As P.J. Gladnick reported, John Edwards spoke at Brown University this week and only one questioner in a room of 600 asked him even vaguely about how he could commit adultery while his wife was suffering from cancer in the middle of a presidential campaign. The media didn't exactly hop on that story. CBS News ran a little blog post, but it was vaguer than the original report. Igor Kossov's post was headlined "John Edwards Speaks on Poverty And Moral Standards."
He noted: "Of course, the elephant in the room was the revelation that did major harm Edwards’ reputation – his affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter." Kossov made no mention of the wife or her cancer.
The media is transparent in their desire to keep Edwards off the radar screen, or at least keep his outrageous behavior off the radar screen so Edwards can rehabilitate himself. Student reporters at the Brown Daily Herald would warm their hearts: their news report made no mention of the "moral standards" question, and their interview with Edwards completely avoided the issue. (Apparently, Edwards hopes for an Al Gore career trajectory.)
They spotlighted Edwards lecturing America about "where are we?" on global poverty. They will no doubt include these clips when they submit their resumes to the mainstream media. They know how to ignore news when it's politically damaging.
The Providence Journal related the "moral standards" exchange -- it's funny how no one can offer readers the fully quoted question -- and also passed along some of his socialist patter:
When a student asked him how one reconciles the need for environmental reform with the economic realities of a crippled economy, he said he thinks "it is a fundamentally stupid concept that in bad economic times we ought to continue doing the things that got us into bad economic times."
He said he supports President Obama in making it clear that help for the Big Three auto makers should be "directly tied to their willingness to transform the way they are producing cars."
