The XX Factor: What women really think.

Don't Shoot the Messenger!

Sorry, Melinda, I have to disagree, though I do share your sympathy for the Edwards family. I was just reading Elizabeth's touching farewell to Tony Snow yesterday. She told the tale of a gentleman who approached her at a parade and gave her good wishes for her health and added "although we don't agree on much of anything." That's how I feel about Elizabeth, too. It's hard not to admire a woman who overcame the loss of a child, who had a second round of children in her 40s, and who bravely and selflessly told her husband to soldier on with his campaign after her cancer reappeared. So I think the National Enquirer story—if true—is devastating for her and her children. But the tabloid—however scuzzy—can't take the rap here. This isn't chasing an ambulance carrying a mentally ill Britney Spears to the hospital. John Edwards is still a prominent public figure, of sound mind and body, and at least until recently he was being touted as a possible vice presidential candidate. (And on that note, isn't it better for Obama that this comes out now?) He's fair game, and if his family gets hurt, the "bad juju" belongs all to him.