Saturday, July 21, 2007

John Edwards, Voucher Man, Is A Republican



John Edwards learned some very wrong lessons from Barack Obama's very strong performance at the NAACP Democratic debate. Obama spoke forcefully on race issues and stole the show. Edwards now seems to calculate that the cat is out of the bag. Obama has been outed. He is black. Now is the time to try and drive a wedge between Obama and white America.

I was under the impression that perhaps Edwards was doing some good work on the poverty issue the past few years like he had been advertising. Now it looks like all that was sham. His big house has blinded him. He can not feel your pain.

Did I hear it right? Edwards' idea of curing poverty in the poor neighborhoods is to offer vouchers.

A voucher by definition, if it works, will work for a select few. You can not move the entire neighborhood out of the poor neighborhood. The poverty is not geography, as in let's all of us move out of Staten Island, and then we will be fine.

Edwards has been outed. He now comes across as a guy who is fundamentally incapable of understanding poverty. How can you cure that which you do not understand?

Have not the Republicans been suggesting the same for poorly performing schools? What's the difference?

You could brush the whole episode off as Edwards' ignorance. But there is more to that than meets the eye. What is most offensive about Edwards' premise is that there are clear racial overtones to what he is saying. He is clearly not talking about the poor, white Appalachia. He is talking about the predominantly black inner cities that seem to suffer from seemingly incurable poverty.

This is wrong. It will not fly. In trying to play this race card, Edwards comes across as a candidate who is growingly desperate. It is not just Mike Gravel, and Kucinich, and Richardson. Edwards is part of that crowd. Why is it not obvious to him that he stands absolutely no chance of becoming president? Will someone inform him? Hello? Anyone upstairs?

Edwards needs to offer an apology. This is not a lapse of judgment. This is most definitely not a tongue slip. This is the exposing of a deformed constitution.

And as a political operative, he has seriously misjudged America's contemporary standing on race issues, especially when offered the Obama prism. The race card will backfire, big time. It will backfire so thoroughly it is already obvious this is the last election Edwards will ever lose. He will not run again for anything. He won't even have a Poverty Center to go back to.

Race has to be talked about. Obama was right in giving a strong performance at the NAACP event. Gender has to be talked about. Obama is also someone who has to engage in more gender talk. It is only fair.

Edwards has the option to apologize and continue to contribute to the Democratic discussion. Or he is going to flame out earlier than he is expecting. He will lose Iowa. I mean, he will lose Iowa regardless, but if he makes idiotic remarks like this one, he seals his own fate.

In The News

Analysis: GOP Senators Nervous About War Forbes
Obama invokes spirit of MLK, RFK
Baltimore Sun a teary-eyed Kennedy looked at reporters traveling with him and asked, "How can a country like this allow it?" ..... how an Obama administration would fight its own war on poverty. ..... he would sign legislation raising the minimum wage; fund programs that support poor families with children; fund not only job-training programs but programs that help workers get promotions; give incentives to bring businesses back to the inner cities; and make affordable housing more accessible in "mixed-income neighborhoods." ..... the problems of absent fathers or persistent crime ..... a child who shoots another child has a hole in his heart no government can fill
Wife laughs off 'Obama Girl' Chicago Tribune
Obama's 2 daughters question mom about racy Obama Girl video Houston Chronicle
Obama says Bush does not understand role as US commander in chief
International Herald Tribune
Clinton calls for help in Africa Independent Online
Bill Clinton In Africa: View Of Future? Guardian Unlimited
Clinton arrives in Malawi on African tour People's Daily Online
Craig Crawford’s Trail Mix: Clinton in Major Leagues while Obama ...
New York Times
India Names Its First Female President Forbes
Nuke deal: India, US reach agreement
NDTV.com
Fatah Militants Lay Down Their Arms to Bolster Abbas
New York Times
Report: 82 killed in China in a week of record-breaking storms
International Herald Tribune
US Attack in Baghdad Kills at Least 15 and Wounds 10
New York Times
Sprint, Clearwire in WiMax deal
Los Angeles Times Reston, Va.-based Sprint Nextel and Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire said they planned to begin rolling out the service in Chicago, Washington and Baltimore by the end of the year and have it available to 100 million people by the end of 2008.
Sprint Moves to Build WiMax Network Washington Post a 20-year partnership with Clearwire, a three-year-old start-up that provides wireless Internet service and is headed by entrepreneur and early Nextel investor Craig O. McCaw. ...... the $3 billion project .... WiMax will use its current bandwidth more efficiently. But WiMax is considered to be a risky investment by some analysts because it has not been tested on a nationwide scale. ...... Sprint and Clearwire plan to let customers roam on each other's service while they complete their own sections of the network. .... costly cellphone towers and fiber-optic networks, as well as radio-frequencies ..... They will also work together with vendors to develop cellphones, computers and other devices that will work on the system. ....... Both have video ventures that compete with each other.
Bachchan's letter reaches Mayawati Hindustan Times
Donating land was my right, says Big B Times of India "At the time of my donation, the said land was in my possession and I have voluntarily and with good intent donated the land to the gram sabha, Barabanki," Bachchan said in a statement.
A yellow card for soccer chaos
Globe and Mail
Three Executives Spared Prison in OxyContin Case New York Times
Dell Signs Deal With British Mobile Retailer PC World
Dell Continues to Sink New York Times Dell worldwide market share in the second quarter is down to 15 percent from 17.8 percent a year earlier. Shipments are down 5.5 percent...... So far, the new jockey, founder Michael Dell, hasn’t made a difference. .... Hewlett-Packard with 18.2 percent share, up from 14.9 percent. Shipments were up 36.6 percent, more, on a percentage basis, than any one else except Acer, which was up 54.2 percent. Acer’s market share was 7.2 percent, up from 5.2 percent a year ago. ...... jumped Toshiba to become the No. 4 PC vendor in the United States after Gateway ..... The market grew 11.7 worldwide and 5.9 percent in the United States
Restless Legs Get Respect TIME
Dust storms on Mars halt NASA rovers
Los Angeles Times Temperatures around the rovers have dropped to minus 76 degrees. The electronics must remain warmer than minus 40.
They Were Wild About "Harry," Now What?
CBS News
Harry Potter hits 2.5m doorsteps Financial Times
Obama Newsday , USA Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a commanding 14-point lead over Barack Obama among South Carolina Democrats and enjoys an even bigger edge among the state's African-American voters, according to a new CNN poll........ Clinton, who has deployed husband Bill Clinton to lobby black leaders in the state, leads Obama 47 percent to 31 percent among African-American voters. Among all Democrats in the state, she leads Obama 39 percent to 25 percent, with John Edwards, a native of neighboring North Carolina, garnering 15 percent -- and just 4 percent of black voters. ..... Thursday's New York Times survey of women's political attitudes showing female voters under 45 with a 47-to-27 favorable/unfavorable view of the Democratic front-runner. ..... Among older women, Clinton fares significantly worse, with middle-age women giving her a 33 percent unfavorable rating and that rate rising to 40 percent among women over 65. ..... Ann Lewis, who is directing Clinton's women's outreach operations, says winning over older women will be a long, labor-intensive process. ....... the campaign is also likely to focus on energizing the 20 million single women who sat out the 2004 contest. ...... "There's a very good chance they'll vote for Hillary," she said. .... Another target for Clinton will be the 32 percent of independent women voters who haven't made up their mind about Clinton ..... Clinton, speaking on a conference call, said that Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman's response was "offensive," "entirely inappropriate," "outrageous" and "dangerous."

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EC conducts mock poll in Kathmandu suburb
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Eight parties call Terai groups for talks
Indefinite bandh in Rautahat
Rajbiraj court employees halt work demanding security
Maoists, UNMIN meeting inconclusive
Madhesi leaders ask govt to hold dialogue with Terai groups soon
CEC says EC will proceed on even if govt lags behind in poll preparations
Protesting freed Kamaiyas arrested, freed; demonstrations in Mid-west as well
PM smells conspiracy to divide eight party alliance
Yadav elected new Tarun Dal president
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