Reply #101: Once again...

[JeffreyWilliamson]

No matter how you answer this argument, it requires the reader to make a direct comparison between having an affair and being gay.

If I say that you're right and both things are equally private sexual affairs, then I'm forced to equate the two.

If I say that I disagree that both are private sexual affairs then I'm forced to defend being gay as if it's either somehow better or not than having an affair.

Indeed, you and I are sitting here right now debating whether or not being gay is "as bad" (my position) or just "a privacy right issue" (your position). The two aren't equal and it was a bad comparison.

Being gay is an immutable trait. If I have an affair on my partner it's a bad thing. If I do so while running for public office then I invite scrutiny for having done it, especially if I lie about it.

For John Edwards, being straight is an immutable trait, (I'm just assuming here, but his marriage and affair seem to support this theory). If John Edwards has an affair on his wife it's a bad thing. If he does so while running for public office then he invites scrutiny for having done it, especially if he lies about it.

Let me ask you this, since I'm gay, don't think there's anything wrong with that, and am willing to advertise that using my own real name as a screen name, to anyone reading the internet who cares to look. John Edwards, who's having an affair on his wife, who is dying of cancer, and who himself is running for President, lies about his affair and gets busted for it.

If what John Edwards did was okay, or in some way equatable with what I'm doing, then why did he feel the need to lie about it and try to hide it?

Compelling thread though. Credit due for that.