Who's Afraid of John Edwards?

[chiggerbit]

Interesting development. The AFSME union has sent out a mailer, making it look like it's from Edwards, making an attack on Obama's healt care plan. In fact, AFSME is supporting Hillary, so this is actually an attack on Obama by Hillary disguised as being from Edwards. Enlightening comments here:

http://tinyurl.com/24jxqq

[chiggerbit]

More on National Enquirer's Roger Altman here:

http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/ ... g00015.htm

[professorpan]

Hall of Fame post.

Absolutely.

I've also donated to Edwards. I don't care if it's just "talk" -- anytime a candidate makes poverty and inequity a major issue in a campaign, I'll listen and encourage more of it. Because none of the others are deviating from the "centrist" scripts provided to them by their handlers.

[populistindependent]

I've also donated to Edwards. I don't care if it's just "talk" -- anytime a candidate makes poverty and inequity a major issue in a campaign, I'll listen and encourage more of it. Because none of the others are deviating from the "centrist" scripts provided to them by their handlers.

Well said.

Talking about the problems is a first step, and not the last. But in the absence of that first step nothing will ever happen.

The main reason that the public is supporting so many strange things is no more complicated than this: they aren't hearing anything else.

[populistindependent]

This notion of Edwards maybe being legit is exciting, since he has an infinitely better chance of winning than Kucinich. In retrospect, it infuriates me that he's basically been blacked out in the campaign coverage.

Rather than looking at the candidate, I suggest looking at the potential effect of a candidacy. Look at where it might lead, not at what he or she supposedly is.

Hate to use a sports analogy, but it is the only thing that comes to mind. Youi could have the smartest most perfect coach in the world, but if the game plan he calls is no good, or if the players are not inspired to execute it, nothing good will happen. On the other hand, inspired players with the right game plan are less and less dependent upon the coach.

We have been conditioned to the politics of celebrities and to the politics of personal choices, as though a candidate were a consumer item. This leads to hero worship and a yearning for some Messiah to save us. The French call this the "man on horseback" syndrome - people longing for a strong man, a larger than life character to worship and obey. This is very pervasive today, and it is very dangerous, because when a population is in that frame of mind totaliarianism is very near at hand.

[FourthBase]

This notion of Edwards maybe being legit is exciting, since he has an infinitely better chance of winning than Kucinich. In retrospect, it infuriates me that he's basically been blacked out in the campaign coverage.

Rather than looking at the candidate, I suggest looking at the potential effect of a candidacy. Look at where it might lead, not at what he or she supposedly is.

Hate to use a sports analogy, but it is the only thing that comes to mind. Youi could have the smartest most perfect coach in the world, but if the game plan he calls is no good, or if the players are not inspired to execute it, nothing good will happen. On the other hand, inspired players with the right game plan are less and less dependent upon the coach.

Excellent analogy, totally get it.

We have been conditioned to the politics of celebrities and to the politics of personal choices, as though a candidate were a consumer item. This leads to hero worship and a yearning for some Messiah to save us. The French call this the "man on horseback" syndrome - people longing for a strong man, a larger than life character to worship and obey. This is very pervasive today, and it is very dangerous, because when a population is in that frame of mind totaliarianism is very near at hand.

The yearning for the man on horseback is probably intensified by the fear of having another dictator on horseback. Please please please god give us a leader who won't pillage our resources and murder innocent people: That's not really looking for a messiah as much as looking for anything-but-the-devil.

[populistindependent]

If, and this is a big if, Edwards triggers a mass popular movement against tyranny, we can look back years from now and say he was a hero.

Seeing him, or anyone, as a hero now will never lead to a mass popular movement against tyranny.

We, together, are the "anything but the devil."

I agree with judasdisney that we have passed the point of no return. We will see either rapidly escalating tyranny or a mass uprising. We long ago sold out and squandered the possibility of a less profound outcome. I predict that all Hell will break loose over the next 12 months, because great instability has been introduced by the looming breakup of the two dominant political forces - the alliance between the religious right and the libertarian-corporatists represented by the Republican party, and the alliance between the liberal-corporatists and labor represented by the Democratic party.

One can lay low, comply, obey, and hope to purchase some modicum of safety that way, and then try to live with one's conscience. One can stand up and be at great risk. One can flee. Each comes at an enormous price. People around the world and throughout history have been faced with these choices. Americans have a peculiar and persistent sense that they are somehow immune from these forces, immune from history, that they are exceptional and special.

[sunny]

judasdisney, from his Hall of Fame post:

Edwards is the final standard-bearer for New Deal politics. If the economic collapse of the U.S. dollar happens in 2008 or 2009, Hillary Clinton will not pursue FDR's policies. Huckabee might produce a mixed-bag of confused reaction. Edwards would likely be another FDR, in policy terms.

I really believe that, so I donated to him for the first time today. In fact, I'm thinking about getting back into the campaign biz and volunteering for him. We all know the shit is about to hit the fan, nothing can stop it. We all know Hillary or Obama, and certainly no Republican, will try and help people who are starving and dying on the streets. It is worth every effort we can muster to help a person into office who actually seems to care what happens to the rest of us.

As Edwards says WE have to fight the fight, WE have to get his back to help him win and to implement the things he wants to do.

Will the voting machines thwart us? I don't know, perhaps an overwhelming turn out can thwart the machines, but I do know that I, for one, am not yet ready to lay down and die and just let them have it all without a whimper.

[chiggerbit]

I've attended a couple of Edwards' local community meetings, and have been donating for seven or eight months. This pic is from a October 2006 meeting. This pic doesn't even begin to convey how closely Edwards was listening to this young man who had large hearing aids in both ears.

[chiggerbit]

Close-up:

[chiggerbit]

Here's the same community meeting. The man isn't afraid to get into the middle of the people, to be touched by them.

[professorpan]

For what it's worth, Edwards is on the cover of Newsweek, with the caption: "The Sleeper."

Article is here:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/78238

[populistindependent]

Modern people look at politics backwards.

We should look at who represents us, or might, not whom we represent.

Who is loyal to us, not to whom we should be loyal.

Who listens to us, not to whom we should be listening.

Who supports us, not whom we should be supporting.

I don't care what kind of scumbag a person was in the past. What are they going to do tomorrow?

One of the most vicious anti-segregationists and racists in the country in the 60's, George Wallace, then governor of Alabama, had a conversion later in life and dedicated his last years fighting racism and working for racial reconciliation.

The political instability in the country is reaching a feverish pitch. It is in these times of instability that we have the best opportunity to be heard.

Every 35-40 years we hit one of these points of political crisis, and every 70-80 years there is a big one.

1770's, 1800's, 1830's,1860's, 1890's, late 1920's, 1960's, the late two thousand and oughts.

The American Revolution, Jeffersonian Republicanism, the Jacksonian revolution, the Civil War, Populism, the New Deal and FDR, then the 60's and here we are.

Why 70-80 years? The generational turnover, and after two generations people forget or discard the lessons from the past.

[chlamor]

A few words from John Edwards:

Senator John Edwards:

It’s a great privilege for me to be able to participate in this conference which has played an important role in bringing people together from all walks of life. The Herzliya Conference is a great forum for what is happening in Israel.

I am aware that it was at this conference that PM Ariel Sharon gave his courageous speech outlining his disengagement. He helped Israel face some of its major challenges.

Throughout his career and public service Sharon has shown courage, including his historic decision to evacuate Gaza. More than anyone else, Sharon has, in my judgment, believed that a strong Israel is a safe Israel and that Israel needs to defend itself against security threats.

We also need to remember the three soldiers and their families for whom it is well past time for their return home. They are a symbol of the extraordinary challenges facing Israel and Middle East. One source of strength is the bond between Israel and the United States, which is a bond that will never be broken. For more than half a century both countries have benefited from this alliance. We share common values such as freedom and democracy. I was in Israel in 2001 and I’ll never forget just as I was ending my visit, a Hamas suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew up the Sbarro pizzeria. It made an impact on me to see the extraordinary sacrifice made by the Israeli people everyday. They continue to make sacrifices to ensure your security and achieve peace. I saw firsthand the threats you face every day. I feel that I understand on a very personal level those threats. The challenges in your own backyard – rise of Islamic radicalism, use of terrorism, and the spread of nuclear technology and weapons of mass destruction – represent an unprecedented threat to the world and Israel.

At the top of these threats is Iran. Iran threatens the security of Israel and the entire world. Let me be clear: Under no circumstances can Iran be allowed to have nuclear weapons. For years, the US hasn’t done enough to deal with what I have seen as a threat from Iran. As my country stayed on the sidelines, these problems got worse. To a large extent, the US abdicated its responsibility to the Europeans. This was a mistake. The Iranian president’s statements such as his description of the Holocaust as a myth and his goals to wipe Israel off the map indicate that Iran is serious about its threats.

Here's the entire thing
http://www.herzliyaconference.org/Eng/_ ... goryID=223

The above is the beginnings of Edward's speech at the 7th annual Herzliya conference. Edward's opens with lavish praise of mass murdering criminal Ariel Sharon.

For those who contributed to Edward's campaign can you get your money back?

Maybe next we should get to Edward's uninspirational speech at the CFR or his thoughts on the US Missile Defense Shield Program?

The guys a fraud no matter how earnest he looks.

[chiggerbit]

John Edwards isn't perfect. He appeared a bit shallow to me in the lead-up to the 2004 election. There could have been any number of reasons for that, including a lack of ability to convey his message, as well as the difficulty of being a vp candidate with no voice of his own later on. And of course, I had held it against him that he voted for the authorization to invade Iraq.

But after that first community meeting I attended, I was impressed enough to follow him on the internet to see if there was any substance. It took me awhile. All I can say is that he seems to have developed more depth, or to be better able to articulate it. But I think this is a case of a person having travelled enough, really listened enough to have done a great deal of thinking and growing. He doesn't just wait for the others to come up with a health care plan, for instance, then hold his finger up in the wind to see which way the wind is blowing before he comes up with his own...he just does it, and in depth. To me, that expresses strenght.

And, dang, that wife of his is a scrapper. It's hard to not like that.