A blog about politics.

Elizabeth Edwards Book Excerpt: "A Single Time Was Not All"

Time.com has published an excerpt from Elizabeth Edwards' new book, which deals in some detail with the extramarital affair of her husband, former Democratic candidate for president John Edwards.

Like most wives — or husbands — in my position, I wanted to believe his involvement with this woman had been as little as possible. A single night, another opportunity, but that was it and he had wanted away from her.... It turned out that a single time was not all it was. More than a year later, I learned that he had allowed [the woman] into our lives and had not, even when he knew better, made her leave us alone. I tried to get him to explain, but he did not know himself why he had allowed it to happen.

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  • 1

    I hate to put it like this but it seems quite unhealthy that Mrs Edwards seems to be putting everything on Ms Hunter and little to no responsibility on her husband. I am glad that she is finding a way to get past it all but John Edwards didn't slip on a banana and fall into some pssy.

  • 2

    Time.com has published an excerpt from Elizabeth Edwards' new book,...
    _
    and, as a loyal employee of Time Inc, michael is going to flog it for all its worth....

  • 3

    When asked whether she was still in love with him, "You know, that's a complicated question". Yikes.
    .
    http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/05/05/2009-05-05_elizabeth_edwards_interview_with_oprah_no_idea_if_john_edwards_fathered_rielle_h.html

  • 4

    "He did not know himself why he had allowed it to happen."
    Good grief. The little head overruled the big head. It's that simple.

  • 5

    foitile fodder for those bradytelic* tardigrade* peers of yours, MS.
    .
    *Look it up, MS. Exercise that "brain". Do some research!

  • 6

    Howz your head, sacred?

  • 7

    I think EE must be in a semi-denial state.

  • 8

    I forgot:
    .
    If it is indeed true that she is in a state of semi-denial, can't she invoke states' rights, too?*
    .
    Nevermind, I'm overflowing with caffiene and am really reaching with the humor here!

  • 9

    Still dizzy. Still in shock. I'm, I'm, I'm...talking to you now even after I found out. It's almost as if being different colors doesn't matter! Am I honestly and truly a liberal now?

  • 10

    Michael Scherer:
    .
    Why did Time.com publish an excerpt focused on her marital issues from Elizabeth Edwards' book?

  • 11

    Help me understand this: why does Elizabeth Edwards feel the need to tell all. I don't much care. Is she doing it for the money? Is there some great process involving reconciliation? I simply don't have any interest in Mrs Edwards private problems. I am sympathetic when it comes to her struggle against cancer. But she talked through the campaign taking the high ground all the while knowing that her husband was competing for the highest post in our land while carrying sordid baggage. Of course Edwards' moral tone during the campaign did not help. Now it is puke inducing.

  • 12

    sacred:
    .
    It's ok, it's ok. You're among freinds*! You have been liberated from your conservative cacoon*2!
    .
    *1 The word freind is not spelled c-o-l-o-r.
    *2 Pupae? Anyway, you're a butterfly*3 now.
    *3 You can't eat, all you can do is reproduce. Sorry about that. Hope you're not a gourmand. At least, look at it this way, sacred:
    At least you'll die happy!

  • 13

    SZ: You REALLY want to know why?

  • 14

    bitterpill8: It might be revenge driving her regardless of what she says. His political career is probably over and the book just puts an exclamation mark on it. They've got piles of money and if she divorced him, she'd get half the pile so I don't money is a factor at all. Maybe it is just catharsis to write the book, but revenge sounds more plausible. He's under intense scrutiny now from the media so if she wants to really grind it in...she'll shut off his tap too.

  • 15

    I feel free. I'm liberated. PLUS...I have street cred now. Why do I have this sudden urge to put my John Deere ballcap on backwards?

  • 16

    How can Time derive benefits from this though.
    .
    Help me! The density...

  • 17

    I don't know sacred. Are you wearing your pants lower, too? If so, maybe you're changing...
    .
    Into an Obamabot! Oh, noooooooooo....

  • 18

    Sorry sacred! I distinctly remember pushing the button marked 'butterfly'. I think, as I reach for my coffee, I accidentally pushed the 'Barak' button immediately to it's left!
    .
    Sorry abt that...

  • 19

    MS: I'm disappointed that you went from the torture issue into this vapid, bobbleheaded soap opera bullsh*t.

  • 20

    Ta sacredh; but it is an odd transition from torture of one kind to another.

  • 21

    53_3: Any further to the left and I fall off the edge of the earth. When I was in my early teens I brought a black girl home and we were sitting on the counch when my mom walked in. My mom didn't say anything for a minute and then she said "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into". I opened my mouth to say something and my mom said "I'm not talking to you, I talking to the young lady".

  • 22

    Thats a good sign sacred!
    .
    That means that despite the GOP's efforts, my generation did it's job.

  • 23

    My mom's 84 now and had her first taste of alcohol (champagne) in over 30 years the night Obama was elected. Her idea. It's a different world now.

  • 24

    Does anybody know if EE's cancer is terminal as has been reported some places? Or if not what her diagnosis looks like? If it is terminal it could be that she just wanted to tell her story while she still had a chance. I am concerned about her seeming denial about her husband's role in his infidelity but she still is the victim here. No matter what her motivation was to write the book I can't knock her for it.

  • 25

    bitterpill8:
    .
    You REALLY want to know why?
    .
    Of course.
    .
    I'd like to better understand the rationale employed by Time.com's editors for why they've decided to exploit relatively sordid biographical details of the Edwards' marriage.
    .
    The blurb for this book up at Amazon reads:

    She's one of the most beloved political figures in the country, and on the surface, seems to have led a charmed life. In many ways, she has. Beautiful family. Thriving career. Supportive friendship. Loving marriage. But she's no stranger to adversity. Many know of the strength she had shown after her son, Wade, was killed in a freak car accident when he was only sixteen years old. She would exhibit this remarkable grace and courage again when the very private matter of her husband's infidelity became public fodder. And her own life has been on the line. Days before the 2004 presidential election—when her husband John was running for vice president—she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After rounds of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation the cancer went away—only to reoccur in 2007.
    .
    While on the campaign trail, Elizabeth met many others who have had to contend with serious adversity in their lives, and in Resilience, she draws on their experiences as well as her own, crafting an unsentimental and ultimately inspirational meditation on the gifts we can find among life's biggest challenges. This short, powerful, pocket-sized inspirational book makes an ideal gift for anyone dealing with difficulties in their life, who can find peace in knowing they are not alone, and promise that things can get better.

    Regardless of Mrs. Edwards' decision to publish a book detailing an infidelity that had initially been made public without her consent, it's really editorial judgment that invests attention, not on the real tragedy of her child's death, or the life-and-death battle with disease she shares with tens of millions of other women, but on the mini-Lewinsky episode with its implications of sexual secrets revealed --just like any Maury Povich Show segment.

    Shocking secrets
    .
    This is a category similar to mothers who cheated. It involves a guest revealing a shocking secret to his or her significant other or a family member. Maury discusses the secret with the guest while the loved one is secluded backstage and can't hear or see the show. That person then makes a recorded statement saying how he or she is shocked to be hearing a secret. He or she is then brought out from backstage to hear the secret, which results in varying reactions. ...there have been men revealing that they have been sleeping with their wife or girlfriend's mother or sister...a woman who suspected her boyfriend was cheating found out that he and her mother were having an affair and trying to have a baby.
    .
    Criticism
    .
    Despite the seemingly compassionate attitude of Maury Povich toward his guests, The Maury Show is often accused by critics of exploiting dysfunctional families and minorities and for embracing and sensationalizing some of the worst stereotypes of American society and behavior. Although The Maury Show has a more serious tone and is less raunchy in nature, some critics denounce it as being even worse than other similar talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show, due to what is perceived as an insincere sympathy for the guests and using their serious problems for the entertainment and humor of the viewing audience. Whitney Matheson wrote about the show in her USA Today column, "Povich's talk show is, without a doubt, the worst thing on television. Period. Don't be fooled by the pressed shirt and pleated khakis; Maury is miles further down the commode than Jerry Springer."

    Given the similarities between the two media in this case, I'd appreciate it if Michael Scherer were to take a moment to clarify just exactly how Time.com's editors view their reading audience.
    .
    One really can't help but question the methods by which Time.com derives such perspectives of their readership that demand tabloid, exploitative, insulting and demeaning (for everyone involved, especially Michael Scherer, a serious political correspondent who was recently so impressive when he forced the President of the United States to explain himself regarding his position on States' Secrets policy at the President's press conference) coverage of sordid gossip.

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