HuffPost: John Edwards' Closing Argument -- And Why The Media Doesn't Get It

[waiting for hope]

Jonathan Tasini
Wed Dec 19, 9:29 AM ET

John Edwards is making his closing argument with the voters of Iowa -- and the media elites are having a hard time trying to understand why he is now drawing increasingly larger crowds. That comes through glaringly in today's New York Times piece by the apparently perplexed Adam Nagourney.

In the piece, we learn that:

Mr. Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat, almost won the Iowa caucuses in 2004 by introducing, in the final weeks of the contest, a closing argument that drew huge crowds and, polls suggest, rallied supporters to his corner right up until the night of the vote. Now, Mr. Edwards, a former trial lawyer, is offering yet another closing argument to his jury of voters here. And there is evidence -- from the size of his crowds to the decision by an opponent, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, to challenge him more directly in the past few days -- that it may be working.

~Snip~

"We have an epic fight in front of us, and anybody who thinks that's not true is living in a fantasy world," Mr. Edwards said. "How long are we going to let insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies run this country? Every time this has happened in our country, the American people have risen up and taken action."

...he is exactly talking about the fight by one part of America to take back the country, with another part of the country -- the elites, particularly in business -- determined to hold on to its power and privilege.

In the article, Nagourney quotes from the Des Moines Register endorsement of Sen. Clinton:

"Edwards was our pick for the 2004 nomination," the editors wrote. "But this is a different race, with different candidates. We too seldom saw the positive, optimistic campaign we found appealing in 2004. His harsh anti-corporate rhetoric would make it difficult to work with the business community to forge change."

~Snip~

We need a president who understands what it means to have trade that benefits people, not corporations.

We need a president who understands that the greed of the health care industry is literally killing people.

We need a president who understands what it means to support unions.

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/john-edwards-closing-arg_b_77466.html

:bounce: !!!

[JohnLocke]

1. Ha, we posted this at the exact same time (I posted in GDP)

:hi:

[waiting for hope]

3. Great Article!

:hi:

[Catchawave]

17. Yes, it needs to be in every forum

:evilgrin:

:toast:

[Lint Head]

2. I will now reveal why I chose Lint Head as my DU name.

(As if anyone really cares.) I was born 15 miles from where John Edwards was born. My father worked in a cotton / textile mill just as his father did. My first job as a teenager was in a textile mill. Lint Head was a derogatory term used as a put down by elitists and bigots to refer to anyone working in a cotton mill. I wear that name proudly and pray that John Edwards will be President and truly do away with the corporate stranglehold that causes Americans to suffer so much. My father lost much of his hearing and health from working in a cotton mill for decades. He was born before and lived through the depression. He is my hero to this day. :dem:

[cap]

4. I care.. my grandparents were in the mills themselves

in the shoe factory north of Boston and the silk mills and other mills of Pawtucket RI. My family history is the story of the rise of the New Deal and unionism in this country.

[waiting for hope]

5. I love you user name -

And I care - waiting for hope is my mantra for Edwards. I supported him in 2003/2004 and when I joined here, it was a way for me to express how I felt about the abysmal situation we have and Edwards to me, is the one to lift us up. Thank you for sharing that!

[Plucketeer]

6. Thanks for sharing that!

Really neat to hear. My own user name's just for funsies. No real significance to it.

I too, hold JRE as our savior. Maybe Jesus could save our souls, but John could save our ass! :kick:

[AmBlue]

7. It is a badge of honor....

Wear it proudly.
:hi:

[sparkleon]

8. Good Wins Over Evil

and John Edwards will be the next President. I am convinced JRE will win Iowa and go on to win the majority despite Hillary thinking she has it already in the bag.

[Doctor_J]

14. Good wins over evil?

have you been asleep for 7 years?

[ashlarah]

9. Thanks for the background

I don't understand why anyone would find it necessary to make up a name in an effort to put down people for simply no reason. Why would they need to do this? There is absolutely no point to it other than to try and pretend they are better (with no substance at all). I am often bewildered by the needless nastiness we show each other.

I love that you chose their pitiful attempt at a put down as your user name!

[IndyOp]

11. That is a great story about your DU name -- My grandfather mined coal

in Ohio, Colorado and elsewhere. I feel a strong connection to labor - the people who do the real work - as a result.

:hi:

[Catchawave]

16. JRE's a Lint Head too !

He worked in the mills during his college summers.

Great story, thanks for sharing :hi:

[spooky3]

10. The DMR was right that this is a different race, but otherwise wrong

What were optimistic and reasonable views in 2004, if held now--with everything that has happened since then-- would be very unrealistic to the point of delusional. Edwards and many other people recognize that it's time for No More Mr. Nice Guy.

[SirRevolutionary]

22. agreed

Edwards has been working on me for a while. But recently, I'm feeling pretty good about the guy, as opposed to having to choose between....ehem the others. Edwards says he'll go to town if the re-pube-lickens try to swift-boat him. No more spinelessness!!

[PATRICK]

12. The media is engaged

in trivializing and spinning the horse race. Anything off script, as with any idiotic handicapper, they can't, won't acknowledge. This is why they frequently get a lot of egg on their face by believing their own biased crap- which their business is to present to the public whether they do or not. Sure they get into the strategy, talk to people, parse polls, but not all that professionally. Their profession is spin not investigation or truth. Emotional engagement seals their self made trap as it does for any starry eyed sportscaster making whopping bad errors.

I really want to see then left out in the cold- for months leading to years until they become a money losing, petrified forest of ice who simply have hardwired themselves into corporate ideology NOT journalism.

[waiting for hope]

13. I sooo have a letter ready -

when Edwards takes it all, I want to slam the media for not covering the issues. It's almost insulting how they trivialize everything now, do they honestly believe that the majority of Americans are either too dumb to care or too busy to pay attention? That may have been true about 10 years ago but no longer. The internet has already shown them up on more than one occasion, they will do so again Nov 2008.

[Catchawave]

15. Great article !!

Thanks hope ! :hi:

[waiting for hope]

20. You are Welcome!

:hi:

[bvar22]

18. Worth Repeating:

"We need a president who understands what it means to have trade that benefits people, not corporations.

We need a president who understands that the greed of the health care industry is literally killing people.

We need a president who understands what it means to support unions."

Thank You!

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[EVDebs]

19. The funniest part of the article is this 'work with the business community' bull...

"His harsh anti-corporate rhetoric would make it difficult to work with the business community to forge change."

Nagourney and the Des Moines Register know full well that the corporations and the wealthiest ALREADY control the system. Why would they want to 'forge change' when they control the process and all the money ?

[SharonAnn]

21. I think he plans to "force change", not "forge change".

[AdHocSolver]

23. Business does not hold the solution -- IT IS THE PROBLEM!

If business is not reined in within the next couple of years, this planet is headed for worldwide economic and ecological collapse.

A listing of problems in no particular order:
** Off-shoring jobs is putting this country into such huge debt from trade deficits that we are headed for an economic meltdown comparable to what is happening in the real estate and banking industries with sub-prime mortgages. Conditions, and their causes, are very similar to what they were just before the 1929 crash. Those who claim it can't happen today because of alleged "safeguards" have not been paying attention. Bush/Cheney removed all of the safeguards and the Federal Reserve policies under Greenspan are what brought us to economic collapse.
** Federal deficits are causing worldwide loss of faith in the US government as a disinterested referee in the economic and political spheres. The treasury has already been looted by the referees, and an unprovoked and unnecessary attack on a country that did not pose a threat to the US has negated any influence for good that American government may have had.
** The occupation of Iraq was blatantly done to enrich business interests: steal Iraqi oil for the oil companies and supply unending no-bid contracts to Halliburton, Blackwater, KBR, et al.
** The insurance and pharmaceutical industries have openly pushed through laws to enrich themselves that have no benefit for the public, in fact, they harm people in multiple ways.
** Agribusiness has pushed through policies to add ethanol made from corn to the gasoline claiming that it saves oil. This is patently fraudulent. Your car gets fewer miles per gallon when the gasoline contains ethanol, so that you have to fill up more often. Ethanol does NOT save oil and therefore does NOT reduce green-house gasses. By burning corn in your car, you are reducing the supply of corn for use as people food and livestock food. Therefore, the cost of food is increasing as the supply of corn for food is decreasing. Worse, food producers are now importing grain from places like China (origin of toxic Melamine, lead paint, etc.) and you have no idea from where what you put in your mouth comes from.
** Agribusinesses like Monsanto are pushing real hard to develop, patent, and profit from a whole series of "Frankenfoods". Genetically engineered soybeans, corn, cotton, and other plants are replacing "normal" foods at a rapid rate. Little if any testing is done to ensure the safety to the environment or the long term effects to people or animals that eat the stuff. I read recently that superweeds are evolving that are resistant to herbicides, and similarly, super bugs are evolving that not only are impervious to pesticides, but the super bugs' natural predators are dying when they eat the super bugs.
** Genetically modified fish and animals are breeding with wild, "naturally evolved" fish and animals producing grotesque creatures that are outproducing their natural counterparts.
** Much has been said about global climate change: Super storms, drought, floods, rising sea levels.
** Another ecological problem seldom mentioned is the acidification of the oceans. The seas absorb carbon dioxide producing carbonic acid. This process is destroying coral, shellfish, plankton, and making aquatic reproduction difficult.

These are a few highlights of the problems planet Earth faces from business. To talk about sitting down with business to solve the problems is a grotesque joke.

John Edwards is the only presidential candidate who could win in the general election who understands what is needed. Our only hope is that enough Americans come to understand the situation as well.