Great piece. Succinct, but thorough.
John Edwards has taken his campaign to new depths. Presidential candidates drowning in desperation do stupid things.
Surely you've heard about how Ann Coulter, the conservative fire-breather who makes a living saying things discerning people keep to themselves, was apparently set up by Chris Matthews and the Edwards' campaign.
Halfway through his cable news program on which Coulter was a guest, Matthews announced that Elizabeth Edwards, wife of candidate John, was on the phone with a message for Coulter: You've hurt our feelings, so quit attacking my husband.
Mrs. Edwards was supposedly upset by Coulter's comments on a network morning show the day before. The anchor had asked Coulter about a prior disparaging characterization of Mr. Edwards' sexuality. Coulter claimed that she'd only jokingly referred to Mr. Edwards as a "faggot."
"Oh yeah, I wouldn't insult gays by comparing them to John Edwards," Coulter said. "That would be mean. But about the same time - you know - Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack. So I've learned my lesson. If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."
Coulter was a little miffed by an apparent double-standard. It was OK for Maher to state seriously that he'd wished terrorists had killed the vice president. Yet the media pounced when she joked about the sexuality of a prissy Democratic presidential candidate, who everyone knows isn't gay.
Mrs. Edwards and her husband were so upset by Coulter's comments that they decided to promote her words as a fundraising tool on the campaign's Web site.
They excluded her references to Maher. They included only the text and video of Coulter saying, "So I've learned my lesson. If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."
Mrs. Edwards, who sounded like she was reading from a script, tried to chastise Coulter for several minutes, but the conservative firebrand wouldn't have any of it. She aimed her pithy comments at Mrs. Edwards.
Later in the segment, Mrs. Edwards told Matthews that she hadn't talked to her husband about the stunt. Apparently, John and Elizabeth don't talk much. While appearing on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Monday, they commented on their new "public" disagreement over gay marriage. She supports it; he doesn't.
"Well, can I tell you how I found out? I read it in the newspaper. It's the first time. She's never told me that," he claimed.
It's bad enough to claim to be offended, hurt and outraged by comments while simultaneously and feverishly promoting those words out of context to raise money and capture media attention. But that Mr. Edwards hides behind his wife is beyond the pale.
Are we to conclude that if John is sitting in the Oval Office when Hezbollah's leader calls him the great Satan, he'd trot Elizabeth out on the evening news to let the world know she disapproves? Perhaps she would do it on her own.
If Mr. Edwards was half the woman Hillary Clinton is, he might be leading in the polls.
No comments:
Post a Comment