Don't you love that smell when the entire media realizes it's just wasted an hour on nothing? Such has been the case this afternoon, when the big news orgs announced that a JOHN EDWARDS VERDICT HAS BEEN REACHED and WOULD BE ANNOUNCED AT 3: 00. Finally! It had been like 10 days with these jurors "deliberating." Why is "justice" taken so seriously in this country, occasionally? Just throw the guy in the slammer or don't, it would be funny either way. But alas, no verdict was ANNOUNCED AT 3:00. It turns out
You know, there is little doubt left that Edwards is an enormous douchebag, and a lying sack of shit, and many kinds of a not very nice person. But there is also little doubt that US election-finance law has more holes in it than a colander, including the extra-special &quot;you had to <i>know</i> it was illegal&quot; provision (that&#039;s be nice in ordinary law, wouldn&#039;t it?). I certainly hope they don&#039;t re-try this, because it would be a waste of time and money. I&#039;m inclined to think the only reason it got prosecuted in the first place was to avoid accusations of cover-up (and also because Edwards is a shitweasel).
Even granting the possibility that he <i>was</i> personally aware of every single detail of where the money came from and went to, and ignoring the technical out that he might still not have known that some part of that violated campaign finance law, we&#039;re left with the question: what was the point of the chicanery? Was it to buy votes or influence? Was it to reward Bunny Mellon with an ambassadorship? Was it to keep him viable as a VP candidate? (Well, <i>maybe</i> he was stupid enough to think he could get away with that).
But mostly it was to try to hide his stupid affair from his wife. This is not a commendable motive, but I have trouble seeing it as a felony of grave consequence.
BTW, this is not an endorsement of white-collar crime. I believe it is necessary to have serious penalties, including incarceration, for white-collar crimes because the threat of jail is really the only thing that is likely to have any deterrent effect on people with lots of money. Fines, however large, are just a cost of doing business, but time inside is not replaceable.
In this case, however, I do think the potential penalty is disproportionate to the magnitude of the (alleged) offense, particularly given that most other cases of alleged misuse of campaign donations are either ignored or resolved by fines. Also, it&#039;s really hard to re-try mistrials, unless there was some big mistake made that can be avoided, or possibly new evidence. I don&#039;t believe either of these conditions apply here, so I hope they let it drop.
FWIW, I think &quot;justice&quot; has already been rendered. Edwards has been reduced from political-star-in-waiting to scumbag laughing stock. Let him deal with it.
<i>&quot;I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong. I am responsible. I don&#039;t have to go any further than the mirror. It&#039;s me and me alone.&quot;</i>
I can&#039;t figure out if this means he&#039;ll spend more time, or less, in front of the mirror.
Have to sympathize with the jury. I get sick of thinking about what a sleazy cuntnugget Edwards is after about 30 seconds, a whole [mis]trial of nothing but that is one hell of an ordeal.
This would be nice.
Did he get a new girlfriend out of all this? Otherwise it was a complete waste of time.
So will Edwards be able to make sweet love with the flirty juror now?
Chief Justice John Edwards. Too Soon?
You know, there is little doubt left that Edwards is an enormous douchebag, and a lying sack of shit, and many kinds of a not very nice person. But there is also little doubt that US election-finance law has more holes in it than a colander, including the extra-special &quot;you had to <i>know</i> it was illegal&quot; provision (that&#039;s be nice in ordinary law, wouldn&#039;t it?). I certainly hope they don&#039;t re-try this, because it would be a waste of time and money. I&#039;m inclined to think the only reason it got prosecuted in the first place was to avoid accusations of cover-up (and also because Edwards is a shitweasel).
Even granting the possibility that he <i>was</i> personally aware of every single detail of where the money came from and went to, and ignoring the technical out that he might still not have known that some part of that violated campaign finance law, we&#039;re left with the question: what was the point of the chicanery? Was it to buy votes or influence? Was it to reward Bunny Mellon with an ambassadorship? Was it to keep him viable as a VP candidate? (Well, <i>maybe</i> he was stupid enough to think he could get away with that).
But mostly it was to try to hide his stupid affair from his wife. This is not a commendable motive, but I have trouble seeing it as a felony of grave consequence.
BTW, this is not an endorsement of white-collar crime. I believe it is necessary to have serious penalties, including incarceration, for white-collar crimes because the threat of jail is really the only thing that is likely to have any deterrent effect on people with lots of money. Fines, however large, are just a cost of doing business, but time inside is not replaceable.
In this case, however, I do think the potential penalty is disproportionate to the magnitude of the (alleged) offense, particularly given that most other cases of alleged misuse of campaign donations are either ignored or resolved by fines. Also, it&#039;s really hard to re-try mistrials, unless there was some big mistake made that can be avoided, or possibly new evidence. I don&#039;t believe either of these conditions apply here, so I hope they let it drop.
FWIW, I think &quot;justice&quot; has already been rendered. Edwards has been reduced from political-star-in-waiting to scumbag laughing stock. Let him deal with it.
I thought it was French for an irritating blast of hot air.
well. that went well.
<i>&quot;I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong. I am responsible. I don&#039;t have to go any further than the mirror. It&#039;s me and me alone.&quot;</i>
I can&#039;t figure out if this means he&#039;ll spend more time, or less, in front of the mirror.
He&#039;s gonna be Duke Cunningham&#039;s BFFL.
He&#039;s too pretty to go to prison.
Never happen
Have to sympathize with the jury. I get sick of thinking about what a sleazy cuntnugget Edwards is after about 30 seconds, a whole [mis]trial of nothing but that is one hell of an ordeal.