Holy smokes!

By Jennifer J. Foster

If there’s any truth to this story, John Edwards is SO off Barack Obama’s VP list:

Vice Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards was caught visiting his mistress and secret love child at 2:40 this morning in a Los Angeles hotel by the NATIONAL ENQUIRER.

The married ex-senator from North Carolina - whose wife Elizabeth continues to battle cancer—met with his mistress, blonde divorcée Rielle Hunter, at the Beverly Hilton on Monday night, July 21 - and the NATIONAL ENQUIRER was there! He didn’t leave until early the next morning ...

Edwards went out of the hotel briefly with Rielle, they were observed by the NATIONAL ENQUIRER and then went back to her room, where he stayed until attempting to sneak out of the hotel unseen at 2:40 a.m. (PST). But when he emerged alone from an elevator into the hotel basement he was greeted by several reporters from the NATIONAL ENQUIRER.

Senior NATIONAL ENQUIRER Reporter Alexander Hitchen asked Edwards why he was visiting Rielle and whether he was ready to confirm that he was the father of her baby.

Shocked to see a reporter, and without saying anything, Edwards ran up the stairs leading from the hotel basement to the lobby. But, spotting a photographer, he doubled back into the basement. As he emerged from the stairwell, reporter Butterfield questioned him about his hookup with Rielle.

Edwards did not answer and then ran into a nearby restroom. He stayed inside for about 15 minutes, refusing to answer questions from the NATIONAL ENQUIRER about what he was doing in the hotel. A group of hotel security men eventually escorted him from the men’s room, while preventing the NATIONAL ENQUIRER reporters from following him out of the hotel.

We know Edwards was in L.A. Monday; he appeared with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to announce the creation of the New Generation Fund, a $100 million addition to the city’s affordable housing finance system, according to Yahoo News. (Click here for a pic from the event.)

This is the second time the Enquirer has come after Edwards about Hunter—the first being Dec. 31, when the tabloid broke the story that Hunter was expecting Edwards’ child.

Edwards vehemently denies both Enquirer reports. Hunter denied the Dec. 31 article but has remained mum about the latest report.

I know what you’re thinking! It’s the National Enquirer! Supermarket tabloid! Trash!

Well, in the immortal words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend!“

Monday’s incident will clear things up, one way or another: Either the Enquirer has pictures, or they don’t. And if they don’t, and if the story isn’t true, then Edwards has the makings of a really nice libel suit against the National Enquirer.

My guess is that for all his blustering denials (and there will likely be a bunch), Edwards, who made his bones (and his millions) in trial law, won’t be filing any libel suit—what with discovery and all, you know.

Jindal’s out

By Jennifer J. Foster

Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is out of the running in John McCain’s veepstakes.

Jindal, 37, had been considered among the top tier of McCain’s potential VP prospects. A former congressman, Jindal has tackled ethics reform, health care and tax policy during his tenure. Conservative talker Newt Gingrich has called Jindal “America’s Most Transformational Governor.“

But observers had speculated that the youth he would bring to the ticket would also be his downfall: Many thought he was just too young to be VP.

Fox News said Jindal added himself “to a growing number of those pulling themselves out of the race.“

Another pol removing himself from speculation was former Pennsylania Gov. Tom Ridge.

Ridge said he had had “no conversations” with the McCain campaign about joining the ticket.

“When they announce it, I’ll be one of those most interested in their decision,” Ridge said.

Also a former congressman, Ridge served as the first Director of Homeland Security. But many observers believe his pro-choice views would keep him from being selected.

Will McCain end up making his choice through process of self-elimination? Jindal’s and Ridge’s exits apparently leave former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty topping the veepstakes—although Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (“The People’s Governor!“) hasn’t been ruled out.

And then there is current Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a former Hillary Clinton supporter who said he is not under consideration to be Barack Obama’s running mate. (Perhaps signing 79 death warrants has something to do with it ...?)

In his typically frank style, Rendell told Fox News, “I haven’t been contacted by anybody — showing that the Obama campaign has good sense,” Rendell said.

“Obama would do well to get someone with better foreign policy experience than Rendell has,“ Fox News said.

Among others, former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn apparently remains on Obama’s list.

Weird Larry King Live

By Jennifer J. Foster

Did anyone see “Larry King Live” last night?

I didn’t see it live, but I saw the replay.

King is on vacation, so Joy Behar—yes, that Joy Behar, from “THE VIEW”—sat in as host.

I detest, detest, detest “The View” for more reasons than I could possibly enumerate. I find it a sad commentary on women today that the show is so popular. So the last thing I wanted to hear was Joy Behar talk about the presidential race. I mean, really; can we get any more predictable than Behar talking about politics? Doesn’t America get enough of that during the daytime? And how did Behar end up hosting, anyway? Was everyone else at CNN busy that night? Is this really the best they could do?

But when “LKL” came on, the remote was on the other side of the room, and I was in the middle of something, so I figured I’d just ignore it and change the channel when I got up.

Long story short, I ended up watching the whole thing. Not because it was groundbreaking political commentary, mind you, but because the entire episode was among the most bizarre things I had ever seen on television.

The group (which included host Nancy Giles, who was identified as a “social commentator;“ “The Nation” editor Katrina vanden Heuvel; conservative jack-of-all-trades Ben Stein and Republican strategist and former Romney supporter Kevin Madden) discussed the economic policies of the presidential candidates. Stein found himself on Giles’s side and opposing Madden, arguing that taxes should be raised on the “fantastically rich.“ Stein praised Barack Obama as “the most masterful campaigner, I think, of my lifetime,“ and lamented the “lackluster” performance of McCain, whom he said was a “pitiful campaigner.“ “It’s just heartbreaking to watch him campaign and then to watch Obama campaign,“ Stein said.

The group bantered about Iraq. vanden Heuvel predictably toed the argument of the Democratic Party’s ultra-left wing as she repeatedly referred to the “American occupation.“ When she said Americans “have to stop occupying the land,“ Stein jumped all over her and called her comments “straight Palestinian propaganda” and demanded to know what other Muslim lands America is occupying, other than Iraq and Afghanistan, where we are involved in wars.

Surprise! vanden Heuvel didn’t have an answer.

Giles basically made a jerk out of herself the entire show, constantly cleaving to a sanctimonious, combative attitude that made her look like a very angry person. After a while, vander Heuvel and Madden departed and were replaced with some guy from The National Review magazine and FRAN DRESCHER.

Yes, “THE NANNY” had come to “Larry King Live” to share her sophisticated political views with us.

Someone remind me: Why, exactly, do we care what Fran Drescher thinks? Why not James Michael Tyler? Jaleel White? What about that guy who owned the Peach Pit?

Behar was able to save Drescher from going off the cliff the first time. Drescher said she supports Obama because she thinks “he is absolutely going to be for women’s issues, as well as homeland and domestic issues. I think that’s really, really important. This man paid his dues working in south Chicago and he has been around people that are very needy.“

SIDEBAR: He’s going to be “for homeland and domestic issues?“ What does that mean? And I guess we can add “Has to have been around people that are very needy” to the Constitution’s list of presidential requirements. END SIDEBAR

Stein interjected: “Fran, with all due respect, he’s for your women’s issues. He’s not for the women’s issues of evangelical right-to-life Christians in the panhandle of Florida. They, believe me, do not believe that he’s for their women issues.“

The Nanny tried to regroup: “I think that’s one issue—I think that’s really you’re really short-changing women and what their needs are.“

Stein went for the jugular: “What are some of the other issues, Fran?“

While Drescher dithered, Behar came to her defense: “I’ll tell you some of the others, “The View.“ “The View” made news last week when one of my co-hosts cried. What made the tears flow? We’ll show you after the break.“

But Drescher was just getting started. After the break, she insulted “The View” co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck as the group discussed the N-word controversy as it unfolded last week. During a heated exchange with “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg about why the N-word is still acceptable in the black community, Hasselbeck had gotten emotional.

“Is that how she wins battles with her husband?“ Drescher said.

Drescher went on to describe how “white people have a lot of white guilt” (“As they should,“ Giles interrupted) and how “African-Americans feel empowered by taking the word and making it their own and using it their way.“

It wasn’t long before Hasselbeck was on the phone, calling Drescher out: “I had to express my number one disappointment. Fran, you speak about women’s rights and you certainly wasted no time trying to cut another woman down,“ she said, adding that most parents wouldn’t want the N-word taught to their children.

Drescher tried to patronize Hasselbeck, but in the end, Hasselbeck made her admit that the N-word is “probably abusive.“

And Drescher ended up apologizing to Hasselbeck, which Hasselbeck accepted. (See both clips here.)

I have to admit that I was smiling for Elizabeth. She’s everyone’s favorite punching bag, often the lone conservative voice in the babbling liberal cesspool that is “The View.“ She takes a lot of abuse. People belittle her, call her all sorts of names, insinuate that she’s stupid, attack her political convictions and more. But she wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself when she was personally insulted; she not only secured an apology from the offending party, she accepted it.

Now that’s what I call an empowered woman.

At that point, although there were more, I decided to point you to the transcript so you can read for yourself all the other looney moments from the show. See it here.