My e-mail to John Edwards

[Haole Girl]

(It was sent back "Delivery to the following recipients failed.")

I don't know if this will ever reach anyone who works with John Edwards or not, but I had to tell someone, possibly associated with John Edwards, how I feel.

Yes, it is about John Edwards' admission, of paternity, today.

I consider myself a very liberal-minded and progressive person. Even so, I cannot forgive John Edwards for how he handled his extra-marital affair and denial of his own child, as a result of that affair. I cannot.

John Edwards was the first political candidate I ever donated money to. Possibly, the last now... I don't know.

To say his supporters feel betrayed and disillusioned is an understatement. We feel "had." Foolish, might be a better word. At least, the ones I've spoken with today.

How can I ever believe another word that ever comes out of a politician's mouth? How can I?

I hope it was worth it to you, John.

That's all I wanted to say.

***

[AndyA]

1. I want my campaign donations back!

Edwards defrauded everyone who donated to him. He took our money knowing full well that he'd done something that would end his campaign dead if found out. And I'll bet someone found out, which explains why he was here in Tulsa taking donations the day before he dropped out.

Edwards is an attorney, he should know about FRAUD.

Give us our money back, Edwards. Shame on you for what you did to your family and to your supporters.

[Haole Girl]

3. I don't want my donations back, but...

I can't help but wonder if my money went toward paying off campaign aids. :-(

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. It's already been spent

Videographers don't come cheap.

[Haole Girl]

26. You know what, AndyA?

I've changed my mind. I would like my donations back also.

[cali]

2. I always knew he was a slimy charlatan. He positively emanated it

and boy, did I get a lot of shit for daring to speak against him during the day.

[Haole Girl]

4. His message is what I listened to

I try, much to my own demise sometimes, not to judge a book by its cover.

[cali]

5. His record in the Senate is what I looked at as well as his

positions during his first run, his behavior during his first run and crap like his going to work for Fortress. Information. That's how I knew he was a slimy pos.

[stopbush]

14. Agreed. He totally lost me when he refused to endorse gay marriage, using

his Xian faith as an excuse.

He's just like all the other self-serving religionists out there, treating gays like second-class citizens while pontificating from his stupid faith's bigotries.

I don't trust these too-good-to-be-true types. I had the same problems with Tiger Woods.

[ParkieDem]

22. Me, too.

After living in SE Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, I cannot fathom why in the world we Democrats associate with sleazebag plaintiff's lawyers like John Edwards. They give our party, and the rest of the legal profession (not to mention the GOOD plaintiff's lawyers) a terrible name.

People like John Edwards are just like big corporations, preying on the naivite of simple folk. They are some of the most narcissistic bastards you'll ever meet -- more so, I dare say, than many CEOs out there. Well, I home John's narcissism takes a big strong hit from now on (although he's already trying to rehabilitate his image by going to Haiti).

[jesus_of_suburbia]

6. My hope is that he plays a role in his child's life so that she knows

he loves her when she gets old enough to understand that he rejected her at first.

She will be fine so long as he truly plays a siginificant role in her life.

[Haole Girl]

7. I hope so, too.

If, and only if, he can be a positive influence in her life. And not just monetarily.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

10. "And not just monetarily."

Yep.

He needs to step up to the plate emotionally. His child will have no worries as far as money goes. The courts will insure that (as they should).

[Haole Girl]

11. She's a very pretty child

I just saw a video with pics of her... she has John's eyes.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/john-edwards-accepted-paternity-andrew-youngs-book/story?id=9632807

[Pyrzqxgl]

8. I saw John Edwards on CNN's "Crossfire" back when he was a Senator.

I predicted then a bright future for him. One I still think he could have had
if he'd kept his pecker in his pants. Too bad. He had some good ideas that
will probably be put off for awhile. The failings of the man doesn't mean that
the issues he stood for weren't worth taking a 2nd look at.

[Haole Girl]

9. I haven't heard any other candidate talk about removing special interest groups from Washington

I hope someday they will.

[cali]

12. they all talk about it. it's a meaningless as a casual smile

and JE had a nice little conservadem/corporate record in the senate, belying his pretty words.

[jsamuel]

16. no others have ever attacked them like he did in the primary

it was a whole 'nother level that no one else with a chance to win has touched. But that is but one of the issues where he did things others did not. Unfortunately, he had to go and mess it all up for he had some sort of pit inside him that could not be quenched.

[tom_paine]

18. to be honest, The Corporations turned his volume knob down waaaay low

to help finsih him off.

Even though he polled 3rd in basically a 3-way tie in Iowa, the Corporate Bushiganda was that it was already a 2-person race. And they turned down Edwards' volume, just like that, almost to zero, until he had some serial failures and was pretty much out of it.

Standard Bushie Op.

To be fair, he destroyed himself with his affairs. (funny how they never seem to impede Bushies like Craig or Vitter - who got a standing O in the Senate - to top off the Orwellian picture)

Oh well, the minute he opened his mouth and directly challenged the Rulers of America, his campaign was doomed, whether he had the affair or not.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

21. Not "whether he had an affair or not"--if he had won the nom we'd be under President McCain now

with VP Palin.

Yes, it sucks there is a double standard with Dems and Repubs and it sucks that people in the U.S. care more about affairs than people in France-BUT THAT IS THE WAY IT IS. Every politician knows this. And then for the double whammy, he actually has a KID he denied.

[tom_paine]

41. True, but it speaks not to my point

As far as being resigned, to "that's the way it is" that kind of limpness for four decades from our Party is what allowed the Bushies to set up their perfect simulaion of reality as ironclad narrartive and driver of our National Dialogue, so to speak.

Of course, now things are so far gone along and cement, "that's the way it is" is just about all the answers we Jews, sorry, Liberals, have at this late stage of our own "1933 German revolution".

You seem to be mistaking my comments for a defense of Edwards' actions. Not so.

I am just making a statement of fact, kid or not, affair or not, the minute he used the Corporations' microphones to denounce and "bite the hand that feeds him" was the minute he was destined to get some variation of "the Howard Dean treatment".

[tom_paine]

17. Too late for that - Bushiganda has redefined "special interest group" in the National Dialogue

it now means any bunch of citizens who band together and scrape together a few bucks to fight corporations.

Orwell was right and the Bushies have followed his recipe regarding language to a tee.

They couldn't have won so thoroughly or so easily if the Democrats didn't lie back for 30 years and happily take it.

But we did, and they did.

We have lost even the ability to articulate dissent, in many cases, as Orwell predicted.

Amazing.

[Hekate]

13. He should beg forgiveness of his older daughters, not the baby, because they're the ones who hear...

... all the gossip and are deeply hurt by it. The baby won't know for many, many years what a schmuck her father is -- but the children he had with Elizabeth are without a doubt in deep pain.

To us, he's a disappointment, but presumably we are adults and can manage to deal with it. Imagine how his kids feel.

Hekate

[hfojvt]

15. I don't feel had

Edwards spent more time talking about the poor and working class than all the other candidates combined. He was the first to come out with a specific health care plan. When Hillary's campaign was "I am inevitable and all the bigshots are endorsing me" and Obama's was "I am a centrist with the empty slogans of hope and change" Edwards had staked out policies which were furthest to the left. He talked about the two Americas with special attention to helping 'the other America'. It was the policies that I supported, more than the man. I don't regret supporting the policies at all. Any more than I regret supporting that other adulterer and liar about it - Jesse Jackson.

[last1standing]

19. If you feel the need to stick your nose into his personal sex life you deserve to be disappointed.

Edwards' sex life had nothing to do with his ability to run the country. If you demand that your politicians be pristine and uphold a moral code that fewer than 15% of the rest of the populace does then you will have a life of disappointments. Deservedly so.

What a failure of a letter. :eyes:

[Haole Girl]

25. There's a difference between expecting pristine and expecting...

honest use of campaign donations.

:eyes:

And, on a personal level, anybody who denies & lies about the paternity of their own child seems like a scum bag in my book.

[last1standing]

29. If he used his donations in an unlawful manner, then join a class action suit.

And on a personal level, you can think he's scum all you like but if you're going to vote for the most pristine acting politician, you're going to end up voting for a lot of hypocritical republicans.

Posting your "I'm so offended" letter on DU is going to cause you to get some push-back. Too bad we can't all just accept and live by your moral code, huh?

[Haole Girl]

31. Bullshit. I don't have any higher "moral code" than the next person

That being said, I would not deny being the parent of my own child.

And, btw, I WILL join a class action suit, now that I'm thoroughly pissed off, if given the opportunity.

Oh, and if Edwards used campaign contributions illegally I hope he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[last1standing]

33. LOL! You go for that.

:rofl:

[Haole Girl]

36. I will sue, if given the opportunity, now that I've had time to think it over. nt

[last1standing]

39. Great idea! I'm sure you'll get what you deserve.

In fact, I think you already have.

[Haole Girl]

40. And, just what is that... since you know me so well?

Do tell.

[Raineyb]

20. I have no clue why you give two shits about his personal life

What he said hasn't changed because he screwed around on his wife.

Get a grip.

[Haole Girl]

24. I give two shits about the fact he used campaign donations to pay off his aid...

and mistress.

YOU get a grip.

[garybeck]

32. Here's why it matters A LOT.

he was messing around DURING the campaign for president.

can you freaking imagine if he had gotten the nomination??

and then during the general election the facts start coming out??

it would have been a McCain victory, no doubt.

Or if he managed to keep it under raps, got elected, and then it started to come out while he was president?? It would have made the Lewinsky affair look like Sesame Street.

So while technically you are correct that his personal life has little to do with his political stand, the fact that he was doing it during the campaign for president shows a complete lack of caring for the country and the party. It was like playing with matches in a room full of dynamite. He knew it and he still went ahead with it. His ONLY saving grace is that he bowed out of the race. Then it's perfectly fine to not care about his personal life. But if he's running for president, we might not care what he's doing in his personal life but we have to recognize the political implications of it. If you think that has no meaning, you're in lala land.

[Haole Girl]

38. ..

:thumbsup:

[BlueStater]

27. He may have been a phony but he was saying things the others should have been saying.

And, quite unfortunately, Obama isn't exactly proving himself right now of being any less of a phony.

[Haole Girl]

37. Unfortunately, I agree with you on both counts.

:-(

[zonkers]

28. Edwards is a piece of shit. We know. Old news.

[LostInAnomie]

30. I have no regrets about donating to him.

He was saying things that needed to be said during the campaign and the simple fact of him being on stage pulled the conversation to the left. I couldn't give two shit about his personal life.

[Toasterlad]

34. It Always Amuses Me When Someone SupposesThat ANY Politician Is More Than a Weasel in Human Skin.

Even the best of them, the ones who actually give a shit, wouldn't be where they are without a complete willingness to lie, cheat and steal. And the further along they get, the more true that is.

[HipChick]

35. I agree...but I will give Edwards some props..he did show up in Haiti..

I'm taking bets for when Bush will show up..