Old wisdom: The saga of John Edwards and Rielle Hunter eventually will fade from the public’s consciousness. Sure, the whole wretched affair feels like The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave, but every news story has an expiration date.

New wisdom: John and Rielle’s love is one for the ages. They will be with us forever.

The qualifiers: I use the word “love” ironically. And by “forever,” I’m really only talking about my lifetime. (Believe me, I’m on the down slope of the mortality bell curve.) After that, of course, time stops — at least for me. You’re on your own.

The explanation: When you think about it, you realize this story won’t go away for at least a generation (seriously). In the short term, there are are the various legal actions surrounding the Edwards/Hunter hookup, all of which will continue to register on the media radar — a possible indictment of Edwards by a federal grand jury, Hunter’s lawsuit against factotum Andrew Young, etc. Furthermore, who knows how many other GQ moments we have ahead of us? Do you really, truly think Hunter is capable of living the rest of her life quietly, contemplatively and, more to the point, privately? If so, I’d like to talk to you about some real estate investment opportunities.

In the longer term, and not to be morbid about things, Elizabeth Edwards will either (a) succumb to her terminal cancer, or (b) somehow survive to become a wondrous example of beating the odds. Whichever is the case, media attention is assured, complete with thorough re-hashings of the John-and-Rielle business. Also, John Edwards eventually will go back to work, join the French Foreign Legion, appear on “Dancing With the Stars,” whatever. Further coverage will ensue.

Then there’s two-year-old Quinn Hunter, the child conceived when Edwards (to invoke Hunter’s description of him) became “a more integrated human being.” You can bet some years hence, as Quinn approaches adulthood, she’ll be rediscovered by the media and featured in countless love-child-grows-up stories. People magazine probably already has her penciled in for a photo spread in one of its 2025 issues.

Sorry to be the splash of cold water on your hopes for an end to this mawkish drama. But you need to face reality.

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Remember: You can also find me at The Sleep Blog.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 4:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.