The Stoning of John Edwards

First off, probably a quarter to half of the people currently wringing their hands over Edwards’ extramarital affair have cheated, are cheating, or will cheat on their own spouse.

It’s not the kind of thing you’re supposed to talk about in polite company and it runs contrary to a lot of romantic/religious notions that people have, but monogamy is a fairly recent invention and is by no means natural. I’m just saying, keep in mind the ridiculous level of hypocrisy at work here.

Yes, he lied. Yes, it could have hurt his party’s chances, although it’s probably better that this distraction didn’t surface during the primaries. I do understand the disappointment of the people who defended him in good faith. You could even argue that people expect better-than-average behavior from their politicians, although the current gang of thugs and robber barons in power certainly speaks against that.

However, most of the sanctimonious commentators criticizing him would not have done any differently in his situation, and quite a few of them are in his situation.

Statistically, there is a significant portion of high-ranking politics/news people that have stories of infidelity of their own, so I’m assuming that we’ll soon see hundreds of these people come out and admit their own affairs in the name of honesty. Come on, who wants to go first?

*chirp!* *chirp!*

August 10, 2008 - Posted by naturalcode | Politics | affair, Democrat, hypocrisy, infidelity, John Edwards, life, marriage, monogamy, news, Politics, religion, sex | 4 Comments

4 Comments »

I’m a recovering sex addict, with a wife who knows every sordid detail. That said, I think you’re missing why the stones are being thrown.

He didn’t just quietly have a fling. He lied about it repeatedly, and said directly that his vow to his wife was the most important promise he ever made. Sorry, but if that’s how he treats the most important promise he ever made, I don’t think he has the integrity to be the town dog catcher. And I think the same is true of anyone who lives by deception, regardless of their political stripes.

How can I trust someone to lead if they can’t take responsibility for their mistakes without being caught?

Everyone does something stupid now and then; the question for me is do they have enough integrity to own up and ‘fess up, or do they just cover up?

Comment by mnrecovery | August 10, 2008 | Reply
I guess my question is why would the edwards scandel hurt republicans so much when we had a president who was having an affair with an intern in the oval office with his wife and kid upstairs and the whole country wanted to turn a blind eye to that? Seems sort of hypocritical to me. I have been the “wife” of a cheater and it hurts like hell. the fact that they started to work it through way back in 06 says that at least they are working towards repairing their marriage and not ignoring it. AND it is no one else’s business at this point…he is not in the campaigne or election…he is just a man with a family. Monogomy may not be “natural” to you….but it is what God wanted when he said “two become one!” It may take work but it is possible to have a monogomous marriage! Shame on you for thinking otherwise!

Comment by lwayswright | August 10, 2008 | Reply
“He didn’t just quietly have a fling. He lied about it repeatedly, and said directly that his vow to his wife was the most important promise he ever made.”

Marriage is certainly not one of the most important promises a politician makes, unless you’re that politician’s spouse.

I’m sure it was important to him, but compared to oaths of office and election promises, it ranks rather low on the list of a politician’s commitments than people should care about.

“Monogomy may not be “natural” to you….but it is what God wanted when he said ‘two become one!’ It may take work but it is possible to have a monogomous marriage! Shame on you for thinking otherwise!”

I will not be ashamed for “thinking otherwise”. I never said than monogamy was impossible or even that I personally was opposed to it, I just pointed out that it’s far from universal or even common in human history. It’s a fairly recent invention, it’s not entirely compatible with our instincts, and so it should not surprise or shock us when people aren’t entirely monogamous.

If you really want to argue theology, monogamy isn’t even that common in the Bible. See David, a man after God’s own heart, who had multiple wives and concubines.

Comment by naturalcode | August 10, 2008 | Reply
This article might give a little historical perspective.

How Is John McCain’s Affair Different from John Edwards’?

We have this weird notion in America now that if a politician is caught in an affair that his career is done. We seem to be saying that what he did in his private life effects his policies or how he governs. But we all know that isn’t true. We know that because almost all of our great presidents, and great leaders throughout history, have had numerous affairs. Obviously it didn’t hurt how they governed at all.

Comment by naturalcode | August 11, 2008 | Reply