NewAge: The Hand That Takes

"An unseen hand seems to be guiding this whole ordeal in Edwards' favor. Edwards' friends are buying multimillion-dollar homes for his ex-girlfriend and her baby, friends are coming forward and claiming to be the father of a child rumored to be his, even his ex-girlfriend is declining to push the paternity issue.

Unfortunately, for John Edwards, as anyone who has read Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities" knows, when the goodies hit the fan, they tend to really hit the fan. Lies beget more lies.

Now Edwards has two women whom he lied to comparing notes, he has friends he owes in all sorts of ways, and who knows, maybe the IRS may have a question or two about some of these millions floating around.

John Edwards has major problems. Arguably, his biggest problem is the fact that his entire public being is a fraud. For years now, Edwards has played the sincere millworker's son, adoring husband and father, the man who has stood by his wife of 30 years during her repeated battles with cancer. A man who just wants to help people who can't help themselves.

And now we get a glimpse of a very different Edwards. "Egocentric" and "narcissistic" were the words he used to describe himself during the run-up to his affair. Words you would almost swear his wife must have forced upon him as he read his mea culpa to her. Words perhaps replacing his first choices, like "selfish" and "thoughtless."

Bottom line, John Edwards is just another oily politician who looked us in the eye, smiled and lied through his teeth.

Also, the mainstream media have once again proved themselves to be neither, as the National Enquirer out-hustled them and got the Edwards scoop through hard work and perseverance.

The media landscape has changed forever. Sadly, politicians are still the same."

-- Phil Perrier, speaking the truth that this thing ain't over, in the L.A. Daily News