disappointed again

I am really disappointed by the news about John Edwards' 2006 affair.

Any politician who wants to become president should know by now that the US public doesn't turn a blind eye to adultery like they used to. So just having HAD an affair shows extremely bad judgment on his part. But having an affair and then lying about it while trying to maintain a squeaky clean image is inexcusable in a presidential hopeful.

The US public is sick of being lied to. Even the people who don't realize how often they really are being lied to about rather more important things aren't generally going to let lying about adultery slide. Especially given America's fixation on the faith and spiritual convictions of their leaders.

If you've had an affair, it's already bad news for you because allowances for extramarital hokey-pokey aren't part of the average marriage vows. Joe Average Christian American is pretty picky about fidelity when it comes to politicians' marriages.

But if you're running for office and you get caught in a compromising situation, for Pasta's sake, don't try to BS your way out of it. Spit it out, apologize profusely and humbly, and face the consequences. Some voters may think you're a weasel for having had an affair. But at least you won't look like an idiot who thought the media wouldn't ferret out the juicy details when they caught the scent of a sex scandal.

Edwards should have guessed that his affair would come out into the open eventually, and that the Republican party, especially the Rove machine, would have a heyday with that kind of thing.
I cringe to think what would have happened if it were now Edwards vs. McCain.

We do what we must because we can

thailand
Originally uploaded by jslander

Edit 20080501: According to Jess, the photographer, the plastic cups of water in question in this post were provided for the comfort of the Buddha statues (see her comment). I'm leaving the original post as-is, but wanted to clarify this point up front. I misunderstood the photo as thoroughly as Click Cluck did. Which doesn't change my opinion about his asking her to edit it.

Original Post:

I was eating my sourdough pancakes this morning and browsing flickr when I ran across this photo by one of my contacts, jslander. It shows that some passer-by has left an empty beverage container in the hand of a seated Buddha statue.

What inspired me to blog it isn't the juxtaposition of someone's discarded plastic cup with the timeless serenity of the statue, or the quality of the photo itself.

What made this worth blogging about is that another flickr member (Click Cluck) stuck a note on this photo (view it on the original page by clicking the photo) instructing jslander to remove the cup using photoshop because it isn't respectful. And not just in a comment below the pic, but a note stuck smack dab in the middle of the photo itself.

Huh?

Saying that because it is now fairly easy to remove elements from photos, the photographer should feel obligated to do so if an element is politically incorrect made me boggle. And when I shared it with my Mister, he shared my embogglement.

My guess is that the story of some modern tourist type leaving a cup on the palm of the Buddha statue is exactly what jslander was shooting in the first place. Jslander has a good eye for composition and a well developed sense of irony. If she'd intended to take the photo of just the statue, I'm sure she'd've removed the cup in person. But as it is, it's funny in a tacky-irony kind of way, and it is a commentary on the person who left their trash there in the first place, and on the times we live in.

That said, the irony that Click Cluck was at the same time leaving his own mark on someone else's creation as he passed by seems somehow apt.

If humor is an important part of a delicious weekend breakfast, my recommended daily allowance has been met.

* * *

Aperture Science
We do what we must because we can
For the good of all of us
Except the ones who are dead

~Jonathan Coulton, Still Alive