Say it ain't so, John...

Oh no, another one who couldn't keep his fly zipped up:

"John Edwards, the Democrats’ 2004 vice-presidential candidate, admitted last night that he cheated on his wife during his latest bid for the White House – a bombshell revelation forced out of him by reports that he had fathered a love child.

Mr Edwards, whose wife Elizabeth suffers from incurable cancer, said that he had repeartedly lied to the public about the affair with Rielle Hunter, 44, a film maker who travelled with him for much of 2006. He said that he had never loved Ms Hunter, and denied he was the father of her child."

Of all the presidential candidates, Edwards was my favourite. I liked him from the time I saw him debate Darth Cheney in the 2004 Presidential election campaign (Dennis the Menace takes on Mr. Wilson). I liked the way he refused to fire the bloggers that were eventually bullied out of their jobs with his campaign by Catholic League mouthpiece Bill Donohue. I was impressed with his earnestness and honesty. And while he never had the "Presidential presence" of Obama or Hillary, he had that rare "Bill Clintonesque" quality -- the ability to bridge the north/south, Jesusland/Latteland divide that's often such an obstacle to Democratic electoral victory. I thought he could win, and take back the White House from the vile scumbags that commandeered it 8 years ago.

It just goes to show that my judgement in men is as bad as ever.

"IT'S-NOT-ABOUT-THE-SEX" UPDATE: Most of us on this side of the political spectrum couldn't care less about politicians' sex lives (unless it's to ridicule their hypocrisy, as with the "morals-and-values-and-meth-and-gay-hookers" gang). This is bad because of what it could have done to the Democrats in a crucial election year. Chet explains.