Joho the Blog
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January 24, 2007
I'm watching the John Edwards webcast in which he's taking questions about the State of the Union address, and I'm liking it a lot. [The following is a choppy account. Sorry.] He begins by saying that the State of the Union and the media coverage of it was all about theater. We have to get past that, he says. Nor can we can't look to the president to solve our problems. We the people have to do it. Bottom up. He immediately talks about our moral obligation as a country. First on the list: Dafur. Every American should have health care, he says. Universal health care. Period. (Go, JE!) We should build on the existing system, he says, but everyone ought to have it. It is clear that in this opening statement, he's speaking from the heart. And the "production values" promote this: It's him in front of an exposed brick wall, answering questions read by a young woman at a bare table and a Mac. Congress ought not fund the escalation, he says. "We cannot send 20,000 more men and women into this crossfire." We shouldn't treat this as a political question, he says, but as matter of doing the right, moral thing. The fact that the Sunnis have been locked out of the government is the most powerful foundation of the violence there, he says. The McCain doctrine is that we stabilize conditions and create a better environment for the existing government — Shiite domninated — to bring the Sunnis in. But, says Edwards, the Shiites will only do it if there are consequences. We ought to be leaving Iraq and engaging diplomatically with all parties in the area, even those we're antagonistic with. Q: Would you increase funding to fight AIDS globally? Bush has identified the issue, but is engaging only incrementally with it, Edwards says. The Democratic party has to decide if it's going to be bold or take baby steps. "We're going to have an entire new generation of children with AIDS because their mother can't afford $4 medicine. And we're the richest country in the world?" Edwards would lead an international effort to eradicate AIDS entirely. Q: The image of America has suffered substantially under this president. What would you do? "Our next president needs to travel the world and do what great American presidents have done: To speak not just to leaders but to the peoples of the world." The message should be that we don't tolerate diversity, we embrace diversity: different backgrounds, different faiths. And the world needs to see us happening outside our own selfish interests. They see genocide in Sudan and the US standing silently by. "You don't get to choose when you're the leader. The world needs to see what our better angels, what the American character is." Q: Outsourcing? Globalism? China is about to become the largest English-speaking country on the planet. They graduate 10x the engineers we do. We need to encourage our kids to study science, math and technology. Q: What do we do about poverty? I've been running the Poverty Center at UNC Chapel Hill, Edwards says. "I'm not the world's greatest expert," but these are the simple things we can do: Raise the minimum wage. Increase the earned income tax credit. Organize workers into unions. Help people save. Help people go to college: "College for everyone." Our housing policy currently is a disgrace, clustering poor people together, he says. Create a million housing vouchers to create mobility across the economic and racial barriers. We need a million stepping stone jobs. But, it's not all about the government. If you're able to work, you ought to be working. Parents need to be responsible for their children. We can debate what are the right ideas, but we can't debate doing nothing. Doing nothing is not ok. It says something about our character, Edwards says [I was very impressed by his substance and style. He has a real-ness, sincerity and a steadiness that would do this country good, and will, by the way, stand him in good stead in comparison to the other Democratic candidates.] [Tags: politics john_edwards campaign sotu] Posted
by D. Weinberger at January 24, 2007 10:13 PM
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Comments
China english?, wow! that would be something...
Posted by: Trisha Parks | January 25, 2007 03:16 AM
Let me clarify my reporting of that remark. I believe Edwards meant that there would be more English speakers in China than in any other country. There would also be more Chinese speakers there than anywhere else, of course.
Posted by: David Weinberger | January 25, 2007 09:38 AM
Wow so much the usual rhetoric, SOTU has been political theater for 100 years since it started being delivered in person rather than paper. If anyone thinks new ideas really develop out of it they need to watch politics more closely. The speech and all these response are further theater, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
The education thing is silly because honestly, like we are going to compete with China for sheer numbers? Every politician says whenever asked about education we need more math and science, more engineers. We have to make those occupations look interesting, rewarding, and challenging then you will see people head towards them.
"College for everyone." - A lot of people should NOT go to college I am all for technical schools but this obsession for college is rather tiring.
Politicians treat the symtoms of the problem of rising cost with bad market policy and only make the problem worse. The cost of college has been increase at a rate over inflation, but it's pretty consistant with the amounts Congress raises grants. You'd think after 20 years of this dance someone would honestly notice the relationship and trying something different.
Sudan and Dafur, the US policy has been through the UN, which people complain they should have done more in Iraq (justifiably or not). So damned if you work through international organization and damned if you don't. No way to win for some folks I guess.
Posted by: Thomas | January 25, 2007 11:11 AM
I have to agree, I have found John Edwards to be an almost entirely reasonable democrat, and that is of course saying a gigantic thing nowadays.
I for the first time saw him shortly after 911 on an interview box on one of the msm news channels, and I was amazed because there was a democrat who wasn't an idiot and wasn't laying out the standard idiot talking points, that nowadays have become parody paintjobs of the truth hurled like demonfire lancets at GWB.
I noticed he almost entirely refuses to make the blatantly ridiculous endlessly repeated attack lies the other democrats are absolutely seared of the jello like brain in making.
Matthews tries to lead him about by the nose, but you can note how Matthews is the one repeating what Edwards said later, in the form of a question, because Spitty boy Chris found out he couldn't get this democrat to conform to his Bush attack templates like so many others.
So, all in all, I agree, Edwards should have been #1 in the democrats '04 instead of Kerry - if those were to be the 2 for the ticket. If that were the case, he would have likely gotten my vote.
I can't stress how much I appreciate Edwards, who although may be pushed, shoved, cajolled, forced, and lamented into stupid, ridiculous, and incorrect lying attacks (most probably of course- against the great evil demon Bush who destroyed the world )on rare occassions, does his best, and pretty much does what is humanly possible to avoid it. He also surprises these braindead talking head got it all planned out and scripted answers and attacks and pushes for everything moronic talking heads, who are absolutely infected with BDS.
Why is Edwards to be appreciated ? Because after someone like Hardbull Matthews spews out his scripted question with the attendant answer included and often with ending" don't you think so ?", and with the 2 seconds later interruption, " but don't you think so and such" - ( as Chris triesd again and again to force the answer he wants ) - Edwards resonds " No, and I'll tell you why. " Then again, he(Edwards) doesn't give in like so many others do, and restates and refines his REASONINGS - and EXPLAINS WHY - and sticks to it, and sticks it in, and twists it to make sure it was understood ! Gosh, a democrat who isn't an insane gasbag ! Three cheers !
Three cheers for a democrat Edwards who has put up a valiant effort to not be sucked in and assimilated by the wacko Borg !
Posted by: SiliconDoc | January 26, 2007 08:50 AM
JE was right!!! We can not just have the president solve the problems alone but instead we all have our roles to play.
Posted by: nicole cruz | February 5, 2007 09:18 PM
I find John Edwards to be another well-polished zero. Most of his speeches are like Miss America Pageant interviews with lots of optimistic vision and zero realistic comprehension. What experience does this guy have in executive processes? He has no experience. He seems to be, essentially, a saleman and a mouthpiece, and those are a dime a dozen.
Posted by: Nick | February 20, 2007 01:31 AM