The Edwards affair

That’s a fascinating local angle — or maybe it’s only fascinating to media types — surrounding the affair that John Edwards has finally admitted to with vlogger Reille Hunter.

Local filmmaker Chuck Olsen (The Uptake) had some footage of Hunter in a film he shot. He posts a still image of her here, and wrote:

She was very outgoing, maybe even flirtatious, but really nice. I asked how she got the gig filming webisodes, and she said she met him in a bar and they clicked, and she proposed some online documentary showing his authenticity. She told me about some Hollywood sitcom writing and other weird projects she’d been involved with – nothing I’d ever heard of.

Chuck’s Twitter page documents how quick the big media moves in to wrap up the rights to the photo.

Edwards statement on the subject reads like a Microsoft Word template for political apologies. There isn’t one, of course, but there probably should be.

In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake, and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public.

I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006, and today I take full responsibility publicly.

As for Ms. Hunter’s video capabilities, judge for yourself:

Where men are concerned, there really are two Americas: those who cheat and those who don’t.

Edwards isn’t running for anything now, of course. But a lot of folks saw him as an attorney general candidate in a Barack Obama administration.