Naughty American Round-up: August 15

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America is a great place to be naughty and The Naughty American considers it a patriotic duty to celebrate and vilify the folks who make this such a naughty country.

Be careful. If you're naughty, we will catch you. Better yet, tell us how you're naughty at . Your naughtiness might win you a nice prize.

Edwards' ally explains $14,000 payment to mistress

WASHINGTON -- A $14,000 payment to John Edwards' mistress from the candidate's political action committee -- after she stopped working for it -- was made in exchange for 100 hours of unused videotape she shot producing short Web movies for which she already had been paid $100,000, an associate of Edwards told The Associated Press.

Edwards last week acknowledged he had an affair with Hunter in 2006. The former Democratic presidential contender and senator from North Carolina has denied any knowledge of those payments to Hunter from Fred Baron, Edwards' national finance chairman and a wealthy Dallas-based trial attorney. Baron also has described his payments to Hunter as a private transaction.

The National Enquirer/ AP Photo

John Edwards knows that a true friend will pay off a former lover without telling you.

Edwards has denied Hunter was paid to cover up the affair, and said he had no knowledge that Baron was sending money to both her and a married Edwards staffer who later claimed to be the father of Hunter's daughter. She was born in February 2008.

In a brief interview this week, Baron reiterated that Edwards and his wife were not involved with his actions. He said no campaign funds were used and that Hunter was not working for the campaign when he started giving her money.

"The bottom line to it is John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards had no knowledge of anything I did," Baron said. "I did it as a friend."

The Naughty American says: Although we don't approve of cheating on one's spouse, we approve of having friends like Baron to clean up after our mistakes (including the messy dalliance with a college coed one TNA editor had while in Chicago).

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Debate coaches lose cool, one pulls down his pants

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- An argument between two debate coaches that was caught on video was not the sharp-witted dialogue typically associated with college debate teams. Instead, the two traded profanity-laced barbs and one of them pulled down his shorts, exposing his underwear.

An eight-minute segment of the argument, in which each cursed repeatedly and one student near the camera can be heard crying, was posted on YouTube on Aug. 2 and has garnered more than 100,000 hits.

In the video, Fort Hays State University debate coach William Shanahan is shown arguing with Shanara Reid-Brinkley, debate coach at the University of Pittsburgh, during the competition's quarterfinals.

The argument, which appears to be at least in part about race, is punctuated with frequent cursing and name-calling. Shanahan, who is white, and Reid-Brinkley, who is black, scream criticisms about one another's body language during students' debates.

At one point Shanahan screams as he jumps up, then yanks his shorts down to his knees and points his rear end at Reid-Brinkley.

The Naughty American says: A college debate is no place for this behavior because too few people will see it. We recommend the debate coaches bring their discussion to The Jerry Springer Show, where they will have the additional option of throwing chairs to make their points.

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Texas police say 12-year-old girl drove mom to bar

LONGVIEW, Texas -- A 35-year-old Texas woman has been jailed after police say she made her 12-year-old daughter drive her to a bar.

Police in Longview say they watched a minivan turn into a driveway without signaling on Wednesday and bump into a home at a low speed. They say the car was driven by Jennifer Lynn Rosenberg's daughter.

Police say the girl told an officer she had just dropped her mother off at a bar. They say they found Rosenburg at the bar and that she admitted having her daughter drive her there.

Rosenburg remains in the Gregg County Jail on a $2,500 bond.

The Naughty American says: We don't approve of this sort of behavior, but believe the girl learned a valuable lesson and will hold off on drinking until her own daughter is old enough to reach the gas pedal.

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Woman accused of beating fiance at prenup party

POULSBO, Wash. -- A Poulsbo woman was jailed after being accused of beating up her fiance at their prenuptial party. Kitsap County sheriff's deputies said 31-year-old Amber Barnes' 12-year-old son told her he saw her fiance kissing one of her women friends early Thursday morning.

Deputies said Barnes gave her friends the boot, told her fiance to leave, too, and then started hitting him in the face.

When he left the house, they say, she tackled him football-style, punched him some more, threw his watch into the bushes and broke his glasses.

Responding to a 911 call from her son, deputies arrested Barnes for investigation of fourth-degree assault.

Sheriff's Lt. Kathy Collings said Barnes was released from jail later Thursday.

There's no word on whether the marriage took place.

The Naughty American says: While The Naughty American feels sorry for the woman, it sees the silver lining: now that you know what can happen at your prenuptial party, you are now wise enough to get a prenuptial agreement.

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Man's ear chewed off after dispute with neighbor

OGDEN, Utah -- Two Ogden neighbors got into a fight after a minor league baseball game that ended with one them biting off a part of the other's ear. The two men had returned home from the Ogden Raptors baseball game late Wednesday when police said one man apparently offended the other with a comment.

Ogden Police Lt. Scott Sangberg said the offended man responded by striking the other in the face several times and then clamping down on his ear with his teeth and pulling back with enough force to rip off a part of the ear.

The man was booked into the Weber County Jail and is facing charges of assault causing mayhem, assault of an officer, possession of marijuana, intoxication and resisting arrest, Sangberg said.

The Naughty American says: We suspect when the case comes up for trial, the judge will give the accused an earful.

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Bearded man in women's garb accused of tip theft

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Fairfield police said they didn't have much problem tracking down a theft suspect, a bearded man dressed in a tank top and capri pants. Police say a 22-year-old Norwalk man was caught on tape taking $30 from the tip jar at O Bar Wednesday night.

Police say the man was found a short time after the manager of the bar noticed the missing tip jar and checked the bar's surveillance video.

There, he saw a bearded man carrying a large woman's purse and wearing a dark tank top and light colored capri pants go behind the counter.

Police gave the man a misdemeanor summons for sixth-degree larceny.

The Naughty American says: Kudos to this cheap-ass for trying to make off with the fruits of someone else's hard labor. But shame on him for being too dumb to realize that the other bearded women in Fairfield were out of town, leaving him exposed.

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Cops say alleged robber locked keys in getaway car

STANTON, Texas -- Memo to anyone planning a drug store robbery: don't lock your keys in the getaway vehicle. Police said John Wilkinson, 24, of Big Spring, did just that after he allegedly robbed the Stanton Drug Store of Zanax and hydrocodine with what was later found to be a caulking gun.

They said Wilkinson used the caulking gun, wrapped in a dark cloth, to get the drugs Thursday afternoon.

Afterward, he allegedly headed back to his vehicle, which was parked and running in front of the drug store, and discovered he was locked out, the Midland Reporter-Telegram reported in its online edition Thursday.

Stanton Police Chief Mike Adams said Wilkinson then tried to get away on foot. Police, who thought he had a gun, shot him in the top of his shoulder during the short chase.

Wilkinson was treated at the Midland Memorial Hospital and taken to the Martin County Jail on a charge of armed robbery.

The Naughty American says: If you lock yourself out of your own car after robbing a store, then try to fend off the cops with a caulking gun, you probably need more than just Zanax and hydrocodine.