RSS Feed MenuWhy oh why did John Edwards feel compelled to “acknowledge” his paternity of Rielle Hunter’s daughter on the Today show? What purpose can such a confession serve other than to further humiliate his children and erode what little remains of their privacy? Surely it cannot be a misguided attempt to revive his political career, or to rehabilitate his personal reputation.
Haven’t any of these confessional blabbers like Edwards and Mark Sanford ever considered that public figures that are generally admired, like Queen Elizabeth or the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis, are admired partly because they keep their mouths shut? Although individuals like Her Majesty have experienced repeated and worse public storms of gossip and scandal, she always rises above it by maintaining her silence – and thereby her dignity – at all times. Further public revelations like Edwards’, however, only diminish him further.
But that is not the worst thing about this. Don’t these individuals remember what life was like in grade school or junior high? What kind of day do you think Sanford’s four sons had at school after their Dad blithered away on national television about his “soul mate”? Did Edwards’ two younger children enjoy watching Dad on the Today show over their cornflakes as he revealed an illegitimate half-sibling? Are they in school today facing the stares, whispers and perhaps rude comments of the other kids?
The level of parental selfishness here always leaves me a bit staggered. If there were valid reasons maybe it could be justified. But the only real purpose such public confessions serve is the prurient interest of the populace, hardly a healthy objective. People make mistakes. Sometimes they hurt their families. But they don’t have to compound the hurt by running their yappers on television. Tiger, stay in the house. The rest of you just please shut up already.
wrs10 // Jan 21, 2010 at 12:54 pm
As I recall neither Queen Elizabeth not Jackie Kennedy Onassis had to win over the voters.
(and does anyone have to listen to John Edwars if they do not want to?)
David Granton // Jan 21, 2010 at 1:54 pm
hmm, are we comparing John Edwards to a Queen?
CentristNYer // Jan 21, 2010 at 2:28 pm
It was really the only way to put the matter to rest, painful as it was for all involved. The questions were going to continue to hound him and Elizabeth until he acknowledged what seemed to be an open secret.
And it was only going to get worse once Andrew Young’s book hit the stores in February.
Unlike Sanford’s “soul mate” confessions — which were of no value to his family — this acknowledgment at least gave the Edwardses the opportunity to move on and sort out the wreckage without having to continue to hide behind a screen of fake denials.
JeninCT // Jan 21, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Who cares if Edwards wants to confess? It’s him explaining his own business. I have much less of a problem with someone confessing their own sins than I have with candidates who have their staffs push to have private documents of their opponents released, like what Obama’s backers and staff did to Hull and Ryan in his 2004 state senate race.
Confession is good for the soul, and besides, life is messy.
DFL // Jan 21, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Mrs. Sidak is spot on right. I would only add that men like Edwards and Sanford could learn from Jack Profumo, the British Defense Minister who unknowingly shared prostitute Christine Keeler with a Soviet military attache in the early 60s. He lied about the affair in parliament, got caught, owned up, resigned from the MacMillan government and parliament, and spent the rest of his life quietly doing charity work. Profumo volunteered at the charity Toynbee House in the East End of London for many years, often scrubbing toilets. Jack Profumo redeemed himself after dishonoring himself so badly.
anniemargret // Jan 21, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Confession is only good for the soul if it is offered to God in true repentance and sincerity/to the person(s) who was offended and hurt by their actions and for the person to understand their the seriousness of what had been done and /to make reparation for their lives.
DFL: I like your description very much.
Frankly, I am sick and tired of all these holier than thou politicians (literally) caught with their pants down. One has to wonder if if had been women who had been cheating on their husbands if they would be given the same ‘understanding’ of human fraility . I doubt it .
The point is that we should expect people in authority to act responsibly and civilly and with decency while in office. They should put the honor of their office, their spouses and their families first…not cave into the first easy mark they can grab on the side.
And I would very much prefer if David Frum can remove Reille’s photo with her baby from these pages. I don’t see why anyone should enjoy see this smiling woman who committed adultery with a married family man. What is she smiling about? She hurt his family, willingly and selfishly. She ought to be ashamed. Edwards and Sanford ought to be ashamed. Edwards should have confessed the entire sordid episode immediately and then slither off the stage instead of it dribbling out over the months.
We need to come back to some basic principles of decency in this country.
communists-basher // Jan 21, 2010 at 7:01 pm
anniemargret:
Liberals and Religion can not coexist.
anniemargret // Jan 21, 2010 at 7:02 pm
communists-basher: In your universe only.
sinz54 // Jan 21, 2010 at 8:48 pm
anniemargaret: And I would very much prefer if David Frum can remove Reille’s photo with her baby from these pages. I don’t see why anyone should enjoy see this smiling woman who committed adultery with a married family man.
As I recall, FrumForum once featured a photo of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed too.
Not everybody whose photo appears on FrumForum is a saint.
anniemargret // Jan 22, 2010 at 8:37 am
Sinz: I didn’t expect ’saints’ to be on Frum’s page. But to see that woman smiling in a photo with her baby is pretty galling. She is now living in a million dollar mansion in Charlotte. Both she and the baby will be taken care of financially for the rest of their lives. This was her goal – to have a baby with Edwards because no sane adult woman gets herself pregnant unless she wants to. And you can be sure she won’t have any healthcare insurance worries!
I don’t expect sainthood for human beings. Because I fall short of that just like all people do. But I dislike this easy dismissal as ‘no big deal’ for these people . If Edwards and Sanford are excoriated for their actions – as they rightly should be – some of that excoration should lay on the shoulders of the women who shared in it. They knew what they were doing . The last thing that was on their minds was the emotional wounds they were lodging against the spouses of these men and their children. They wanted what they wanted .
So yes, I prefer not seeing Reille’s smiling face on this site and others. She has nothing to smile about.
andydp // Jan 22, 2010 at 8:48 am
Some goood points here but in the end it will boil down to this:
Its between the people involved and their God.
As for Edwards’ admission: (Crickets…)
sinz54 // Jan 22, 2010 at 9:34 am
anniemargaret: some of that excoration should lay on the shoulders of the women who shared in it. They knew what they were doing . The last thing that was on their minds was the emotional wounds they were lodging against the spouses of these men and their children. They wanted what they wanted .
I agree.
I myself had gotten hurt by another such woman in a similar situation.
Despite what they show on “Lifetime,” in real life sometimes the woman is the villain.