The Greensboro News & Record‘s Mark Binker doesn’t think much of Andrew Young’s account of the John Edwards scandal. Binker’s analysis is good, particularly the part about Young’s character:

Young spends the book veering between the personas of a betrayed political idealist who didn’t fully understand the world around him and a savvy, jaded campaign insider. One cannot be both, and the swings give readers the queasy feeling they are being “spun” throughout rather than told an honest tale.

Aside from questions of veracity, Young’s judgment is also subject to challenge. By his own account, he was willing to lay down not only his own career and reputation for Edwards, but sacrifice his family’s well-being.

Who in his right mind would uproot his children and expose them to such seamy characters? Can we trust such a person to sort through the wreckage for us?

Indeed. How could any self-respecting father expose his children to such liars and (in Rielle Hunter’s case) downright weirdos?

Several times in the book, Young writes that he hopes the memoir will allow his children to understand his actions one day. But how could it? “Son, I pretended to father the child of my bosses’ mistress because he gave good speeches and was going to save the world.” Please.