On April 10, 2007, I wrote a post called “The Piece I Never Wrote About John Edwards.” And in it, I talked about why Edwards, whom I’d always admired and supported, struck me as suddenly far less trustworthy when he visited UVM in early 2006. The reaction had to do with the way Edwards seemed to use his wife as a prop, yes, but more he struck me as someone who was very far gone in a highly compulsive venture. Vain and driven, with his terminally ill wife’s welfare nowhere near top priority, was my assessment. And VDB received more negative mail for that post than it had before, or has since. I was playing politics, smearing Edwards to aid Obama, etc.

But of course Edwards would later famously diagnose himself as suffering from extreme narcissism during that precise period of time. And then came the love child, the sex tape, the books, the Oprah segments. And now the indictment: six counts, any of which could lead to jail or to Edwards losing his license to practice law. Take a look at the conspiracy description offered in the indictment, below:

Hard to escape the fact that way back then, in 2007, the guilt and hypocrisy of would-be President John Edwards was so powerful that it could be perceived, felt, measured almost like trace radiation, at a distance of 15 yards, which was about what separated my seat from the podium.

And hard to believe that this guy very nearly took the rest of his Party down with him.