What I Learned Today - Enquirer: The Real Life "Boy Who Cried Wolf?"

13th August 2008

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Enquirer: The Real Life “Boy Who Cried Wolf?”

Poor National Enquirer. Nobody believed you when, in October 2007, you cried “Edwards Cheating Scandal.” Wikipedia didn’t even heed your call.

While you were digging into the Edwards scandal - publishing stories about his affair with filmmaker Rielle Hunter, his illegitimiate child, how he paid his aid Andrew Young (who is married with children) to go live with Hunter under the guise that he was the one having the affair, and following Edwards to the Beverly Hilton hotel where he met Hunter and the child – major newspapers were sweeping the story under the rug. They ignored your plebian cries due to your lack of credibility, and instead, published front pagers about an unproven alleged McCain-lobbyist affair.

But look at you now. You were right! John Edwards admitted to the affair, and papers everywhere are vindicating you.

Oh, how they should have known! You’re not the alien searching tabloids that I thought you were (it’s true, I searched far and wide for an Enquirer alien story to little avail). I must have had you confused with Weekly World News. You know, the mag you share the check-out stand with? Bat boy ring a bell? Nay, you just write about celebrities and politics. Usually about plastic surgery gone wrong, Brangelina’s escapades, secret affairs of the stars, or cellulite. Lots of cellulite. But when you get a story, you dig. Deep. You cracked the Jesse Jackson illegitimate child case, you uprooted the pic of Donna Rice sitting on Gary Hart’s lap, and you exposed the story of Limbaugh’s drug problem. And now this!

What a world it would be if the other publications heeded your cry! “Change” may not have been the buzzword of the summer. That’s because Hillary would have received the Democratic nomination. If others believed you and pressured Edwards to admit to his affair, Clinton would have received his votes and won Iowa. At least that’s the view of Howard Wolfson, former communication director for the Hillary campaign. Could it be true? I suppose we shall never know.

Tagged: politics