For those of you who never met Narcissus in Greek mythology, he was the good-looking guy who, one day while jogging through what might have then been Umstead Park, stopped to sip from a pool of water and fell head over heels in love with his reflection. He never recovered from the unrequited passion.

Edwards, apparently familiar with the myth, never bothered to check out Narcissus' fate. He should have.

Today's typical Narcissus doesn't accidentally see his reflection in a woodland stream and fall in love with himself. It's a more gradual process, culminating when one morning he drags out of bed and takes a look in the bathroom mirror.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall? Who's the handsomest cuss of all?" he asks.

The mirror dutifully replies, "You are, you rascal. You've known that all along."

"Thanks, mirror. Now, mirror on the wall, who should be president of this great nation?"

"Who else but you, buster?" the glass responds. "So go for it!" And the die is cast.

Yes, someone has to have a cranial screw a bit loose to look in the mirror and decide that of all the people in America, he's best suited to be president. But it happens, again and again.

Anyway, a big bunch of people, especially Democrats, are mad as hell at the former senator, former vice presidential candidate, former presidential candidate, former hero and hope to millions of Americans who thought he was different from most politicians: smart, upright, honest, loyal, family man, etc., etc.

But his infidelity, complicated by his baldfaced follow-up falsehoods, has left a lot of us in pain.

"And to think," said one Raleighite the morning after Edwards' confessional, "only last night I was telling three Republicans at dinner that there wasn't a shred of truth to that National Enquirer report."

I know of what she speaks. It's bad enough to have been snookered, but the fallout from "other party" partisans can be irritating.

A favorite Republican relative calls to say, "I know you're awfully disappointed," to which I snap, "I can tell you're not."

Republican friends and relatives I haven't heard from in months call to offer pseudo sympathy, barely concealing their glee.

At least one Raleigh Democrat was braced when her Republican brother called to say, "Too bad about your Mr. Edwards."

"Yes," she replied sweetly, "but the upside is that now the Democrats can't bring up John McCain's adulterous affairs as a campaign issue." The conversation ended abruptly.

When you've been deceived, you have to feel a bit naive, if not very stupid, for believing so totally, so hopefully. And you swear to yourself, "Never again."

Another local Democrat, more infuriated by Edwards' stupidity than the sin, said: "How could a man reputedly so smart and who had come so far, who like the phoenix, rose from the ashes of milltown poverty, achieved incredible success, materially and politically, be so stupid? He put a lifetime of accomplishments in the hands of a woman he picked up in a bar, a woman who as long as she lived, could blow the whistle on him at any time? And, from her photo, she's nowhere near a 10! A five at best!"

Yes, puzzling, isn't it? But there's no accounting for bad judgment when it comes to love, or passion, or whatever. Hormones will win out over gray matter almost every time.

Look at David sneaking into the shower with Bathsheba. And long-haired Samson confiding to wily Delilah the source of his strength.

So where does this most recent betrayal of public trust leave us -- the public, the voters, the believers? More suspicious, more cynical, more distrustful of anyone running for public office.

The Washington Post reports that in a Gallup Poll of the public's conception of honesty and ethical standards among various professionals, politicians already rank next to last -- just above car salesmen. Even below journalists!

So what happened to Narcissus, that handsome lad of myth? His love affair with himself was so obsessive he could not leave the stream and his reflection long enough even to eat or drink, and thus died of thirst, hunger and self-love.

That same fate may well befall John Edwards' once soaring political career. A just penance.

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