Elizabeth Edwards' curious decision to revisit her husband's affair in such a public way without any clear motive (other than to perhaps sell books) has set off a string of mostly unkind commentary.

Maureen Dowd was first out of the gate yesterday with a rather scathing analysis:

John Edwards's political career is over, and he's being investigated by the feds about whether he used campaign funds to underwrite his affair. Nobody — except Rielle — has any interest in hearing from him again. [snip]

But now Saint Elizabeth has dragged him back into the public square for a flogging on “Oprah” and in Time and at bookstores near you. The book is billed as helping people “facing life's adversities” and offering an “inspirational meditation on the gifts we can find among life's biggest challenges.”

But it's just a gratuitous peek into their lives, and one that exposes her kids, by peddling more dregs about their personal family life in a book, and exposes the ex-girlfriend who's now trying to raise the baby girl, a dead ringer for John Edwards, in South Orange, N.J.

Kathleen Parker offers a similarly unkind assessment this morning:

Meanwhile, it must be recognized that Elizabeth's first priority was helping her husband get to the White House. Her formidable, brave presence on the campaign trail was John's armor. As long as she was there, his innocence was assumed. Family unity? Or conspiracy to commit public fraud? [snip]

Whatever her motives then and now, one can conclude that any decisions made to continue aiming for the presidency in the midst of so much family turmoil were the result of blind ambition. And any decisions to persevere have to be viewed as having been jointly made.

And, in perhaps the coup de grace, now comes word that Rielle Hunter, angered by Elizabeth's comments that “It [the baby] doesn't look like my children," has come out of self-imposed seclusion and agreed to take a paternity test.

Elizabeth, meet Pandora. At least Hunter's decision will help gin up sales of Edwards' new book, which was the whole point of this exercise in the first place, right?

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