America–what’s the matter with you? A new Forbes poll of  “most trusted celebrities”–a pretty hilarious idea in itself, considering how slippery they tend to be–puts James Earl Jones, best known as the heavy-breathing voice of Darth Vader and for proclaiming “This is CNN,” at Number One.

Well, sure. He certainly sounds reliable, to say nothing of authoritative. And there’s no hint of scandal nor shabby conduct circling our Most Trusted Runner-Up, Tom Hanks, who also gets props for both saving Private Ryan and putting together the  puzzle of Jesus’ wife. But take a look at the rest of the Top Ten–Michael J. Fox, “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe, Morgan Freeman, Ron Howard, Will Smith, Bill Cosby and Denzel Washington–and only one, count her, one woman: Sally Field.

I like Sally Field, I really like her, and I probably trust her, too–despite the shilling for a bone density drug that hardly anybody needs. I mean, if we’re talking pitchpersons, I trust Jamie Lee Curtis just as much. If Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock plugged a product, I’d also go along.

So why is it so hard to find a trustworthy woman? Or at least one who can propel herself up the Forbes celebrity poll? Why should Sally Field stand alone? Let’s nominate some other candidates–and conduct our own poll.

“I loved The Proposal,” said my gushing 25-year-old friend. Because of beyond adorable Ryan Reynolds? Comic genius Sandra Bullock?  No, she continued, “I knew it would be good because Betty White is in it.”

Well, no wonder White, 88, is receiving this year’s Life Time Achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild (Saturday, January 23, at 8 p.m. on TNT and TBS). She’s everybody’s favorite grandma–and a comic whose caustic wit was so ahead of its time, it’s breaking boundaries today.

Many of us were introduced to Betty as Mary Richards’ man-devouring nemesis, “The Happy Homemaker,” on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. “Oh, Mary,” she would coo, helpfully pointing out the younger woman’s deficits, including the pointy corners on her sweaters. And then she was off and pursuing grumpy Lou Grant.

Even more viewers discovered White as the Golden Girls‘ divine fool, Rose, the senior roommate most likely to see clearly the truth.

Before that, in the murky mid-20th-century, she was a game show regular, wife of Alan Ludden, Password host, who died in 1981. He was her third husband, but her great love.

Quietly, White’s TV career has garnered her six Emmy awards and 18 nominations–and a fan base that smiles the moment she walks onscreen. How can you not love this vibrant geriatric who can commune with the most world-weary teen?

So congratulations, Betty, and keep going–Avatar II, here you come!

So John Edwards has finally come clean. Big surprise–18 months since the tabloid Enquirer broke the story of  his affair with campaign worker Rielle Hunter, and the infant she was toting around, Edwards has admitted Frances Quinn Hunter is his child. “It was wrong for me to ever deny she was my daughter,” the onetime presidential candidate told NBC, adding, “To all those I have disappointed and hurt, these words will never be enough, but I am truly sorry.”

Cynics would point out that the confession, and apology, only come now, with his back to the wall: A new book by Andrew Young, the aide who bizarrely claimed to be Frances’ father to cover for his boss, is set for a February 2 publication–and a media onslaught this week.

There’s no doubt that Edwards, currently doing penance by building houses in El Salvador and accompanying Sean Penn on a celebrity mission to Haiti, is sorry, but probably more for himself than his family or former political supporters. And lucky for him, apologies are the hot new trend. Not only did former Time Warner CEO Jerry Levin recently apologize for sending that company into a downward spiral thanks to the boneheaded AOL merger, but on the web, less renowned guilt-ridden souls are reaching out to those they wronged many years ago–no matter how slight the trespass:

Along with helping people reconnect with old flames, childhood friends and even long-lost relatives, the Internet is giving rise to a newer phenomenon: the decades-late apology. The Web allows us to converse by email, a form of communication that often makes us braver and more impulsive—and occasionally even more thoughtful—about what we say. There are even Web sites, such as ThePublicApology.com and PerfectApology.com, dedicated to facilitating our quest for absolution.

Why Everybody Is Apologizing Now – WSJ.com.

Yep, we are now one big I’m-sorry-ing culture! And if we can forgive that schoolyard bully, or guy who never called again, why not give a pass to a man who ran for president covered in a blanket of lies, who risked dealing a fatal blow to his party to cover his own pathetic dalliance?

Maybe, when considering whether to forgive Edwards, we should see if he passes  WSJ reporter Elizabeth Bernstein’s test of a sincere and useful apology:

1) Make sure you are apologizing for the sake of the other person and not yourself: DOUBTFUL. If Edwards truly had his family’s well-being in mind, he would have stepped forward months ago, and not prolonged the damaging news cycle.

2) Resist sending an apology via a social-networking site: FAILED. Okay, so NBC is not a social network. But you get the idea.

3) Ask how your actions afffected the other person. PASS/FAIL. John must certainly know how the affair and the coverup affected Elizabeth and his children, but how about the Democratic party? The entire voting populace?

4) Be sincere: DOUBTFUL.

5) Try to apologize in a timely manner: FAILED. And here, Edwards might take a cue from AOL-TW CEO Jerry Levin who, even as he apologized 10 years later, admitted,  “it’s a little too late.”

Now, Bloomberg has salt in his sights, comparing its dangers to those of asbestos in the classroom. (Yes, I know it’s a leap, but he’s the billionaire, not me.):

“If we know there’s asbestos in a school room what do you expect us to do?” Bloomberg shot back at reporters questioning his new initiative. “Say it’s not our business? I don’t think so. The same thing is true with food and smoking and a lot of things….”

Bloomberg is pushing a plan to cut the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant foods by 25 percent over the next five years. He says the initiative is voluntary

Restaurant chefs boiling over mayor’s salt crackdrown – NYPOST.com.

Now I’m all in favor of cutting back on salt–linked as it is to high blood pressure and unattractive stomach bulge–but good luck on this one, Mr. Mayor. Already the city’s chefs are sizzling and snickering  at yet another attempt to change their recipes.

As David Chang, owner of the Momofuku Noodle Bar, pointed out to the Post, cooks started salting food about five minutes after they discovered fire. “You need salt to draw out flavor,” he said.

Unfortunately, he’s right–at least right in the sense of how we’ve trained our taste buds. The only thing that makes food taste better than salt is butter.

I once took a class with the Julia Child of Italian cooking, Marcella Hazan. Whichever dish she was stirring–risotto, lamb stew, seafood filling–always ended up with Marcella grabbing a handful–yep, a handful!–of salt and tossing it in the pot.

The first time she did it, the class, collectively, gasped. And she got downright angry when we suggested that maybe we might cut back? “It is not too much! This is right for the dish.”

I, personally, don’t cook with any salt, and yet keeping the salt intake down is still challenging. For one thing, you will never find a product labeled both “low calorie” and “low sodium”–if they take out the fat, they pack in the salt. Even “low sodium” cans pack in too much. And if you eat out at all, you’re walking into a salt mine.

I wonder if Mayor Bloomberg would let us into his kitchen.

It seems the suffering never stops for Elizabeth Edwards. On top of everything else, she now has to contend with the less than flattering revelations of her campaign conduct in the bombshell book, Game Change.

But more intriguing than this attempt to toss Edwards off her saintly throne–I mean, did anybody really imagine living with John was not conducive to bellowing rages?–are reports in Game Change and now, The National Enquirer, that Elizabeth has softened her stance toward John’s little campaign trail souvenir.

According to the tabloid, which dogged the former presidential hopeful until he finally ‘fessed up to his affair with Rielle Hunter, and the daughter he fathered with that aide, Elizabeth is considering meeting baby Frances Quinn Hunter.

Elizabeth’s dilemma fascinates me: Her own children now have an illegitimate half-sister; what, if any, relationship should she encourage between them?

I have written about this at length at more.com, but wonder what True/Slant readers think. If you were in Elizabeth’s shoes, which path would you take?