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There appear to be two sides--those who are outraged that Edwards could cheat on Elizabeth, and those who are outraged that their fellow Dems won't STFU about it. That conflict seems to imply that this is all just a big argument about whether or not it's any of our business--but that is not the case at all.
What he did has political ramifications and undertones. At least in regard to the political aspects, this IS our business.
I have no problem with where any particular politician chooses to "wet his noodle", so to speak. It doesn't have anything to do with his ability to lead. I also don't believe that someone who would lie about an affair would necessarily lie about other things, too. There's an enormous difference between your career and your personal life. Someone who lies in one sphere is not automatically suspect (to me) as a liar in the other. I realize that others feel differently, and I respect that.
However, there are a couple of nuances to this mess that ARE "our business", and the people affected by them deserve to speak their minds without being nailed to the floor for it.
1. When you base your opposition to marriage equality upon a set of "morals", you have chosen to willingly allow your "morals" to be examined. We ride Republican hypocrites hard around here for their "do as I say, not as I do" actions, do we not? How many Republicans have been subject to our outrage because they pontificated on the "sanctity of marriage", while carrying on affairs? When it came down to the wire, Edwards chose to oppose gay marriage because he claimed to believe that marriage is something special, something sacred. His affair provides rather damning evidence that he doesn't REALLY believe that marriage is all that sacred after all. Why then, the opposition to gay marriage? If he doesn't even believe in the sanctity of his OWN marriage, what reason could he possibly have for opposing gay marriage? It's not about expecting him to be "perfect", it's about expecting him to be honest, consistent, and to uphold his own word. That is not an unreasonable expectation for a Democratic politician. I expect Republicans to be liars and hypocrites, but it hurts like hell to see that kind of behavior from Democrats, especially when you hold some of the power needed to honor (or withhold) my *personal* civil rights. I think that people deserve an explanation for this. Edwards doesn't have to be perfect, but he DOES have to be held accountable, as all politicians should be. That's part of the job.
2. When the people who support you send you money, they do so in trust and expectation that you will use the money to help yourself win an election. Since carrying on an affair and paying your unqualified mistress to produce "videos" for you is NOT necessary for any politician to get elected, the people who invested money and time toward his campaigns, the ones who now feel violated and used, deserve an explanation. Again, it's not about expecting "perfection." It's about expecting accountability and honesty, and it is NOT unreasonable or unfair to expect those things from a politician. John Edwards is a grown man, capable of making his own decisions, and he's more than intelligent enough to understand that decisions have consequences. Accountability is one of those consequences, even when it's uncomfortable.
Some would ask, "Well what do you WANT? What do you expect him to DO?" The answer to that is quite simple (at least for my family.)
We want John Edwards to really THINK about how many people he hurt by opposing gay marriage, and then to ask himself if he can still claim a "moral" reason for maintaining such opposition. Ideally, we (my partner and I) would like to see him realize that passing moral judgment on GLBT Americans is not an appropriate or constitutional thing to do. Then we'd like to see him open his heart to supporting marriage equality for all citizens.
Secondly, my partner (who is a North Carolina native) would like to see him donate the equivalent amount of what he spent on Rielle to a good charity, like America's Second Harvest, so that people like my partner, who donated money to him, will have the balm of knowing that their money has been spent toward something worthy and good for society.
I don't think either of those "wants" are unreasonable or unfair. They are part of being held to account.
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