Mail revenge - Sally Quinn

Sally Quinn , a reporter with te washington post never is scared and she posts what she feels is good or true or what would be the best news for her paper. Those are the quality traits of a true journalist and the recent news with which she is involved is another mark of her journalism...

Sally Quinn, a reporter with the Washington Post, posted her thoughts on the John Edward's affair and its ramifications. Her report was a bit different than others as she wrote about Elizabeth Edwards, along with other politicians' wives who stood beside their husbands as they confessed their various sins and peccadilloes. She said that these women were enablers in the worst way and how she wished they would just "slap those men" instead of "letting them do whatever they wanted to."
Advertisement

Remember the wife of the New Jersey governor, James McGreevey, standing there like a deer caught in the headlights as her husband confessed to be openly gay? I wanted to slap him, but even more I wanted to slap her and say, "Wake up, woman and say something."

Then there was Eliot Spitzer, the governor of New York, who confessed to his involvement with a prostitution ring while his wife stood behind him looking supportive and concerned. I wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled.

Closer to home, we have David Vitter and his confession involving a prostitute. There was this collective gasp when we all said, His wife forgave him and, for the most part, enabled him.

Then comes the John Edwards saga with Elizabeth Edwards doing her best to hold things together in this difficult time. Quinn labels her an enabler because she let him do it.

Most women of the South were taught to look the other way while their husbands are dallying. We are taught to keep our business private, to keep our homes running smoothly and to protect our children from the gossip and scrutiny that wandering husbands may generate.

But we are not necessarily enablers. I refer you to the Sacred Southern Belle Handbook, page 8, section 4. There we are instructed to exact our revenge in small ways, even when we may be the only ones who are aware of what we did. We are taught to "exact our pound of flesh" after our hearts have been broken, vows torn asunder, and all the money is funneled into trashy women.

Yes, we may look the other way until our necks are frozen in that position, but we do not take this lightly or meekly. We just take our particular brand of retribution in private.

During the times of the Old South, men like Edwards, Spitzer, McGreevy and the granddaddy of all modern sex scandals, Bill Clinton, would have been shot or at the very least, injured in parts of their bodies that they dearly cherished. This was done out of respect and concern for our other Southern Belles as we would not want these men thrust upon their lives. This also applied to cheating hypocrites, lying fornicators and men who dismissed us as if we had cotton candy for brains.

Elizabeth Edwards may not be out in public speaking her mind, slapping her husband's pretty face, or even throwing his behind out of the house, but believe me, she is no fool and she has performed like a lady. I admire her fortitude and courage in the face of this glaring and intrusive look into her private life, but private it should remain ... just like her forgiveness that is surely tempered with a bit of revenge.

In fact, I asked someone the other day what did they think Eliot Spitzer was doing these days and they answered "Without." I rest my case.