Ken Layne, editor of the Washington DC gossip site Wonkette.com, argues on AOL’s Political Machine that what he calls "the respectable press" is avoiding the Edwards story not just because the "unseemly" National Enquirer is the main source but because it’s a story that makes everybody look bad.
"Why is everybody so squeamish about this story?" he asks. "Because it ruins the 2008 campaign narrative, which is all about the grizzled old war veteran vs the hopeful young star. Because, if true, it is a tawdry and tragic ending to a political love story [John and Elizabeth Edwards] that was nothing but an empty media performance.
"It reminds us that John McCain left his wife, after she was disfigured in a car accident, so he could chase women in bars until he met the beer heiress of his congressional-district dreams.
"It reminds us that Bill Clinton squandered a successful second term in a prosperous, peaceful America by shaming his family and the country with his dumb redneck inability to keep his pants on, and it reminds Hillary supporters that she would likely be the Democratic nominee today if Bill wasn’t such a self-centered jackass."
Layne concludes: "It reminds us that politicians in Washington are creeps and weirdos, and whether they’re Senator Larry Craig cruising for gay sex in an airport bathroom or ex-Senator John Edwards hiding from tabloid reporters in a Beverly Hills hotel bathroom, they are twisted little Caligulas pretending to be statesmen, on your dime."
