John Edwards love-baby story at the tipping point; this too is a "teachable moment"

So now we have what we're told by the National Enquirer is a photo of John Edwards and his alleged love child cuddling in a room in the Beverly Hilton hotel. Actually, it looks more like a Photoshop effect (Ocean Ripple, to be exact) of someone cuddling a child.

Those are Beverly Hilton drapes - trust me, I've spent six weeks in that hotel on TV critic tours and could pick those curtains out of a lineup. But is it him? It's close enough. Look, the National Enquirer may not be your favorite publication but it is part of a celebrity journalism empire called American Media Inc. that was anthraxed following 9/11 (probably by this guy). Everyone there understands the enormity of this story, just as everyone in the mainstream media does. The difference is that the Enquirer, along with my employer, McClatchy, is actually working the story, while most of the MSM claims to be keeping its hands clean.

Still, there is enough reporting on the table by now that Edwards must address it. And so should Elizabeth, as I'll explain.

First, if you need a refresher, go check out this remarkably thorough job of fact-collection by the Deceiver's Simon Scowl. He also provides a better roadmap to all the Enquirer stories than the Enquirer does.

And, as the Deceiver notes, John Edwards is on a timetable. He has to address these charges. As Politico's Ben Smith reported last month, Edwards has been promised a speech at the Democratic National Convention. It is, as our McClatchy D.C. bureau notes, a common promise made to primary losers.

So please, stop debating whether John Edwards is a public figure or not. He didn't get on his horse and ride back to Mount Vernon. He gives speeches, he remains a mover and shaker in politics and he is (or was) preparing to give the most significant public address of his career later this month in Denver.

But now, let me venture into more treacherous waters. Is Elizabeth Edwards also a public figure, and does this story need to be pursued regardless of the pain it causes her?

I think so. For in her very public crusade to have universal single-payer health coverage mandated for all Americans - a crusade I fully support, for what it's worth - Elizabeth Edwards often refers to herself in the first person plural.

On the "Today" show on April 2, she told Meredith Vieira, "We've talked to both candidates about a number of issues, including the differences that John and I have with Senator Obama's plan..." In an interview last year with the Advocate she said, "John and I actually want people who disagree (with our political values) to speak up."

And then there was this remarkably revealing excerpt from an interview May 22 on NPR's "Talk of the Nation":

Neal Conan (NPR): Was there a moment when you said, look, can't I keep this private?

Mrs. EDWARDS: Honestly, there wasn't. I mean, I guess I grew up in a household that was a very open household, and John and I have always had a very open home, where we have very few secrets from anyone. We always say there's a bunch of 28-year-old boys running around, who've seen me in every nightgown I own. So I wasn't particularly private to begin with, and politics kind of cures you a little bit of that anyway. People want to peer in your closets, and you sort of make a bargain that you're going to let them.

And this - you know, there was in it also the possibility of a teachable moment, and just tell people not to make the mistakes I made, to go ahead and have their mammograms in a timely way and do their monthly self-exams. And in fact, one of the first emails I got was from a woman who had gone and gotten herself checked immediately after hearing of me and found, in fact, that she did have a cancerous tumor, and she was already getting treatment. So whatever else, whatever the bad sides were, I have this woman's life as a reason to have made the public statement.

Like most people, I really wish Elizabeth Edwards didn't have to go through what her husband has put her through. But you know what? This too is a teachable moment. Nine years ago, when my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, she heard stories from her support group, stories of infidelity and breakup brought on by cancer and in particular, breast cancer.

If Elizabeth Edwards chooses, at the right time, to address this story, it too can be a teachable moment for her and every woman who has suffered insult on top of injury. It's a moment when women can say, "You know what? That happened to me too. I had a husband who I thought was very devoted to me, and then I had a mastectomy, and he left me." Or, "My boyfriend started stepping out when I was in chemo and wearing wigs."

But it doesn't become a teachable moment until NPR starts talking about it.