No way out of this one …

So David Sirota posts a defense, or more accurately a 1,600-word justification, for a liberal candidate’s crass hypocrisy*. It’s the same tired playbook partisans always use to sidestep intellectual honesty.

The excuse is boiled down to this: Edwards cares. So he’s not so bad. Mitt Romney’s worse because he changed his mind on abortion (just like Al Gore, incidentally, changed his mind on abortion. I guess it’s OK to change your mind depending on which direction the flip flops.)

Thus, Edwards’ greed is a “manufactured” scandal. I truly hope the few dozen people who support Edwards and his counterproductive ideas can do better in defending him. Let’s concede, again, for argument’s sake, all the Republican candidates are the spawn of Satan. How does that excuse Edwards? It doesn’t. He’s a hypocrite, not to mention a lightweight. I look forward to his exit from this race.

Now, let’s remember, only days earlier, the same progressive was hyping a concocted “scandal” over Republican Bob Schaffer, for which he admitted he had not a shred of proof and not a single reputable person said had any merit.

That’s quite a display of consistency. I guess activists have their own set of rules.
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*Reminder:

1. Edwards invested $15 million in a hedge fund.
2. Those tied to this hedge fund have threatened to foreclose on New Orleans home owners.
3. Hedge fund pays Edwards $500,000 as an adviser.
4. Hedge Fund executives give more than $150,000 to Edwards’ campaign.

Here’s what John Edwards had to say recently:

“While Washington turns a blind eye, irresponsible lenders are pulling a fast one on hard-working homeowners,'’ Mr. Edwards said a few days later. … It’s time to put an end to the shameful lending practices that are compromising our strength as a nation.”
– April 4, 2007, in Davenport, Iowa

“I said, ‘This is not okay that this is happening.’ I don’t know how many cases there are . . . but the right thing is to go back and fix this.”
– May 11, 2007, to the Washington Post, explaining his reaction when he found out that Green Tree had foreclosed on Katrina victims

(Cross-posted at Gang of Four.)