The media jumped on two incidents last week that they thought showed the hypocrisy of the candidates involved. The first was the discovery that Republican Presidential primary candidate Mitt Romney... well, I'll let the headline speak for itself: Mitt owns stock in stem cell research.

Despite his "pro-life" campaign pitch, former Gov. Mitt Romney owns stock in two companies involved in embryonic stem cell research, a controversial field of study he previously cited as the reason for his rightward shift on abortion.

The second incident was the discovery that Democratic presidential primary candidate John Edwards has a significant investment in a company that... well, I'll let this headline speak for itself as well: Edwards, Foreclosure Critic, Has Investing Tie to Subprime Lenders.

As a presidential candidate, Democrat John Edwards has regularly attacked subprime lenders, particularly those that have filed foreclosure suits against victims of Hurricane Katrina. But as an investor, Mr. Edwards has ties to lenders foreclosing on Katrina victims. The Wall Street Journal has identified 34 New Orleans homes whose owners have faced foreclosure suits from subprime-lending units of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Edwards has about $16 million invested in Fortress funds, according to a campaign aide who confirmed a more general Federal Election Commission report. Mr. Edwards worked for Fortress, a publicly held private-equity fund, from late 2005 through 2006.

The first supposed "scandal" is just a liberal journalistic hack job on a Republican. The $250 million or so that Romney has in personal wealth is held in a blind trust, and has been in that trust since he was elected governor of Massachusetts. The very definition of a blind trust is that by statute the owner of the funds involved has no idea, nor can they influence, where the money is invested after the trust is established. Hopefully, the trustee involved in the trust will put the money in investments that don't run contrary to the public office holder's or candidate's views or policies. But the point is that Romney has nothing to do with it.The Edwards case is much different. I assume he had a blind trust when he was in office as a Senator, but he doesn't have one now. He invests and divests like any other investor not holding public office. In his case, having $16 million in a company that is involved with sub-prime lending, and is presently foreclosing on Katrina victims, is something that would be known to him. Especially since he also worked for them after his Senate term expired.

My verdict: Romney acquitted, Edwards guilty of hypocrisy as charged.