All Posts Tagged With: "Story"

Well, we finally found a story that the mainstream media can sink it’s teeth into: John Edwards’ infidelity. Honestly, if some of the real issues facing this nation received this kind of scrutiny, we might inspire the American people to help solve them. Instead, the mainstream media is indulging the public in the most unbelievable case of voyeurism I’ve seen in a long while. And, really, let’s get off the soapbox: This isn’t about John Edwards’ character or how he would serve as president. It isn’t even about the election, except in the minds of the Clinton supporters, who are now making the absurd claim that it cost her the primary. How you ask? Well, if Edwards had confessed sooner, Hillary would have gotten his supporters. The fact is that Edwards is a private citizen. He isn’t serving in Congress and he isn’t a candidate for president.

This is about someone with name recognition cheating on his spouse and lying about it. I dare say that is something we’d probably all do should we be caught in the same situation. And, lest I be accused of being a feminist pig, I’m talking about cheating women as well as men. I was struck by the absurdity of all of this as I sat in a hospital waiting room the other day watching CNN. I needed comic relief and I got it. The Larry King Live show was featuring that cute little waif, Nancy Pelosi, fresh off her book tour. I think the name of the book is Know Your Power : A Message to America’s Daughters. I’d have to say that she’s not the shining beacon on that front. She, however, is a different post for a different day. Anyway, back to the issue at hand. If Pelosi wasn’t enough to entice you, there was going to be a follow up on the John Edwards affair! Riveting, critical news. Critical in what context?

The mainstream media is now declaring Edwards’ political career over. Done. Finished. Kaput. That’s absurd also. There are other folks in office right now whose transgressions are literally heinous. They are still running the country. The mainstream media is barely exposing these issues, however. The corporate media machine simply receives the news from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and parrots it to an unsuspecting public. We’re all too busy getting the lowdown on the Edwards affair anyway. We don’t have time for the real issues. I have groundbreaking news as well: The American public has a very short memory. By the time they buried Richard Nixon, he was being hailed as a great American. This too shall pass. Just ask John McCain how that works.

John McCain, a current Senator and a presidential contender, is a known cheater and has even confessed to multiple infidelities in his books. It’s a fact that he was still married and living with wife number one when he started courting 25-year-old beautiful and rich Cindy, his present wife. He basically divorced his first wife and then launched his political career using Cindy’s money. He’s front and center in this race and the media hasn’t touched it. Nobody talks about that anymore because that was 1979. If the media wanted fresh blood, they had it earlier this year when an alleged tryst was uncovered between McCain and lobbyist Vicki Iseman, but the maverick told the media it’s “not true” and they took him at his word and let it pass.

Of course, nobody talks about serial cheater Newt Gingrich either. Newt had an affair and divorced his first wife while she was recovering from uterine cancer. Then in 1999, he was caught in yet another affair with a 33-year-old congressional aide. And here’s the kicker on that one: He was caught in this scandal as he was spearheading the impeachment of Bill Clinton for a consensual extra-marital liaison. So, I find it hard to understand why Edwards’ career should be over. All things being equal, by the time Edwards chooses to run again (if he ever does), this will be mere beauty salon chat.

Newspapers across the nation are cutting back on staff, including reporters and editors. Covering these stories is giving these folks some practice in case they ever get laid off. They’ll need portfolio tear sheets anyway for their interviews with People and Us magazines.