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March 19, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: The Divine is in the details
JWisdom.com Stewards of sacrifice with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama is waging war on Israel
March 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Israel's New Enemy: America?
JWisdom.com Love me not? with Rabbi David Aaron (5 minutes)
Jonathan Rosenblum: Washington Throws a Tantrum
March 17, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Orwell, Santayana, and Me
Jonathan Tobin: How Many Lives Is Biden's Pride Worth?
March 16, 2010
Steven Emerson: Combating Lawfare
JWisdom.com How to perform a miracle with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair (4 minutes)
Anne Bayefsky: Behind Obama's Dangerous Overreaction on Israel
March 15, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Father's obligations toward minor children
JWisdom.com Moody, Grumpy, Irritable Children with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Judith Graham: Get the whole picture before a CT
March 12, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: You CAN have Heaven on Earth
JWisdom.com Manufacturing mediums with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: The march of the Red-Green brigades
March 11, 2010
Glenn Garvin: Conspiracy theories, why people believe them and how they spread
JWisdom.com For Yourself, Not By Yourself with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer : Turn leftovers into tasty New England hash
Paul Richter: Biden promises 'viable Palestine' is in the offing
March 10, 2010
Paul Greenberg: Death Checks In
JWisdom.com How To Get A (Real) Life with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( EXTENDED EPISODE)
Paul Richter: Israel exerts soverign right to its capital as Biden looks on astounded
Richard A. Serrano: 'Jihad Jane' indictment alleges threat from within U.S.
March 9, 2010
Wesley Pruden: Joe's Israeli adventure
JWisdom.com Free To Be (Responsibly) You and Me! with Rabbi Naftali Brawer ( 8 MINUTES)
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to rule on free speech in case of soldier's funeral
March 8, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Make a fuss about those who cuss?
JWisdom.com Finding or Losing Yourself? Here's How! with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Steven Emerson: America must learn from the UK about the future of Islamist subversion
March 5, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: Golden Calf still with us --- except it has multiplied
JWisdom.com The Limits of Eternity with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Biden's lost cause
March 4, 2010
Alan M. Dershowitz: How About A Real Campaign Against Abuses?
JWisdom.com Using Things, Loving People with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff ( 7 MINUTES)
Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's Everything's Relative
March 3, 2010
JWisdom.com Grasping The Name of Your Life Game with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( 8 MINUTES)
The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta : A cowboy's recipes for really good grub
March 2, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Someone's there
Diane Toroian Keaggy : Have we misunderstood Michelangelo?
March 1, 2010
JWisdom.com Whole in One with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Michael Muskal: Hillary meets with Israeli official, discusses gefilte fish dispute
Feb. 26, 2010
Rabbi Francis Nataf: The Megilla of Spring
JWisdom.com A Biblical Secret for a More Powerful You with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: When rhetoric rules the roost
Feb. 25, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: When walking away from your mortgage is both economically sound and makes ethical sense
JWisdom.com The Second Most Important Question in Your Life with Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh ( 5 MINUTES)
Seema Mehta : U.S.-Israel relations raised in California's Senate race --- by conservatives
Feb. 24, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: The gift of the ‘prayer bomber’
Steven Emerson: Why Religious Freedom Commission is under attack
Feb. 23, 2010
Dennis Prager: Government, Yes! The Divine and Parents, No!
JWisdom.com The Last Laugh of Enlightenment with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair ( 5 MINUTES)
Anne Applebaum: Prepare for war with Iran --- in case Israel strikes
Feb. 22, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Is it not refreshing Tiger Woods' career has crashed and burned so dramatically?
JWisdom.com Esther and the third Truth with Rabbi David Aaron ( 9 MINUTES)
Kelly Brewington: Going smoke-free may raise diabetes risk
Feb. 19, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: Is the Divine beyond us or within us?
JWisdom.com Olympic Faith with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Israel and the West are perpetrators of a myth that endangers the Jewish State
Feb. 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Who is Rashad Hussain?
JWisdom.com A Wedding Disaster to Remember with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein ( 3 MINUTES)
Feb. 17, 2010
JWisdom.com Think your life is messed up? with Rabbi David Aaron ( 11 MINUTES)
Greg Logan: 'Greatest Jewish sporting event of all time since David versus Goliath' may be postponed because of bar mitzvah
Feb. 16, 2010
Anya Martin : Boy's 'cerebral palsy' fixed with diet
JWisdom.com Feet On The Street Spirituality with Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 8 MINUTES)
Marty Peretz: Let Europe Mind Its Own Business. It Brings Nothing To The Table Save For Mischief
Feb. 15, 2010
Herb Geduld: Lincoln and the Jews
JWisdom.com Are Our Children Really Ours? with Rabbi Mordechai Becher ( 5 MINUTES)
Susan King: 'Wolf Man' reflected writer's wartime Jewish experience

Jewish World Review August 12, 2008 / 11 Menachem-Av 5768

‘Mamma Mia’ without the music

By Cal Thomas


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | There is something familiar about the storyline: woman has more than one sex partner; woman becomes pregnant; no father's name on the birth certificate; paternity questioned.


It's the plot for "Mamma Mia," but this time without the ABBA music.


Let me stipulate, as the trial lawyer John Edwards would say, that all have sinned (as Paul, the Apostle wrote) and it is un-Christian to judge one better than another simply because he may not have committed a sin that someone else has committed. This is not about that as much as it is the aftermath. Something like: "it isn't the crime, but the cover-up that gets you."


We stopped repenting some time ago. Our preferred response after being caught in a transgression in the modern era is to explain. Our "confessional" is television and our audience is not God, but the public. After repeatedly lying about it, Edwards finally admitted to sharing another woman's bed, but he wants us to know it was while his wife was in remission for her cancer, though he told Bob Woodruff on "Nightline" that is no excuse. So then why mention it?


Edwards said he told Elizabeth about the affair in 2006. If true, that means she was campaigning for and with him, testifying to his character and concern for "women's issues" even while she was a co-conspirator in the cover-up. Isn't it a major "issue" for a married woman when her husband cheats on her? A female acquaintance told me, "It doesn't matter." I responded, "How would you feel if your husband cheated on you?" Oh," she said, "that would matter to me." So much for sisterhood. If someone else's husband has "traveling pants" it's of no concern, but if her husband's pants wander, it's a big deal.


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In his carefully crafted admission, Edwards said he had not lived up to the standards he set for himself. If they were his standards he violated, few would care. But fidelity is not a standard set by Man; rather "forsaking all others" is the standard established by God, not because He wants to deprive us of pleasure, but because adultery is an affront to Him (He gets to make the rules) and causes severe damage to others.


In our narcissistic (Edwards got that self-diagnosis right), pleasure-oriented culture, politicians think they can live like Hollywood celebrities. No one expects sexual probity from an actor, which is why promiscuity no longer disqualifies one for a movie role.


As more politicians — Republicans and Democrats — are exposed for their sexual misconduct, it is less likely such low behavior will disqualify one for high office. There is speculation that because Bill Clinton has "rehabilitated" himself following the Monica Lewinsky affair, Edwards might be able to run for president again.


The big media were enablers in the Edwards mess, though the Charlotte Observer, McClatchy and Raleigh News & Observer broke the news of the Edwards affair before his ABC confessional. After the National Enquirer scooped major papers on Bill Clinton's "relationship" with Gennifer Flowers in 1992, one might have expected them to be more aware this time.


The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times knew about the Enquirer stories on Edwards, but refused to assign reporters to look into them. When California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was said to have sexually harassed several women, the L.A. Times assigned up to half a dozen reporters to investigate.


Remember "Troopergate"? The L.A. Times had the story about Arkansas state troopers allegedly procuring women for Bill Clinton while he was governor, but didn't publish it until after the 1992 election. Funny how it isn't important, or it couldn't be corroborated when Democrats are the subject, but let a Republican stray (Larry Craig, Mark Foley and David Vitter are some recent examples) and it immediately becomes front-page news.


Edwards said the affair was "brief" and ended in 2006. If so, what was he doing last month at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at 2 a.m. with his "former" lover and her baby? Why was someone in his employ paying the woman so much money and how does she afford a multimillion-dollar home?


Cue the music:


"I've been cheated by you since I don't know when


So I made up my mind, it must come to an end ... Mamma Mia, here I go again


My, my, how can I resist you?

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JWR contributor Cal Thomas is co-author with Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic Party strategist, of "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America". Comment by clicking here.

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