Fw: Edwards Move Makes Trade '08 Centerpiece

This is BIG -- John Edwards is sticking up for the working people on the Peru Trade Deal. Please read David Sirota's great article below. (David Sirota is a favorite of mine, now also published at http://www.creators.com/, fyi.)

(Also, Edwards is anti-nuke plant because he recognizes that between it high economic and environmental cost -- it takes lots of energy and money to build and put them into production PLUS uranium is limited AND of course the most important safety/security factory. Remember that the 9-11 Commission reported that the 9-11 terrorists first had their eyes on the Indian Point nuke plant but figured it had to be so well protected that they nixed the idea.)

Edwards is against another ginned up invasion, this time of Iran, too. So I say again: Edwards: Hurrah!

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

-----Forwarded Message-----
From: "David J. Sirota"
Sent: Oct 29, 2007 12:28 PM
Subject: Edwards Move Makes Trade '08 Centerpiece

Link to original

Edwards Move Makes Trade '08 Centerpiece

By David Sirota
Working Assets, 10/29/07

The Financial Times headline this morning says it all: "Edwards' Attack on Peru Deal Shifts Debate." The story summarizes John Edwards (D) announcement that he is opposing not only the Peru Free Trade Agreement, but the entire package of White House-backed deals designed to expand the job-killing, wage-destroying NAFTA trade model into South America and Asia - the package of deals that a small handful of Democrats endorsed back on May 10th in a secret pact with the Bush administration. Edwards said the agreements do "not meet my standard of putting American workers and communities first, ahead of the interests of the big multinational corporations, which for too long have rigged our trade policies for themselves."

The move, consistent with Edwards' economic populist campaign, drives a wedge right through the heart of the Democratic presidential primary.

Last week, as noted at Working Assets, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) announced his support for the Peru deal, and then tried to obfuscate his position under harsh questioning. Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) hasn't said anything about the Peru deal.

As Public Citizen's Lori Wallach said, Edwards move now puts the spotlight on the divide between the progressive movement and what I have called the Money Party (and Edwards has called the Corporate Democrats).

"This is where the rubber hits the road and we find out how far Hillary thinks she needs to go on trade to court the Democratic base," she said. "Peru is about to go to a Senate vote so she can't duck the issue."

You can be sure we'll be hearing a lot of noise about how this deal is supposedly great for average Americans and Peruvians alike. But remember, no major labor, human rights, anti-poverty, environmental, consumer protection or religious group in either the United States or Peru have endorsed the deal. In its international version (not online) the Financial Times, in fact, points out that Edwards announcement was welcomed by, among others, "the heads of Peru's labor movement and Pedro Barretto, the country's archbishop."

Iowa is a state that has been hard hit by lobbyist-written trade deals and that has a history of trade/globalization issues roiling presidential primaries. Edwards' move will likely ensure that's the case again this year, especially considering how split the the Democratic cardidates are in terms of their allegiances to the progressive movement and the Money Party in Washington.

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Get the just-released paperback of David Sirota's New York Times bestseller Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government and How We Take It Back. Former Vice President Al Gore says of Hostile Takeover: "Every politically engaged citizen should read this book." The paperback includes a brand-new analysis of the 2006 elections. To order the book, go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powell's Bookstore. To subscribe to Sirota's regular newsletter, go to http://www.davidsirota.com/ and sign up on the left hand side.

John Edwards says, "End the [Rigged] Game"

Labor Day, and the American workers are still being screwed by today's political practices. In Hanover, NH, on August 23rd, John Edwards addressed this issue aptly. His prepared remarks are the title link but here is a YouTube clip of part them, transcribed below.

Transcription of the Clip:

Will corporate greed be all that we value as we move forward into this global economy, or will we put workers and families first, so that all jobs pay fair wages, every American has health care and corporate profits work for democracy -- not the other way around?

Will we face our future .... This is unfortunately the game of American politics and in this game, the interests of regular Americans are being left behind. Real change starts by being honest. And I want to say something at the beginning -- the system in Washington is rigged. And I'll say it again, it is rigged, and our government is broken.

It is time for us to end that game and we can end this game together.

And I want to go, I want to go one step further. because it is also
time for my party, the Democratic Party -- the party of the people -- to end it.

The choice for our party could not be any clearer. We cannot replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats. Just swapping the Washington insiders of one party for the Washington insiders of another is NOT what we need.

The American people deserve to know that their presidency is not for sale, the Lincoln Bedroom is not for rent, and lobbyist money can no longer influence policy in the House or the Senate.

It is time for us to make a clear statement about who we are as a party. It's time to end this game. It's time to tell big corporations and their lobbyists who have been running things for too long that their time is over. It's time to challenge politicians to put the American people's interests ahead of their own calculated political interests, to look the lobbyists in the eye and just say no.
-- John Edwards, Hanover, NH, August 23, 2007

Thanks to Thom Hartmann for playing part of the speech on his Air America radio show. And if you haven't already, or if you can spare a little more, please donate to the John Edwards for President campaign. Thanks!!

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

PS -- Just found this variation on John's End the Game speech. Check out THIS inspiring video, too:

Don't Count Out the Real Liberal: John Edwards

Wonder why the mainstream corporate media isn't talking about John Edwards much, except to denigrate him for cutting his hair? They know he, with his populist message, is really the most viable Democratic candidate to win against Republican corporatist candidates. Thanks to Thom Hartmann, for pointing his listeners to the title-linked article, in Rolling Stone Magazine:

The Real Liberal: John Edwards is Third in the Polls, But Don't Count Him Out

by Tim Dickinson

If he weren't rich, handsome and so well married, you might feel a little sorry for John Edwards. Never before in the 231-year history of our republic have the inalienable traits that Edwards possesses -- his fair skin and a Y chromosome -- been anything but a prerequisite for presidential politics. Today, his race and gender stand a chance of derailing his campaign altogether. "There's a lot of democrats who would like to make history," says Markos Moulitsas, founder of the influential online forum Daily Kos. "The party is anxious to nominate a black or a woman," agrees Dick Morris, the former adviser to Bill Clinton. "You have to sign off on either of those two options before you even get to voting for Edwards." Indeed, Edwards has been all but eclipsed by the celebrity candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama: He ranks a distant third in national polls, and his $12 million cash on hand is barely a third of Hillary's and Obama's hauls.

But counting Edwards out would be a big mistake. Flying below the radar, the former vice-presidential candidate is pulling off a feat that Democratic consultants have long considered impossible: staking out the most progressive platform among the viable candidates while preserving an aura of electability. In head-to-head polling against the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, Clinton and Obama have managed to post only modest leads. Edwards, by contrast, not only bests every Republican candidate in the race, he trounces them -- by an average of twelve points.

"Edwards' message is more left than it was in '04, and it's attracting the right kind of people for the primaries," says Bill Carrick, a veteran party strategist. "But the general electorate still sees him as mainstream. He's doing a good job of threading that needle." MORE

If you like John Edwards, like I like John Edwards, support his efforts, populist efforts, by donating to his campaign. (And I do put my money where my mouth is. Matt Gerlach [sp? -- nice guy who used to work for IBM and know how important keeping jobs in the USA is] called from the campaign this past weekend and I donated another few dollars -- which add up! I donated on the web -- then I went to Dennis Kucinich's site and donated a few dollars because I like his message, too.) Thanks!!

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

John Edwards in NYC

John Edwards filled up Strata at 21st and Broadway with spirit, vision, and a crowd of people. We arrived early, Joan Pagan and I -- joining the queue behind Chazz Aden and his father John Aden from New Jersey. They were gracious enough to endure my chatty exuberance as we anxiously waited for doors to open.

John Aden and Chazz Aden

Then actor and DFNYC activist Dan Jacoby joined us followed soon by ShutterbugBabs a/k/a Barbara Primrosch, camera in hand. Barbara and I both were determined to document the evening. But first there was the long wait for the candidate to arrive. I grabbed a drink, Joan grabbed a sign. Her first floor Sunnyside apartment is on a busy corner. (Imagine being stuck at a light and noticing the sign in the window across the street: John Edwards 08, JohnEdwards.com. Neat, yes!) Joan DeCamp managed to find us even though we lost Dan in the crowd.

JoanD, Babs, JoanP

It was great: End the Iraq fiasco, close Gitmo, no [unsafe!] nuclear power plants, establish alternative energy, end global warming, build up once more the waning middle class, establish healthcare, make college affordable: powerful stuff. John just whipped up the crowd who applauded and roared as he defined his vision, a new reality closer to the heart rather than one feeding corporate greed. I'll be posting more pix and comments later at my Flickr.com site but check out his web site for more on his great programs to restore America -- and donate a few dollars while you're there -- small donations add up. Wow -- I'm exhausted but I am so glad I went. Now to bed to get my beauty sleep. There is a lot of work to do for John Edwards and an America of We the People.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne
JoanD, Kate Anne, JoanP

What I've been up to

Life is busy and still a challenge right now (isn't it usually?), but I must take a few minutes to update my friends in case they come looking for me and see nothing new.

I've move down the street but I'm still on Bliss -- All together now, "Praise and thanks be to God -- Alleluiah!" -- and thanks be to Marc Crawford Leavitt who gave me the lead to my "new" place. That said, it is a bit smaller with no attic rights so I have more boxes still to deal with than I would prefer. I am making slow progress as I try to pick up on my life prior to mid-January when I learned that my old place is being sold. I must hold back even as I must do a little. I beg the understanding of my fellow activists.

Even my camera has been pretty much ignored. I did make it down to J&R to buy some new camera cords as mine have yet to surface from their safe place in some crevice of some box. I am anticipating downloading some pictures of the view from my second floor back porch (Dare I call it a balcony or a terrace? I don't want to sound high-falooting or hoity-toity.). In the meantime enjoy the pictures of Bliss Street from my Flickr.com site, linked in the title above.

I've been listening to too much Talk Radio -- the left wing feminine version of my dear ditto-head brother (who does listen to Air America on his satellite radio so perhaps he is making progress into the light. And I have blogged a little at Common Dreams and a few other places -- like the Sam Seder Show and with my Laura Flanders' friends. And I've listened more to Jon Elliott who kept me company during much of my late night packing -- but now AAR has him from midnight to 3 pm -- a little late for this usual morning person. Thank God for podcasts! (We'll get into my views of the new AAR lineup at some later time. But at least I still have "my" Thom Hartmann from noon to three.)

I've gotten angry at the Dems for caving in to Bush's demands for more money for the illegal Iraq invasion's occupation. Even those who voted no played with the rules, said another of my favorite writer/bloggers, David Sirota. ARGH!!! (Heard a good clip from Dem presidential candidate Mike Gravel on this issue -- on Jon Elliott's site: http://www.jonelliottshow.com/guests1.html. Must give Mike AND John Edwards more money. Somehow the media ranks the candidates according to contributions amassed rather than number of contributors or poll results and both Mike and John (and Dennis Kucinich) have to be taken seriously. Give money NOW.

The Dems have got to get serious with Healthcare. We need Medicare for all. I blogged this somewhere:

Last year Hillary Clinton was second in contributions from the Health and Pharmaceutical industry [shall we groan together?]. Not likely that she will be pushing much of a health care plan, is there? Unless it is really tied in to the establishment: read cost more money!!

We have to get away from business-centered healthcare and away from insurance companies -- except perhaps for auxiliary programs. What we need is universal healthcare which doesn't rely on the profit motive. Healthcare is a right. Healing is an art. Make a living, yes. Make a killing, no!

Obama's plan doesn't take this into account either. ARGH!!!

Health and healing should be open to every mother's child -- and that includes the grown ones, too!

Thanks!!

And I have cried a bit -- Casey's mom Cindy Sheehan is quite burnt out. I added this comment to the posting of her resignation letter at CommonDreams.org:

Kate Anne and Cindy Sheehan, 05-01-06 Peace March

Dearest Cindy -- be still, breathe, relax, heal, revive, retool, breathe, know that you cannot be expected to do it all. Do nothing for now except breathe, heal and feel our love and gratitude.

When and if you return to more visibility in the public eye, as your final parting messages to the people who love you on Air America Radio indicate perhaps you just may, walk forth with your own vision for peace. Don't let anyone should on you, and don't should on yourself. [Good for all of us to remember the extra commandment, "Thou shalt not 'should' on thyself today."] The only thing you should do now is heal.

I thank God for Casey's sacrifice and as Larkspur and 'aquietman' said it was not in vain because his death spurred you to to speak up for justice and peace. His death has meaning, not because it was in an illegal invasion, but because in his sacrifice Casey gave us you, and you, my dear Cindy, are a gift. If you never speak another word for peace, you have done more than most. Do what you must -- heal, revive, breathe, love and be loved. Then, do what your heart tells you to do -- but only do what you can. You, none of us, can do it all.

God bless you, my dear Cindy, mother of Casey and some beautiful other children who also need you and love you. Be there for yourself and for them. Thank you for being a blessing to us all. You are in our prayers and in our hearts. Godspeed in your life's journey, wherever it takes you next.

Peace hugs!

And my little boy Audient is planning to wed his Gina. Great news! Something to look forward to! But first gotta go to work and earn some money and then come home to a little more deboxing activity.

Peace hugs one and all,
Kate Anne

Explaining my non-renewed NOW Membership

Hi, Sherry and Shirley -- I've been a member of the National Organization for Women for years and very active for ten of those. (Ashtabula [OH] NOW of which I was founding mother just celebrated its 30th anniversary in February and I served two terms as an Ohio NOW state officer.) That said, I have not yet renewed my membership, expiring in June. Instead I wrote on the form my concern about NOW endorsing DLC Democrat Hillary Clinton. Was this discussed? Were members polled? Or was it NOW PAC who endorsed her because she is a woman?

Besides being a corporatist DLC Democrat, giving little more than lip service to the shrinking middle class, she has been a disappointment as New York's junior US Senator in other ways by not responding appropriately to those of us in the Peace and Justice movement [i.e., the "Are you listening, Hillary?" campaign]. Furthermore, not only does she NOT apologize for her war vote, but she also continues to make the stupid inane comment that if she had known then what she knows now she would not have voted to authorize the illegal Iraq invasion. (Why didn't she know it then? I did.) Bill Clinton is a rightist Democrat (as Thom Hartmann has put it, "one of the best Republican presidents we've ever had") and Hillary, sadly, has Bill as part of her baggage along with her years of serving on the Wal-Mart board and her feeble attempt at Healthcare reform where she bent over backwards to try to pass something that would keep the insurance companies happy (and they still squelched it, spending oodles of money on PR to convince people to lemmingly ask Congress to vote down even modest health care reform). The one thing political on which I and my rightist brother agree, Hillary sucks.

I care about women's rights, and I do care about NOW, but I don't care about Hillary Clinton and I truly hope I will not be forced into voting for her because she gets the nomination and I have to vote for what I perceive to be "the lesser of two evils". While my political heart is with Dennis Kucinich, I also care about John Edwards and his beautiful wife Elizabeth and I think John IS electable so I'm going with him at this point. (I didn't the last time, stuck with Dennis to the end, and ended up with John Kerry who didn't even wait for the votes to be counted -- and he really DID actually win the last election, but he didn't care enough to fight for it. Arghh!!)

Does NOW care that I haven't renewed? I am not sure that my little rebellion has even been noted by whoever opened the envelope. That's why I am writing this to you, as officers of Brooklyn Queens NOW -- and I think I will blog it. I'd like some explanation. If you supply it, perhaps I will blog that too. But I truly believe that Hillary Clinton sucks and I am so disappointed in NOW. So I am acting by not renewing NOW -- until the spirit(s) (of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone and so many of our foremothers) move(s) me. Hillary Clinton does not deserve to be our first woman president -- she doesn't represent the multitude of American women. (Maggie Thatcher wasn't great for British womankind either.) NOW's endorsement is a big mistake. I feel betrayed. It saddens me, but I'm out of NOW for now.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne
~~
http://peacehugs.com

Elizabeth and John Edwards - THEIR decision

When John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth held their press conference the other day I was desolate thinking that he/they would pack it in. (The other Dems just don't excite me and I would have had to have prayed for Al Gore to change his mind.) But the two of them are determined to meet the challenges as given and to persist, day by day. I am outraged that there are those who are rather adament and vocal that the Edwards should drop everything and spend quality time with their kids and each other. Hey -- we all should do that!! The main difference between "healthy us" and the Elizabeth and John Edwards is that they know that Elizabeth has a health problem. Yet any of us could die or be killed any day.

Most of the critics are on the right, some even claiming that the Edwards are using this to jumpstart the campaign (Oh, really, O'Reilly?) But I was positively shocked to see that one of them was Matthew Rothschild, the editor of the The Progressive magazine. Most of the people responding to the post of his podcast are, like me, taken aback with his position. But click on my title link and read it for yourself.

I am happy to report the continuation of the campaign jumpstarted me to check on the status of my Ann Coulter remark donation(s). (It didn't go through and didn't go through and after my third attempt I stopped because what if were being recorded and I wasn't being told?!!) It hadn't. Instead, then, on Thursday I doubled the donation and I will admit there has been a lot of activity on ActBlue for John Edwards. You can read my retort to Matt Rothschild either on his site or below, but please consider joining me and making a donation to the man who really cares about the Middle Class and working people. Please go to ActBlue and then say a prayer for the Edwards and our country. (And consider buying and reading Elizabeth Edwards' Saving Graces, which I have just picked up again to read during my commute.)

My Response to Matt Rothschild's Essay
"Edwards Should Quit"

Seeing this podcast downloaded to my computer, I was flabberghasted. Matthew Rothschild spouting right wing talking points? Listening to it didn't make it better. My reaction? "Judge not that ye be not judged." But am I not also judging Matt? Still, good God! We are given challenges in our lives and these challenges have purpose. John and Elizabeth choose life and continuing what they see as their shared work. There is meaning in that. Indeed, there is life in that. And it is their choice. And I bless them and pray for them and I allow them and thank them for their choice.

To Elizabeth, don't give up, don't give in, do what matters to you and brings healing to your soul and meaning to your life.

To John, God grant you peace and healing, too.

To both, strength and grace and vision. Do the work that God has given you to do and God help you to discern what that is.

To Matthew and to Kate Anne (me!) -- Judge not, that we be not judged. God help us meet our challenges and be grateful for the gifts and challenges that we are given.

Matthew, please forgive me for judging you for judging John and I will forgive you and not unsubscribe to your podcast.

God bless us all -- life is tough. Now let's keep on keeping on.

Peace hugs!

Now I have to go back some more boxes. Moving from an apartment where one has been for thirteen years is not easy.

More peace hugs,
Kate Anne

"Money Trumps Peace Sometimes"

Say, what, George Bush? In yesterday's press conference he actually admitted that his war machine operates to feed industry: the military-industrial complex of which Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us to beware. Both Air America Radio's Randi Rhodes and Rachel Maddow were stressing Bush's frank, albeit sighing, admission. If you can get podcast copies of their 02/15/07 shows, listen to them. I'm going to add those podcasts to my AAR to-keep file.

Both Randi and Rachel were putting stronger emphasis on New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's presidential candidacy. Since John Edwards campaign has failed to get back to my email and voice message on the Iran question, perhaps I should explore Bill Richardson more. We can't keep having money trumping peace, either from Republicans or Democrats. Ike was right.

I just googled for the print reference:

Q: A lot of our allies in Europe do a lot of business with Iran. So I wonder what your thoughts are about how you further tighten the financial pressure on Iran, in particular, if it also means economic pain for a lot of our allies.

BUSH: It's an interesting question. One of the problems, not specifically on this issue, just in general, that -- let's put it this way: Money trumps peace, sometimes.

In other words, commercial interests are very powerful interests throughout the world. And part of the issue in convincing people to put sanctions on a specific country is to convince them that it's in the world's interest that they forego their own financial interest.

And that's why sometimes it's tough to get tough economic sanctions on countries, and I'm not making any comment about any particular country, but you touched on a very interesting point.

My God, Bush does speak the truth sometimes, his truth anyway.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Gold Star mother Cindy Sheehan wrote a wonderful response to Bush's comment. Read it, please.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Open Letter to the John Edwards' Campaign

I  left this message for the John Edwards campaign at http://JohnEdwards.com:

Please clarify. While I applaud John Edwards' concern for the rights of the working people, unions, and the preservation of the middle class -- an America of We the PEOPLE instead of an America for Corporations, Corporate CEOs and Big Money interests, I am taken aback by something which Amy Goodman sited on Democracy Now! This is that John Edwards is joining in and helping to fan the corporate media's war flames on Iran, just like they did for Iraq.

 

I am so upset. Fool me once, we understand (but I knew they were lying about Iraq and John should have known, too), but fool me twice? PLEASE -- let me know if he supports more illegal and unnecessary wars/invasions. Iran's moderate population is speaking up and trying to take over. Encourage that, DON'T BOMB THEM. They are far away from being able to produce nukes. John Edwards should speak out for Peace and Diplomacy.

 

I really can't stand Hillary Clinton [I was blunt but Hill is a big disappointment to progressive New Yorkers. While Thom Hartmann says we should lead the parade and get her to follow our lead, it is like pulling teeth.] who is MY Senator (who supported the illegal Iraq invasion until just recently, tried to compromise with Health Insurance companies instead of supporting Universal healthcare when she had a chance, and doesn't care about the Middle Class except in verbage -- and talk is cheap) and Obama seems phony -- they are both corporatists. [His first votes in Congress point to that. AND he supported Joe Lieberman. For more, listen to FAIR's CounterSpin interview of Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report on Barack Obama at http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3001 ]

 

I am an Independent Democratic activist and would be happy to work on the campaign for John Edwards IF he is ready to be for diplomacy and peace -- not the use of nukes and illegal preemptive wars.

 

Please get back with me -- but I am happy to see a phone number [919-636-3131] and may call. THANKS!

 

We'll see if I hear back from the Edwards' campaign -- or reach a live person who can help me when I call. I really like John and want to support him -- but not if he's for another trumped up war of aggression, this time on Iran.

 

Peace hugs,

Kate Anne