Mr Steinmeier, who already challenged Mrs Merkel in 2009 and lost, is seen as a softy and did not want to go through the circus again.

ECONOMIST: Germany��s parliamentary election: Charging at Merkel | The

"You didn't go to a circus, you went to the circus, " said one historian about Barnum-esque circuses: They were, in truth, all the same.

WSJ: Book Review: The Ordinary Acrobat

We will all be more secure if the federal courts recognize what the Edwards prosecution is really about and dismiss it before allowing this circus to go to trial and make a mockery of our federal legal system.

FORBES: Federal Prosecutors, John Edwards, and God's Law