John Edwards Mug Shot

John Edwards and Tom DeLay have a little something in common.

They both smiled in their mug shots.

From the Washington Post:

John Edwards violated the first rule of mug shots.

Don’t smile. Don’t make any effort to look like something that was not just scraped from the bottom of life’s shoe.

You are not supposed to look good in a mug shot.

Anyone who thinks that you are supposed to smile in a mug shot is missing the whole point of the exercise. Mug shots showcase us at our lowest points, stripped of all the trappings that made us look like kings. They reveal what we in fact are: Flawed, Possibly Drunk Human Beings in Bad Lighting.

...If you achieve fame and glory, the standard arc of the celebrity narrative demands that at some point you will pose for a mug shot. It shows your understanding that in the grand scheme of things we are as flies to wanton boys: routinely killed, humiliated and caught selling meth in White Castle parking lots for the public’s sport.

Learn how to do it right: eyes forward, steely expression, dead eyes.

I don't know why Edwards smiled. Maybe it was a reflex.

Most people don't smile when it's time to pose for a mug shot.

View a gallery of examples.

In spite of the toothy smile, Edwards doesn't look happy. He has the "dead eyes" of a person at his lowest. I think the smile makes him look incredibly sleazy. Maybe that's my reaction because I know the truth behind the smile.

Tom DeLay also smiled for his mug shot.



It's goofy looking, but not creepy like the Edwards shot.

In an interview with TIME, DeLay explains why he smiled.

TIME: Your smiling mug shot—what made you think of that and what do you think the consequence of that has been?

DeLay: Oh, I don't know. I said a little prayer. First of all, you only get one take. It's a very humiliating thing, to be booked. And I said a little prayer before I actually did the fingerprint thing, and the picture. And my prayer was basically: "Let people see Christ through me. And let me smile." Now, when they took the shot, from my side, I thought it was fakiest smile I'd ever given. But through the camera, it was glowing. I mean, it had the right impact. Poor old left couldn't use it at all. They had all kind of things planned, they'd spent a lot of money. It made me feel kind of good that all those plans went down the toilet.

I've never had a mug shot taken.

If I ever found myself in that position, I can't imagine smiling.

John Edwards Indicted

DEMOCRAT John Edwards has been indicted.

From the New York Times:

John Edwards, the former Democratic senator from North Carolina, was indicted Friday morning by a grand jury in Raleigh on charges that he conspired to cover up an extramarital affair while running for president in 2008 by “secretly obtaining,” misusing and misreporting certain campaign contributions in violation of federal law.

According to the indictment, Mr. Edwards, 57, knew that word of the affair and the child that it produced would destroy his campaign because, it said, “a centerpiece of Edwards’s candidacy was his public image as a devoted family man.”

Mr. Edwards plans to plead not guilty to the charges at his arraignment at 2:30 Friday in federal court in Winston-Salem, N.C., before Magistrate Judge Patrick Auld.

...The indictment says Mr. Edwards and his co-conspirators solicited $725,000 from Rachel Mellon, the now-century-old heiress to the Mellon banking fortune, and $200,000 from Fred Baron, Mr. Edwards’s campaign finance chairman. Both amounts, it says, were well in excess of the limit of $2,300 that an individual can give. According to the indictment, the money went to hide Rielle Hunter, Mr. Edwards’s mistress and the mother of his child, from the news media and to pay for her medical expenses, travel and accommodations. The grand jury, which has been investigating the case for two years, indicted Mr. Edwards on six counts — one involving conspiracy, four involving illegal payments, and one involving false statements. If he is found guilty, Mr. Edwards faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. “Mr. Edwards is alleged to have accepted more than $900,000 in an effort to conceal from the public facts that he believed would harm his candidacy,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer said in a statement. “As this indictment shows, we will not permit candidates for high office to abuse their special ability to access the coffers of their political supporters to circumvent our election laws.”

I suppose DEMOCRAT Anthony Weiner is hoping that the DEMOCRAT John Edwards scandal wipes his scandal off the front page.

I think the country is capable of managing two scandals at once.

John Edwards: Indictment

Although I disagree with John Edwards when it comes to politics, I defended him when the news first broke back in 2007, that he had cheated on his wife, Elizabeth.

I thought the National Enquirer's story was concocted tabloid trash. I didn't think Edwards would betray his wife.

I gave him way too much credit.

Now, after years of public denials and lies about his affair and his baby with Rielle Hunter, Edwards faces prosecution for criminal wrongdoing.

From WTVD-TV:

The United States Department of Justice in Washington has given the go ahead for John Edwards to be prosecuted in connection with a campaign finance investigation.

A source familiar with the case tells the I-Team Edwards now knows that federal prosecutors intend to indict him.

As we have been reporting, the former Senator has been the focus of a federal grand jury investigation in Raleigh for the past two-and-a-half years.

From Chopper11 HD Tuesday evening the Edwards mansion in Orange County appeared to be quiet.

The I-team has learned Edwards is deciding how to proceed now that the Justice Department has given the green light for him to face criminal charges.

...Edwards will have the option of entering a guilty plea and will be able to avoid a costly criminal trial with an uncertain outcome.

Video, from WTVD-TV:



Edwards, the Democrat nominee for vice president in 2004, has disappointed a lot of people.

He made some shockingly bad choices.

Thankfully, the nation was spared the indignity of having someone like him as vice president.

Also, I give credit to Obama for managing to shatter Edwards' presidential hopes in 2008.

Elizabeth Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards dies; lived her pain on a public stage

Rest in Peace.

My prayers go out to her children. Their loss is so great.

Dana Milbank and Bill O'Reilly

Dana Milbank, the Washington Post, and his fellow Leftists are getting all bent out of shape because of what Milbank's calls Bill O'Reilly's "thuggish tactics."

Milbank is horrified by O'Reilly's "threats" of violence.

Milbank writes:

Bill O'Reilly wants my head.

No Milbank wants attention via a feud with O'Reilly. Beyond that, he wants to discredit FOX News.

On Thursday night, the Fox News host asked, as part of a show that would be seen by 5.5 million people: "Does sharia law say we can behead Dana Milbank?" He then added, "That was a joke."

Hilarious! Decapitation jokes just slay me, and this one had all the more hilarity because the topic of journalist beheadings brings to mind my late friend and colleague Danny Pearl, who replaced me in the Wall Street Journal's London bureau and later was murdered in Pakistan by people who thought sharia justified it.

The next night, O'Reilly read a complaint from one of his viewers, Heidi Haverlock of Cleveland, who said: "I thought the joke about whether sharia law would allow the beheading of the Washington Post guy was completely inappropriate." O'Reilly replied to her on air: "Well, let me break this to you gently, Heidi. If Dana Milbank did in Iran what he does in Washington, he'd be hummus."

O'Reilly is partly right about that. As an American and a Jew, I probably wouldn't last long in Iran. And criticizing the government there, as I do here, wouldn't add to my life expectancy. But what was he trying to say? That America would be better if it were more like Iran?

Certainly, O'Reilly isn't calling for anyone to behead Milbank. He has to know that.

Personally, I don't like "jokes" about beheading people and other barbaric acts. I find no humor in it.

That said, Milbank is being such a wuss.

I thought he liked "jokes" about violence.

In 2006, Milbank had a lot of fun making fun of Dick Cheney's hunting accident. He showed up on MSNBC wearing blaze orange while talking to Keith Olbermann.



When Olbermann asked if the blaze orange attire was intended to mock the Vice President, clown Milbank replied, "Oh, not so, Keith. It just happens that your studio's — I'm using the one uptown, which is not far from the Naval Observatory, which is his residence. So we can't be too careful."

Shooting jokes! Hilarious!

Milbank is such a hypocrite.

Milbank continues:

O'Reilly's on-air fantasizing about violent ends for me was precipitated by a column I wrote describing Fox News's election-night coverage as a victory party for the Republicans. This didn't strike me as a terribly controversial point, but it evidently offended O'Reilly.

...I suspect O'Reilly's fury - he went after me on three consecutive nights last week - has less to do with one sentence in one column than with a book and a series of columns I've written about O'Reilly's colleague Glenn Beck. I've argued that Beck, with his talk of violence, Nazis and conspiracy theories, is all but inviting fringe characters to take up arms. I've held O'Reilly up as a responsible alternative to Beck - but O'Reilly seems determined to prove this wrong.

On Thursday night, he made an eerie reference to The Post's editorial page editor. "Would you put Fred Hiatt's picture up on the screen here?" he asked. "This is the editor, Milbank's editor, Fred Hiatt. And, Fred won't do anything about Milbank lying in his column. I just want everybody in America to know what The Washington Post has come to. All right, you can take Fred's picture off. Fred, have a nice weekend, buddy."

Shortly after this, O'Reilly proposed to his fellow Fox News host, Megyn Kelly, a way to handle their disagreement with me: "I think you and I should go and beat him up."

The two continued on to a discussion of the attempt to bar sharia law in Oklahoma. That's when he made his little "joke" about beheading me, which led to his talk the next night about garbanzo puree.

Kelly, too, took issue with what I wrote, but to her credit she didn't join in O'Reilly's violent fantasies. "When somebody missteps, especially when it comes to any sort of speech or expression of opinion, the answer is to have more speech and opinion," she said.

"I'm not trying to muzzle the guy," O'Reilly replied.

True. You don't need a muzzle if your head has been cut off.

O'Reilly has every right to quarrel with my opinion or question my accuracy. But why resort to intimidation and violent imagery? I don't believe O'Reilly really wants to sever my head, but if only one of his millions of viewers interprets his message otherwise, that's still a problem for me. Already, Beck fans have been accused of a police killing, threatening to kill a senator and having a highway shootout en route to an alleged attack on liberal groups.

Let's drop the thuggish tactics - before more people get hurt.

It is ridiculous for Milbank to take this holier-than-thou stance, whining about "O'Reilly's violent fantasies," given the humor he finds in violent imagery.

The Leftists have no problem with "violent fantasies" when the subjects are conservatives.

Just one of countless examples of "violent fantasies" by Leftists, from NewsBusters:

Once gain, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann seems entertained by the thought of conservatives being shot. Less than five months after depicting the image of Rush Limbaugh as the target of gunfire during his Countdown show, on Wednesday's show Olbermann included a joke about shooting Dick Cheney during the regular "Top Three Sound Bites" segment of the show. One of the featured clips was from the Tuesday November 14 Daily Show with Jon Stewart in which Stewart asked his guest, former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, whom he would have "accidentally shot in the face" if he had been elected Vice President, to which Edwards responded "Dick Cheney."

Hilarious!!!

Milbank knows that O'Reilly isn't calling for him to be decapitated, yet suddenly the jokester Milbank gets very serious.

I think Milbank's real agenda is to do his part in the liberal media's orchestrated effort to marginalize FOX News.
_________________

More of the MSNBC Leftist media's "thuggish tactics" and "violent fantasies":

Ed Schultz: "SHOVE THOSE BASTARDS RIGHT INTO THE DIRTHOLE!"

(Audio)

Ed Schultz: "We ought to rip [Dick Cheney's heart] out and kick it around and stuff it back in him."

(Audio)

Brett Favre: John Edwards of the NFL

There's still no resolution to the Brett Favre sexual harassment scandal.

That's not good for the NFL.

But the investigation is moving forward.

Favre has admitted to leaving the voicemails for Jenn Sterger. As far as the graphic photos go, Favre refuses to claim them as his.

From ESPN:

Brett Favre admitted to the NFL this week that he did leave voicemails for Jenn Sterger, but denied sending the former sideline hostess any lewd photographs when he was a member of the New York Jets, Fox Sports reported Sunday.

The NFL is investigating the allegations against Favre and is attempting to speak with Sterger, who hasn't decided yet whether she will talk to the league.

Phil Reese, a spokesman for Sterger, told The Associated Press on Friday that Sterger is "strongly considering" speaking with NFL officials conducting the probe.

"We have an ongoing dialogue with the NFL," Reese said. "What we've been talking about is having Jenn come in. Like I have said, she is strongly considering it. Ultimately this decision is hers and hers alone."

Reese told ESPN's Kelly Naqi that Sterger's group has hired a team of former FBI investigators to assist them. Reese did not say why the investigators were hired or what role they were playing.

Asked if Favre admitted leaving the voicemails for Sterger, but denied sending any photos, Reese added:

"We're currently in the fact-gathering stage; all I'm doing is dealing with facts. Unfortunately the person in the pictures didn't also hold up their driver's license, so I'm not going to speculate as far as identity. But I'm working with people to diligently get all the facts."

Sterger, now a TV personality for the Versus network, has not commented on the allegations, which were posted on the website Deadspin. The site said Sterger would not agree to an interview and it paid a third party for the texts, voicemails and graphic photos, said to be of Favre, that it posted in a video.

"Send me a text. Love to see you tonight," one voicemail said.

...Reese also has said that Sterger has had no discussions with Favre's representatives about a possible financial settlement stemming from the allegations.

Favre's wife, Deanna, wouldn't go into details when asked about the allegations at a television appearance Thursday.

Here's video of Jay Glazer discussing his exclusive.



So Favre is taking responsibility for the voicemails but not the photos.

He should just come clean right away rather than admitting to wrongdoing little by little.

It should be possible to trace the source of the messages sent to Sterger that included the photos.

What's Favre doing by admitting he's partially guilty? Trying to delay a suspension and an end to his consecutive starts streak?

He must think he's safe in denying he sent the photos. He'd be better off telling the truth, the whole truth, immediately.

Favre reminds me of John Edwards. He admitted to his affair with Rielle Hunter but he flat-out lied about being the father of Hunter's baby.

From ABC News:

John Edwards admitted to ABC News in an interview with Bob Woodruff Friday (WATCH THE INTERVIEW) that he repeatedly lied about an extramarital affair with a 42-year old campaign employee, but strenuously denied being involved in paying the woman hush money or fathering her newborn child. The former Democratic U.S. senator from North Carolina said he would be willing to take a paternity test and divulge the results publicly.

From ABC News:

Former presidential candidate John Edwards abandoned his long denial that he had fathered a child during an affair with a campaign aide and admitted today that he is the father of the almost 2-year-old girl.

"I am Quinn's father," Edwards said in the bombshell statement this morning. "I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves."

What a liar!

I think Favre is a lot like John Edwards.

Pathetic.

Al Gore: Sexual Assault

The National Enquirer, the publication that busted John Edwards, is reporting that Al Gore sexually assaulted a masseuse in Portland, Oregon.



Here's the story:

ENQUIRER WORLD EXCLUSIVE: AL GORE has been accused of sexually attacking a masseuse in Portland, Oregon - and is named in the official police report about the alleged assault, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively!

The bombshell story will appear in the new issue of The ENQUIRER and will include the secret police documents, a photo of the woman making the stunning charges and will reveal the shocking details about the pants she saved as evidence!

Our investigative team uncovered the amazing story just weeks after the former Vice President announced that he and wife TIPPER were ending their 40-year marriage - amidst reports she suspected her husband was involved with "a gorgeous massage therapist."

We have verified the 62-year-old former VP was in Portland at the time of the alleged incident - Oct. 24, 2006 - and we saw the $540 massage bill.

No criminal charges were brought against Gore, but the Portland police prepared a document marked "Confidential Special Report" - which records the explosive allegations of "unwanted sexual contact" by Al Gore "at a local upscale hotel."

The ENQUIRER is withholding the name of the 54-year-old woman making the stunning accusations because she is potentially a sex-crime victim.

When The Enquirer first reported Edwards' affair, I, like a fool, defended Edwards.

This time, I'm inclined to believe The Enquirer.
______________________

UPDATE: Prosecutor: Al Gore was focus of sex crime inquiry in Portland

Person of Interest:

"Mr. Stone"
aka: GORE, AL
Former Vice President of United States of America

"Mr. Stone"?

There's a lot that's weird about this story. From now on, I think I'll call Al Gore "Mr. Stone."

Read the original Portland Police Bureau report on Al Gore.

Read the Portland Police Bureau 2009 investigative report on Al Gore incident.
______________________

LATEST: In a bombshell new development in the AL GORE sex scandal -- broken EXCLUSIVELY earlier today by The ENQUIRER -- the Oregon District Attorney says there's "the possibility of a criminal prosecution."

In a statement just released by Multnomah County (OR.) D.A. Michael D. Schrunk, the official reveals that "our office was notified by the Portland Police Bureau that further investigation of this matter had been conducted by it in 2009 and we were provided with the reports from that further investigation."

Schrunk goes on to add: "If the complainant and the Portland Police Bureau wish to pursue the possibility of a criminal prosecution, additional investigation by the Bureau will be necessary and will be discussed with the Portland Police Bureau."

The D.A. says the police first briefed his office in late 2006 and early 2007 on the allegations but was told "the woman was not willing to be interviewed by the Portland Police Bureau and did not want a criminal investigation to proceed."

John Edwards: Daddy, Diaper Thief

The John Edwards - Rielle Hunter scandal would make a great screenplay. Some aspects of it are almost too bizarre to be believable. Truth is stranger than fiction, I guess.

Case in point: The Diaper Caper

From ABC News:

Former presidential candidate John Edwards abandoned his long denial that he had fathered a child during an affair with a campaign aide and admitted today that he is the father of the almost 2-year-old girl.

"I am Quinn's father," Edwards said in the bombshell statement this morning. "I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves."

The former senator and presidential hopeful had an affair with campaign cinematographer Rielle Hunter, 45, and she later give birth to Frances Quinn.

Edwards' admission comes a week before the man who had claimed he was the baby's father, former aide Andrew Young, was scheduled to appear in an exclusive interview on "20/20".

In an excerpt from his upcoming interview with ABC News's Bob Woodruff, Young alleges that Edwards asked him to arrange a fake a paternity test.

"Get a doctor to fake the DNA results," Young said Edwards told him. "And he asked me ... to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child."

Steal a diaper? Fake a paternity test?

It's like a movie, a bad movie.

Of course, Edwards' admission was prompted by Young's upcoming 20/20 interview. Edwards gets no credit for coming clean. He had no choice but to quit lying.

It's incredible that Edwards was honored as Father of the Year on June 7, 2007. His daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, was born on February 27, 2008.



In his acceptance speech, Edwards said:

I realized your children..., it is true, your children learn not only from what you say, but from what you do.

And... whenever they do anything that you're proud of in your life, you'll be able to look back on the things that you taught them, both through your words and through your deeds.

It makes you want to gag, doesn't it?

This is about as sleazy as it gets.

What a fraud!

And what was Edwards doing on the day he released the statement admitting the truth about his child born to a woman other than his wife?

...Edwards was in Haiti today working on earthquake relief and said only, "I've said what I have to say for now and I'm here to help people."

What a humanitarian!

What a great guy!

What is he thinking???

Releasing the statement while he's in Haiti is so cowardly. Does Edwards think that the road to his redemption as a public figure runs through Haiti?

It doesn't.

Even a stint in rehab for sex addiction and compulsive lying won't help.

He's finished.

Thank you, National Enquirer, for doing great work.

SNL: Mark Sanford, John Edwards, John Ensign, and Tiger Woods

Saturday Night Live used Tiger Woods' extramarital messes as an opportunity to remind people of the infidelities of Republicans Mark Sanford and John Ensign, as well as John Edwards' love child.

The notion that there's some sort of double standard in play when it comes to the coverage of the scandals, possibly racial, is ridiculous.

Why are tabloids and news outlets obsessing over Tiger Woods' adultery?

It sells. Woods is an extremely popular personality. The media are giving the people what they want.

Furthermore, it appears that Woods has a very deep well from which to draw when it comes to lurid details about his affairs. Obviously, a number of his partners are very willing to share.

I don't see any double standard in the coverage.

There's no comparison between Woods' popularity and that of Mark Sanford or John Ensign. Given that John Edwards was the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2004 and that he was a serious presidential candidate in 2008, his screwing around and having a child with his mistress probably should have received more coverage in the mainstream media than it did.

Nonetheless, I think the coverage is commensurate with the individual's popularity overall.

I don't think the question here is whether the media are treating Woods fairly compared to his unfaithful brethren. I think the question is whether the mainstream media should be spending so much time on tabloid trash in the first place.

Woods is a huge celebrity. He's reckless. He's unfaithful. All fuel for tabloid reporting.

I think the coverage of the Woods scandal reveals just how far the mainstream media have strayed from reporting hard news.

Their bottom line is getting the public to buy what they're selling. The media don't mind jumping into bed with Tiger.

Ted Kennedy and 1000 Women

All Ted Kennedy's Women...

According to The National Enquirer, Ted Kennedy led a very full life, one that David Letterman could only dream about.

Kennedy admitted to sleeping with more than 1000 women.

Ted Kennedy slept with more than a thousand women - and spent at least $10 million in hush money over the years to keep his skirt-chasing a secret!

The late senator made those sensational confessions in a chapter of his autobiography, but horrified family members and advisers cut them out.

Before he died of brain cancer at age 77 on Aug. 25, the womanizing politician also revealed that he planned to seduce Mary Jo Kopechne on the night she drowned, said a close source.

"While dictating his memoirs into a tape recorder, Ted decided to tell the whole truth about his life - including his love life. He said that his first lover was an Irish nanny. She was about 19, and Ted was only 13," the source divulged.

"When his mother found out, she sent the nanny back to Ireland. Rose made Ted pray on his knees for hours to ask forgiveness. But Ted recalled that even his sore knees couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

"From that day on, he says he seduced as many women as he could, from maids and cooks at the family's Hyannis Port compound to college friends that his sisters brought home."

Kennedy even admitted that he planned to seduce Mary Jo Kopechne on the night his car plunged off the road in Chappaquiddick, said the source.

"But his lawyers and friends begged him not to open that door. They said that even after his death, it would hurt his legacy and haunt the family," said the source.

"He relented about Mary Jo, but went on to admit that he'd seduced the wives of some of his closest friends and even his brothers' girlfriends."

Should we believe The Enquirer?

I don't know.

I do know I didn't believe its report that John Edwards was cheating on his ill wife. I staunchly defended Edwards.

I was wrong and The Enquirer was right.

Elizabeth Edwards, Rielle Hunter, and 'Cherubim'

I can understand why Elizabeth Edwards would be sniping at Rielle Hunter. I can understand why she'd be angry with Andrew Young.

From the New York Daily News:

Former presidential candidate John Edwards is said to be ready to admit that he fathered a love child. But Hades may have a skating rink before his wife, Elizabeth, signs off on such a confession.

As a grand jury in North Carolina considers whether Edwards misused campaign funds to cover up the scandal, Elizabeth still can't abide his former mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Word is Elizabeth vehemently opposed the plan, now in place, for Hunter and daughter Quinn to move from New Jersey to Wilmington, N.C., where the Edwardses have a beach house.

For months now, Elizabeth, who is said to be talking to a divorce lawyer, also has been sniping at Hunter - painting her as a blackmailing gold digger - in blog comments where she uses the pseudonym "Cherubim," according to a source who knows Elizabeth.

Though "Cherubim" has recently described herself as an African-American woman, the source insists, "It's Elizabeth. She's used 'cherubim' as a password. Look at the gravestone of their son Wade: It's an angel holding a boy."

"Cherubim" has also heaped scorn on estranged Edwards aide Andrew Young, who is working on a book in which he's due to reveal that Edwards and wealthy supporters paid him to claim that he fathered Quinn.

In a proposal for the book, Young contends that Elizabeth blamed him for helping her husband carry on the affair and forced Young to quit the campaign. He also alleges that Elizabeth left taunting messages on his family's answering machine - telling his wife, Cheri, that Rielle supposedly had slept with Young and that she was likely to again.

If the allegations are true, this "source who knows Elizabeth" isn't a very good friend to reveal that "Cherubim" is the pseudonym she's been using to post blog comments.

It's also not cool to reveal that Elizabeth uses "cherubim" as a password.

What a mess!

I'm in no way defending Elizabeth Edwards' alleged lashing out on the Internet or on the family answering machine of Andrew Young.

She'd be wise to stay away from the ugliness of the Internet and not waste her precious time.

So many people let her down. So many people in her life behaved selfishly -- most of all, her husband.

I don't know how John Edwards can live with himself, knowing the pain he's causing his wife as she struggles with her illness.

It's disgusting that Andrew Young is choosing to write a book now about the whole sorry saga. Doesn't he have any pangs of guilt for trying to profit at the expense of the Edwards family?

If Elizabeth did blame Young and if she did leave taunting messages on the answering machine at his home, can't he understand why she'd be acting a little nuts at the revelation of her husband's betrayal?

The players in this drama are so sleazy, John Edwards being the sleaziest.

Elizabeth Edwards may have flipped out inappropriately here and there but there's no question that she's the victim.

John Edwards, the Daddy

The New York Times was SO slow to pick up on the explosive ACORN scandal.

It's very selective in what it considers newsworthy.

Today, it's finally reporting what the National Enquirer told the world over a month ago -- John Edwards fathered the daughter of his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

The story of the spectacular rise and fall of John Edwards, with its sordid can’t-look-away dimensions, is moving slowly but deliberately to its conclusion here in North Carolina.

...Mr. Edwards, the one-term senator who came close to being elected vice president in 2004 and ran a credible campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, remains largely secluded at his 100-acre estate here.

But a federal grand jury in nearby Raleigh is investigating whether any crimes were committed in connection with campaign laws in an effort to conceal his extramarital affair with a woman named Rielle Hunter. At the same time, Mr. Edwards is moving toward an abrupt reversal in his public posture; associates said in interviews that he is considering declaring that he is the father of Ms. Hunter’s 19-month-old daughter, something that he once flatly asserted in a television interview was not possible.

...According to people familiar with the grand jury investigation, prosecutors are considering a complicated and novel legal issue: whether payments to a candidate’s mistress to ensure her silence (and thus maintain the candidate’s viability) should be considered campaign donations and thus whether they should be reported. When Mr. Edwards was running for president, and later when he still held out hope of a cabinet position in the Obama administration, two of his wealthy patrons, through a once-trusted Edwards aide, quietly provided Ms. Hunter with large financial benefits, including a new BMW and lodging, that were used to keep her out of public view.

...Wade M. Smith, a Raleigh lawyer who represents Mr. Edwards, declined to comment on the paternity issue directly, but said in a statement that “there may be a statement on that subject at some point, but there is no timetable and we will see how we feel about it as events unfold.”

The Enquirer "unfolded events" long ago.

If Edwards were a Republican, I suspect the NYT would have done the same.

John Edwards and his Daughter

According to The National Enquirer, John Edwards took a DNA test and the results revealed what many have long expected:

Edwards is a serial liar without an ounce of integrity. He's a lowlife.

John Edwards has secretly undergone a DNA test - and it proves he's the father of his mistress' love child, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

Multiple sources confirm the bombshell development, and reveal lawyers for the disgraced presidential candidate are privately hammering out child support payments with his former lover Rielle Hunter.

Edwards - who hotly denied he was the child's father when he publicly confessed his affair with Rielle on ABC's Nightline a year ago - has broken the news to his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth, sources say.

But The ENQUIRER has also learned that Rielle testified against Edwards before a federal grand jury that's probing whether he broke campaign finance laws by secretly funneling money to her - and her testimony could send the former North Carolina senator to jail!

The positive DNA test finally ends the elaborate cover-up that Edwards engineered to hide the fact that he fathered Rielle's 18-month-old daughter Frances.

..."Rielle had no choice but to demand John take a DNA test," said the close friend.

"She was worried about getting long-term financial support for her daughter. So she hired an attorney, and John consented to undergo a secret swab test to establish paternity.

..."Despite the ongoing financial negotiations, sources say Rielle testified against Edwards in front of the grand jury, spending nine hours inside the courthouse on Aug. 6 in Raleigh, N.C.

Rielle's testimony against Edwards came as a "cooperating witness" for the government, added a source familiar with the investigation.

"Rielle is not dumb. She knew the feds had subpoenaed her bank statements and knew about every payment she received," said the source.

"The FBI told her it was in her best interests to tell the truth, and she did. And unlike the others who have testified, Rielle was driven to the court by FBI agents and escorted in by them. She got favorable treatment because she testified against John."

Another DEMOCRAT sex scandal...

Another DEMOCRAT corruption scandal...

Those DEMOCRATS!

I assume the mainstream media will spend days and days covering this DEMOCRAT scandal.

Edwards was the Dems' 2004 candidate for vice president. He was a major player in the party. The Dems wanted him to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Bad choice.

Thankfully, the American people rejected him.

It kills me that Edwards would cheat on his wife while she battled a life-threatening illness.

How could he do that to Elizabeth and their children?

John Edwards and the Paternity Test

Last summer, Rielle Hunter, John Edwards' mistress, refused to have a paternity test to determine the identity of the father of her daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter.

Read more here.

Hunter has changed her mind since them. Calling Maury Povich....

From FOX News:

John Edwards' ex-mistress reportedly is interested in seeking a paternity test for her 1-year-old daughter after Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, sparked fresh questions over whether the father might be her husband.

The former North Carolina senator and presidential candidate denied being the father of Frances Quinn Hunter during a TV interview in August. But Elizabeth Edwards, in an interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that aired Thursday afternoon, didn't sound so sure.

...On Wednesday, one day after Oprah's production company released excerpts of the interview, The National Enquirer reported that Rielle Hunter, John Edwards' former mistress, is working with a lawyer to seek a paternity test from him.

That's a reversal from last August, when Hunter's attorney Robert Gordon released a statement saying she "will not participate in DNA testing or any other invasion of her or her daughter's privacy now or in the future."

Edwards said at the time that he would "welcome" a paternity test, and that because of the "timing" of his affair "it's not possible that this child could be mine." But he indicated that his apparent willingness to take the test would lead nowhere unless Hunter consented.

"I'm only one side. I can run only one side of the test, but I'm happy to participate in one," Edwards said at the time.

It's unclear whether Edwards would be as willing to submit to a test if Hunter is on board with the idea.

His wife said in the interview Thursday that, "I suppose it would be easy" to determine the paternity but she did not press for a test.

"Whatever the facts are doesn't change my life in a sense," she said, adding that if the child is her husband's, "then that would be a part of John's life, but it's not part of mine."

It really makes me sick when I think of what John Edwards is putting his wife and his children through.

That said, I don't know why Elizabeth Edwards chose to attack Rielle Hunter in her new book. Certainly, talking about the affair will sell more copies, but she had to know that angering Hunter would be playing with fire. I guess Elizabeth doesn't care. What does she have to lose?

...Pigeon O'Brien, a former close friend of Hunter's who publicly questioned Edwards' account of the affair last year, said in an e-mail to FOXNews.com that she didn't know whether Hunter is seeking a paternity test. But she added: "It all has to do with [Elizabeth Edwards'] book and the resulting chaos."

In her book, "Resilience," due out next week, Elizabeth Edwards calls Hunter's life "pathetic" and writes that she threw up when she learned of her husband's affair.

A source reportedly told the Enquirer that Hunter decided to abandon the "cover-up" over the paternity of her daughter after learning about the contents of Elizabeth Edwards' book, in which she reportedly refers to the baby only as "it" and does not name Hunter.

While Andrew Young, a former Edwards campaign aide, claimed to be the father of Frances Hunter, another former campaign worker told FOXNews.com last summer that he and Hunter had "no relationship." The birth certificate for Frances Quinn Hunter does not list a father.

The question of paternity isn't the only matter still dogging Edwards in the wake of the affair and his subsequent confession. Federal investigators are also looking into how he's managed his campaign funds -- finance questions arose last year after his political action committee paid more than $100,000 to Hunter's company for the production of short videos.

Edwards went on the record saying he would welcome the opportunity to take a paternity test. He insisted that it was impossible for him to be the father.

If that's the case, then he should publicly pressure Rielle Hunter to cooperate and submit to a test.

The results would put an end to the soap opera, at least the doubts about Edwards being the baby's father.

Now that it seems Hunter is ready to participate in a paternity test, Edwards can't run away.

We know Edwards lied to his wife about the affair. It's not hard to believe that he's lying about fathering the child.

He's already a known liar. I don't think a test proving or disproving his paternity would impact what people think of him.

At this point, he has nothing to lose -- except maybe money. He destroyed himself.

From the National Enquirer:

John Edwards' furious mistress is demanding he submit to a DNA test, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively!

Rielle Hunter - the longtime secret lover of the disgraced 2-time presidential candidate - wants definitive proof that Edwards is the father of her 14-month-old love child Frances and is working with a lawyer to take legal action, say sources.

..."Rielle - probably naively - now realizes she had held onto a false promise that if she continued to take part in the cover-up John had engineered, they'd be together in the future," a close source told The ENQUIRER.

"She was willing to protect John for the sake of the child. She agreed to allow a crony of his to claim he was the baby's father, and she even kept the name of the father blank on the birth certificate.

"But now she can see there's never going to be a future with John - and she feels he's lied about his promise to keep Elizabeth from trashing her in the book," the insider divulged.

"Rielle is so infuriated by his and Elizabeth's actions that she's throwing her loyalty to him out of the window!"

Why trust unnamed sources?

The Enquirer hasn't been wrong about this story so far.

Edwards was lying when he claimed the story of the affair was false.

It wasn't concocted tabloid trash, like he said.

Rielle Hunter, of course, lied as well.

From the New York Daily News:

"The innuendoes and lies that have appeared on the Internet and in the National Enquirer concerning John Edwards are not true, completely unfounded and ridiculous," Hunter stated. "When working for the Edwards camp, my conduct as well as the conduct of my entire team was completely professional. This concocted story is just dirty politics, and I want no part of it."

That was crap.

So, both Edwards and Hunter are liars.

The truth is out there. It's in the DNA.

The whole thing is pathetic.

John Edwards, Federal Investigation

UPDATE, May 5, 2009: Elizabeth Edwards talks to Oprah Winfrey about John Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter.

She says she has "no idea" if her husband fathered the baby of his mistress.

"I've seen a picture of the baby. I have no idea. It doesn't look like my children, but I don't have any idea."

Video.
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These days, things really aren't going well for John Edwards.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- His once-prominent political career is buried and the turmoil of his marriage is playing out in public. Now, John Edwards is facing a federal inquiry.

The two-time Democratic presidential candidate acknowledged Sunday that investigators are assessing how he spent his campaign funds — a subject that could carry his extramarital affair from the tabloids to the courtroom. Edwards' political action committee paid more than $100,000 for video production to the firm of the woman with whom Edwards had an affair.

The former North Carolina senator said in a carefully worded statement that he is cooperating.

"I am confident that no funds from my campaign were used improperly," Edwards said in the statement. "However, I know that it is the role of government to ensure that this is true. We have made available to the United States both the people and the information necessary to help them get the issue resolved efficiently and in a timely matter."

While Edwards focused his comment on campaign funds, he also had a range of other fundraising organizations — including two nonprofits and a poverty center at his alma mater — that have come under scrutiny.

Chief among them was the PAC that paid Rielle Hunter's company for several months in 2006 for Web videos that documented Edwards' travels and advocacy in the months leading up to his 2008 presidential campaign. The committee also paid her firm an additional $14,086.50 on April 1, 2007.

We don't need to rush to judgment on this investigation to come to the conclusion that John Edwards is scum.

I was such a fool for coming to his defense when allegations of an affair first surfaced in 2007.

When The Enquirer went with the story, I considered it tabloid trash. I would not believe that Edwards would betray his wife, Elizabeth, particularly given her health issues.

I was wrong. He did. If he misused campaign funds, it wouldn't surprise me. If he can do what he did to his wife, he's capable of anything.

...Since announcing the affair, Edwards has remained largely secluded, and he canceled all his public appearances before the November election because he said he didn't want to be a distraction for Obama.

His wife, Elizabeth, who is terminally ill with cancer, will soon be releasing a book talking about the affair. In it, she writes that news of the affair made her vomit. She also describes Hunter as "pathetic."

Hunter may be pathetic, but she's no more pathetic than John Edwards.

I have sympathy for Elizabeth. She's struggling with a terminal illness at the same time she's dealing with this horrible betrayal.

Lee Stranahan, The Huffington Post, writes about Elizabeth, "The Lies Of (And To) Elizabeth Edwards." He's painfully honest, to the point of being almost brutal.

Stranahan writes:

Elizabeth Edwards has built up a tremendous reserve of public support and respect. It's earned. She's smart, accomplished, articulate and has suffered far more than her share of personal tragedy. But she also chose to launch a celebrity (sorta) tell-all book called Resilience that covers her husband John Edward's affair and so she opens herself and her relationship up as a subject of public discussion.

So let's be clear; in equal proportion to her victimhood, Elizabeth Edwards also aided and abetted her husband in deceiving Democratic voters on an unprecedented scale.

She helped her husband commit an odd sort of fraud - taking money from thousands of people under false premises, in a sort of personality Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff blush. Elizabeth Edwards knew that narrative of the Edwards's personal relationship was a winner with voters and she helped spin it. She was an active part of his campaign and not just for policy reasons.

Electoral politics is, after all, only partially about policy. Elizabeth humanized John Edwards. He's a guy who oozed smarmy, insincere, self-centered lawyer but he's married to Elizabeth, so he might be okay. Elizabeth wasn't a trophy wife; she was a real woman and their love affair story was spiked with elements that gave Edwards more depth, a sense of a man deeper than first appearances.

Together, John and Elizabeth spun the stories in an effort to gain donations and votes. The details they told were true. Anniversaries at the fast food restaurant Wendy's. Her battle with cancer. The unfathomable loss of their son. These facts were and are real but they served as misdirection to another reality - that John Edwards had undertaken an emotional and sexual affair with a campaign worker named Rielle Hunter.

Elizabeth knew.

She knew that her husband had used campaign money to pay his mistress to travel with him. In her book, she apparently claims that she urged her husband to end his Presidential bid...but she kept helping him raise money. She allowed their personal narrative to be the subject of story after story and even stepped it up when her cancer returned.

I've spoken with Edwards supporters who gave him thousands of dollars of hard earned money because they believed in him. Some even convinced other family members to donate to Edwards. They felt betrayed and angry.

Stranahan is right. Elizabeth isn't an entirely innocent figure in this sleazy drama.

I guess in her own way she's pathetic, too.

John Edwards Confesses

I gave John Edwards far more credit than he deserved.

Way back in October 2007, when rumors were circulating about Edwards having an affair, I defended him.

Here.

I called the reports "silly, concocted tabloid trash."

I wrote:

I don't for one minute believe that Edwards would cheat on his wife, especially given her health situation.

During their marriage, they've faced tragedies and challenges together. There's no way Edwards would do that to her.

I don't believe it.

I was so wrong. I was a fool to defend him.

Edwards is an admitted adulterer. He's a liar. He's selfish and cruel.

And according to the National Enquirer, he's the daddy of his former (?) lover's baby.

Edwards is the daddy of Rielle Hunter's daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter.

From the Enquirer:

Edwards made the belated admission to his wife in an effort to stop ex-lover Rielle Hunter from going public, sources told The ENQUIRER.

While Edwards has admitted to having an affair with Rielle, he has shamelessly denied fathering her baby, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Instead, one of his campaign workers, Andrew Young, claimed to be the dad.

But now, at least in private to his wife, he is finally telling the truth, sources reveal to The ENQUIRER.

The ex-senator sprang into action when he saw how upset Rielle had become over Elizabeth's forthcoming book, Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities, which will be published in May.

"Rielle has become extremely edgy, and John's been afraid she might go public before Elizabeth's book comes out so she can put her story out there first," the close source told The ENQUIRER.

"These concerns led to John telling Rielle that he had sat down with Elizabeth and admitted to being the baby's father. This is something Rielle had been pushing John to do for a long, long time because he initially told Elizabeth he was not the father.

I'm inclined to believe the report. The Enquirer has been right about this story from the beginning.

For a long time, I've believed that Edwards was lying about being the baby's father.

Maybe Edwards did confess to his wife a while ago but he certainly didn't come clean to the American people.

If he is the baby's father, then he flat-out lied on the record when he was interviewed by Bob Woodruff on ABC's Nightline, August 2008.

Edwards said he knows he could not be the father based on the timing of the baby's birth on February 27, 2008.

A grainy photo that appears to show Edwards holding a child was published recently in the National Enquirer, which claimed that the baby was Rielle Hunter's child Frances Quinn. Edwards said he couldn't make "sense" of the photo.

"I don't know if that picture is me," Edwards said. "It could well be. It looks like me. I don't know who that baby is. I have no idea what that picture is."

Pressed to clarify whether the child in the picture was Hunter's child, Edwards suggested that the tabloid may have digitally altered the picture, but also noted the frequency with which politicians hold babies. "Do you know how many pictures have been taken of me holding children in the last three years? I mean it happens all the time."

Edwards was asked again about the meeting.

"Are you saying you don't remember holding that child of Miss Hunter?"

"I'm saying you asked me about that photograph. I don't know anything about that photograph, I don't know who that baby is. I don't know if the picture has been altered, manufactured, if it's a picture of me taken some other time, holding another baby…I have no idea. I was not at this meeting holding a child for my photograph to be taken I can tell you that."

Sometimes the cover-up is worse than the original misdeed.

In this case, it's all so slimy.

What a fool I was to believe that Edwards actually possessed some degree of decency and honor!

________________

A paternity test really isn't necessary.


(Photo/The Tonight Show)

Bill Maher and Jay Leno -- AGAIN

UPDATE, February 10, 2009: Bill Maher and Jay Leno, February 10
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UPDATE, November 19, 2008: Bill Maher and Jay Leno, November 19
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(Screen grab/ NBC)

It seems like Bill Maher was just on the Tonight Show a couple of weeks ago.

Actually, it was the end of August. Still, two appearances in just over two months is too much.

Naturally, Jay Leno and Maher talked about presidential politics.

Maher said that John McCain is getting desperate. His new slogan: "McCain - the White Obama."

"I think he's desperate to get to the White House because the White House is acutally an excellent managed care facility."

How creative! A joke about McCain's age! That Maher is such a comic genius!

He sang Obama's praises and equated him with Jackie Robinson.

Maher said the attacks against Obama now are "veiled racism."

He said that's all the Republicans have at this point. They're just throwing out anything, hoping to hurt Obama.

Maher claimed, "Rush Limbaugh says he's an Arab."

He then quoted Sarah Palin's line, "He's not like us."

Maher made up his own smear: "He's got a big black uncircumcised penis and it smells like curry."

Leno laughed and said he hadn't heard that one. It was clear that the audience wished it hadn't heard it.

Maher said race should be taken off the table.

He said whatever a person writes on the Internet is taken to be true as long as it's not followed with "LOL."

Maher told Leno that he intends to write: "Barack Obama is white. In fact, he's Irish. It's O'Bama."

Obviously, Maher believes that race is preventing people from supporting Obama. He charges a sector with the American population of being racist. They'd vote for O'Bama, but not Obama.

Has Maher considered the possibility that some Americans don't want to vote for Obama because of his extreme liberal positions, his lack of experience, his poor judgment, and his character? Skin color and ethnic identity aren't factors.


Leno asked Maher for his prediction on the outcome of the presidential race.

"I think this race is already over."

Maher blames Sarah Palin for dooming John McCain's bid for the presidency.

He said, "Competence is like pornography. You know it when you see it."

"Gov. Avon Lady just doesn't pass the smell test."

At that, there were some boos, as well as some applause and cheers.

Maher noted that Palin's defenders say she's is a quick study.

He asked, "How stupid was she to begin with?"

Maher called John McCain very brave, "but it's not the Middle Ages."

"We need a smart guy."

The assumption there is that McCain isn't smart, certainly not as smart as Obama.

Maher dug himself a deeper hole when he belittled small town voters, the people who care about values.

"They're narcissists. They want someone just like them -- a dummy."

Maher thinks small town Americans are dumb. How very Hollywood and Obama-esque of him!

The audience didn't like that dummy "joke" at all.

After the commercial break, Maher and Leno talked about the economy.

Maher lamented not having two of the champions of the little man around to help with the crisis.

He cited John Edwards and Eliot Spitzer as the two Democrats who fought for the little guy. He complained that they were forced into exile because of sex scandals.

Maher said, "A lot of girls in America, Jay, are just hos. They want to be hos."

Again, no love from the audience.

Leno called both Edwards and Spitzer hypocrites. Maher would have none of it.

From there, Maher moved on to six-star hotels. Five-star hotels aren't good enough anymore.

He said that at a six-star hotel "when they say, 'Can I help you with your bag?' they mean your scrotum."

The audience did not respond well to that at all. There were audible groans.

Maher was ticked off that the audience wasn't appreciative of his "brilliance." I think he blamed them for not getting it. I doubt he blamed himself for bombing. I don't think he questioned the quality of his material.

After all that "fun," Maher got down to business and hawked his religion-bashing film, Religulous.

Maher claimed that people love the movie. He said the movie doesn't attack religion. What?

Anyway, he went on to discuss his own religious upbringing.

"I'm not bitter. Yes, I was brought up Catholic, but I was never molested. I'm a little insulted."

Sure, I buy Maher's assertion that his movie doesn't attack religion. Why would I doubt him, especially after a comment like that?

Again, his remarks were met with groans of disgust.

For once, Maher didn't receive a lot of positive reinforcement from the audience.

If the reaction of the audience is indicative, I don't think his appearance convinced many people to shell out money to see his movie.

Conan O'Brien and Sarah Palin

In his monologue on Friday night, Conan O'Brien mentioned Sarah Palin's visit to Wisconsin.

He also talked of presidential politics, MSNBC's anti-Republican bias, and hurricanes.

O'BRIEN: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is out on the campaign trail. Today she attended a rally in Wisconsin. That's right. She was thrilled to visit Wisconsin because she's never been to the Deep South. Yeah, positively... It's exotic. She's excited.

O'BRIEN: Oprah Winfrey's in the middle of a big scandal because she is refusing to have Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on her show. She won't let her on. The friction started because Palin said if she's elected she'll be the most powerful woman in the country; and Oprah said, 'The hell you will.'

O'BRIEN: During John McCain's speech last night an anti-Republican heckler began yelling at him. Yeah, officials removed the man and immediately gave him a job at MSNBC. Yeah, Keith Olbermann, yeah... I'll get a call.

O'BRIEN: John Edwards made an interesting announcement. He announced that in order not to be a distraction, he's cancelling all public appearances until the election is over. However, Edwards said he will continue to make all of his private appearances.

O'BRIEN: Here's a weird story: The Department of Homeland Security just announced that they are teaming up with the website MySpace to spread breaking news about hurricanes. Yeah, according to the MySpace report Hurricane Gustav looked cute yesterday, but Hanna's been acting like a total skank. 'Beeyatch' was the word they used. Yeah, true.

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Here's a clip from O'Brien's Thursday monologue.

I suspect O'Brien is correct when he says his crude joke targeting Sarah Palin's daughter will follow him around for a while.

Crease
by luvnews

Bill Maher and Jay Leno

UPDATE, February 10, 2009: Bill Maher and Jay Leno, February 10
___________________

UPDATE, November 19, 2008: Bill Maher and Jay Leno, November 19
___________________

UPDATE, October 7, 2008: Bill Maher and Jay Leno -- AGAIN
___________________


(Screen grab/NBC)

Bill Maher was on The Tonight Show to hawk his new religion-bashing movie, Religulous, and the 6th season of his HBO show, Real Time.

You couldn't tell. Maher used the vast majority of his two segments to promote Barack Obama and bash Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and John McCain.

Yes, Bill Maher has endorsed Barack Obama.

That's not good news for Obama. He can put Maher's endorsement alongside the endorsement from Louis Farrakhan.

Whenever I see Maher with Leno, I think about the Fairness Doctrine.

Liberals are always whining about talk radio. No fair! WAAAH!

What about the likes of Maher?

I'm not calling for Maher to be silenced. Personally, I wish he'd go away, but he has the right to say what he wants. Leno can book him on the show and people can turn it off. Simple.

Free Speech. That's the way it works.

Back to the show--

Maher was his usual ugly self.

He just got back from the Democratic National Convention and he commented on the size of the Pepsi Center.

MAHER: It's a big place, that Pepsi Center. That's what is impressive about it. And him, about Obama, I'm talking about, because, apparently, he needs an even bigger place. The fact that this giant arena was not enough to hold him because he's giving his speech... where?

LENO: The Invesco Center...

MAHER: I don't know everything about politics. I do know show business. I know when you're filling stadiums that's good. You know, I mean, this guy (Obama) needs a stadium. He's like U2. And Hillary is like the Indigo Girls. McCain is a lounge act. He's in the ballroom at the Sheraton with the original Gary Puckett and the Union Gap.

Leno asked Maher about Hillary's speech. That set him up to deliver his Hillary jokes.

MAHER: If you hate Hillary Clinton, that is so on you. She's a bland centrist. If you hate her, those are your issues. You were molested by a real estate lady or something.

And by the way, speaking of which, that -- who dresses her? I mean, I don't usually, Jay, go all gay about, oh, what they're wearing. But, I mean at a big moment like that to wear that orange pantsuit, I didn't know whether she was giving a speech or saving a parking space. You know, I wore a suit like that once. I had a DUI and I was stabbing trash on the highway. Wow. I mean, for the biggest moment in your life that's what you pick? OK.

But I just, you know, I just think her problem is that America loves her as a victim. She's the Jennifer Aniston of American politics. Seriously. If only Bill Clinton had nailed "Ugly Betty" during the campaign, she would be standing up there right now accepting the Democratic nomination.

Maher got in a shot at McCain that did not go over well at all.

MAHER: Obama people today were saying she (Hillary) didn't mention him enough. She mentioned him 12 times. That's almost as many times as McCain says he was a prisoner of war.

Understandably, the audience squirmed at that comment, not a lot of laughter.

Leno moved it along and asked which candidate Maher was supporting.

LENO: Now let me ask you. I've always, I've known you to be a Libertarian. Are you supporting either one of these candidates?

MAHER: Well, obviously Obama!

Yes, obviously. After the commercial break, they talked about John Edwards, Maher's first choice for president.

Leno said that he was disgusted by the way Edwards talked about how much he loved his wife and how he made that a focal point of his campaign.

I remember Edwards being on the show once and him telling Leno about how he and Elizabeth would celebrate their wedding anniversary every year -- by going to Wendy's.

Leno said he dragged her out there and talked like he never looked at another woman and then he's dumb enough to not wear a condom.

MAHER: I'm just saying it's a shame we lost his message because he did have a good message, that there are two Americas, and in one of them he's single.

And the other dumb thing, of course, look, I'm not defending what he did. I'm just understanding it. I'm also saying, in America, like whether you want to admit this or not, people judge you when you cheat by how cute the girl is.

You know, when Bill Clinton cheated with Monica Lewinsky, people were like, 'Come on, man. JFK was getting Marilyn Monroe and you're with the chunky chick who brings in the mail.' I mean this is America...

But I mean, John Edwards was cheating with someone who looked like Garth from Wayne's World. I mean, and I'm telling you, like people, like Christie Brinkley's husband, you saw the girl he was cheating with. Oh, I saw that, I was like, 'Dude, you did the right thing.' Seriously.

When Maher says that, I believe him. I believe he would cheat and think of it as the "right thing."

And, of course, Maher had to throw in some "McCain is old" jokes.

MAHER: But you know the truth is, Jay, they all, every politician, whether you want to admit it or not, they all lie. They all cheat. They all steal. They steal from each other. You know, during the campaign, Hillary tried to make some political hay by saying that Barack Obama stole part of his speech from his friend the governor of Massachusetts, which was true. And then they found out that Hillary stole part of her speech from Bill Clinton, who got it from JFK, who got it from FDR, who got it from Lincoln... who got it from McCain.

Those old jokes are so clever, aren't they?

This appearance was a little different. Maher spread the hate around more than he usually does.

He actually spent more time making fun of Democrats than Republicans. If it wasn't more time, it was at least close to equal time.

Luckily, we were spared listening to him bash Catholics. Given his new movie, I'm surprised he didn't focus more on religion. He did take a little time to mock people who have faith, saying that he believes in doubt.

Leno said he saw the movie and called it "very good." He noted that if Maher made the movie in Iran, he'd be dead.

MAHER: I'm living proof, because they have tried to get me off the stage, that free speech is alive and well in this country.

Yes, it is.

Is Frances Quinn Hunter John Edwards' Baby?

Was Rielle Hunter's baby fathered by John Edwards?

Is a paternity test really necessary?


(Photo/The Tonight Show)