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- “When it comes to rounding up John Edwards news and links, I can’t hope to compete with Deceiver.” — Mickey Kaus, Rielle-Hunter
#1#2 - Kaus also links to a story I missed from the Aug. 14 Santa Barbara Independent. (The last few weeks are kind of a blur, but I think I glanced at that one and dismissed it because of the “Angry Poodle” drawing. D’oh!) It says that Rielle is, “underneath that extravagantly New Age exterior, tough as nails and hard as rock.” And somewhat smarter than both!
- Paul Mulshine looks at the origin of the “Riley” mispronunciation. So much for my theory that it referred to the sort of life she was leading before this news broke.
- John Kerry feels “very, very badly” for the Edwards family. Why the long face, Senator?
- The National Enquirer is promising more baby pictures tomorrow. If a six-month-old could write a meticulously worded non-denial denial, we’d be seeing it right about now. “While admittedly my very existence implies that my mother was impregnated at some point in the summer of 2007, I have no specific knowledge that John Edwards is my father. Also, if somebody could please change my diaper, that would be great.”
- Did you know that John Edwards, private citizen who nobody cares about anymore, has delegates going to the DNC next week? Sure, they’ll be voting for Obama, but they’re still Edwards delegates. Sounds like they feel a bit silly. (Update: But he won’t be there himself. Which I’m sure was the plan all along, right?)
- Gawker has a clip of Rielle’s shining moment as an actress, appearing opposite a young Denzel in the 1991 action-thriller Ricochet. She played a pushy, excitable reporter, which is just perfect. (Note to Netflix: Buy more Ricochet DVDs!)
- As blogger Matt Schiavenza points out, the Wikipedia entry on this scandal has over 100 citations. It’s weird that a few weeks ago it wasn’t even considered worthy of inclusion, huh?
- Via The Beltway Boys on Fox News (boo!), I like Jon Stewart’s response (yay!) to Edwards’ clarification that “none of my family are responsible for this but me.”
- Per John in North Carolina, a couple of NC newspapers are bickering over which one broke the story of the baby’s fatherless birth certificate. Which is even funnier when you consider that the little tyke was born in California.
- Is this whole thing just a private matter between a husband, a wife, and a political action committee?
- As I listen to Rielle’s 911 call about the paparazzi following her, I’m struck by her hesitation — “Uh, uh, uh, uh…” — when the 911 operator asks why they’re trying to take pictures of Rielle and the baby. It’s almost like she’s thinking, “Okay, I need help here, but they record these calls, so I need to choose my words very carefully…” I also like how almost every statement Rielle makes sounds like a question? Plus, this audio is just further confirmation that she pronounces it “Ree-elle.”
- According to Inside Edition, Rielle made that call from an LA freeway “just one week before the story of her affair broke.” (I think they mean one week before the research thieves at ABC News “broke” the story on 8/8, not one week before the Enquirer actually broke the story on 7/22.) Inside Edition also says: “Shortly after the call Hunter was flown out of the country on a private jet to [a] secret location, where she currently remains. INSIDE EDITION has learned the photographer tailing her was later cited for making an illegal U-turn.” So if nothing else, at least this whole thing is taking some of the heat off George Clooney.
- 8/20 update: According to the Enquirer, Rielle and the baby were flown to St. Croix by private jet on 8/7. They stayed there for about 10 days in a home owned by Lee Rohn, yet another trial lawyer with ties to Edwards. Then the Enquirer tracked them down and they were flown back to Santa Barbara.The Enquirer is also directly accusing Edwards of orchestrating this expensive game of tag (Rielle’s carbon footprint is getting ridiculous) and the various payoffs. And they’ve got a pic of Rielle and the baby on the cover. I can’t tell at a glance if it’s the same kid from the previous photo, but so far the Enquirer has been right about this story…
- Another 8/20 update: Allahpundit at Hot Air says it best. “There sure are a lot of pals in [Edwards'] orbit willing to do extremely extravagant favors for a woman he had only a brief dalliance with two years ago, aren’t there? You’d think people like Rohn and Fred Baron would cut her off at this point lest their largesse appear any more suspiciously coordinated and incriminating for Edwards. But no, the favors keep flowing unbidden, even now that the story’s broken wide open and each new favor they do only draws closer media scrutiny upon themselves.”
