North Carolina’s favorite ex-Senator is in the news again: John Edwards Takes Post at UNC. So now I have another reason to hate UNC. Seriously, is Edwards trying to be affiliated with every school in the ACC?
Ok, so my last serious question wasn’t serious at all. Anyway, Edwards has basically been given some position in some new department with the aim combat poverty. The required reading on this topic was covered by Don Boudreaux at Cafe Hayek in late January.
Put differently, if we define the poor as those who live, say, in the bottom quintile of the income distribution, then the poor will indeed always be with us – and centers such as the one planned by John Edwards will always have a ‘problem’ to ‘solve’ even as the real curse that such institutions appear to address – material deprivation – shrinks into an ever-more-distant memory.
And for an even better analysis: What Do You Give to a Failed Candidate?
The statements made by those to whom I have linked above, really sum up the situation. There’s not much I can add, other than to officially dub Edwards as “ex-Senator Ass-Clown”.
Update: After re-reading an article on ex-Senator Ass-Clown, I noticed that “John Edwards, former senator and vice presidential candidate, has a new part-time job” for which he “will earn $40,000 a year from the state university.” So, millionaire, Senate pension for life ex-Senator Ass-Clown can accept 40g’s per year, part time, while professing that “We have millions of Americans who work full time and still live in poverty, and that is absolutely wrong.” FUCK YOU EX-SENATOR ASS-CLOWN!
An old economics professor (Clemson) of mine said he would never ever let either of his sons go to UNC. He would gladly pay for them to go to any other school in the country, but not UNC (his son was recently accepted to MIT). And I always laughed at that vehemence. Then I visited UNC and ran into a few locals. I now share his feelings. Edwards bothers me. I’m always distrusting of politicians, but he really seems whorish. In retrospect, I like Bill Clinton a lot better–sure he was smug and slick, but I think he had goals greater than himself in mind much more than Edwards. Come to think of it, Edwards and UNC are perfect for each other.