Throwing it all away

As new details emerge in the John Edwards drama it's clear that he will not serve in an Obama administration. The affair was a private matter made public and an issue that you could argue shouldn't keep Edwards from public service. The sordid details of the cover-up though disqualify Edwards from serving,

Fred Baron, Edwards' national finance chairman and a wealthy Dallas-based trial attorney, has acknowledged he quietly began sending money to Rielle Hunter, Edwards' mistress, to resettle in California, along with the family of Andrew Young. Young is the campaign aide who has said he is the father of Hunter's daughter, born after her affair with Edwards.

But Baron is far more intertwined in the matter than previously known, with longstanding personal connections to the lawyers who represented Hunter and Young, according to a review of legal findings by The Associated Press. Hunter's lawyer, Robert J. Gordon of New York, was sued unsuccessfully with Baron and Baron's law firm in 2001 in U.S. District Court in New York in a racketeering complaint. Young's lawyer, Pamela J. Marple of Washington, was among three lawyers who defended Baron and his firm. The case was dismissed in December 2005.

America could have used his leadership either in public office or as a private citizen. He could have been a difference maker on issues of poverty and social justice in much the same way that Al Gore has been the face of the fight against climate change. Instead he threw it all away.