I think people who cheat have emotional problems(Depression). One should question his love for his wife and family because one should question his emotions. Edwards always struck me as fake with a manufactured personality which is common with people with depression. Hopefully his next step will be PROZAC. Sincerely-David

I think this is a terrific piece, covering all the right bases and hitting all the right notes. The Europeans, in general, have a much healthier approach to sex, intra- and extra-marital, in their personal lives and in the lives of their politicians: Within reason, if it doesnt compromise their performance in office, it's none of the public's business, politically speaking.

Then again, the Europeans didn't descend from Puritans and Victorian cultural genes. "Aye, there's the rub."

Oh my, I have to thank you for making me feel like the world is slightly sane. What ever happened to that important phrase, "It's none of our business"? We're allowing our leaders to escape responsibility because we're too busy wondering which invasive exam they're undergoing this week instead of asking how they're going to solve the energy crisis.

I don't think affairs are especially forgivable, since they are choices people make. But the only humans that I normally judge are my closest family members, and even then I believe that it's a private matter. I love the snake eating it's own tail analogy, were that snake to vanish into thin air it would be a good analogy for the future of the United States.

I want to applaud you two for writing a non-tabloid, balanced, intelligent piece on the Edwards story that is thoughtful and balanced. I am getting a bit worn-out with recent blogs that just seem make any news, story, or research remotely involving sex into something sensationalized [and often tacky] to get a few more hits on the web scene. Like Stuart Fischoff, I agree on the European notions he presents; I still have relatives of all ages in Italy, they wonder why the US spends so much time on the sordid aspects and less on discussing job performance of our elected leaders.

Your analysis of the John Edwards situation is the best I've read or listened to. But more important is your question of the media's inability to call a lie, a lie.

What Edwards did was no where near as immoral as many of the things Bush has been doing: committing the nation to an indefensible war, lying about it for years, destroying most of the constitutional rights of American citizens, outing a CIA operative, etc. Yet only a few call his actions lies.

Politicans are, by definition, ambition-driven and ego-centric people. They have to be to think that they are uniquely qualified to dispatch their office better than anyone else could.

Thank you for a balanced, non-tabloid examination of the Edwards story. I for one am getting annoyed with the tendency of blogs to go for the sordid and sensational to get a few more hits, rather than the thoughtful discussion you have provided here. Thanks again,

Cathy Malchiodi, The Healing Arts