marjorie says...
In Edwards' confession about having an affair, he said this about being a politician:
This is what happened. It's what happened with me and I think happens unfortunately more often sometimes with other people.… Ego. Self-focus, self-importance.
Now, I was slapped down to the ground when my son Wade died in 1996, in April of 1996. But then after that I ran for the senate and I got elected to the Senate and here we go again, it's the same old thing again. Adulation, respect, admiration.
Then I went from being a senator, a young senator to being considered for vice president, running for president, being a vice presidential candidate and becoming a national public figure. All of which fed a self-focus, an egotism, a narcissism that leads you to believe that you can do whatever you want. You're invincible. And there will be no consequences. And nothing, nothing could be further from the truth.
In what is otherwise just one more affair made into a public scandal, this is quite a little gem of a comment. Politicians may be more susceptible than others (I'd say its pretty evident lately), but these qualities also increase in general with access to power & money.
And even more broadly, I'd say humbleness is a virtue that is often in short supply.
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