Edwards admits to affair

[PaloAltoCougar]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Does anybody care about affairs any longer?

I did, but only for a moment. The thread's title had me concerned that Lavell and, who knows? Sherri Dew? Elaine Michaelis? Anyway, once I realized it was only a politician, I felt a mild sense of relief and went back to not caring.

[ChinoCoug]

Originally Posted by myboynoah

He says he didn't love the woman. So he sells out both his wife and his girlfriend.

He said that to make it his wife feel better. "Honey, I was just horny. No love, I swear."

[BigFatMeanie]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Does anybody care about affairs any longer? I know all Springville mascot hating RS presidents do, but outside of that, will we ever get to the point of just ignoring this shit.

If people don't really care, then why do politicians strive so hard to cover it up? The crux of the matter is this question: If he had been honest about it when it was first exposed would it have been as big of a deal? I'm not sure what the answer is to that question but the fact that politicians nearly universally try to cover it up seems to me to indicate that yes, people do care.

If we conclude that people do care, the natural follow up question is should people care? I believe affairs are made relevant when the person having the affair is also publicly proclaiming their own virtue. Hypocritical politicians (redundancy alert) are notorious for claiming virtue and then being shown to be less than virtuous. I'm not saying that Edwards specifically falls into this category - I don't know enough about him to make that claim - I'm just pointing out a certain class of affair that is indeed relevant to the public. An affair also shows something about a politician's honesty. An affair by its very nature is a dishonest, secretive act. People can and should expect the utmost in integrity/honesty from their politicians. Thus, I conclude that affairs are indeed relevant to the public where politicians are concerned.

Summary:
- Do people care? Debatable but evidence indicates they do.
- Should people care? Given the nature of politicians/politics, yes.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by BigFatMeanie

If people don't really care, then why do politicians strive so hard to cover it up? The crux of the matter is this question: If he had been honest about it when it was first exposed would it have been as big of a deal? I'm not sure what the answer is to that question but the fact that politicians nearly universally try to cover it up seems to me to indicate that yes, people do care.

If we conclude that people do care, the natural follow up question is should people care? I believe affairs are made relevant when the person having the affair is also publicly proclaiming their own virtue. Hypocritical politicians (redundancy alert) are notorious for claiming virtue and then being shown to be less than virtuous. I'm not saying that Edwards specifically falls into this category - I don't know enough about him to make that claim - I'm just pointing out a certain class of affair that is indeed relevant to the public. An affair also shows something about a politician's honesty. An affair by its very nature is a dishonest, secretive act. People can and should expect the utmost in integrity/honesty from their politicians. Thus, I conclude that affairs are indeed relevant to the public where politicians are concerned.

Summary:
- Do people care? Debatable but evidence indicates they do.
- Should people care? Given the nature of politicians/politics, yes.

I concur. Well stated.

[MikeWaters]

BFM, what are we to make of McCain's widely acknowledged affairs?

I'm sure virtually all GOPers including yourself will forgive him if forgiveness is defined as choosing to vote for the man.

I brought up the affairs to my bro-in-law. He said so what, are you aware that Obama is going to raise taxes on people making over 200k?

It sounds like Edwards is in therapy. Did McCain ever sort out what caused him to cheat? Other than she was fat and disfigured?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Did McCain ever sort out what caused him to cheat? Other than she was fat and disfigured?

And nowhere near as wealthy. It's an ugly story.

Welcome back, Mike.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

BFM, what are we to make of McCain's widely acknowledged affairs?

I'm sure virtually all GOPers including yourself will forgive him if forgiveness is defined as choosing to vote for the man.

I brought up the affairs to my bro-in-law. He said so what, are you aware that Obama is going to raise taxes on people making over 200k?

It sounds like Edwards is in therapy. Did McCain ever sort out what caused him to cheat? Other than she was fat and disfigured?

I'm with MikeWaters and the French: affairs are a bad basis on which to choose a president. Besides, you can never know for sure if your man is without sin.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I'm with MikeWaters and the French: affairs are a bad basis on which to choose a president.

Not an automatic disqualifier, but it shows poor judgment. It makes a big difference whether there is an apology and remorse. I don't respect men who just up and abandon their wives and children for a mistress. It is a coward's play.

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Besides, you can never know for sure if your man is without sin.

That is true.

[BigFatMeanie]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

BFM, what are we to make of McCain's widely acknowledged affairs?

I'm sure virtually all GOPers including yourself will forgive him if forgiveness is defined as choosing to vote for the man.

I brought up the affairs to my bro-in-law. He said so what, are you aware that Obama is going to raise taxes on people making over 200k?

It sounds like Edwards is in therapy. Did McCain ever sort out what caused him to cheat? Other than she was fat and disfigured?

You must be assuming that I am a GOPer because I'm not sure I've specifically stated that I am. Have I voted Republican in the past? Yes. I've also voted Democrat. For the record: I'm registered Republican in Utah because Utah has a closed primary system. Philosophically I tend to be more Libertarian but I vote Republican more often than Democrat because Republican's are generally closer to my philosophy than Democrats although lately it's getting harder to distinguish between the two.

I don't know the specifics of McCain's affairs. In terms of general principles I have the following thoughts about any politician's affair:

- Did the politician lie and attempt to cover it up after it was exposed to the public or did the politician humbly acknowledge, apologize, and accept the consequences?
- Was the cover-up/lie/affair facilitated by the politicians public office or the use of public or election funds? Were they abusing their office? Was there anything illegal going on?
- Any other special circumstances? e.g. Did the person abandon their spouse? etc.

For me, none of these questions are a single "basis on which to choose a president" (SU's words). Individually, they are just one among many other issues to consider. They are decision factors that speak to a politician's integrity and judgment but not necessarily to a politician's position on economy, environment, national defense, states rights, etc.

We're basically just talking about importance here. As many have already pointed out, the "morality issue" is a rational basis on which to rank a candidate. In other words, the importance of morality > 0. It would be irrational to conclude otherwise. The real question then is "How much weight should the morality issue be given in relation to other decision factors?" That's a very difficult question to answer. I'm sure that for some people it is of utmost importance and thus becomes a single "basis on which to choose". For me, it probably ranks somewhere in my top 10 but not in my top 5. Thus, if two candidates were equal in terms of higher priority issues then I would add the morality issue to the equation. If two candidates are separated on my high priority issues then the morality issue is less relevant to me.

Thus, to answer your specific question, I would probably forgive (in the sense you defined it) McCain because of the differences between him and his current opponent on my top issues. Also, the answer your BIL gave seems to indicate that he is also ranking morality lower among his issues.

[BigFatMeanie]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I'm with MikeWaters and the French: affairs are a bad basis on which to choose a president. Besides, you can never know for sure if your man is without sin.

As I stated above, I don't believe they are a "bad" basis, just a less important basis. They become more important if higher priority factors are equal.