Monday, February 1, 2010

a definite double standard

I realized something after I hit publish on the last post. I dismiss those media accounts of Elizabeth Edwards possibly not being a very nice person. I do pause when I think of her defending him when she knew of the affair but he was still running for President, though I think that charade was also part of her denial/fear/worry/dread/victimhood (still lied to by Edwards)/anger of discovering the affair and not wanting it to be true, wanting to minimize its impact, to save what was her dream, too, of a happy marriage and high public office. In short, she gets a pass. I respect her and empathize to a certain extent with some of her pain, and know I've never experienced the extent of pain she has. And I think the accounts of her behavior are exaggerated, mostly reported anonymously, and written through a prism of politics, not real life.

But the other woman? Those exact same media accounts that call EE a shrew and harpy (namely the Game Change book as well as the one by the repellent aid of Edwards) describe the other woman as pretty much a kook. And I have totally accepted that as obvious fact. Clearly she's a kook, a hanger-on, brazen, shameless, a desperate Other Woman.

I suppose the good news is we'll never know, will we? (Until, god help us, she writes her own book and sits down for her tell all with whomever. Now that I think about it, the fact that she hasn't sought publicity probably means something - still getting paid off? hopeful of reuniting with Edwards?)

I'm done with this story, I really am, but I was surprised to realize the logical gap in my interpretation of this situation.

4 comments:

niobe said...

As to why we haven't heard more from the other woman, I'd definitely go with the paid off explanation.

kenju said...

I happened here by accident of clicking "next blog". I am so disgusted by the whole John Edwards business, and I'm not sure how I feel about Andrew Young's book - I haven't seen it yet. I met Andrew (4 years ago) and he seemed really bright and sincere. He was definitely enthralled by Edwards then. Rielle doesn't deserve any publicity, IMO, and certainly she has been paid off not to say anything. I feel very sorry for all the children who have been affected by this sordid affair, as well as Elizabeth - who gets a pass from me for ANY behavior she has.

Andrew told me that he thought John was the smartest person he'd ever met - until he met Elizabeth. I just wonder why she didn't believe it when the story broke, and why she continued to defend him for so long.

kenju said...

I happened here by accident of clicking "next blog". I am so disgusted by the whole John Edwards business, and I'm not sure how I feel about Andrew Young's book - I haven't seen it yet. I met Andrew (4 years ago) and he seemed really bright and sincere. He was definitely enthralled by Edwards then. Rielle doesn't deserve any publicity, IMO, and certainly she has been paid off not to say anything. I feel very sorry for all the children who have been affected by this sordid affair, as well as Elizabeth - who gets a pass from me for ANY behavior she has.

Andrew told me that he thought John was the smartest person he'd ever met - until he met Elizabeth. I just wonder why she didn't believe it when the story broke, and why she continued to defend him for so long.

Lisse said...

I think Rielle (sp?) is waiting for Elizabeth to die. Whether she really has any hope of a relationship with Edwards after his wife is gone, I do not know, but I think that is what she is hoping for.

Game Change, the book, and its authors, epitomize everything that is wrong with our political system. We are entirely too fixated on personal destruction rather than actual issues and their solutions.