So John Edwards is under heavy criticism today. Seems he is urging his fellow Democratic presidential candidates to give back any campaign contributions they've received from Rupert Murdoch. But Edwards himself got over $800,000 from a publisher owned by Murdoch's corporation, for a book Edwards wrote. Details here.
Is Edwards a hypocrite? You know, I don't think so. Edwards is talking about campaign contributions. The money he got from Murdoch wasn't a contribution; it was money for writing a book. It was compensation. Not a donation. The two aren't the same thing. There are many things for which John Edwards deserves criticism. I think it's kind of ridiculous to pretend contributions from Rupert Murdoch are in and of themselves evil. But Edwards getting paid by Murdoch for doing a job for which he was contracted doesn't make him a hypocrite in this case.
