Keep praying, buddy...
Admittedly, I have, in recent days, been mulling over the revelation that 2008 Presidential hopeful John Edwards fathered a love child with his mistress during the campaign, while his wife was seemingly dying of incurable cancer. Sure, I guess I don’t think I ever believed that Edward’s wasn’t the father of the child, but I guess part of me didn’t want to admit that people could be so cruel and hurtful to one another, especially in the final stages of one’s life. I know nothing about John & Elizabeth Edwards; reports in the Halprin book say she was a total shrew. Fine. But even shrews don’t deserve that kind of treatment.
So, fine. The $400-haircut-prophet is a liar and a cheat. No real surprise there, he is a politician and falls into the Tiger-Woods category of men. He has that sense of grandeur and self-admiration that makes the idea of cheating on his ailing wife seem like a birthright. Edwards is not the news. The real news here is Andrew Young and his deranged wife. With the details of Young’s coverup kind of billowing about in the background of this portrait of Edwards as a liar and adulterer, it was easy to ignore Young’s contributions to the coverup. Poor Young! he wants us to think. A fiercely devoted aide, who selflessly destroyed his own reputation in the name of “one America”!
No. Just…no. I was watching Friday’s 20/20 special that featured Young and his wife Cheri. Expecting to be bombarded with salacious details about Edwards tawdry sex life, I began to realize something; this wasn’t an US Weekly reporter hiding out in the bushes who captured an intimate photo of Edwards and his mistress. This was his friend. His confidante. And even worse? In an attempt to bring Edwards down, Young inadvertently threw himself under the bus way harder than Edwards.
It’s fairly obvious from the get-go that this couple is so highly delusional that they can barely return to earth for the duration of this interview. Bug-eyed and frantically clutching her husband’s hand through the interview, Cheri Young makes excuse after excuse regarding their behavior. What was mind-boggling to me was that they took this pregnant woman (Edward’s mistress Rielle Hunter) INTO THEIR HOME. The home they shared with their children. How is that for emotionally damaging? And she became a part of their lives. Home videos showed them zooming in playfully on her belly and tossing around the pigskin in the backyard; giggling like she was an old friend they had known for years. It then became quite obvious that the Young’s were enamored with the pay-outs; being whisked about the country in private jets and staying at luxury suites. They claimed they didn’t want to reveal the truth because of Elizabeth’s illness and impending death, or because it would harm Edward’s chance to be president. Really? They liked the perks.
Andrew & Cheri’s “damaging” media tour will really only end up making them look like money grubbing fools. With Edwards, the damage has been done; once the affair was revealed nearly two years ago, Edwards was done. Finished. He is already sub-terranean at this point- what does it matter if he is pushed down another level? Through his attempt to clear his name, all Andrew Young has proved is that he and his wife put their own financial gain above their reputations and their integrity and the posterity of their family.
Big Apple To The Beltway 