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Read other letters about this article
...but I read it anyway, just so I could post my indifference with credibility.
Isn't it amazing how most comments for the Edwards' affair story denounce it being covered--it appears those posters are the story's biggest followers. Kind of like protesting cuss words, da...it!
The one curious detail in this story concerns the amount Ms. Rielle was paid to produce the videos. Heretofore, all stories have stated that Edwards paid her $114,000 to produce the videos...until yesterday.
Donors to Edwards campaign had questioned why Baron, Edwards campaign finance minister, relocated her and the proxy, Young, to California, installed them in multimillion dollar homes, and gave them $15,000, too.
Yesterday that $15K was reduced to $14K and then attributed to what the campaign owed her for her "work." Oh.
Good work, Jouvenal--you're certainly up to date with the details. Of course, you checked that out, verified it with at least 2 sources, saw a copy of the receipt. Since you are still in school, I imagine you are still hypervigilant about conducting journalism by the book.
Why is this story important to me? The sex? Not at all. In fact, I sympathize with Edwards--I know how tough it is to face midlife in the dark: kid died, wife sick and dying. We all lean toward the light, look at those pictures of ourselves when we were young, carefree, and really happy, so happy it is shocking to see.
What bothers me about this story is the other betrayal. Edwards betrayal to me, to Ralph Nader, to all those homeless people, impoverished, Hurricane Katrina victims who gave money to their spokesperson--who in turn gave it to shamelessly uncredentialed Rielle Hunter to film vanity videos for his campaign.
Rielle's been the recipient of overgifting. (For someone so guru'ed up, I'm surprised she took the people's donations--what happened to all that enlightenment? ) Edwards gives her $114,000--why not a few bucks and a disposable camera. Baron, in the midst of a poverty campaign, surrounded by people who live in the street and take the bus where they want to go, actually feels so sorry for Rielle and the proxy that he unlocks his safe and moves 5 people to the other side of the country, finds a couple of multimillion dollar houses for them to cower in.
Why not a few bucks, an apartment, and a job? Heck, why not a Fema trailer to call their own? After all, if it's good enough for your contributors....?
Funny who people feel sorry for? Donald Trump decides,among all the people victimized by Countrywide and losing their homes and everything, that he feels sorriest for Ed McMahon--though he's never met him. So he buys Ed's multimillion dollar home and tells Ed you and your squeeze can live their for life, free! I wonder if he's tucked a few hundred thousand in his pocket, to help him get started again? Wow, Ed McMahon is the most tragic victim of the foreclosure debacle--at least to Trump. Don't ever accuse Trump of being heartless again.
Do I sound bitter? Maybe. Rising prices, unregulated companies who con you and then get out of paying taxes, oil companies that raise prices with impunity, our govt who gives Iraq $10 billion dollars a month--ah, forget the receipt, don't insult me.
Funny how people rallied around Edwards in the first place. Ralph Nader is the real thing.
