National

Former U.S. Senator John Edwards leaves the federal court house in Greensboro, North Carolina April 24, 2012. Edwards, 58, is accused of secretly soliciting more than $900,000 in illegal campaign funds from two wealthy donors to hide his pregnant mistress during his failed bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. (CHRIS KEANE - REUTERS) John Edwards is “a man who has committed many sins but no crimes.” That was the recent line from the defense at his trial, and true or not, it’s both a heartening and disturbing claim.

On the upside, the idea that one can commit sins--moral or theological misdeeds--yet still be within the law, is a good thing, especially in a world in which more and more people feel that the line between personal faith and public policy should be erased. In fact, the defense’s claim that Edwards committed sins and not crimes reminds us that in a culture which respects freedom of religion, that distinction must always be maintained.

Sin describes the stain of a religious failing --one which may also constitute a legal transgression but not necessarily. The fact that sin and crime are not identical, as they are in theocratic states, preserves the notion that some areas of life should be ruled by laws and that humans may attempt to influence, but should not compel or control through government. If we lose that distinction we lose one of the hallmarks of American culture and law for the almost three centuries, not to mention that we endanger each member of our society.

To be sure, if the gap between what is legal and what is good grows too large, then the law loses much of its authority. Authority, in a democracy grows, ideally, from the bottom up. Authority is a function, not simply of coercive power, but a reflection of how people collectively authorize their leaders and their institutions to govern. That is why the defense’s claim is also disturbing.

Senior adviser to the Obama campaign, David Axelrod, has pledged to make a campaign issue out of what Mr. Axelrod sees as Mitt Romney’s penchant for secrecy. Speaking to Politico, Axelrod said that Romney’s approach to matters both political and financial reminded him of the old TV show “I’ve Got A Secret.”

Axelrod suggested:

“That (the show title) would be the appropriate title for the Romney campaign. There are central issues, but this is a disturbing one and it goes to that question of, like, ‘Who is this guy? What does he stand for? What does he believe? What do we know about him?’”

Passover responds to many kinds of hunger: the hunger for freedom, as expressed by the notion that all people who celebrate the holiday should see themselves as slaves leaving Egypt; the hunger for food, as expressed by the tradition of inviting all who are hungry to come and eat at the very start of the Passover Seder dinner; and even the hunger for meaningful ritual, which is the hunger which underlies a question heard at Seder dinners across the country, “When do we eat?”

But there is another kind of hunger to which Passover responds as well: the hunger for human connection and the repair and restoration of personal relationships. Passover is not only about addressing the physical hunger of others, but of our own emotional and spiritual hunger as well.

Suspected French terrorist Mohammed Merah, is dead. His victims, including three Jewish schoolchildren - Aryeh Sandler (age 6), Gavriel Sandler (age 4), Miriam Monsonego (age 8), a rabbi and father of two of them (30 year old Yonatan Sandler) -- and three French paratroopers, all Muslim, have all been buried. Nothing however, should be put to rest.

Mitt Romney has a palindrome problem. In case you happen not to know what a palindrome is, it’s a word or number which reads the same from left to right as it does from right to left. In Governor Romney’s case, the problematic palindrome is Dog/God.

Of course, the “dog” is Seamus, a family pet which the Romney’s took on vacation 25 years ago, riding in a dog carrier, strapped to the top of their station wagon. To me, the amazing thing about this story is that anybody cares!

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is interviewed by Megyn Kelly during a segment of "America Live" on the Fox News Channel, in New York, Wednesday, March 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (Richard Drew - AP)