That finger's not the only thing that points up

Another public figure brought down by sex. John Edwards is just the latest in an interminably long line of men who get caught in adultery.

The general public has heard this old story so many times about so many different guys. The media gasbags pick up rocks and in a biblical sense, stone the perpetrator. Some they kill (figuratively speaking). Some you can’t kill if you roll boulders on them. For all of the millions of words written and said about Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, Bill came back from a political death. And the media dropped a mountain on him.

My personal feeling is that while everyone might gasp, point fingers and act outraged about guys getting caught with pants down, so many men have done what these guys have done that the outrage is usually more for show than true moral indignation. In Edwards' case his wife's terminal cancer will negate any understanding he might otherwise get. We all know some women are attracted to powerful men, and since guys are at their true core just out to get laid, it isn't hard to convince even normally smart males to forget common sense, do the nasty, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

John Edwards had to know going in (no pun intended) that there was a strong risk he'd be found out. The worst part is when originally exposed he cried foul, blamed political dirty tricks, and used the tactic of outright denial. After an interval Edwards told ABC News that the affair had indeed taken place. It happened, just like he said it didn't. Doesn't do much for Edwards' credibility, does it?

When it comes to sex, a guy's moral compass swings around and points in several directions. Politicians, religious leaders, presidents of the U.S…so many have done the dirty deed. It’s easy to sin in haste and repent at leisure, but a guy in a public position should haul himself up, take a breath, be smart enough to weigh the risks. If he's a politician the media and his political enemies are looking for this sort of thing. John Edwards has a place in recent history, but his affair will override his history of political campaigns. Once again a guy’s penis was where it shouldn’t have been. It happens so often I'm almost more surprised that it's news than the fact it happened, or who it happened to.