Like most issues, on the topic of Edwards, everyone is probably in the wrong.
Should you mad? If you want to be - but lets not get the anger focused on the wrong issue. Should you not care? If you don't want to - but lets not shrug and move onto the next topic.
There is a middle ground.
(update: The poll goes from 1 (I don't care) to 10 (I care more than life)
When reading the story this morning, my first thought was: The National Enquirer got one right?
My second thought was having to do with John Edwards AND Elliot Spitzer sharing a birthday - my birthday. Fortunately, my girlfriend won't have to be worrying, but it certainly gave me a nanosecond of superstitious pause.
After both thoughts had left the outbox, I wasn't sure how I felt.
It's not that I'm not angry - but I think the reason for my anger is simple. My anger comes from Edwards risking his potential nomination with a known lie existing out there, ready for abuse. But you know what? He didn't win - and more importantly - he was never close, as much as I'd love to believe otherwise.
So yes, be mad. Be mad that this takes him out of the VP contention, be mad that a Presidential Candidate lied - but take some happiness in the fact that this isn't happening to OUR candidate, whether or not we wanted Edwards as our candidate to begin with. Be mad that the man you got worked up over, just as I did, lied to you and had no business running for President.
But lets remember - he's not running for President now and, at best, he's now been taken out of consideration for a position in the Executive this fall.
It was a gunshot, yes - but we managed to dodge the bullet - so should we panicking like we've just been shot? No - we should be panicking like we were just shot at. Which is to say, this isn't life or even election-threatening. Thankfully.
On the other hand, should we be ignoring this?
Of course not. We've, effectively, lost one of our greats today. To brush this aside is to say that we don't care about the character of a person as long as they're getting their job done. The Republican Party is already hypocritical enough to make the act of keeping on an adulterer an insignificant point, but the Democrats haven't been so faux-new-leaf-oriented. Spitzer being one of the examples of this, and Clinton being a bad example of this (perhaps the Dems don't care as long as you don't round the bases?).
But this strange place we're all at right now - with some demanding his head and some scratching their heads and wondering what the fuss is - is exactly where we should not be.
The damage this has done to his family and his image is going to last a lifetime. His push for populist causes, especially economic, are nearly unparalleled in the present-day political climate.
We've lost a member of our team, and yes, it's his own damn fault - we should be sad, we should be mad, but we shouldn't be the rabid mob we're seemingly degrading into. Edwards slap on the wrist is in progress and will be permanent, and for him to receive his punishment, he doesn't need the entire blogosphere to become a torch-wielding, vengeful mob.
Calm down - but don't you dare get apathetic.