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it's like when i think back about one of my old boyfriends and say to myself, "i can't believe i used to like you."
lolsob
You have no idea how many times I think back on that phone call and just grit my teeth in rage.
And I won't even mention how much I got paid by the campaign for all my trouble. Suffice it to say it was not $100,000. Ahem.
My admiration for Elizabeth Edwards, however, remains boundless. I'm not sure how helpful it is to refer to Rielle Hunter as "pathetic," but Elizabeth Edwards is certainly entitled to anger. I don't feel that I can judge her for that, and she's been such an incredible advocate for progressive issues.
Hopefully, you can take some comfort in the fact that his hypocrisy is now out in plain view for all to see, and his political career is pretty much over as a result. As Graham pointed out, he earns his place in history being lumped into the same category of moral paragons as Newt Gingrich.
I occasionally say that Americans as a people worship hypocrisy (and I mean the cover-up, not the truth), but I really wasn't expecting to have another illustration of this so early in the month.
Newt Gingrich in the morning, eeeewwwwwwwwww.
Yeah, I know what you mean. In any conversation I had, I would say how he was my guy. I now cringe when I think of that. It's like putting on a wet, wool overcoat.
Fucker.
Just wonderin'
because they police their own... or... ummm... nevermind.
I admire some of the ideals for which John has fought, but at the same time to me there was always something a little bit too much televangelist about him for me to vote for him. There was always something about him that rubbed me the wrong way, although I still can't exactly explain what it is.
Anyway, Edwards was the more progressive voice in 2004 and 2008 and I am proud to support those issues (He actually talked about Poverty like it wasn't a deep shame of the individual!!! That's really revolutionary since Regan invented the "Welfare Queen")
Anyway, who he's turned out to be in her personal life, disappointing, yes, but I think that the American obsession with the bedroom is what allows David Vitter to wear diapers and "use" (rape) prostitutes in a brothel in New Orleans and be considered a sinner but a great family man and Bill Clinton's unrepentant blow job in the White House seem unforgiveable. Republicans can do the most fucked up shit, but as long as they remind their base that they are really for the punishment of women and gays for being dirty dirty sluts, they are golden (also, Baby Jesus makes it better) but Democrats above all cannot be human assholes because we (with the aid of a rabid media) hold those who actually believe in personal responsibility to a higher standard. Also, since Republicans do crazy fucked up stuff--like bestiality and other things that can't be talked about on TV vs. Democrats fairly vanilla consensual, non-paid stuff for mutual pleasure stuff (whether that's in the context of a cheating relationship or not) Republicans will still get away with more because what they do can't be discussed on CNN.
That was a crazy rant.
Anyway, like everyone Love Elizabeth, very disappointed in John, but I don't regret supporting him or sending in my monthly contributions because he did call for a more progressive platform from our moderate heavy weights, Hillary and Obama.
peace
But...then I think about Clinton's wanderings, and...I don't know, at the time it did bug me that he cheated on Hillary, but I certainly didn't look at him as now being totally unworthy of anything and a giant piece of crap. No, he was a stupid dude who cheated on his wife and lied and blah blah. Stupid, annoying, maddening...but she forgave him (for whatever reasons - and those are her own and not anyone else's business). I don't know, I do seem to see a lot more vitriol from people towards Edwards than towards Clinton (that is, people on the left - folks on the right sure dumped all over Clinton, no doubt). Is it because Hillary wasn't ill? So if Elizabeth wasn't ill, would it not be so bad? I don't know.
I've cheated on people. I don't think that makes me a worthless waste of space. I do think it deserves criticism, and I do look back and regret it and wish I'd had more self-control or whatever. I've been cheated on and it sucked and made me feel badly, but it doesn't make the good qualities the cheater had disappear.
Meh. /wishy-washy vague ramblings...
At the time I didn't even know about him cheating on Elizabeth or funneling campaign funds to his mistress but I was deeply disappointed in him for throwing Liss and Amanda under the bus. I so wanted to support him because of his support of a progressive platform even though his treatment of Liss was a huge red flag.
It is profoundly disappointing to realize that he is, it seems, yet another privileged rich dude who believes the rules don't apply to him.
Huh? That's where I read it -- is there a different address now? I just tried "shakesville.com" and it took me right back to shakespearessister.blogspot.com.
Elizabeth's illness doesn't help, but I don't think that's quite it. Bill Clinton was a world class asshole, but he'd demonstrated that so many times already by the time Lewinsky happened that I think people were sick of hearing about it by the time some GOP-hired lawyer brought up an irrelevant question about Lewinsky during a trial about an Arkansas real estate deal.
I don't think I would be grinding my teeth anymore when its just short of amazing to see it come around so fast. I have a similar experience where-in I lost an election in a feminist organization to a person who was supported (is there a song that has the words turncoat in it?) by a platform that emphasized having tea parties over taking positions that might piss off some people because you all know its better to play nice and just get by then to make anyone angry and that person was supported by a past organizational President who went on to speak at Sarah Palin rallies in support of her and McCain. Very few people in the know ask me anymore why I quit the organization to avoid being associated with it. I am not angry anymore at the players just at the fact that they benched a very vital tool at a very important time with their selfishness. And of course I am blown away with how spectacularly and public they went up in flames.
Isn't there a wow is-this-for-real in there somewhere for you Liss?
(I also think Edwards kind of knew he didn't have much of a chance against Clinton or Obama, given that they were going to be much better financed than he was and unlike him were both presently holding office, that his chances came down to both of them fucking up worse than he did. I think we'd have found out about Rielle Hunter a lot sooner if he was leading the race early on.)
But if Edwards was skimming campaign funds to pay hush money to his mistress -- which is probably what this is -- it's no longer just cheating on her, it's cheating on me, too. My tax dollars, goddamnit. For this.
Fuckstain.
I never liked this guy, so mostly I feel vindicated, as it always bugged me that people thought he was so progressive. I appreciate that he talked openly about poverty, but if one looked closely at his platform, one would see the same old paternalistic responses to poverty that we've been dishing out for a good, long time.