Sometimes I get bit by the conspiracy bug and my mind wanders into strange territory. Today, it occurred to me that Rielle Hunter’s meet-up with John Edwards was not entirely coincidence or an accident. Consider two names in their sordid (or romantic, if you prefer) history: Richard “Dicky” Mellon Scaife and Rachel “Bunny” Mellon. Those Mellons are related by marriage, though their politics are as far apart as the John Birch Society and the Daily Kos.

Here’s how it may have gone down. When he was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bunny Mellon took a liking to John “Johnny” Edwards. He reminded her of John Kennedy. Money flowed from Bunny to Johnny. Dicky Scaife, always alert to his cousin’s political activities, heard about Bunny’s largesse and realized that Bunny could tip the scales in Johnny’s favor. Though Dicky and Bunny shared a dislike of Hillary Clinton, Dicky was determined to bring down the Democrat most likely to beat a Republican, as it appeared Johnny could do at that time.

It was no big secret in political insider circles that Johnny occasionally dallied with available women, a weakness Dicky used to good effect in going after Bill Clinton. Now, all Dicky had to do was use his extensive media connections (he owns a newspaper in Pittsburgh) to find suitable bait for the honey trap and let nature take its course. One of these days, I fully expect we’ll find the person who gently steered Rielle into Johnny’s path. A good place to look will be in the guest list for Rielle and Johnny’s wedding reception in a year or two. The trail back to Dicky Scaife won’t be hard to follow.

Then again, wacko conspiracy theories are a dime a dozen and this one’s no exception.