Saturday, August 4, 2007
The hypocrisy continues
On my way to a beading class this morning, I heard an amusing (well, maybe not) story about John Edwards. I definitely think he's on the convince-everyone-I'm-a-complete-idiot campaign plan, so it seems a shame to waste his time and ours, but I guess that's the nature of the beast. Apparently he came forward sometime in the last day or two to demand that Hillary return some donations to her campaign that from Rupert Murdoch. Edwards obviously loathes Murdoch (remember how he refused to take part in a televised debate because Murdoch's Fox was the broadcaster?). Aside from that fairly pointless waste of his energy, however, it's also hypocritical to a degree that's impossible to quantify.
The same guy who demands so self-righteously that Hillary keep her campaign free from this loathsome lucre last year published a book called Home that was published by guess who. HarperCollins. Okay, now guess who owns HarperCollins. You got it! The very same Rupert Murdoch who owns Fox and who donated to Hillary's campaign (which oddity is another subject altogether). So the North Carolinian master of gigantic jury awards, which raise their own serious ethical dilemma, published a book and was paid by and accepted an enormous advance from HarperCollins (three-quarters of a million dollars). Yes, he said he would donate profits of the book to charity but note the word "profits". But, first, keep in mind that his daughter and his assistant were paid, presumably from the "income" from HarperCollins and not from his own (ever so pure) pocket. But, also, be real: there would be many expenses (you know, mundane little things like distribution, publicity, electricity, postage, haircuts, etc.)? And has anyone actually bought the book? Have there actually been any profits? And, most important of all, how come he thinks he can get away with such a blatant display of how little he thinks of American voters that he thinks we'll neither notice nor care about bald-faced hypocrisy and outright lying?
The same guy who demands so self-righteously that Hillary keep her campaign free from this loathsome lucre last year published a book called Home that was published by guess who. HarperCollins. Okay, now guess who owns HarperCollins. You got it! The very same Rupert Murdoch who owns Fox and who donated to Hillary's campaign (which oddity is another subject altogether). So the North Carolinian master of gigantic jury awards, which raise their own serious ethical dilemma, published a book and was paid by and accepted an enormous advance from HarperCollins (three-quarters of a million dollars). Yes, he said he would donate profits of the book to charity but note the word "profits". But, first, keep in mind that his daughter and his assistant were paid, presumably from the "income" from HarperCollins and not from his own (ever so pure) pocket. But, also, be real: there would be many expenses (you know, mundane little things like distribution, publicity, electricity, postage, haircuts, etc.)? And has anyone actually bought the book? Have there actually been any profits? And, most important of all, how come he thinks he can get away with such a blatant display of how little he thinks of American voters that he thinks we'll neither notice nor care about bald-faced hypocrisy and outright lying?
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