Elizabeth Edwards's cancer fight has taken a turn for the worse, with the disease spreading to her liver and doctors recommending against additional treatment.
"Elizabeth has been advised by her doctors that further treatment of her cancer would be unproductive. She is resting at home with family and friends," the Edwards family said in a statement.
On Monday, Edwards, 61, posted a Facebook message to her friends.
"I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces – my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope," she writes. "These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined. The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that."
Edwards, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2004, was briefly hospitalized last week after not feeling well over Thanksgiving. Doctors said her cancer had metastasized to the liver.
With the sudden turn, family members – including daughter Cate, a Washington lawyer, and her brother and sister, Jay and Nancy Anania – hastened to Chapel Hill, N.C., to be with her.
"It isn’t possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day," Edwards wrote on Facebook. "To you I simply say: you know. With love, Elizabeth."
Robert Burck, New York's famous naked cowboy, is running for president in 2012. The official announcement is on his Web site, with imagery vaguely reminiscent of President Obama's trademark red white and blue sunrise from the 2008 campaign.
It's not yet known if the world-famous busker will campaign in just his underwear, a cowboy hat and a guitar, his trademark uniform on the streets of New York City, where's he's been singing and dancing for decades.
This won't be the first time the Naked Cowboy's thrown his hat in the political rodeo. According to the Associated Press, Burck ran for mayor of New York City in 2009. He also majored in political science at the University of Cincinnati.
The "Reverend Naked Cowboy" also performs marriages in Times Square, starting at $499.
When reached for comment, the naked cowboy's publicist/campaign manager, Todd Rubenstein, said that Burck won't be making any official statements until after his news conference announcing his run. That's taking place Wednesday in Times Square. Rubenstein made a point to remind us here at The Post that all press pass holders can join the naked cowboy after the event for FREE naked cowboy oysters & beer.(Now, that's a way to start a campaign for president.)
While we wait for the candidate's first words about his campaign, we're left with a brief statement in his online news release:
"America needs a president who believes in America. America needs a president who will stand up for America and protect its language, its borders, and most importantly, its culture ... "
And apparently, we need a president who will do that standing (and maybe singing, too?) in his underwear.
People were a bit perplexed earlier this summer when both President Obama and Sen. John McCain were discussing reality show star and cultural anomaly Snooki. Newsman Thomas Roberts, however, wasn’t at all surprised. In fact, he anticipated it.
“Politics has always been a form of theater in itself,” he said. “Everyone’s realizing that social media matters, pop culture matters, and being informed on all fronts matters. It’s a perfect and natural progression: if we care about Snooki as a country, logically politicians should, too.” Roberts understands the ins-and-outs of politics and pop culture’s intersections, because he’s been caught in the crossfire.
The 37-year old journalist made national headlines back in 2005, when he admitted publicly that he had been molested by his trusted priest while growing up in Towson, Maryland. Then at CNN, Roberts helped put a familiar face to the Catholic church’s growing scandals, thus crossing the line from news man to news story. Five years later, during an interview at the Rock Center Cafe beneath NBC’s New York offices, Roberts remarked, “That was going to be an albatross around my neck for my entire life, so why not just take a moment, stand still for a minute and get rid of it.”
Though some, especially LGBT activists, have lambasted the Church and its beliefs as a whole, Roberts refuses to turn his back on the religion he’s always known and loved. “Giving up spirituality completely was never an option. That would have given what happened to me way too much power and control over my life to take away something that was so important to me.” He does, however, understand why people may be confused by his decision, telling me, “People might be confused by that, but I want to stress that it’s not so much about being a practicing Catholic as it is being a person who was raised Catholic and has a spirituality with which they feel connected.”
Roberts again became a news story two years later, after coming out of the closet, a rare move for an industry where objectivity remains of the utmost importance, and which conservatives often associated with a “liberal agenda.” The announcement birthed a flurry of attention that would make some journalists uncomfortable. Roberts took it all with a grain of salt. “If viewers know me professionally, why not know me personally?” he explained. “I mean, to a point we all have our private lives, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my personal life, so why not share it with everybody?” Some, however, suggest that Roberts compromised his journalistic integrity.
That was exactly what some suggested after Roberts interjected his personal experience into an interview about Ken Mehlman’s coming out last month. “I think for probably most heterosexual Americans this isn’t going to come as a big deal, but I think for millions of gay and lesbian Americans—me included—find this to be kind of a shocking admission,” he told his guest, gay Republican activist Chris Barron. A few conservatives took Roberts’ comments as “evidence” that he’s biased for gay rights. They’ve said the same thing about Vaughn Walker, the allegedly gay judge who overturned California’s Proposition 8. Roberts disagrees.
“For all the people watching that interview, it added a point of interest coming from a person that understand why some people would want to know why this person chose to come out. I was curious.” Nor does Roberts buy into the conservative “gay judge” argument, which claims Walker would intentionally tip the scales of justice for gay rights. “Someone’s personal life doesn’t take away from that fact that, as a professional, they can table their personal lives when making decisions.”
Roberts doesn’t think that gay rights should even be made into a political issue. “When it comes to where we are in this country with certain issues, like civil rights for gays and lesbians, the media can continue to open up the dialogue,” he asserts. “It’s not really a red or blue issue; it’s an issue of humanity and justice. It shouldn’t be so politicized. It’s just about human beings.”
Roberts understand that the “media” often gets labeled as “liberal.” He wants people to know, however, that he and his colleagues are, for the most part, just as invested in current affairs as the average American. “I’m talking about these stories—job creation, what it’s like to try to sell a house and not find buyers,” he says.
“I’ve lived through this stuff, and this resonates with me. I feel the same thing that all other Americans do when it comes to not feeling secure at all times.” He goes on, “There are still enough of us out there who consider ourselves to be journalists, as opposed to pundits that stir things up. I’m just a regular guy who’s telling people the facts.”
While not everyone agrees on which course our nation should take, Roberts insists that the best thing any American can do is also the easiest: vote. “The best thing that we can do as a country is vote. It’s an important power and responsibility.”
Most importantly, voting keeps the States united: “Voting is the one thing that really unifies us as a country. There are certain dates that all adults are expected to go out and cast their votes as a country. That’s a really beautiful and powerful thing.” Spoken like a true American.
Move over, Jimmy Kimmel. Kathy Griffin is gunning to be Levi Johnston's campaign manager as he runs for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and she even has a strategy all dreamed up.
"The campaign would be based on me being the first lady," the comedian, who once feigned a relationship with Johnston for laughs, told People magazine. "But it would also be based on a celebration of Levi trolling the town shirtless – or being photographed in the shower in various stages of undress."
While Kimmel offered his services (in jest) a week ago, Griffin points out that the former Playgirl model's mayoral bid is less about "pomp and circumstance" and more about "pomp and naked stance."
While Franklin Roosevelt had his Fireside Chats, Griffin foresees something less formal – and less-clothed – during Johnston's potential term.
"We would probably do shower chats," she says, while attending the Audi & Chopard Pre-Emmy Party at Cecconi's in Beverly Hills, "semi-nude, or nude, from our place in Wasilla. Frankly, I think that's his ticket."
Jimmy Kimmel is not afraid to take a political stance on his late-night talk show.
On Thursday's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the funnyman welcomed Levi Johnston by announcing that "He is to Sarah Palin what voicemail is to Mel Gibson," and proceeded to give the Wasilla, Alaska, mayoral candidate a collection of campaign gear.
"I would love to see you become the mayor," Kimmel insisted as he brought out several items with various campaign slogans. "I really would."
He showcased a blue baseball cap with "The Thrilla from Wasilla" on the front, a red, white and blue pin with "Wassup Wasilla?" written on it, followed by a bumper sticker reading "Elect me Mayor or I'll Date all Your Daughters." The final piece was a lawn sign with the words "Levi for Mayor – I'll Do the Job Naked" emblazoned on it.
But Kimmel admitted the gifts were an attempt to gain favor with Johnston, who, during the show, insisted he is up for the job, saying, "I think I would be the best mayor I can be."
"So whaddya think? Can I be part of the team?" Kimmel pleaded.
"I think I might make you campaign manager," Johnston replied. As for potential votes from the family of his former fiancé, he's not counting on the Palins. After the last breakup with Bristol, he says, "I think they kinda kicked me out now … permanently. "
Some people will do anything for attention – including running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
The latest hopeful to toss his hat into the ring? None other than reality-star wannabe Levi Johnston, who hopes his campaign will attract viewers to his proposed TV reality show.
Johnston, 20, has paired with the veteran reality firm Stone and Co., already responsible for TLC's Extreme Food Sculpting, to pitch a Loving Levi: The Road to the Mayor's Office pilot, the production company confirms to The Hollywood Reporter.
Those with memory loss may need to be reminded that Johnston's almost mother-in-law, Sarah Palin, was mayor of the small town (population 10,000) from 1992-2002, before becoming governor of the state.
Not that Levi appears to be seeking higher office. Besides tracking the former Playgirl model on the campaign trail, his show would also offer an inside look at his being a father to his 19-month-old son (with Bristol Palin) Tripp and his quest for a Hollywood career.
Speaking to Variety, Johnston said it was the producers' idea – not his – to add the run for mayor to the show. Already hobnobbing in Hollywood, Johnston attended last Sunday's Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles.
Earlier, there had been talk of Johnston and Bristol Palin's sharing their wedding and early married life with a reality-TV camera crew, but that potential plan went up in smoke when the two young parents went their separate ways last week.
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Elizabeth Edwards's cancer fight has taken a turn for the worse, with the disease spreading to her liver and doctors recommending against additional treatment.
