Thursday, March 22, 2007

Prayers Today...

For John and Elizabeth Edwards and their family, and for the family and loved ones of Cathy Seipp.

Update: Sad news from the Edwards campaign: his wife's cancer has returned. Given the significance of this fact, it is purely secondary that Mr. Edwards has also indicated that he will continue his campaign. Our prayers are with Mrs. Edwards for a full and speedy recovery.

I do not know if this comment might be perceived as inappropriate, but I have always been impressed that in contrast to other politicians, Mr. Edwards has been unwilling to use the tragedy and pain in his personal life for political gain. I am speaking most specifically of the loss of his first son Wade, at age 16. While other national figures have invoked the memories of deceased family members in an opportunistic way, Mr. Edwards has not. It seems to me that he has handled his wife's cancer with 'class' as well.

2 comments:

Philo-Junius said...

Of course, his entire estate and position in society spring from his willingness to traffic in the pathetic and bathetic to sway juries in personal injury cases, most notoriously in his tendentious channeling of the spirits of cerebral palsy victims, the outcomes of which cases were his own enrichment and a signficant increase in caesarian deliveries (and a concomitant increase in post-natal complications--including higher maternal mortality) without any measurable decrease in the rate of cerebral palsy.

He perfectly willing to play dishonestly on emotion--he'll just find some other victim for the public to pity on whatever issue he decides will advance his interests.

Based on his track record, I'd expect him to make appearances at cancer facilities and fundraisers and carefully not speak about his personal experience, relying on sympathetic reporters to remind their audiences of his brave personal struggle.

The Editor at IP said...

Well, OK. That's true, too.
Nobody's perfect.