Remind me: WHY is it such a big deal that John Edwards had an affair?

The big breaking news today is that John Edwards has admitted to having an affair with Rielle Hunter, launching off a firestorm of criticism and speculation on the former presidential candidate's political future. While pundits and housewives around scream at Edwards and ponder why he would do such a thing, I'll ask a more direct question--why should WE even care?

Here are just a couple of the stories that have developed in the last 24 hours:

1) Georgia (the COUNTRY), after invading the breakaway province of South Ossetia, has inspired reactions of invasion and bombing by neighboring Russia, a country that strongly supported Ossetia's independence from Georgia. Why should WE care about THIS? Georgia is a staunch ally of the US and the modern western world, offering not only troops to the war on "terror" in Iraq but also a country that features, wait for it, a pipeline of oil through its lands (it's always about oil, isn't it?). A continuation of this conflict between Georgia and Russia would unquestionably result in the annihilation of the former country.

Yet what gets all the attention? John Edwards and his increased libido.

2) John McCain continues his downward spiral from independent maverick to GOP neanderthal with what is possibly his most dishonest attack-ad yet against Barack Obama.

See for yourself.

The dishonesty of the ad is shocking. The vote that the ad alludes to was an Obama vote for a recent budget resolution that proposed raising the lowest level tax-rate from 25% to 28%. What the ad does not mention is that it was a fricking BUDGET RESOLUTION! Not only is there considerable baggage to complicated measures like resolutions, but they are the complete opposite of BILLS, which the McCain campaign seem to equate with resolutions. Bills are precise, resolutions are broad, and as the vote stands, taxes may have been raised with the resolution, which, I should point out, revolved around the discontinuing of Bush's tax cuts for the super-rich!!!

And, once again, we have the irritating practicing of McCain not-so-subtly stating that Obama is an elitist who will raise taxes on the poor and drive away in his Ferrari.

Do I really need to address this? McCain grew up in a family of admirals, received a top-notch education at the Naval Academy (which he boasts to have thrown away), and left his first wife for a cozy engagement with the heiress to the multimillion dollar corporation ANHEUSER-BUSCH!!! McCain owns six houses on my last count, including one in Phoenix worth almost $5 MILLION. Oh, and he wears a pair of loafers that cost a whopping $520.

Now let's compare this to Obama--born to a single white mother, raised on food stamps, graduated from Columbia, worked for $20,000 a year as a community organizer, and then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. Which of these seems opportunist and privileged, and which one seems the product of hard work?

Those are the first stories two that popped into my head, but further excavation yields a wealth of similarly news-worthy material: the first ever conviction of a Guantanamo prisoner for...being Bin Laden's driver; the information that the Justice Department, under Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, hired lawyers based on political affiliation, a shockingly partisan development from the supposedly un-partisan branch of the government; the revelation that the White House, with specific direction by Vice President Dick Cheney and Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith, forged a document linking Saddam Hussein to Al-Queda. This final story is so severe that it should unquestionably involve the impeachment of Cheney.

But what gets the attention? John Edwards and his affair.

Now, I am in no way discrediting the severity of the situation. John Edwards had an affair, he has admitted to it, and there will be a long, arduous process of rebuild with his wife and kids; however, this is a private matter, one that we should have the courtesy and honor to leave to the Edwards family to resolve.

The public madhouse over the Clinton sex scandal was ridiculous in its own right, and the firestorm over Edwards' infidelity proves we have not gotten any more sensible. Instead of focusing on the real issues facing our country now, we labor over the personal problems of our celebrities and idols, from Brangelina's twins to the latest fuck-up by Lindsay Lohan. Don't we have better, more valuable things to do with our limited time?

And I'm not alone in this sentiment. Here is a direct quote of an Elizabeth Edwards blog that appeared on The Daily Kos earlier today: "I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John’s conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time."

Can't we honor her wish?