The Edwards are the kind of family that I would like to represent me and my country to the rest of the world. I wish her great strength and resilience and joy.

I admire Elizabeth Edwards. Within my own family I have witnessed the courage that can be summoned in the circumstance of cancer. Mrs. Edwards remains in my prayers. I think she was right when she said that a more dire diagnosis would probably have meant a decision to hold or end the campaign. But they were assured she has a treatable cancer. I can see why John Edwards loves this woman, who seems to have a sense of both destiny and duty. Already they have endured great pain together. To those who would criticize continuing the political path I remind them of a woman of different attitude, Mary Todd Lincoln. Lincoln's wife was moody -to say the least. Abraham Lincoln persisted in his career and his efforts for the nation despite her hadicaps and despite the loss of a child. I believe Elizabeth Edwards has a commitment to public service that complements her husband's. We may be a grateful nation for that someday.

I wonder if this is going to be one of those pivotal public traumas that makes the public change focus. Cancer is so scary and hers came back in a scary way. Bin Laden is off drinking tea in Pushtunistan. Cancer is killing us off right here, it doesn't care at all about our borders or the politics in the Middle East.

As she implied with those words and by the example of her resilience, you can live with cancer just as easily in the White House as anywhere else.

But this might not be true. For example, many cancer patients prefer to live in states where [censored] [censored] has been legalized, because opiate pain relief really isn't all that much fun after the first four days or so, and Zofran only works on about 40% of the people who take it.

The citizens of Washington DC voted to legalize [censored] [censored] back in the nineties, but Clinton and his buddy Trent Lott managed to put a stop to that nonsense by invalidating the election.

I think there should be a poll -- do people with incurable but treatable cancer have an easier time living with it in states that have legalized [censored] [censored]?

Because I think hard data is preferable to misty platitudes. Even if the emotions right now seem to call for misty platitudes, there is a lot of grueling misery ahead for this woman, it's just a fact.

I wonder how long it will take for Ann Coulter to say something cold, heartless and mean about Elizabeth Edwards....

I happened to catch the Edwards' press conference on television this morning. As with all things in politics, it's hard not to be cynical: to wonder how much thought went into their presentation and its demographic ripples.

They seemed very at ease with each other, and spoke capably about their situation and how they would handle it. After, out of reflex, watching and speculating to distraction on the spousal relations of past and current Presidents and candidates, the demeanor of both Edwards was relatively serene.

I sincerely hope Ms. Edwards defies the odds, and lives long and prospers. Those odds, in her case with stage 4 breast cancer, are marginally better than the odds facing an unborn child who's made it to 3 months, conceived by accident by a woman in the USA. We know Elizabeth better, because she's lived longer and is more articulate. For those reasons we feel more sympathy with her articulate anguish in the face of the prospect of a life cut short, than we feel in the case of the abortion of the inarticulate, even at full term. Both are tragic human dramas.

this was so cheap:

For those reasons we feel more sympathy with her articulate anguish in the face of the prospect of a life cut short, than we feel in the case of the abortion of the inarticulate, even at full term. Both are tragic human dramas.

-- HopefulCynic

There's really nothing in the language to characterize how cheap this was. Whoever you are, you should be ashamed of yourself.

I agree with just about everything everyone has said, with the exception of the reference to C******. (I refuse to use her name). It should not matter at all whether she says anything or not. It will only matter if someone is idiotic enough to give it any air or press time. There is no reason to put that lunatic and Elizabeth Edwards in the same brain wave.

DianaW

HopefulCynic, your equation of a fetus with a living, breathing, walking, thinking woman is nothing short of obscene. Save it for your pro-life rallies.

Any Republican who plays the "Ooh, but what if she dies?" card needs to be reminded posthaste that he or she most likely voted for Mr. Three Heart Attacks and a Defibrillator and a Blood Clot himself, Dick Cheney -- and then told to fuck off.

Life is for living, not for avoiding death. The Edwards family believes they can help this country, and facing a vicious illness is not enough to make them turn aside the positive force they can be.

(whoever somehow linked this to abortion - WTF? Go away - and I'm not even particularly for abortion!)

How they handle adversity and pain tells a great deal about a person, & how they will handle disasters such as 9/11. What has struck me about John Edwards & Elizabeth Edwards, from the first time I saw them, is how incredible positive they are, and this country needs that desperately.

When I first heard about Elizabeth Edwards, everyone raved and I thought some of that must be hyperbole. She is the rare person who lives up to her billing. He's a lucky man.

hopefulcynic, you are absolutely disgusting. i believe that bailey's letter said it best: save it for somewhere else and ideally, somewhere relevant.

i wish elizabeth and the edwards family the best.