My Blog

The last time I thought about Elizabeth Edwards before the news that
her husband had an affair as reported correctly by the National
Enquirer was when Tony Snow, former press secretary and Fox News
Anchor, succumbed to colon cancer.

Elizabeth Edwards, who herself is battling cancer, wrote a column for
Newsweek.com about Tony Snow. I happened to read the column because I
was consumed by Snow’s death. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s because my
dad had liver cancer this year and thanks to amazing medical care and
luck or God or the stars is cancer free and doing great. Perhaps I
wondered why my dad survived and Tony Snow did not. Who or what decides
these things?

Elizabeth Edwards is back in the spotlight and there is much commentary
about how her husband’s infidelity has affected her, how gross of an
act it is given her cancer, and inevitably some will question how a
modern, intelligent woman can stick by a scumbag cheating husband.

I believe the answers are given in the Newsweek column.

Read the entire article here; http://www.newsweek.com/id/146121/output/print  and if you want, come back here to read my thoughts.

Elizabeth Edwards wrote, rather obtusely, that opposites shouldn’t
unite to benefit only during times of an imminent threat be it the war
on terrorism or cancer. Mankind should unite because unity leads to
progress, leads to cures and leads to peace. When opposing sides work
for the greater good everyone benefits.

And while Elizabeth and John may have been on opposite sides of the
battlefield in their marriage during the past couple of years, she
stood with him to move America forward.

Elizabeth Edwards, when she found out about her husband’s affair in
2006, decided that the betrayal was not reason enough to break up her
beautiful family or to prevent her husband from his political
missionary work which included helping the working class and providing
universal health care. Whether you or I doubt his sincerity doesn’t
matter. She believed and believes in him. She believes in his cause so
much so that despite his cheating, despite the fact that she learned
that she is dying, she decided to work on something that she felt was
bigger than herself.

Whatever our judgment of John Edwards, his wife, when she could have
avenged his infidelity by ruining his political career, instead chose
to unite with him and unite with his supporters.

And personal gain just doesn’t seem like a likely motive. She is
incredibly wealthy. If anything, the stress of the campaign can’t be
great for her health.

Elizabeth Edwards wrote in Newsweek: "So why do we have such trouble
turning what we have in common into common cause? There will always be
fault lines where we just disagree, but can’t we find—maybe in our
founding documents—the things on which we do agree and work from there
instead of starting always, always perched as soldiers along those
fault lines?"

At age 60, Elizabeth Edwards is choosing not to battle her husband.
It’s not a battle, to her, worth fighting. Whatever we think about it
or John Edwards, her reasoning goes far beyond the cliché that she’s
simply “sticking by her man.”

She is sticking by much more than that.