"John was his idol—his hero—and probably who he considered his best friend and his mentor....He thought that he had offered the ultimate sacrifice"

Matt Welch | September 30, 2009

You ever wonder how Andrew Young, the not-ex-mayor-of-Atlanta who falsely claimed paternity for John Edwards' love child even though he had a wife and three kids of his own, ever, um, got to such a place? I don't know if this Politico article by Ben Smith quite unravels the mystery, but it does illustrate in some detail the abject sickness very near the intersection of scarequote-worthy "idealism" and massive political power. File this nauseating piece away for the next time you hear some A-list politician confuse his own political success with selfless "service."

Comments

proud libitard|9.30.09 @ 9:58PM|#

Ugh, I'm a North Carolina resident and wish this dude would just go away...

First off, he's a populist hack that only cares about power and money. I know, not a shocker. But what really pisses me off as an NC State grad is that he, an NC State grad himself, doesn't associate with State but goes with his Law School...you guessed it, UNC. A total bandwagon jumper. If State ever gets good in sports again, sigh, he'll come around.

He's a fucking weasel and I'm actually now happy he doesn't associate with us...fucker.

|9.30.09 @ 10:16PM|#

There is no contest for this caption:

"I feel pretty! Oh so pretty!"

Rich|10.1.09 @ 8:58AM|#

"Hey, Andrew! Watch me balance this golf ball on my putter!"

Fist of Etiquette|9.30.09 @ 10:30PM|#

"One of these days, compact mirror, straight to the moon!"

|9.30.09 @ 10:34PM|#

HEY! I said there's no contest!

|9.30.09 @ 10:37PM|#

Although the alt text is highly accurate.

24AheadDotCom|9.30.09 @ 10:51PM|#

What's hilarious here is that Edwards isn't a "populist hack". He's an establishment hack who kinda shares the positions of this site and who promoted importing poverty just as strongly as this site does.

proud libitard|10.1.09 @ 9:30AM|#

24, I'm not one to trash you like the rest but I disagree. He is a populist hack. That whole two americas schtick is absurd and, well, populist.

Warty|9.30.09 @ 10:53PM|#

Shut the fuck up, Lonewacko.

Fist of Etiquette|9.30.09 @ 10:55PM|#

"Ugh, why do I always seem to completely disappear when in front of beige wallpaper?"

MattXIV|9.30.09 @ 10:58PM|#

"John, if you don't stop that and get started I'm not letting your weird assistant tape us."

Fist of Etiquette|9.30.09 @ 11:07PM|#

"The old tactician has got a plan. For the two Americas, that is; I don't know how I'm gonna keep my coiffure in order."

Paul|9.30.09 @ 11:14PM|#

I've seen it in the people I've met and their desire to take our country back for the American people.

Howard Dean is a racist.

The Libertarian Guy|10.1.09 @ 10:10AM|#

Feelthy kepitalist peeg!

Paul|9.30.09 @ 11:16PM|#

John Kerry will give us back our faith in America.

John Kerry is a racist, too.

Mister DNA|9.30.09 @ 11:16PM|#

"KAOS Agent John Edwards threatened to punch Agent 99 again if she didn't reveal the secrets behind CONTROL's compact/phone technology."

j.i.am|9.30.09 @ 11:25PM|#

Young's friends describe him simply as a "totally devoted" believer who was "taken advantage of," in the words of one former staffer.

A believer in what? ...that we'd all be his house servants too.

|10.1.09 @ 12:49AM|#

If you see this in italics, VB tags work on Reason's new forum when using Google Chrome!

|10.1.09 @ 12:50AM|#

A believer in what? ...that we'd all be his house servants too.

WOOT

|10.1.09 @ 12:54AM|#

Watching Edwards shit-sandwich of a life suddenly taste bad in his mouth has been pretty fun.

Ditto for his wife. This cry-me-a-river about poor Elizabeth Edwards is disgusting. She signed up with the creep, had no problem being a reality-show when it was politically expedient to do so, now its all about 'privacy' and all this. Har-har...

Art-P.O.G.|10.1.09 @ 1:01AM|#

She and her husband were, she wrote, his victims — guilty only of “being vulnerable to obsequiousness.” And clearly guilty of not getting Young the help he so obviously needed. And John Edward...vulnerable to obsequiousness? Unbelievable!

By the way, this new format's freaking me out.

Art-P.O.G.|10.1.09 @ 1:02AM|#

Tagfail?

|10.1.09 @ 2:36AM|#

I thought Edwards was a power hungry sleazebag from the word go. But it's really swell that he's worked so hard to show I was being kind.

@|10.1.09 @ 7:28AM|#

This new design is hurting my brain.
Does anyone else see the flashing lights and smell burning cheese?

Fist of Etiquette|10.1.09 @ 7:47AM|#

That's weird. I am feeling flashing cheese and hearing burning lights. What browser are you using?

Abdul|10.1.09 @ 8:16AM|#

"I carry this mirror at all times to see if Andrew Young is sneaking up behind me to sniff my ass."

BakedPenguin|10.1.09 @ 8:21AM|#

What's really hilarious here is that Lonewacker and Edwards share the same desire to push people around and tell them what to do. Also, both are complete and utter pus-filled cuntsores who should shut the fuck up.

SugarFree|10.1.09 @ 8:49AM|#

Preview Button! Need!

Caption:

"No, John. You didn't get any in your hair this time."

|10.1.09 @ 9:11AM|#

She and her husband were, she wrote, his victims — guilty only of “being vulnerable to obsequiousness.”

Given the most people find obseqiousness distasteful, even when they are the benificiary, the Edwards' vulnerability to it tells you plenty about them. And the fact that Elizabeth Edwards doesn't know that most people find obseqiousness distasteful tells you a little more.

|10.1.09 @ 9:20AM|#

Art-P.O.G.-

I share your sentiments. Not thrilled with this new format. At all.

|10.1.09 @ 9:23AM|#

BakedPenguin, do you think that Lonewacko is as much of a fop as Edwards?

|10.1.09 @ 9:47AM|#

Young's friends describe him simply as a "totally devoted" believer who was "taken advantage of," in the words of one former staffer.

Why does this make me think of Monica Lewinsky?

--------

"It's so cool how I can see everything behind me when I look in the mirror. I feel sorry for people who can't."

The Libertarian Guy|10.1.09 @ 10:14AM|#

Edwards is just another populist hypocrite, firmly ensconced in the rich half of his "two Americas" horseshit speechifyin' lingo.

I remember a bunch of liberals on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, spooing all over themselves over how Edwards was going to be not only president, but lord-and-master come to save us from the eeevuls of capitalism. Those idiots who supported him, though, still make excuses for his populist drivel AND how he cheated on his wife.

Sick. Double sick.

R C Dean|10.1.09 @ 11:10AM|#

Isn't Andrew Young, you know, black?

How could they possibly have expected his "I'm the baby-daddy" story to hold up to even the most cursory inspection?

Isaac Bartram|10.1.09 @ 12:12PM|#

Wrong Andrew Young, R C.

This one's white (as near as I can tell) and an aide to Edwards, not the ex-mayor of Atlanta.

mark|10.1.09 @ 12:49PM|#

Yeah I made the same mistake. Note to Matt Welch: if you're going to use a construction like "not-ex-mayor" don't then go ahead and link the "ex-mayor" part of it and expect fast readers not to be confused.

Fist of Etiquette|10.3.09 @ 8:48PM|#

I declare myself winner of the caption contest.