Who’s on the ‘Slut List’?

It’s Friday, and I’m home watching 20/20. Tonight the show is about none other than the ridiculous scandal surrounding the charismatic, almost Democratic-presidential candidate John Edwards. Undoubtedly, we’ve all heard his woes: an ailing wife, a mistress and, of course, a lovechild. In times like these, his political accomplishments are overshadowed by the public’s following of something much more interesting: his personal failures.

As images of a smiling Edwards on the campaign trail turned into a montage of alleged rendezvous with his “baby momma,” I felt something along the lines of sympathy for the fallen politician. Now, I agree what he did was selfish and most certainly reprehensible; however, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disgusted with the people exposing his story. On one hand, I love truth, and as a young journalist, even I feel the wave of excitement when discovering a newsworthy tip. On the other, I feel that the people who are “speaking out” now are simply trying to bring Edwards down. The motivation is only to ruin another person.

As a testament to this phenomenon, our human desire to ruin peoples’ reputations is clearly popular among all ages. At Millburn High School in New Jersey, senior girls compose a “Slut List” of incoming freshmen, structured much like the Burn Book. In Edward’s case, his former aide Andrew Young probably has money to gain—I mean, he was willing to lie for his boss to unbelievable extents—but now he’s written a tell-all book. Surprising? No. However, the girls at the top ranked high school aren’t compensated for composing the “Slut List.” They get personal satisfaction, and apparently that’s all you need.

It’s unfortunate. What’s kind of embarrassing is that, as a nation, we love this stuff. We love it when people in high positions are revealed to be money-embezzling pigs or adulterous spouses. As high school students, we don’t even care if the information we’re hearing from the friend of the girl whose brother heard from his girlfriend’s cousin is a rumor. To call this behavior childish is an understatement, especially if middle-aged officials are encouraging it.

Maybe it’s old-fashioned, but I still believe that information should not be told for the sake of sensationalizing news. And if Bill Clinton could rise from the ashes of his big sex scandal, perhaps Edwards can, too.