So John Edwards has admitted that he had an extra marital affair. Is this important? Possibly. The admission will definitely affect his box seats at the Democratic Convention. But is this event any different, more or less important than other travesties of silliness by other public figures. John Edwards ran for President but failed to garner major support, is no longer running, and holds no public office.

Check out Larry Craig – that sitting Republican Senator who was caught soliciting other homosexual men in an airport bathroom. He plead guilty to disorderly conduct but changed his tune when the press got a hold on the beast. Now he claims he was innocent, he was just waiving at people from under the bathroom stall – or something like that.

And how about that Tom Delay, the Republican Congressman who gave up his powerful position to spend more time fighting criminal indictments. Is this different somehow than the John Edwards affair?

Bill Clinton was a sitting President who was caught with his fingers in a couple of places that they should not have been in or on. The Republicans launched a major Ken Starr investigation into ‘ Whitewater’, a land deal gone bad in Arkansas. Ken Starr finally charged Clinton with lying under oath in a civil case about his extra marital affairs. When the scandal about Monica Lewinsky came to light it somehow ratcheted up the stakes – and the Republican Congress impeached the President (One should note here that at the time Osama Bin Laden was gaining strength and the President was distracted with Republican silliness.) OK – so he lied about having an affair, he was guilty of that.

Are any of these cases more relevant than another? Does it make any difference if the person accused currently holds an office in our government?

MSNBC is going wacko over the John Edwards news. The other cable news channels probably are too – that is the problem with 24 hour cable news – the real news of the day just bores the hapless reporters like David Schuster. Shuster just reported that MSNBC is “waiting for the official response from the Obama Campaign.” Who cares what the Obama Campaign thinks about a private citizen having an extra marital affair.

I think we can assume that Edwards will not have a speaking role in the Democratic Convention. He has probably lost the opportunity for a Cabinet level appointment in the Obama administration.

If the Republican wins then Edwards will fit right in.