Joan Ganz Cooney | 10/30/2009 12:00 am

Joan Ganz Cooney: If Bill Would Have Come Clean in the Beginning

In response to: David Letterman vs. John Edwards: When someone comes clean about their wrongdoing, are you more willing to forgive them?

I would hardly compare Martha Stewart to John Edwards. Martha’s small problem was greatly compounded by her prominence. Had she been an unknown, she would almost certainly not been sent to jail. I just felt sorry for her. John Edwards is a liar and a cad and recklessly put his political party and country at risk. Letterman did the right thing, coming clean, when threatened with blackmail but his behavior with women who work for him is hardly admirable. I think lying about sex is an automatic response when one is caught so I never judged Clinton harshly, although I would have preferred that he come clean and resign. We would have had Al Gore then as president and probably avoided the Bush years altogether.

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A few points.

"If" is the biggest word in the english language. If he had come clean, as it were,….

Martha Stewart’s problem was not small. A lot of people that you had not heard of before their trial have gone to jail in the last decade because of their greed, and I would suggest that many people would wish that more had. Sorry for her? Sorry that she went to jail or that she got caught?

If lying about anything becomes an automatic response, you are in a real bad way.

By Michael Storey on 10/30/2009 7:23 am

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Really Joan? Martha Stewart’s conviction was a "small problem" and she was only treated the way she was because of her prominence. Really?

In this one sentence Joan (as much as I usually agree with you) you have shown you are out of touch with the real people of the world. Because contrary to what you said, people with far less prominence than she has are indeed convicted of the very same charges. What she did receive was equal treatment under the law. Believe it or not Joan, the little people who lie, cheat and steal go to prison on a daily basis.

The sad reality is it is usually the rich and powerful who buy their way out of these problems. I applaud our judicial system and the jurors in this case for not allowing her wealth and prominence to influence their vote. She should have been convicted.

I can’t believe you are dismissing obstruction of justice and lying to the government as a "small problem"

By Belinda Joy on 10/30/2009 10:32 am