Will He Or Won't She?
Edwards wants a paternity test! Hunter wants to "maintain her privacy and her daughter's privacy," said her lawyer (via a WaPo Lois Romano and Howard Kurtz story). Way convenient, huh?
Gotta wonder how many people in the Edwards/Hunter camp are trying to put together used Edwards styrofoam coffee cups and Rielle Hunter baby burp towels. Now, there's a woman who should hoard her garbage!
A few incredibles from the Romano/Kurtz story. First, the bit about the baby:
Last week, the Enquirer published a blurry photo of a man who looks like Edwards holding a baby. The tabloid said the photo was taken at the hotel."I don't know if that picture is me," Edwards said. "It could well be. It looks like me. I don't know who that baby is. I have no idea what the picture is."
When pressed by Woodruff, Edwards continued: "I mean, do you know how many pictures have been taken of me holding children in the last three years? I mean, it happens all the time."
At the Beverly Hilton? Another incredible:
Fred Baron, a friend of Edwards and a campaign fundraiser, acknowledged yesterday that he had helped Hunter financially so that she could move to what ABC described as a $3 million home in Santa Barbara.
Awww, how sweet. Does he offer that option to anyone who's a girl? I mean, Lucy and I are girls. Let us know when we can move into a $3 million home, courtesy of you. We'll take Santa Monica, near the Palisades, thanks.
When in doubt, go with Kaus! (Scroll down from the linked piece to just buckets of the Edwards stuff.)
And Ted Frank, in Overlawyered's comments (the Baron link above), has this:
The Fred Baron donations are potentially the biggest story, because undisclosed money spent to benefit a presidential candidate is, I believe, a felony.
Whoopsy!
Now, see why it's a much better idea to help Lucy and me move up in the housing world? An ocean view for us! No jail time for you! It's just win-win all around!
Meanwhile, Lucy and I thank whomever donated $50 to our Amazon link on this page. We'll get to that $3 million dwelling, even without a Baron of our own!
Comments
I really don't understand why anyone cares a whit about this affair. Do the two innocent people here, Elizabeth Edwards and the child, deserve our gawking and intrusion?
His political career is ruined, for an emotional indiscretion none of us will ever understand. That is more than enough punishment.
Posted by: Eric at August 10, 2008 8:41 AM
His political career was a no-go for me from the start.
Posted by: Amy Alkon at August 10, 2008 9:01 AM
I agree. He was totally useless as a VP candidate...
Posted by: Eric at August 10, 2008 9:06 AM
Was anyone else a little put off their breakfast by that interview of Edwards by ABC? The tone was all phony moral outrage, thinly disguising the almost masturbatory lust for details. Questions on the political impact, the money angle, yes. Questions like, 'How could you do this to her?' Ick.
Posted by: christina at August 10, 2008 9:11 AM
I wrote a bunch of snotty emails about him this weekend, then realized that I probably voted for him in May 2004.
This has been a good year for sex scandals, hasn't it? 9/11 was just a distraction! Craig! Mosely! Spitzer! Edwards! Poontang is back, and it's stank-ier than ever!
Anyway, I don't think women should be hounded to get paternity tests if they don't want them. It's the essence of one's own beeswax.....
Posted by: Crid [cridcridatgmail] at August 10, 2008 9:59 AM
And for the record, I disagree with Eric (a little)... Heaping opprobrium is a decent response here. For all we know, Edwards was obviously a cad from the word go, and maybe Elizabeth took a bad risk marrying him. The marketplace is always working to refine the judgment of its players. I feel bad for the kids, but we always feel bad for the kids, too. I feel bad for Larry Craig's great-great-grandchildren, and they're probably not here yet.
Remember that Harvard Law sextoy Silda? I got the feeling during Elliot's press conference that she was still learning things.
Posted by: Crid [cridcridatgmail] at August 10, 2008 10:07 AM
I realized the first time I ever saw him what a completely phoney and hypocrite he is. Appealing for funds based on his wife's health care problems was beyond the pale. Yet so many didn't seem to notice.
Even now, I'm sure that many are saying, "Oh that poor John Edwards, how difficult it must have been for him to need to seek other female companionship."
Good riddens!
Posted by: Robert W. at August 10, 2008 10:27 AM
If Edwards' PAC paid for his playmate, that's more than just middle-aged lust. If he's got a donor paying hush money, but calling it donations, that's a problem as well.
He and his wife might have had an arrangement, but I don't see why taxpayers have to play along. And check out the Newsweek reporter's CYA story.
Posted by: Kate at August 10, 2008 4:38 PM
A hooker would've been much cheaper.
Posted by: VIC CARS at August 11, 2008 2:37 AM
"Anyway, I don't think women should be hounded to get paternity tests if they don't want them. It's the essence of one's own beeswax....."
I don't know this whole story, she may not have come out saying that it's his kid and she may not be asking for anything from him. But, if a woman DOES claim her kid is a particular man's, then yes she should have to take a paternity test. Even if she's not asking for money, if a man is being named the father, he should have the right to proof. Now, a woman who is keeping mum on the subject should not have to. Unless teh potential dad wants his rights to coparent the kid. Ugh, it gets messy. Birth control, people, birth control!
Posted by: momof3 at August 11, 2008 7:16 AM
Yeah, all Edward's talk is B.S., but HELLLO! Hunter doesn't want a paternity test because she wants to "maintain her privacy and her daughter's privacy"??? Um, if you value privacy, here's an idea: Don't fuck married politicians and have unprotected sex and then report it to the media. Crikey! And yes, if you're trying to get someone to support your child you HAVE to prove paternity.
Posted by: Monica at August 11, 2008 7:19 AM
She never claimed he was the dad. Someone else did, and the father was unnamed on the birth certificate.
Posted by: christina at August 11, 2008 8:43 AM
