Pardon us for making a totally unoriginal observation, but we are just completely stymied by this business with Andrew Young, the former Edwards aide who supposedly fathered Rielle Hunter's baby. The whole thing is just so weird. If you suppose against all of your inclinations that Young is actually telling the truth, and he had an affair with his boss' mistress that produced a child and that subsequently Young, Rielle, the baby, and Young's wife all lived together in a house Fred Baron paid for, well, that's weird. And if he's lying about it to cover for Edwards, which is what most people including the Post — which has a story this morning about how Young is a loyal type who would totally "lie for a buddy" — then that's even weirder and also makes John Edwards look like some kind of really freaky Svengali, like a clean-cut version of Charles Manson. (This wild-eyed picture of Young that's been going around doesn't do much to dispel that theory.) According to a neighbors in Raleigh, North Carolina (remember, people in Raleigh actually know their neighbors), the Youngs "seemed to be crazy about their kids and crazy about each other." Or maybe they're just crazy?

John Aide A 'Born Loyalist' [NYP]