Righteous Anger of John Edwards... Anger? All of Us Should Be Pissed At our Leaders

[DaLittle Kitty]

and be HOPPING MAD at These Bas***ds who are ALL Bought And Paid For and totally aligned Against Us! Iowans Caucus For Edwards!

John Edwards's Righteous Anger
By Scott Galindez
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 03 January 2008

"Corporate Greed has gotten its way in Washington for 25 years and our elected leaders let it happen. If we elect another president appointed by the status quo or just trade corporate Democrats for corporate Republicans the middle class will fall further behind and our children will pay the price." John Edwards



John Edwards is all smiles at his closing rally in West Des Moines, Iowa.
(Photo: Scott Galindez / Truthout)

The corporate media over the last couple of months has been pushing a notion that John Edwards sounds "angry". Are we witnessing another attempt to take down a candidate that threatens the corporate power structure? Do we have a repeat of four years ago when the media made a big deal about Howard Dean shouting over the crowd noise?

John Edwards is angry and he has every right to be. All Americans should be angry at what is going on in our country. Our treasure is being sacrificed in an illegal unjust war in Iraq. Our jobs are being exported overseas. Health care costs are rising while wages decline. Our civil liberties have been threatened by an administration that thinks it is above the law.

We don't need another candidate that will just fall into the "looking presidential" trap. Michael Dukakis did it; John Kerry did it and Walter Mondale did it. It doesn't work. The GOP loves it; they make false accusations that stick since they are not responded to in kind.

Lets examine what John Edwards is saying that has caused the corporate media to label him as angry:

"Here's what's happened corporate greed and political calculation have taken over our government and sold out the middle class. Washington isn't looking out for the middle class because Washington doesn't work for the middle class anymore ... that is wrong. It doesn't say life, liberty and the pursuit of endless corporate profit in the Declaration of Independence. America is about opportunity for you ... and your families, your children. But our government is selling out their future at the command of lobbyists and their corporate clients and we have to rise up together and stop it. We have to rise up and say, no more. Not on our watch.

"That's what the American people have always done. Every time in our history that the American people have been faced with great challenges, they rose up and met them. They made certain that they left America better than they found it; they left their children a better life than they had. That's what your parents did. It's what your grandparents did. And it's what my parents did for me.



John Mellencamp performed many of his greatest hits, including "This is Our Country".
(Photo: Scott Galindez / Truthout)

"I take it very personally when I see powerful, well-financed interests taking over this democracy, and taking it away from regular Americans, people like my parents. We have got to reclaim this democracy for them. For you. For your children. For your grandchildren. Because if we don't, we're going to have to look our children in the eye and say, "we're leaving this mess to you." Our parents didn't do that. Our grandparents didn't do it. Twenty generations of Americans who came before us didn't do it. And I'll tell you something: we're not going to do it. We're going to make absolutely certain that America rises again."

I see a positive patriotic message here. I see Edwards as expressing the view of many patriotic Americans who are fed up with corporate control of our government. It is only the corporate media that is trying to tell the American people Edwards's message is angry and un-presidential.

Dana Goldstein, of The American Prospect, in an article yesterday, concluded "if Edwards takes Iowa in a convincing victory, progressive populism could gain national legs. But three days out, it's looking probable that no matter who wins in Iowa, the victory will be razor-thin. That would leave Edwards' anti-corporate strategy with neither a clear mandate nor a clear rejection, and his presidential hopes without a clear path forward."

The problem with this analysis is Barack Obama is also speaking about taking the reins back from the special interests in Washington. If you combine the numbers Edwards and Obama are achieving in Iowa, then it's clear Americans there are ready to support an anti-corporate message.



Elizabeth Edwards (right) with daughters Cate (left) and Emma Claire (left front) and son Jack (right front).
(Photo: Scott Galindez / Truthout)

On the eve of the Caucus, the Edwardses wrapped up 36 hours of non-stop campaigning with a concert featuring John Mellencamp in front of 3,500 supporters in West Des Moines.

Edwards addressed the medias criticism by pointing to another anti-corporate crusader, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"During the Great Depression, FDR stood up to powerful, entrenched interests to lead this nation out of our darkest hour. We fought for change, and we changed history."

Edwards was joined on stage by his parents, who shaped his values.

"When I was born, my parents had to borrow $50 to bring me home to a little house in a South Carolina mill village. My father would wake up, work 12 hours a day, doing hard, tedious work and then got up every morning for 36 years to do the same thing all over. Why did my parents do it? Why did your parents and grandparents do it? They did it so we could have a better life."

Steve Simmons, a Steel Worker who was at the rally, told me he saw Edwards as a candidate who was ready to "stand up for working people." He went on to say, "it is about time a candidate spoke for his concerns and not the millionaires."

Eric Jones, an undecided voter who attended the Edwards event, said he will support either Obama or Edwards because they are not owned by lobbyists in Washington.

The time will come when the people rise up and take their country back. John Edwards is hoping that uprising will start tonight in Iowa.

Scott Galindez is Truthout's Washington, DC Bureau Chief.

[jillan]

1. I can't wait to have another screaming little man running around the White House.

:spray:

[Flarney]

2. Edwards is like Bush?

C'mon, man...

[DaLittle Kitty]

3. MSM IS Trying To Screw Edwards Externally Through Suggestion By John Roberts and

Allen Greenspan's Plastic Surgery Queen who who's name escapes me ,,, err Andrea Mitchell...

:wtf: It's the face of the Corporatist Voice through the MSM that is powerless within the caucus but is pulling out ALL THE STOPS on TV to manipulate the public through the forthright denigration of an obvious Edwards surge in Iowa.

The Media cannot alter things INTERNALLY SO IT WORKS EXTERNALLY THROUGH THE "All Seeing Eye of CNN and MSNBC.

No win by Edwards WILL be sufficient to Overcome the media spin... according to the media that Edwards cannot win anything else even if he wins Iowa.

This IS Orwellian and George would flip in his grave if he could see this!

F**k 'em Johnny... the media are not the ones who are voting. :nuke: 'em

[Pastiche423]

5. Nope, johnnyboy screwed himself

Just check out his resume.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. WTF are you talking about?

I'm dense, OK? Spell it out for us simpletons.

[Pastiche423]

8. When johnnyboy had the chance

he did nothing. He had six years to do something, but the only major thing he did was run for president.

[chimpymustgo]

9. A. It's PASSION for JUSTICE. B. He's taller than Biden.

:think:

[monmouth]

4. What a drama queen....eom

[Jackpine Radical]

6. So in 2004 the took Dean out with the Scream Meme.

This time they're gonna go for Edwards with the anger thing. Be interesting to see how Edwards plays this. Some variant of "Righteous Anger" would be my bet. "How DARE you..." followed by a carefully crafted attack on the corporate exploitation of the average American.

The thing the M$M don't seem to realize is that the electorate is GODDAM MAD and they're not gonna take it anymore, so every time they thump that Edwards Anger drum they're just playing the marching tune for the army that's gonna pull them and their capitalist owners down.

[karynnj]

10. Dean had already imploded - coming in a weak third when he was supposed to be number 1

The MSM had not bothered to report much on the January 2004 Iowa polls that showed surges for Kerry and Edwards. Kerry was ahead for at least the last week. (They instead were speculating whether he would pull out before or after NH.)

Dean was already labeled as angry because of things he said in Iowa - including screaming at a heckler. Consider that if the media did not have the "Dean Scream" they might have showed Kerry and Edwards celebrating their first and second place wins more. That is the normal election night coverage.