Schadenfreude in spades!

[keeblercrumb]

Dreams of Polina

I freely admit it; I despise John Edwards and virtually everything about him. I always believed he was a complete phoney. Now he stands revealed as the hypocritical, promiscuous, whore-liar that I marked him for.
__________________________

'

I really do not think I can add to anything that Zoot has not already said.... but WTF, I will throw my 2 cents over the fence since I am mixing metaphores today, anyway.

Moreover, there was always something about Edwards "Ken" doll looks that was discomforting...and probably the main reason his political ambitions were never fully realized no matter what his intellectual and/or political gifts were..

AND

I know, following a seemingly endless string of embarrassing revelations lately about various Republican politicians...well, Of course, you would pounce with glee that another Democrat, and a popular one at that, gets "outed".. even if it did not involve the public toilet backdrop so cherished by the Republican miscreants..

I understand that.

But really Try... this breathless

"hypocritical" As Zoot as noted, it is NOT Deomcrats who pontificate about family values and Christian morals; stridently against same sex marriages and then get caught soliciting blow jobs in public toilets... THAT would be and IS hypocrisy....
AND

"promiscuous" ???? Your definition and mine on "Promiscuous" must differ wildly... While I feel your pain and embarrassment at being confronted with some evidence that someone had AGHHHH "SEX" outside the sanctity of marriage.... particularly here, where we have an entire category , and perhaps even some of your own stories, devoted to this phenomenon… welllllll that also seems a tad overstated, don’t you think?

AND

"whore-liar" Big points for inventing a new hyphenated word….. I prefer the well earned epitaph of “whore-monger” for myself but I failed to see any inference to this in the story…. “affair” yes….. “whore” no….. But maybe you are getting confused with the former Governor of New York….. Who shared my occasional taste for un-fettered sex… albeit mine are just sweet little shop clerks here in Russia….

But now, of course, there is the “liar” part…. No doubt about that one. But as far as principals go, I think his having told his WIFE about it, he owes nothing else to no one….. Not only would the public recognition of this affair embarrass him, it would obviously embarrass her and his entire family…… Just who does he most owe the truth to??????? Would YOU lie about it to the press??? Ohhh sorry…. That would be a personal question…..

It IS the same conundrum that faced Clinton…… which is exactly why the elaborately constructed perjury trap was put on him by Starr and company…. Never mind that few in the electorate cared about his private behavior, his political enemies always saw this as his Achilles heal and were determined to leverage it into political benefit. They KNEW he would be forced to lie about it to protect his wife and family AND himself. It almost worked….. But, in the end, they were thwarted by Bill’s “ (What do you mean by sex?”) legal tactics….. We will never know what and when he told Hillary, nor should we….. The pain and relationship was theirs and theirs alone.

So try to keep a modest amount of perspective here………. “Have you no shame, sir?”

-KC

 

[trysail]

It's a gorgeous (81° F.), cloudless day. Refreshed and rejuvenated by the knowledge that the likelihood of a practitioner of barratry and champerty being elevated to high political office in The United States of America has been considerably reduced, I think I'll go out for a nice, long run.

 

[Pure]

It's a gorgeous (81° F.), cloudless day. Refreshed and rejuvenated by the knowledge that the likelihood of a practioner of barratry and champerty being elevated to high political office in The United States of America has been considerably reduced, I think I'll go out for a nice, long run.


Yep, and come back and work for Mc Cain, hypocrite and opportunist of the first order. Who is, of course, a confessed adulterer, but that doesn't bother you as to character; Republican whoremongers always have sterling character--manly diversions--unlike their Democratic counterparts--- well, except for the Republicans who like boys. But that doesn't count.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

MAB: What sanctimony? Did Edwards ever hold himself up as a paragon of personal virtue? Is he in the personal virtue business? No. That seems to be a republican monopoly.

Oh baloney, Mab. They all hold themselves up as moral paragons. The extent to which they wear this kind of personal "vitue" on their sleeve is a matter of degree only.

MAB: You people show this childish need for perfect, sexless leaders on white chargers . . .
Prejudice and bigotry are when one invents a category of human beings, imputes certain characteristics to this category, and judges individual members of this artificial category on the basis of those characteristics, without regard for whether they actually apply to that individual.

The imaginary category you have created is "conservative," and it includes anyone who thinks about public policy in economic terms and who prefers limited government to welfare statism, regardless of any other views they may have. You then proceed to ascribe to all members of this group any of the negative characteristics that adhere to any subsets of it. Thus I, a very independent-minded, iconoclastic, libertarian, atheist smut writer, am lumped together with the most narrow-minded, hypocritical bible-thumper. All those same negativities are imputed to me, and no matter what I say, do or believe, apparently nothing dents that prejudice.

Mab: "You people . . . The rest of the world laughs at us for being such a rube nation when it comes to our Puritan ethics, and they're right. You should be ashamed.

"You," plural, inclusive. The use of that phrase should make someone like yourself cringe. Previous point, Q.E.D.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

I think we could avoid a lot of pointless disputation if we just accepted as a given that politicians at this level are all hypocritical opportunists, without exception.

Making Edwards the focus suggests that there may be another characteristic at play which riles folks, and that is the quality of genuineness. While they are all hypocritical opportunists, McCain, Obama and Hillary at least appear somewhat genuine in their personas. In contrast, characters like Edwards and Hucklebee appear to be completely artificial confections. Perhaps that's what grates on Trysail. It sure does grate on me.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Are you alright, Pure? The last couple days you give the impression of someone who's suffering extreme PMS. I'm teasing a bit, but also am sincere - I know you're a very private person, but if there's some trouble in your life you still get my sympathy as a fellow member of the AH community (irritating and ideologically wrongheaded though you may be).

 

[keeblercrumb]

Dreams of Polina

It's a gorgeous (81° F.), cloudless day. Refreshed and rejuvenated by the knowledge that the likelihood of a practioner of barratry and champerty being elevated to high political office in The United States of America has been considerably reduced, I think I'll go out for a nice, long run.

Like I said.... perspective..... maybe it will occur to you in your run... Of all the news stories with profound implications for the world.... Say Russia bombing the shit outa Georgia... where is your head at???

On the where-abouts of John's dick, apparently.

Enjoy the weather.

-KC

 

[Stella_Omega]

It's a gorgeous (81° F.), cloudless day. Refreshed and rejuvenated by the knowledge that the likelihood of a practioner of barratry and champerty being elevated to high political office in The United States of America has been considerably reduced, I think I'll go out for a nice, long run.


Yep, and come back and work for Mc Cain, hypocrite and opportunist of the first order. Who is, of course, a confessed adulterer, but that doesn't bother you as to character; Republican whoremongers always have sterling character--manly diversions--unlike their Democratic counterparts--- well, except for the Republicans who like boys. But that doesn't count.

Well, if McCain is a CONFESSED adulterer, that means he didn't lie about it-- once he was caught and forced to tell the truth.

That means he hasn't lied about anything else, see?

Only people who lie about adultery are liars.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Well, if McCain is a CONFESSED adulterer, that means he didn't lie about it-- once he was caught and forced to tell the truth.

That means he hasn't lied about anything else, see?

Only people who lie about adultery are liars.

No, that can't be right. I am 'adultry-free' and I've told lots of lies. So instead of a liar, does that make a lie-ist?

 

[Stella_Omega]

No, that can't be right. I am 'adultry-free' and I've told lots of lies. So instead of a liar, does that make a lie-ist?

No, you have never lied, dude. Ask any Republican.

Unless, of course, it turns out that you're lying right now about being adultery-free,

In which case, every single not-a-lie you ever told will magically turn into a lie.

hmmmmm?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

No, you have never lied, dude. Ask any Republican.

Unless, of course, it turns out that you're lying right now about being adultery-free,

In which case, every single not-a-lie you ever told will magically turn into a lie.

hmmmmm?

Would you believe lack of oportunity? How about cowardice? Besides, I 'R' a Republican . . . of a sorts.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Would you believe lack of oportunity? How about cowardice? Besides, I 'R' a Republican . . . of a sorts.

Doesn't matter why not! It's, you know-- fundamental.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

MAB: What sanctimony? Did Edwards ever hold himself up as a paragon of personal virtue? Is he in the personal virtue business? No. That seems to be a republican monopoly.

Oh baloney, Mab. They all hold themselves up as moral paragons. The extent to which they wear this kind of personal "vitue" on their sleeve is a matter of degree only.

MAB: You people show this childish need for perfect, sexless leaders on white chargers . . .
Prejudice and bigotry are when one invents a category of human beings, imputes certain characteristics to this category, and judges individual members of this artificial category on the basis of those characteristics, without regard for whether they actually apply to that individual.

The imaginary category you have created is "conservative," and it includes anyone who thinks about public policy in economic terms and who prefers limited government to welfare statism, regardless of any other views they may have. You then proceed to ascribe to all members of this group any of the negative characteristics that adhere to any subsets of it. Thus I, a very independent-minded, iconoclastic, libertarian, atheist smut writer, am lumped together with the most narrow-minded, hypocritical bible-thumper. All those same negativities are imputed to me, and no matter what I say, do or believe, apparently nothing dents that prejudice.

Mab: "You people . . . The rest of the world laughs at us for being such a rube nation when it comes to our Puritan ethics, and they're right. You should be ashamed.

"You," plural, inclusive. The use of that phrase should make someone like yourself cringe. Previous point, Q.E.D.

Get the Lithium! I didn't say anything about policy or political affiliation! There's an American type who demands moral perfection of their public servants, washed in the blood of the lamb. If the shoe fits, wear it, but don't put words in my mouth. I never heard Edwards claim to be any sort of Saint. I see people demanding he be one if he dare to run for office, but that's not his fault. I'm not the one who's shocked every time there's a new sex scandal.

It's an old truism: Democratic scandals are about sex, Republican scandals are about money. I know which ones I prefer my politicians to be guilty of.

 

[colddiesel]

Three disconnected thoughts.

1 France and Australia have a small piece of political history in common. One had a President and the other a former Prime minister, both of whom died of heart attacks in brothels, reputably post consummation in both cases. Result, marginally enhanced reputations.

2 Compare the 'moral' standing of a man who is unfaithful to his wife to another matrimonally faithful man who sends 5000 of his young countrymen to their deaths in pursuit of his political ambitions.

3 If Elizabeth Edwards still loves and respects her husband who are we to sit in judgment.

 

[Corylea]

The thing I find most interesting about the whole Edwards thing is the explanation he gave, which rang true to me.

A bit of background: Do you all know about the Stanford Prison Experiment? A social psychologist named Phil Zimbardo interviewed a bunch of male college students to find the mentally healthiest ones. Then these boys were randomly assigned to roles as a prisoner or a prison guard in a "prison" in a specially constructed lab on the Stanford Campus. The guards marched the prisoners to and from meals, supervised their bathing, and enforced the rules. They had complete power. After just a couple of days, the prison guards started intentionally humiliating the prisoners, making up arbitrary rules so that they'd have an excuse to punish the prisoners, and generally acting like scary, abusive assholes. The prisoners became passive and apathetic, and it didn't seem to occur to them to protest their treatment or ask to be allowed out of the experiment. Zimbardo, as the "Warden" was caught up in it all, too.

Then Zimbardo's fiancee (also a social psychologist) came to see him, and he proudly showed off his latest experiment. She burst into tears and said, "I think it's terrible, what you're doing to those boys!"

This snapped Zimbardo out of it, and he ended the experiment early.

This study has become the prime example of the power of the situation to trump personality. Everyone thinks that *they* wouldn't become abusive if assigned to the role of guard or passive if assigned to the role of prisoner, but people are really bad at taking into account the effects of situations on behavior. The Stanford Prison Experiment shows that even young men who were specially selected for being unusually stable and healthy can deteriorate in a matter of just a few days, when exposed to extreme situations.

Okay, so what does this have to do with Edwards? He explained his affair by saying that after he'd been campaigning for awhile -- seeing his name and face on thousands of signs, speaking to cheering crowds, having everyone around him dedicate their lives to seeing him elected, he started to think he was special, that he was entitled to do what he wanted, and he had an affair.

And you know what? I believe him. Campaigning sounds like exactly the sort of situation that would turn even the sweetest person into a raging narcissist. It's yet one more reason why we should have much, much shorter campaigns in the US.

Of course, I don't really care what politicians do sexually (unless they're doing something nonconsensual or with kids) unless they're trying to legislate what other people do sexually.

I think anybody with brains would be a fool to run for president, given the scrutiny that accompanies it, and of course all of us here are automatically disqualified from running -- imagine what the press would do with someone who *gasp* writes erotica -- and I think our country loses out by excluding everyone who's had an interesting life from public office. It leaves us with the dregs, and look what having *them* run the country has done.

 

[SlickTony]

I admit, I'm a tad disappointed. What boggles my mind is that Mr. Edwards thought he could run for office and not have this come out, in an era where you cannot scratch your ass without having it come out on YouTube in fifteen minutes.

Either politicians are going to have to quit fucking around or we're going to have to quit caring about it so much.

 

[Stella_Omega]

The thing I find most interesting about the whole Edwards thing is the explanation he gave, which rang true to me.

<snip>

Then Zimbardo's fiancee (also a social psychologist) came to see him, and he proudly showed off his latest experiment. She burst into tears and said, "I think it's terrible, what you're doing to those boys!"

This snapped Zimbardo out of it, and he ended the experiment early.

This study has become the prime example of the power of the situation to trump personality. Everyone thinks that *they* wouldn't become abusive if assigned to the role of guard or passive if assigned to the role of prisoner, but people are really bad at taking into account the effects of situations on behavior. The Stanford Prison Experiment shows that even young men who were specially selected for being unusually stable and healthy can deteriorate in a matter of just a few days, when exposed to extreme situations.

Okay, so what does this have to do with Edwards? He explained his affair by saying that after he'd been campaigning for awhile -- seeing his name and face on thousands of signs, speaking to cheering crowds, having everyone around him dedicate their lives to seeing him elected, he started to think he was special, that he was entitled to do what he wanted, and he had an affair.

Corylea, you are a very smart person.

But you know-- this is far too subtle for most of the American electorate.

 

[Guest]

Get the Lithium! I didn't say anything about policy or political affiliation! There's an American type who demands moral perfection of their public servants, washed in the blood of the lamb. If the shoe fits, wear it, but don't put words in my mouth. I never heard Edwards claim to be any sort of Saint. I see people demanding he be one if he dare to run for office, but that's not his fault. I'm not the one who's shocked every time there's a new sex scandal.

It's an old truism: Democratic scandals are about sex, Republican scandals are about money. I know which ones I prefer my politicians to be guilty of.

Fucking A.

 

[Guest]

1 France and Australia have a small piece of political history in common. One had a President and the other a former Prime minister, both of whom died of heart attacks in brothels, reputably post consummation in both cases. Result, marginally enhanced reputations.

2 Compare the 'moral' standing of a man who is unfaithful to his wife to another matrimonally faithful man who sends 5000 of his young countrymen to their deaths in pursuit of his political ambitions.

3 If Elizabeth Edwards still loves and respects her husband who are we to sit in judgment.

I agree completely.

Why on earth is this anyone's business?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I agree completely.

Why on earth is this anyone's business?

Because he sought out the public eye, that's why. I'm not being facicious, either. It's a legal principle. If you seek out the public eye, you forgo your right to privacy, even your protection from slander and defamation unless you can prove that reporting on you was done with malicious intent. Silly, perhaps, but there you are.

 

[Guest]

Because he sought out the public eye, that's why. I'm not being facicious, either. It's a legal principle. If you seek out the public eye, you forgo your right to privacy, even your protection from slander and defamation unless you can prove that reporting on you was done with malicious intent. Silly, perhaps, but there you are.

Actually, I agree. To a point.

But he isn't making money seeking the public eye, like rock stars or actors do.

Those folk have no guarantee of privacy because their income depends on publicity.

I prefer that politicians, you know, actually do something political.

I couldn't care less who he fucks.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Actually, I agree. To a point.

But he isn't making money seeking the public eye, like rock stars or actors do.

Those folk have no guarantee of privacy because their income depends on publicity.

I prefer that politicians, you know, actually do something political.

I couldn't care less who he fucks.

There seem to be some who do. The others must want to be rock stars.

 

[trysail]

I am stunned— astonished, amazed and astounded— by the number of respondents to this thread who jumped to the conclusion that my dislike for John Edwards and my delight at his political downfall had anything to do with his private sex life (other than the fact that he [apparently, because we haven't heard anything from her] betrayed his wife).

In a sense, this thread serves as something of a social experiment. Like a lynch mob, many respondents automatically assumed that my dislike for Edwards JUST HAD TO BE rooted in a puritanical reaction to the recent revelation of his sexual behavior.

In actual fact, my dislike for Edwards is that,

"I always believed he was a complete phoney,"

http://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=28265277&postcount=1

disingenuous, demagogic and

"...a practitioner of barratry and champerty..."

http://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=28271676&postcount=27

"...I don't give a goddamn whether the fellow has affairs— that's a matter for him and his wife— as long as Elizabeth gave him her permission..."
http://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=28266828&postcount=14

If, however, you gleaned that I am not predisposed to favor an ambulance-chaser and a leading member of the "slip and fall" crowd, you'd be right.

 

[Corylea]

Corylea, you are a very smart person.

*smile* Thank you!

But you know-- this is far too subtle for most of the American electorate.

*sigh* Most things are. That's why I'm not trying to explain this to the American electorate as a whole, just to the people here, who have a chance of getting it.

 

[keeblercrumb]

Dreams of Polina

I am stunned— astonished, amazed and astounded— by the number of respondents to this thread who jumped to the conclusion that my dislike for John Edwards and my delight at his political downfall had anything to do with his private sex life (other than the fact that he [apparently, because we haven't heard anything from her] betrayed his wife).

In a sense, this thread serves as something of a social experiment. Like a lynch mob, many respondents automatically assumed that my dislike for Edwards JUST HAD TO BE rooted in a puritanical reaction to the recent revelation of his sexual behavior.__________________________

Well, we do not want you stunned now, do we?

Just maybe it was the little part where you said…….

………… Now he stands revealed as the hypocritical, promiscuous, whore-liar that I marked him for.
__________________________

Ya think????

-KC