FEC records show Edwards also availed himself of $250 in services from a trendy salon and spa in Dubuque, Iowa, and $225 in services from the Pink Sapphire in Manchester, N.H., which is described on its Web site as "a unique boutique for the mind, body and face" that caters mostly to women.

-Fox News Online

The current attempt by the right to emasculate Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards is repulsive and should be stopped immediately. Equally repulsive are his tired excuses and explanations.

I am no fan of John Edwards. He is about as dangerous as a tax-and-spend liberal can be. However, if he expects to be able to have a serious debate about alleviating poverty, his central campaign issue, he needs to grow a spine and prove that he is a worthy contender for the office-- first by defending his wealth and then by explaining to his campaign contributors, to their satisfaction, why he required a $700 day of beauty at the spa.

After 2 full days of continuous news covering the horrible VTU killings on Monday, by Wednesday most news stations started to spend a few minutes each hour reporting on other current events- the war in Iraq, the pending Alberto Gonzales testimony, etc. Most news stations, that is, except for The Fox News Channel. At approx. 5:50, Brit Hume tore himself away from the grisly bloodshed in Virginia to report that John Edwards had been caught spending $400 on haircuts and $300 on hour-long massages at a women's spa called the Pink Sapphire. Additionally, at the end of this "special report" they played a video of Mr. Edwards looking less than presidential, primping his hair while "I Feel Pretty" was dubbed in.

The childish teasing continued on the Fox Radio morning show "Brian and the Judge" with Brian Kilmeade and Chris Wallace joking about how a man could get an hour long massage, and opining as to weather Mr. Edwards preferred a male or female massage professional.

[Full disclosure: For all it's problems, I am a fan of The Fox News Channel and a regular listener to the Fox Radio morning show "Brian and the Judge". I have always respected Chris Wallace and Brian Kilmeade, though I could do with less of Brit Hume. I am shocked and disappointed at their commentary on this point.]

The message behind all of this: John Edwards is effeminate. John Edwards is a hypocrite. John Edwards might even be a little gay. At the heart of it all, however, is a bunch of good ol' boys perpetuating the myth that masculinity is preferred over femininity, and femininity in a male makes him suspect to being homosexual.

If it had been a slow news week, I would probably not have paid much attention. In fact if it had simply diverted my attention from the endless Imus news stream of the previous week, I would have welcomed the diversion. But this nonsense is what Fox News deemed appropriate to air at this particular point in time?

I'm not defending Mr. Edwards. He should explain how his $700 day at the spa fits into his "two Americas" campaign. But instead, we have heard numerous excuses, mostly from the stylist and spa owners. But the kind of "debate" that Fox News engaged in is tantamount to childish school ground name calling.

John Edwards could use this opportunity to show that he is Presidential material. He could, and should say:

"I have lived the American dream. I want that dream to be attainable for everyone. Yes, I am a wealthy man. But a wealthy man can still be a champion for the poor. In fact a wealthy man could do much much more for the economically disadvantaged in our country than a poor man could. And I will continue to fight for the lower class, regardless of the sexist, homophobic, classist attacks from the right.

I don't believe this will gain any kind momentum. To the best of my knowledge, no other major news source has picked this up, although many bloggers are having a field day with it. But Fox attempted for several days to turn this into a story. They seem to have failed. So far. If this is the kind of reporting we can expect from the "Fair and Balanced" news station this early in campaign season, we are in for a nasty 19 months!