Earlier this week, John Edwards promised us that he only conducted his affair with Rielle Hunter during the period when his wife’s deadly cancer was in remission - and I see no reason why we should not take him at his word.  And most of us admire him for his gallantry in this regard.  But after a couple of sleepless nights, I’m no longer sure that his behavior is as admirable as I first thought.

Put yourself in my place.  I am fifty-seven years old - old enough that some of my friends have had the sad experience of getting cancer or some other deadly disease.   Yet, so far, I have been in good health and am still today - in fact a visit to my doctor last week confirmed that there is nothing wrong with me at the moment.  But I made a dreadful mistake.  I mentioned my doctor’s verdict to my beautiful and alluring wife.

Now, thanks to Senator Edwards, my wife is doubtless thinking along these lines: “Sam is in perfect health.  But how long can that last?  Now is the perfect time for me to have an affair - before he becomes ill.”
Senator Edwards has been an eloquent advocate of universal, state-funded health care.  But even if his system came into being overnight, how long could it remain solvent when Senator Edwards himself drives me, and millions like me, men and women alike, to oncologists, urologists and gynecologists, in order to beg for a false diagnosis dire enough to keep our spouses in our own bed?

It may be harsh to say so, but I don’t think that John Edwards has really thought this through.  To this uxorious middle-aged man, he has hardly brought freedom from fear.

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