Responding to Elizabeth Edwards’ interview Wednesday on the “Today” show, Andrew Young e-mailed the following snippet to The Charlotte Observer (emphasis mine):
As much as I admire Elizabeth’s resilience and understand her pain, I am disappointed that she is not yet facing the truth about the scandal that hurt so many people, and our country. She is not facing the facts and not taking responsibility for her role in constructing the myth of John Edwards and enabling him to carry on a terrible deception. Instead she continues to blame others and presents versions of events that are distorted. This approach ? an attempt to manufacture reality and deny responsibility ? set the stage for the Edwards debacle and only makes people feel even more cynical about our leaders and politics as it is practiced today.
That description could just as easily apply to Young himself, a former aide (though a better term would be “gopher”) for John Edwards. Young lied to cover Edwards’ infidelity, and then when opportunities for cash and power evaporated, he turned on his boss, wrote an expose, and began doing the media rounds. All under the guise of coming clean.
I recommend Young’s book, The Politician, because it gives great context to the anatomy of the scandal that brought Edwards down. But consider the source and read with caution.
