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Lessons from Edwards, and others

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

It’s a very good thing that not enough voters in our country voted for John Edwards to allow him to win his party’s nomination. Edwards’ judgment is too poor for him to be president.

Cheating on his wife was a mistake, no doubt. In all fairness, however, Edwards’ cheating mainly hurt his own family, not society at large.

A much bigger mistake — one that directly impacts his leadership credibility — was his willingness to lie to the public (i.e. the voters) about his affair. In 2007, Edwards was asked directly in front of a microphone whether there was any truth to allegations of an affair. Absolutely not, he said. He was angry and insulted that someone would make such a salacious allegation. And he was believable.

Then, knowing that he’d had an affair and lied to America about it, Edwards filed to run for the presidency. In retrospect, any rational person must say: What was he thinking? And his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, went along with the whole charade. She publicly covered for him. What was she thinking?

To summarize: We have a politician who made a serious mistake. Then lied publicly to try and cover it up. Then had his wife lie for him. And then, despite knowing all the troubling things in his proverbial closet, filed for office. Then the whole house of cards came tumbling down.

Well, well!

The Settlement Observer is a resident of Farmington.

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