I watched Elizabeth Edwards spill her guts on the Oprah Winfrey show yesterday. Elizabeth Edwards is a brave woman. In my view, John does not deserve her, and I thought so long before the jerk was exposed as her cheating husband. Admittedly, Elizabeth knows him better than I do, and she defends him well.
After a marriage of 30 years, she has a lot invested in the man. Yesterday, she convinced me that he's not a total jerk. He's just flawed and stupid like so many humans. And he's the father of her children.
But Elizabeth had nothing kind to say about Rielle Hunter. Among other things, she called her "pathetic" and said: "There is no excuse for women to do this. Women need to have respect for other women."
Already people like Maureen Dowd are piling on. Maureen Dowd wants to know why Elizabeth Edwards can't just slink off into the shadows like a good humiliated woman and be quiet. Why can't she just shut up and let the National Inquirer and Maureen Dowd have the last word and write the final story about Elizabeth and John Edwards?
When Maureen Dowd is preparing to die, as Elizabeth Edwards is, maybe she'll have a clue.
"Maybe the cancer's a bigger thing in [my children's] lives than this woman passing through."
-- Elizabeth Edwards
Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities
It's a small book but a powerful one. And when you finish it you have not just a deeper understanding of Elizabeth Edwards but also a better appreciation for the strength of will it can take to survive.
Feminist Politics Gender Elizabeth Edwards News John Edwards North Carolina
