John Edwards’ Mistress Costs $15,000 A Month

John Edwards‘ alleged mistress and mother of his love child is getting $15,000 per month to keep her mouth shut, according to a report in the National Enquirer. The money is being given to Rielle Hunter through Edwards’ pal Andrew Young, who attempted to take the heat off the ex-presidential hopeful by claiming the baby was his. According to the Enquirer:

“A super-rich pal – who was closely involved with the campaign finances – is helping John. It’s likely this man doesn’t know all the dirty details of John’s extramarital affair, but is acting out of loyalty and is not asking a lot of questions – only writing the checks.”

Rielle, 44, is a videographer. The hard-partying cocaine-loving character Alison Poole in Story of My Life by Jay McInerney is based on her. Edwards is allegedly getting total silence from the babymama for his $15,000. That may not last as long as other things dirty money can buy, such as, say, a ski palace in Alaska. Allegedly, babymama is discussing a tell all with a major network.

It’s a tough year to be a Republican. First there was the Larry Craig sex sting, and now this: the longest sitting Republican senator, Ted Stevens of Alaska, has been indicted on seven counts of failing to disclose financial records. The 83-year-old allegedly received bribes from Alaskan oil contractors VECO Corp. in the form of the remodeling of his vacation home. Stevens denies any implication of wrongdoing, even though VECO’s CEO testified to bribing the government official, and performing work on the senator’s home.

So what did the crazy old coot from Alaska get? His once modest 1200-square-foot home in Anchorage was expanded into a 10-bedroom, 3-bathroom ski palace with a wraparound deck and brand new furniture. Agents from the FBI and IRS arrived with a warrant to investigate the contents of the house.

In a statement on his website this morning, Stevens said “It saddens me to learn that these charges have been brought against me. I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. Senator.” Maybe he’s so old he forgot?

As the old saying goes, politics are dirty. But taking it down to Paris and Britney’s level? That’s just straight up crotch flashin’ nasty. And yet that’s just what presidential nominee Senator John McCain has done in his new ad (watch it above), comparing Barack Obama mania to the paparazzi-fueled hype that surrounds Hollywood’s hottest tramps (who really aren’t all that hot anymore).

John McCain has got to be kidding himself if he thinks anyone is going to believe that Obama is just like Hollywood’s tramp army. Our country digests as many tabloids as they do Big Macs, and we know our celebs! Aside from the fact that Obama’s missing $3000 worth of hair extensions, the only thing this guy has flashed in his life are his fist-bumping skills.

We’ll change our tune when Michelle Obama is replaced by Adnan Ghalib. [via Huffington Post]

On April 20, 1999, two Columbine High School students walked into their school in Littleton, Colorado, shot and killed thirteen people, and injured twenty-three others before turning the guns on themselves. The massacre shocked the country into a wave of introspection and accusation. Just who or what could have led these young men to commit such a gruesome act?

Fingers flailed and landed on a skinny man caked in face paint and dressed in gothic garb similar to that favored by the murderers. He also had a few hit albums under his black leather belt, but that didn’t stop critics from blaming Marilyn Manson for influencing the teens to kill. Pundits and politicians, including Senator Joe Lieberman, attacked Manson, labeling the artist a “shock rocker” whose band was the “sickest group ever promoted by a mainstream record company.” Manson fought back with a piece in Rolling Stone: “When it comes down to who’s to blame for the high school murders in Littleton, Colorado, throw a rock and you’ll hit someone who’s guilty…when these tragedies happen, most people don’t really care any more than they would about the season finale of Friends or The Real World.”

In 2001, the band’s “Fight Song” video, featuring goth kids battling jocks,
was alleged to be a commentary on the tragedy. Manson replied to the rumor: “People will put into it what they want if it helps them sell newspapers…Flak isn’t my job.” True. Now that he’s divorced from burlesque babe Dita Von Teese, his job consists mostly of feeding tabloids news of his romance with 19-year old actress Evan Rachel Wood–but even when it’s just about sex, Manson is still scandalous.

If only Monica Lewinsky hadn’t blown Bill Clinton! We know that Mr. I-Did-Not-Have Sexual-Relations-With-That-Woman wouldn’t have been impeached in 1998 for lying under oath. But there is so much we don’t know … Would a zippered Clinton have gone on to prove MVP in Al Gore’s presidential campaign and subsequent victory in the 2000 election? Would we be in Iraq? Would we have attacked a real enemy instead — global warming, say? Would we have affordable oil, a viable economy, friends who speak other languages?

Forget the sordid details: the blue dress adorned with presidential seed, the intern’s claim that the commander-in chief deployed a cigar-tube in her free-fly zone, the fact that she was only 21 when the “inappropriate intimate contact” began. Instead, join us in wondering: When Monica blew the president, did she blow everything? Maybe. (OK, probably.) That’s why we’ve ranked a few measly blow jobs between consenting adults as the second greatest celebrity scandal of all time.

Monica Lewinsky [Getty Images]

Monica Lewinsky [Getty Images]

Monica Lewinsky [Getty Images]