilin' John, the most moral man on the face of the earth?

Google News is wonderful.

There I was, following up on the mention above, by mm, of Andrew Young, admitted father of the lovechild in question, in typing his name into Google News.

What comes back, as the top search result, and with no headline or synopsis by way of context, but this quote:

"He had a personality," ... "Women would throw him kisses and he'd come up to the window and press his lips on it. He interacted with the people"

So I'm thinking, What? I knew now of the John Edwards capacity for debasement, but this set the bar even lower still.

Turns out Google puts a cryptic link to a roundup of quotations by Andrew Young(s) above its general-news summary on that name, and the quote, from the former Atlanta mayor, described a beloved gorilla now starring in a documentary produced by him.

Lucky I didn't go to bed thinking John Edwards was flirting shamelessly with women, like an animal...

news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22andrew+young%22&btnG=Search+News

I think that it's sad, and I understand his apology. Why not take it at face value? His political life might well be over now.

"Beliefnet. Inspiration. Spirituality. Faith."

And if you go to Beliefnet, you can find:

Edwards: Narcissistic Twerp to the End
Obama as Antichrist liberal freakout

and a constant spewing of venom that disgraces the conservative cause.

Rod, you don't need to disable your comboxes. You need to visit one of those monasteries you think should get someone else's billions.

Rod:

This post is why I don't often come around anymore. This blog was once in my RSS feed; now I just poke my head in occasionally to see what's going on.

I am, admittedly, a liberal whose Christian faith lapsed a long time before I started reading you. There's not much we ever agreed upon. But I was a reader because, even in moments where I strongly disagreed with you, I thought I detected a note of grace. (Well, that, and you seem to yank Jonah Goldberg's chain, so that's cool, too.) Memorably, you offered kind words about Andrew Sullivan upon his marriage. Don't get me wrong: I never thought you a secret liberal; but I sometimes thought you were the conservative Christian I might aspire to be if I were (again) a conservative Christian: thoughtful, intellectual and humble. One, and perhaps two, of those three pillars seem to be lacking in your present writing.

Don't get me wrong: I hope Elizabeth kicked John in a sensitive spot when she found out. His behavior is condemnable. But I'm surprised to find no hint of your former grace in this post. (Though I appreciate your self-awareness in posting this under "casting stones.") You're a man who has written honestly about your struggles to maintain sexual purity during your single days. Does that struggle no longer apply to you now that you're married? (I'm talking about fidelity here, not celibacy.) If so: You're a better man than I am. And if not, how is it possible that your empathy seems to have deserted you entirely in this moment.

Condemn John Edwards. He deserves it. But name-calling snark does not become you. And it makes me less likely to listen to whatever else you might have to say.

With respect,
Joel

There are great men with tragic flaws that bring them down. There also are humbugs who finally are unmasked.

Edwards was a disgraceful and manipulative humbug before he did or didn't inseminate his mistress. (Who cares, anyway? The adultery is the blot, not the baby.) in his trial lawyer days, he "channelled" for the jury a little girl who died through obstetrical malpractice, though as a politician he'd gladly have seen her aborted had her mother willed it so. As a politician, he assured us that Christopher Reeve would have risen from his chair of affliction and flown again had only Dubya allowed embryonic stem cell research. Oh, yes: and the answer about marital fidelity he gave to Katie Couric back in the day.

He was, hands down, the sleaziest of the Democrat candidates; all the others shone in comparison. I am glad of his unmasking because his continuation in public life would have been bad for the country.

I can only hope that others - even if they don't express it quiet so (Ahem!) forcefully as Rod - are not taken in by what appears to me to be a fake repentance by a man who has posed so long as to permanently lose touch with the soul that once, presumable, was in The Millworker's Son.

Rod,

What should he have said?!?!

Look, I know many of you believe that it's unseemly for me to slap Edwards around like this. But consider: here is a man who ran for president, knowing he had this in his background. He trotted his wife and kids out to be a part of his campaign pitch in a way that far exceeded anything any of his opponents did. When his wife's cancer returned, he went on "60 Minutes" with her, and held up his fidelity to her in her suffering as a testimonial to the kind of man he is. He even said -- I have quoted it elsewhere on this site -- that the public should examine his private life, because it will tell them something about the kind of president he'd make.

And so now, that has happened, and we know by his own standard what kind of president he'd make: a shameless, smarmy, devious, self-centered, unfaithful one. He has been hoist on his own petard, by his own doing. Look, it would be wrong to take pleasure in the fall of another; I wish that he had never cheated on his wife and done these other things (we're learning this morning that the Dallas lawyer who handled his finances paid off Rielle Hunter -- was that campaign cash, donations from people who wanted to see him be president, and who had their donations go in hush money to the Other Woman?), but he did, and I think it's important to make politicians who do this sort of thing pay a public price in dishonor for their actions. As a society, we have to say, you can't get away with this and have your reputation intact.

I feel exactly the same way about people like Newt Gingrich. I don't want to hear Newt moralizing about how the country is going to hell under libertine morals. Not the way he's behaved. It's important to grant people forgiveness and grace when they've repented, but some of y'all seem to be asking for cheap grace for Edwards. The guy held himself out as a paragon of public morality, as the paladin of the righteous side of Two Americas. Well, it turns out that there were two John Edwardses. I want my boys to see that when a man behaves so dishonorably towards his wife and children, and towards his public duties, that there is a severe price to be paid in loss of honor. I also want them to see that it is possible for any man who dishonors himself to be restored. Finally, I want them to see that the way John Edwards is handling this crisis is not the way to restore lost honor.

Look, you know I come from the South, and I have old-fashioned ideas about chivalry. That's not going to change. If Edwards had handled all this differently, I would still be angry at him for his hypocritical charade (as, you'll recall, I was angry at Larry Craig). But the way he's chosen to deal with it, while true to his character, compounds the shamefulness of it all.

Problem is that this post reveals much more about you than John Edwards. He is being publicly reviled as we write.

It's your need to join in the fray and the tone you use that is troublesome.

Being from the South is no more excuse than being from Boston.

Seems to me there is room for discussion of the proper interplay between the ideals of Christian mercy, forgiveness, charity and the like and pre-Christian and extra-Christian values of honor and shame. Which value set is more socially useful? Have Christian values made honor and shame unnecessary as an instruments of ordering society? Have Christian values destroyed honor and shame? Can we toss honor and shame in our lives knowing that we can call on Christian values in others to cover our dishonor and shame? Is our cultural breakdown a matter of falling down between two chairs?

Rod on Edwards: "He even said -- I have quoted it elsewhere on this site -- that the public should examine his private life, because it will tell them something about the kind of president he'd make."

Wow, is that interesting. That is exactly what Gary Hart said. He invited the press to follow him around and examine his private life. Sure enough, right after that the media found pictures of him with Donna Rice.

I wonder what it is about politicians who do this. Hart and Edwards are not the only examples. They do something immoral, something they know will end their political careers if they are caught, and then they invite the press to scrutinize their private life. What is the psychological reason for this? Is it arrogance, like "I've gotten away with it so far, go ahead and try your best!" Or is it something more sympathetic, like a form of self-sabotage; maybe they know in their conscience that what they are doing is wrong, and the only way for it to end is public exposure and humiliation.

I appreciate the comments here (and the one quoted from Powerline - that was a pleasant surprise) that emphasize we need to have grace and humility as we confront these types of failings in other people. I also agree with Rod's point that it matters very much how repentance is handled. Therapeutic psychobabble is not the same as repentance and the asking of forgiveness, and public figures should apologize to the public.

Going back to the comparison with Gary Hart, I recommend that Rod and the commenters here read about Donna Rice - what happened to her before the affair (she was raped after college, which drove her into an immoral lifestyle), and how she has conducted herself after the affair was exposed (she is a Christian who fights pornography). There's a lot to learn from someone like her about the tragedy and dignity of human life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Rice

But the news is not all bad for Democrats. First, Obama is pretty much soaked in Teflon when it comes to family matters. Second, it could be a lot worse: What if Edwards had actually won the nomination? And third, it introduces marital infidelity back into the conversation.

Recall: John McCain returned to the United States from Vietnam in March 1973. His wife, Carol, had been in a near-fatal car accident while he was gone. She was overweight, on crutches, and 4 inches shorter than when McCain had left. McCain ended up divorcing Carol for Cindy Hensley, his current wife. Carol has remained mostly silent on her marriage to John, except for one notable comment to a McCain biographer: “John was turning 40 and wanting to be 25 again.”

There were legal complications, too. The Los Angeles Times reported in June that McCain obtained a marriage license while still legally married to his first wife. McCain suggested in his autobiography that he divorced Carol months before marrying Cindy. In fact, that period was about five weeks. He also said that for the first nine months of his relationship with Cindy, he still “cohabited” with Carol. Social conservatives were never McCain’s base, but yes, it could get worse.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

I'm just sayin'.

I have a deep-seated aversion to pointing fingers. I don't think it is even charity, it is just natural to me. I hold myself to some pretty high standards, but don't assume everyone else wants to sign up for them too. For this reason, and for the fact that Edwards is not the nominee, I'm not sure why this is newsworthy. Well, let me amend that. Sure, it is worth mentioning. But sitting in the chow hall here through a few meals, as well as watching at work (though it plays on mute there,) every station carried a full ten or fifteen minutes about Edwards. The fact that Georgian towns are taking hundreds of rockets and God knows how much else artillery, resulting in thousands of deaths (and I think this may be conservative)? Yeah, that merited about 30 seconds. Iraq negotiations which could lead to a withdrawal of U.S. troops, at Iraq's request, IF Kirkuk doesn't disintegrate first? 45 seconds. The OLYMPICS? Five or six minutes.

Look, I know Americans prefer to focus on domestic news. But surely no one believes anymore that they are safely insulated from the rest of the planet?

First, amen to AnotherBeliever's post regarding the 'significance' of this 'news' beyond initial dart Tossing disgust. Jeez.

Posting here what I posted elsewhere:
Anyone who knows men ( I am one and can read them like tea leaves ) could see... in a coma... that this guy was a circumstantial player. Meaning, if the planets lined up, he'd lie down now and lie later. No few 'Pretty boys' have a pretty good time pretty much of the time. And no few are good at keeping that under the covers.

Newsworthy per AnotherBeliever? Briefly at best we say.

Edwards was always a lip-sync pop-tart snack food for the intellectually overweight and lazy. And in 2008 yesterday's news even before he was the CNN-via-Enquirer pinup donkey du jour.
That said, methinks there's been one hell of a lot of tabloid threads on respectable blogs donated to this 'story' and it smells small once it's overplayed.

I think Rod is mostly right in this. I believe that hypocrites like Edwards deserve everything they get, and I believe that hypocrites like McCain deserve it too. They both cheated. The only difference is that Edwards was lying to the country while he cheated on a dying wife, while McCain was only lying to his family. Not much of a difference, but a difference. Edwards' lies speak more to his sense of reason and discretion and ability to lead than anything else. A stupid man does what Edwards did, especially in the 21st century, when cameras are everywhere, and even the MSM will sever their friendship when the story becomes known. This is not 1960 and JFK.

I personally think that much adultery -- not all, of course -- would end if society would ostracize the adulterer. Gingrich, for instance, should have been abandoned by conservatives after his actions. Instead, his smarmy smiling face can be seen on the National Review site. This is not about "forgiveness." This is about justice, and I believe that what Rod said is right: these men should just go away, for a substantial period of time, as a penance, and then, maybe it would be a little easier to forgive.

I say all this as someone whose husband cheated and expressed less remorse than Edwards. He has maintained his career, while I have had to pick up the pieces and try to start over. Justice exists somewhere, but it's not here in this life.

MJ

Exactly in what way did Reagan or McCain 'turn their lives around'?

They both simply continued to dump the woman in their past, marry the woman of the future, and continue on their merry way. I really saw no 'turning lives around'.

The only difference is that it HAPPENED before they entered politics. Not that they somehow did some kind of recompense or penance or 'life changing' in that interim.

And by those strong marriages and fidelity, are you talking about to the first wife or the second? I notice you didn't include McCain in that list.

Noticed this while perusing God's Politics. It seem to speak to the heart of a Christian response to this news:

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted.

- Galatians 6:1

"Those men messed up, but then realized it and turned their lives around before entering politics."

John McCain met Cindy Hensley and began dating her in April 1979 while married to and not separated from his wife Carol. In April 1980, his divorce became final. In May 1980, he married Cindy. In early 1981, he retired from the Navy and became a vice president in Cindy's father's beer distribution company. In 1982, suddenly rich and well-connected, he ran for an won a US House seat from Arizona.

Now, McCain had been the Navy's liason to the US Senate and he was a famous war hero. He may well have ended up in Congress anyhow. But McCain's particular career path in Arizona, his sudden rise to wealth and political power in a state which which he had no prior connection. is inseparable from his initially adulterous relationship with his current wife. I'm struggling to find that period of atonement and introspection in JM's life.

i do feel for his wife,
the loss of a child,
a horrible disease,
and an idiot for a husband
- she must be very strong- yes, strong-

i am,
though,
so glad he won't be vice- pres.

I would never commit adultery and find the act morally despicable. I do not think I would be big enough to personally forgive it!
However, American politicians are responsible for torture, the use of uranium-depleted munitions and cluster bombs, a war that can now be termed “a war of aggression” without any reservations and arming countless despots, among other actions that amount to major human rights violations. The forging of documents and lying to the public to lead them into a war that kills hundreds of thousands of civilians are crimes against humanity.
Trust me, from an outside perspective adultery is not the vice the American public should be concerned about.

He who lives in glass house should not cast stones.

What was it exactly that the Bible said about forgiveness again?....Wasn't there also something in there about casting the first stone? I may have read that in there somewhere as well. I'm almost sure of it.

The feeling of moral superiority the author of this article finds is no less narcissistic really.

While I find Edwards' behavior reprehensible, I find misleading the American public into an unjust war, condoning torture, and killing innocent civilians to be just as reprehensible as an act of adultery. Who commits the bigger sin here?

Remember Romans 3:23? We are all in the same boat here and if you're blogging from this conservative Christian angle, I'd just remind you to go over your playbook before you start pointing fingers.

I think it's far more morally reprehensible to go about defending with all your vigor the mass murder of innocent children with no right to choose anything than a war where people are CHOOSING to fight.

The babies murdered in abortion have no right to choose anything! ..And that is worse than any of the things mentioned above.

That said John Mccain's affair was decades ago when he was a young man and I promise you it was not with a hooker while his children waited for him at home and it was not during the time he was in office...HUGE DIFFERENCE. You Clintonites still can't figure out why it sets a bad example for an elected leader to turn our government buildings into brothels with our tax money??

By the way Rod Dreher is NOT cheating on his wife and IS at home taking care of his children...Therefore I believe he has the right to get upset with an ultra hypocritical leftist blowhard like Edwards who exerts so much immoral influence on our youth and who clearly pushes his leftist doctrines to make it easier for him and his fat cat friends to buy up the daughters of American taxpayers!

"Liberal" or "conservative" one must agree that this man deserves a bit of perfect hate for his massive ego..something he shares with Obama, but is yet another example of how he differs from Mccain!