Playing politics
Sometimes my media siblings baffle me. Not my 680News siblings but those in other realms of media, in this case, in the U.S.
Since the John Edwards affair story started to bubble, it’s been fascinating to see how few of the major media outlets bothered to run with the story. There’s been some sort of strange cone of silence around the issue. Some say it’s out of respect for his wife, who’s very well-liked and is battling cancer. Others think there’s a double standard, and some sort of bizarre agreement that they keep their hands off the story.
Some time ago the National Enquirerbroke the story that claimed the withdrawn U.S. presidential candidate fathered a child with a campaign videographer who allegedly gave birth to his love child in February.
Edwards lied and lied and lied, until it became too much of a hot potato for the Democratic party whose members pressured him to say something and diffuse the situation. So he did. By admitting to an affair with the woman in 2006, but offering to do a paternity test to prove he’s not the baby’s father. Even though he’s no longer in the running for the White House, he is likely to be appointed to some sort of official role, and is therefore worthy of scrutiny.
Even if the hands-off approach was in deference to his wife, Elizabeth, doesn’t that make him even more of a cad, if he launched an affair with another woman while his wife was fighting for her life? Would any other politician get this kind of treatment? I think not.
The coverage, or lack thereof, of this story is the epitome of hypocrisy in light of the way any other political figure in a similar situation has been treated. That doesn’t mean all political figures are treated fairly but they should, at least, be treated the same. Edwards may have now sunk his political career, but at least he has finally come clean and admitted his ego got in the way of his judgment. I’ll say.