John Edwards is morally revolting and legally innocent, and was brilliantly right about the two Americas

Let me first associate myself with the excellent post about the Edwards trial by Ronald Goldfarb, titled “John Edwards walks, disgraced.”
I would add two major points. First, not only did John Edwards
betray his wife, he also betrayed Bunny Mellon, who donated major money
because she believed in John Edwards. He abused her trust. And second,
Edwards was totally right in his critique about the two Americas, which
was similar to the profoundly important analysis of the 1 percent and
the 99 percent offered by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

{mosads}The mark of political brilliance is the ability to formulate huge issues in concise terms that voters understand. With his “two Americas” argument, Edwards was ahead of his time and did just that. He could have been a great populist president. I still believe that Barack Obama might seize this mantle, if he can put behind him his Rorschach caution. Though I suspect he will not.

So I offer high praise for Edwards for raising the most important issue in the most powerful way. A brilliant mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Let’s give a standing ovation to Bunny Mellon. Mellon, at her advanced age and with her immense wealth, gave John Edwards a lot of money with no ulterior motive except electing the man she believed would be the best president. Mellon is a good example of a wealthy person who acted with idealism. She probably wants to strangle John Edwards for abusing her trust (and if not, she should).

I think the Edwards prosecution is a big stretch and very dangerous. I believe he is guilty of moral corruption that we cannot find the words to fully condemn, but legally innocent of criminal charges in what I believe is a political prosecution.

Looks to me like John Edwards and Rielle Hunter deserve each other. Bunny Mellon deserved better than John Edwards. And the 99 percent deserve a leader with the courage to fight for them with a fierce integrity greater than anyone on the national scene offers today.