The guy who looked so good and sounded so glib was really a fraud

Mr. Edwards and the Shrimp

By GAIL COLLINS, NYT

John Edwards: Sort of not guilty. The Justice Department must now decide whether to retry him in another lengthy case during which we could relive his degrading affair, his awful marriage, his wife’s fatal illness and watch his daughter and elderly parents loyally and miserably accompany him to court.

Finally, the American public has found something it would rather do less than have another Congressional debt-ceiling debate.

Edwards thanked the jurors for acquitting him of one count of campaign finance violations and failing to come to a decision on the other five. “I don’t think God’s through with me,” he added. That seemed to suggest a new career, although Edwards was appropriately vague about what he thought God had in mind. He did say he hoped to do something to help children “in the poorest parts of this country.”

I believe I speak for many Americans when I say that this cannot be allowed to mean discussing childhood poverty on a cable TV talk show. Think of it as the Eliot Spitzer rule.

(More here.)