I don't care what Billy says...I am sick with Olympic Fever! And not just because of the ridiculously hot bodies on all of the swimmers (although, for the record, I would gladly take the place of the hot Australian girl swimmer than the hot Australian boy swimmer broke up with before the Olympics...yum. In fact, do I have any Aussie readers? Do you know him:-)? Could you hook me up?)
While we are on the subject...are swimmers in Australia tabloid fodder? NBC makes it seem like they are treated like the cast of The Hills down there. I need educating!
And, oh my god, who could possibly cuter than this girl? She looks like an adorable little bunny rabbit! She is also the World Champion in gymnastics (and Wikipedia says she is 4'9" tall, which seems about right, and makes her even shorter than me:-D).
Change to a moderately more serious subject...I had a brief IM discussion with Ally yesterday about John Edwards' affair. She had an interesting take on it, and one I had not thought of previously. So, I was wondering what all of your thoughts on it were...and then I will write out my own tomorrow (I don't want to poison the well, so to speak.)
Basically, think about these questions and give me any thoughts you have:
1) Is his infidelity newsworthy?
2) Is his infidelity really our business?
3) Is it worse because his wife is sick?
4) How do your pre-conceived feelings about them as a couple effect the way you view this?
If there is some discussion, I will post on this tomorrow. And if y'all just don't care...well then I will let it go:-P
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Aches, Pains, Congestion...must be a bad case of Olympic Fever!!!
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13 comments:
I don't know anything about it so couldn't comment I'm afraid.
As for the Olympics - I am also sick with the fever! And, yes, the swimmer's bodies are pretty good, aren't they? ;)
Defintiely sick with Olympic fever - I was up until 1 in the morning watching it. So maybe I am just sleep deprived and not that sick.
The Olympics is unbelieveable. I can't stop watching! And I agree, Shawn Johnson is so dang cute! It's the Iowa in her! :)
I don't know much about John Edwards except that he had an affair and his wife has a terminal illness. I really don't feel like it's my place to comment on his life, I guess. I'm glad I don't date a politician, though.
1) Is his infidelity newsworthy? I think so. He was running for president, had put himself on the public stage- basing much of his platform on high morals and (like Obama) positive change. He had placed himself in a position to be noticed, not just for his good deeds but for his unfortunate mistakes. If you look at what else makes news (hello, anything involving Paris, Britney or Lindsay), this seems far higher up on the list of what should qualify as 'news'.
2) Is his infidelity really our business? I don't think it is to the degree it would have been if he was still running for an office. Of course there's still going to be a fascination with it, human beings are always interested in knowing the inner workings and private affairs of public individuals, but do I think we have a right to know? No. And yes, I can say that something can be deemed newsworthy and then say it's not our business. I like to contradict myself all the time. ;)
3) Is it worse because his wife is sick? I think that it does make it harder for me to accept his mistake. I realize that cheating is cheating but the fact that she was ill (and seriously ill) did make me cringe a little more when learning about it. With that said, Elizabeth's statement and the way she has accepted his affair has only helped ease the disgust that I've felt. It's not so much what he said after it all became public, but what SHE said that I think will ultimately save his political career.
4) How do your pre-conceived feelings about them as a couple effect the way you view this? It confirms what I already thought- she's stronger than I imagined and he's too good to be true.
1.) Yes, because he supposedly used campaign money as hush money, etc.
2.) No
3.) Yes
4.) No
apparently.. the hot australian swim couple is still together. also, despite the fact that i am really never about the olympics.. i am pretty much obsessed with reading about michael phelps. i think the whole thing is pretty amazing. i read somewhere where a guy said, "he's just a normal guy, except maybe from a different planet."
in any event, my dad has never liked john edwards since hearing he was running while his wife was sick. forget the whole, support your family following their dreams and her "wanting him to continue," my dad says as the husband of a cancer patient, he could never have done it. my mom's illness weighs on him way way too much. in any event, i was hearing about a south carolina district superintendent and a school principle were having an affair and lost their jobs. first i was like, that's stupid. (before i realized, i guess the principle reports to her.) in any event, i don't think clinton's affair was our business until he lied. but so what, we got to judge their family. they're in the public eye. that happens. we could only question his ability to serve when he lied. as for edwards, it totally rocks my judgement of him. this rural sc boy, as he claimed himself to be, with deep seeded family values. awarded "father of the year" and accepted it in the midst of this affair. can you imagine the entertainment if he does have a paternity test and is found the father? he's already lost one child. i can't imagine he'd allow himself to lose another. clearly you can see i'm engrossed in this. you should see me at the gym when i see it on tv...
Since we chatted I've thought a little more about the affair, and the bottom line is that it just makes me sad. It's sad for him, his family, his supports, and really just all of us.
And his failure to honor his commitment to his wife is relevant to his character (which he made our business by running for public office), but from what I've read it sounds like he's lied extensively about the entire matter, which bothers me as much (if not more).
So while it's newsworthy I guess my gripe is with our media in general and how the same stories become top news and dominate for weeks; I guess I think this should be a story but not a top story that lasts forever. He cheated; he lied; that sucks; now lets move on and let his family heal. He's not currently running for office, and I think sometimes our interest is more out of a mean gossipy nature than out of a real need to know (which is why I'm trying to quit reading those gossipy magazines at the gym!). Of course, Edwards' lying is part of the reason this conversation is still going on....
I definitely think his infidelity is newsworthy. The report fell on the heels of discussion about what his role would be in Obama's administration. I assume that role is zilch now, but still. I actually think it would have been newsworthy if for no other reason than he was a public figure who ran for office. Nevermind that he said all sorts of holier than thou stuff about Clinton's affair.
Is it our business? Probably not, but neither is a whole lot of other news.
Is it worse because his wife is sick? No. Wrong is wrong. It makes him even more of a scumbag. Cheating in a marriage is wrong no matter what the circumstances.
My pre-conceived feelings about them made me feel even worse for her. But I'd be lying if I said I was surprised that he did this. He always had a little bit of that slimy thing going on. No one is as perfect as he pretended to be.
I feel awful for his wife and awful for their kids. It would be nice if he could get what was coming without affecting them. Oh, and I'm waving the huge BS flag on that not being his child.
I graduated with a degree in Journalism, majoring in Broadcast News... So I've actually been thinking about all of these things recently. As a public figure, his public and private life are fair game to the media.
Is it our business? No, it's not.
Is it newsworthy? As far as most media outlets are concerned, if it brings in ratings/sales, then yes it is newsworthy. Although the recent development of using campaign funds as hush money pushes the issue into the more legitimate news category rather than just gossip fodder.
Is it worse because his wife is sick? Adultery is adultery. It's wrong no matter what. The fact that he was carrying on an affair and a campaign while she was undergoing cancer treatments, and that she still was able to pull through is a true testament of the strength of her character and lack of his.
I honestly never liked him. He reminded me of the sleazy tort lawyers you see commercials for on TV. This only reaffirmed my feelings about him.
i was very disappointed actually to hear about his infidelity. yes, it makes it much worse for me that his wife is dying. what a horrible thing to have to deal with at a time like this, and on top of that having it splashed all over the news. i would have voted for him if he'd made it to the end. now i've lost my respect for him. his dying wife deserves better and so do his poor children. shame on him.
PS - great use of y'all from a pseudo-Bostonian! It made me proud!
No, it is not our business, it should stay in his family. It doesn't matter who you are, what you are, are what you are wanting to become.
This is between him and his wife.
And I speak from experience.
Three sides to every story, his, hers, and the truth.
Re: the Aussie swimmer Eamon Sullivan (and his ex/maybe not ex girlfriend Stephanie Rice) ... definitely big news over here in Australia - even more so after their success in the pool at the Olympics.
They did a Davenport (underwear) shoot just before they 'broke up' and it's hot! Check it out here @ http://www.livenews.com.au/articles/2008/07/06/Rice_strips_off_for_steamy_undies_ad ...
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