Why the Edwards affair does matter

I've heard quite a bit over the past couple of days from apologists claiming the John Edwards affair doesn't matter one whit.

"We've got a lot of problems in this county," the apologists argue. "What does it matter if John Edwards is having an affair on his wife? This story is distracting people from what's really important. Besides, all politicians do that."

I can't go along with that at all. One of the main problems we have in this nation is that we put the type of people in power who are sleazy enough to cheat on their spouses and think they can get away with it. That nasty Edwards character got very close to being the vice president back in 2004 and had at least a decent shot at being the Democratic nominee for president this year. We don't need someone like that getting so close to the most powerful office in the nation.

Here's what I mean. Instead of looking after his family and taking care of his wife of 30 years -- a cancer survivor, by the way -- Edwards was out diddling around with another woman. A man who does such a thing is a self-centered creep. If he can't do right by his own wife and family, how the hell can we expect him to be a true public servant and put what's good for the country ahead of what's good for him?

The very fact that we put up with this kind of nonsense is ridiculous. This country deserves to be led by the best and the brightest -- men and women of character who refrain from the base temptations that surround public officials. The self-centered creeps of the world are exactly the types who bow to pressure from special interests and sell the public down the river if they can make a buck or gain some benefit from it.

The "all politicians are doing it" argument just doesn't cut it anymore. If all politicians are sleazy jerks that even their own spouses can't trust, then we need to toss them out of office and replace them with people who will serve the public honorably.

Whenever the issue of adultery comes up, I can't help but think of Bill Clinton and that whole impeachment mess. One of the crusaders out to get Clinton was a Republican senator from Arkansas by the name of Tim Hutchinson.

Hutchinson wielded his "family values" like a club as he harped on Clinton's affair and made political hay out of the whole thing. The only problem with all that was that Hutchinson may have been up to the same kind of nonsense as the alley cat president he was trying to ruin. Shortly after the whole mess was over, Hutchinson announced he was divorcing his wife and marrying a congressional aide.

A friend of mine worked in Hutchinson's office back then and I asked him what he was going to do. He said he was going to find another job because the good folks of Arkansas would burn Hutchinson at the stake for what he'd done. And my friend was right -- my fellow Arkansans tossed Hutchinson out of office on his ear in 2002 and that Senate seat has belonged to Democrat Mark Pryor since.

Hutchinson got what he deserved. Make no mistake about that. He let down his family, party and state with his shenanigans and has been branded as untrustworthy since that whole episode. And why? Because his very actions suggest that he might well betray the public's trust if doing so would benefit him personally.

Truth be told, anyone who is self-centered enough to cheat on a spouse is not to be trusted. All those cheating liars ought to be tossed out of office and anyone who defends their escapades should be ashamed.