Edwards, Obama, Clinton, Lobbyists, and Campaign Reform...Money Talks... But Who is it Speaking For?

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Here we go again.
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Lets get one thing straight; No money is clean. I'm sure that the headlines about Edwards and Obama accepting donations from large corporations, and whatever the earth shattering revelations are in this world of overly literal campaigns and an undereducated populace that can only take in information in sound byte form, are interesting, but the fact, until there are actual facts that mean something, seems to be that this is a concocted line of what-ifs and maybes that don't add up to much.

We are frozen. Its as if, in this political atmosphere, no one should deviate from their position of 6 years ago, and no one should grow and change at all. I'm afraid of anyone who has learned nothing during this administration, much less the Bill Clinton Administration! But, besides the Rove instilled fear of the awe inspiring "flip-flop," I don't even see that as the issue here.
What I see happening is some form of desperate extrapolation to comb through every donation to try to connect it to some lobbyist...or the corporations that they represent.

We're all wading in the same pool here, folks, in that we could all be lobbyists, if you're gonna count the individual lawyer donations as a lump and the people who work for drug companies as a lump. Isn't that so many apples and oranges until every lawyer that has given cash to Edwards gets together and hires some guy to hand the money over in the interest of an issue or a set of issues? Then couldn't all individual blogger donations or Mom donations to Obama or Edwards also be called special interest contributions? Don't we all have special interests in whatever our pet issues are? So, where do you draw the line in tracing this stuff and who decides when a lobby is a lobby if its not formal? Its surely a slippery slope and I doubt that any candidate wants to have to pick apart every donation that comes in before there is some meaningful reform of campaign financing and lobbying, but isn't it safe to say that these lobby's are only formal if they are in fact formalized?.
But the wider message seems to me to be that Obama and Edwards don't want to accept donations from the overt lobbying population that has grown into a monster, and that Clinton is, as usual, carefully parsing her words to be sure to be so inclusive as to recognize that every lobby firm and every large corporation employs Americans. Now, that would be meaningful if deregulation had not allowed the top management and CEO culture to raid logical business structure, and suck all the money upwards....I don't believe that a Phillip Morris Lobby represents the guys who run the factory machines, and certainly not the pickers; probably not even the secretaries or administrators. So, when she says that she is supporting all Americans with her take on the lobby issue, she is saying that she supports the top tier of earners, because without corporate regulation back in place, there is no worker lobby of much substance out there....and certainly there is not a Phillip Morris Lobby that includes a Phillip Morris worker's lobby, representing the fact that the little guys will lose their jobs if big tobacco is hurt...This is all about corporations pushing their agendas forward so that the top guys can get really rich, really quick before the rules change again. And its clear to any of us in the real world out here that the agendas of large corporations largely do not represent the working people of America.
See, the bigger idea here doesn't have much to do with some donation that slipped past or some gotcha that Matt Drudge is looking for. its about the big picture and the desire to change things fundamentally. To assume that this stuff might effect you positively, beyond the fact that you may get killed by some drug or law that has been pushed through to your detriment, is fantasy and as likely as winning the lottery and having to deal with the "death tax" or a windfall tax. No, the conversation that Clinton is having that includes all Americans means all rich Americans, because this lobbying stuff is what goes on behind closed doors in the halls of power. To call it out is to open those doors and let some air in...and if that means that someone is out there looking through every contribution record to the Obama and Edwards campaigns, then so be it.

Lets try tying the fortunes of the top tier of corporate America to the fortunes of the bottom tier, and then revisit what the lobby is. How 'bout everyone gets a raise and that the big guys pay windfall taxes out the wazoo into funds set up for those who have lost their jobs due to technological advances that have allowed those windfalls? Don't get me started on outsourcing! How 'bout tying worker happiness and ability to achieve the American dream to how much a CEO can take home?...These guys will still surely get rich, but just not as rich...At some point its all just so much zeros on a statement anyway, isn't it?

Its a pretty bold move for Edwards and Obama to keep hammering this point, because surely it puts up the red flag to all the diggers out there to get to work to find the one bad contribution or person that works on a campaign who used to be a lobbyist...but, its an issue that needs to be addressed and I'm happy that its coming up. I'm also glad that we get a glimpse into the real Clinton, because her non-answers are rather frightening and it almost as if one tiny crack might let a ton of sludge loose that will not only be bad for the party, but dangerous for America.

I'm not perfect..OK, if you must know, I went to Wal-Mart some months ago and I bought some chinos for the kids that were probably made in China. I drive a Jeep that guzzles more gas than it should. I use air conditioning...hell, I love air conditioning! There are reasons for these things but I am not going to make excuses or go on about my carbon offsets. As I go along in life, I can certainly say that I've modified and changed and I am going to continue to do so. I need and want the tools to do that with, like a real hybrid truck that can get up my driveway in the winter. I expect that of anyone who is growing up in this life, and I certainly expect it of our leaders. We need the tools to make real choices and sacrifices, and we need leaders who aren't afraid to offer them. The deregulation thing has not worked out...lets just face it, change it, and move on.
And try really hard to look at who is profiting from these issues and leaving them as they stand. The hardest thing is probably to look at our own lives and to realize that some of the maintenance of the status quo by us is built on the fantasy that we might one day be in the class of the same people who benefit from these things.

Which brings me back to education. If we don't educate our kids, and ourselves, to think critically, make decisions, have ethics and morals, then how can we expect anything to get done?
What ever happened to that line of education? I think its gone in a haze of political correctness and some crazy tie-in between those things and religious upbringing. This idea is not true and doesn't fly. If we are so caught in political correctness that we cant even look to the past and talk about what was wrong or right with the way things went, then we are a country of sheep being groomed to be the rabble, while the elite get whats theirs.
No kid should leave the American school system without some critical real-life skills, decision making, and an idea of how great minds thought throughout history, and how the same is not only possible for them but expected of them!! Without that the American dream is dead and we might as well just prepare for the rapture.(...not!)

Netroots Nation...President's day at the Yearly Kos and the Wrapup.....

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I have seen the future of rock and roll and it is John Edwards!!
Yesterday at the Yearly Kos was confirmation for me that John Edwards is the one.
After a day of writing, and wringing and running round, I was able to get a great seat with Jill at the Presidential Leadership Forum, which was really more of a debate, and also just a stomping, energetic, loud, good time, with alot of the usual sound bytes and, for me, a great window into the unspoken body language, posturing, and those on their feet reactions than we normally see. This crowd was challenging in a way that these candidates are not especially used to, and it was clear who was easily able to embrace it and find it fun , and who was bristling ...not to mention that Mike Stark was sitting in front holding a sign that said "Hillary Stop Lying." (Check this guy out...hes awesome)

John Edwards speaks with the conviction of someone who is really devoted to changing things for the better and who has been through the mill of having his message shaped enough to get to a point where he has nothing to say except what is real to him...nothing else works ultimately. He loves a challenging audience and intelligent questions, and he is an active and thoughtful problem solver. It was so clear how energized he was by what we do and how the netroots have changed the playing field. And he is ready to change things, even if it means painful transitions and walking through the fire.
I came away from the forum feeling like he was really on fire, and I came away from the breakout session as a true believer. Hopefully I will be able to get a little video and audio up here.
I have to say that I went into this liking him (and Obama and Richardson as well) and came out completely sold that he is the future. I feel strongly that even if Hillary is the nominee and if she gets my vote, I will likely work for Edward's One America movement rather than put my energy into whatever she is doing...the rest Im not sure of...The ticket matters, the atmosphere in the country and the world matters....we'll see. But as of today, I remain an Edwards girl and I think that he needs to raise more funds because if more people saw him and what he's saying, he would be IT. Why the press is freezing him out is anyone's guess. I don't want to sound conspiratorial here so I'm not gonna say anything. In the coming weeks I want to talk more about Edwards specific plans and his ideas of how we can get back to the moral center of what America was supposed to be striving for.

The former First Lady and current Jr. Senator was in fine form in her turquoise pantsuit/jewelry combo and carefully measured answers.
Hillary was not prepared for this crowd and for the taxing and exacting reactions she would get. Simply put, she couldn't pander to us as if we were Wal-mart shoppers, and the reflected glow of Bill had long ago worn thin on this hawk. Hillary's carefully delivered sound bytes, came off as watered down Republican hackery. Really, I was surprised at how uncommunicative she was. How does she expect to get elected if there are things that she cant really go into and acts like she doesn't even have to explain it?
When pressed about pledging to not take special interest lobbyist money, Hillary made it clear that she wants to represent ALL of the people, including lobbyists, who are Americans too after all, and corporations, which are made up of Americans...right?
As John Edwards talked about the need to reform the system he urged Clinton to pledge...and her answer? "Well, John certainly has been taking that position."
That's it. And that's who she is. She believes that we should trust her record enough to believe that SHE couldn't possibly be swayed by lobby money. I just want to know why I should trust anyone who wont lay things out and acts like she is so above it all.
She said that she won't visit all the states but has that same "strategy" that Howard Dean talks about...But she does intend to visit all the red parts of the blue states. Its all a part of the strategy, you see.... she then went on to explain how she figured out where to go in NY State for the most bang...interesting, calculating...I know it happens all the time, but I don't need Hillary to go on about how clever she was in inserting herself into NY State politics when she decided that NY was the state she wanted. I don't think she is a bad senator, but I find her disingenuous and self congratulatory. She also seems to assume that its her and Howard all the way. I think that she takes alot for granted.

On the international front, Hillary believes that its not that the world hates Americans, but that its just Bush that they hate...huh? Doesn't what Bush orchestrates around the world reflect on us? Aren't we represented by our leaders? Aren't we sending them to do our work?
This disconnect is the red flag for me that Hillary doesn't really get what is coming down. We expect our politicians to tell us the truth, not be secretive. We also expect them to fucking represent us. We have had 6+ years of a president who condescends and acts like the things that he knows are too, too, secret for us to possibly understand. I don't like Hill's attitude about it. It of course there are classified issues, but its the attitude here that sits wrong...just quietly go about your business...don't use that tone with me!

Hillary also wanted to assure us that we are SAFER since 9-11 as far as our first responders system goes.....Well, Hillary, I'm here to tell you that I live a couple of towns over from you, and if anything happens...nuclear power plant accident, disease, chemical spill, hurricane, windstorm...we are screwed. Most houses in our area burn to the ground because we have a first responder network that is undermanned and with archaic equipment. But, we are in small towns...how about looking at New York City? Well, the system is far from safe or fixed, with communications that are still limited at best, and a billionaire mayor who is as concerned as Giuliani was with how how things look and smoothing over the deficits, leaving us all in danger in this most dangerous time that Herr Bush has created for us. In short, the radios still don't fully work!!

There is a small rumbling in the blogosphere to stop Hillary, because she would obviously be the GOP choice and she stands in the way of a real candidate getting out there. It feels pretty negative to me to turn on our own, but I have to say that there is something about Hillary that is not quite right and all there. I am uneasy with her and she sounds more and more Republican. She definitely wants to keep all options opened and she doesn't want to have to answer to anyone. I am really unsure about how she feels about globalization, social programs, war with Iran, real withdrawal from Iraq, and changing course in a big way in this country.
So far it seems pretty canned and positioned. She always seems to phrase things in a way that allows some way out..I dunno...

Obama is an incredible guy with great ideas. I cant say enough how much I feel for him and what his message is. I have been asking people about his breakout group and people came away from it awed and as true believers, but there is some but..but going round...Its always, IF he can get it, he would be great BUT can he? Is he ready? Its not clear to me that he is ready at all for the #1 job; nor does it seem clear to his supporters. I'd love to see him get some experience, grow a little older, and get better with the cameras and crowd. He hunched, he blushed, he leaned to the side and addressed the moderator directly, hardly looking to the audience...and I wanted to see more passion besides when Edwards tossed it to him and they tag teamed Hillary. This was a challenging group and even though it was his birthday, and the hall rang out with a good part of the HB song, I didnt sense that he felt as sympatico and as if he is one of the people as some of the others.

I've heard anecdotes from a couple of different people, about how he acts in the senate...as if he is just passing through and that his real job awaits him up higher...and I never really gave it much credence until now. Maybe he knows something we all don't know, or maybe you just have to be like that to make it through this process....but I like to feel like I could talk to any one of these people, just like any guy hanging round my town...and he is one that I'm not sure is comfortable enough in his own skin to realize that he is just some guy. ..just like anyone else...just a little extra vision and leadership qualities.


I love Chris Dodd and have pretty much no problem with him as my state's senior senator. He seems to have remembered his fire in the wake of Teddy Kennedy's flip-out on the floor when he started yelling "what is it you people hate about working people?"...fantastic!
It makes me happy to hear him and to proud to have him out there...His voice is important....but he is not the next President of the United States or even possibly our nominee...so this is all an exercise in getting information out and providing a wide field for us. I am very happy with this field, btw. I was just really disappointed that Ned Lamont still feels that he owes a debt of gratitude to him for his endorsement, and is campaigning for him actively. I would have liked to see Ned put his energy and following behind Edwards (who was one of the first politicians to come out for him.)
A great moment was when Obama speaking of public financing of campaigns, made the mistake of saying "...and I'm glad that Chris has gotten on board with this!" to which Dodd said "Ive been taking that stance for 15 years, I'm no NEWCOMER!"...Snap!

Richards was, as always, impressive and wonderful...but again, I just don't see it, and since he has said that he is not even interested in a job in the next administration because he feels like he has the best job in the world, I feel like I'm happy to have his input in the process, but I'm not gonna spend alot of time and energy on him.

And then there are Kucinich and Gravel, who are the perpetual short straws in these things where they draw randomly as to who is gonna sit where. They made the perfect bookends to that crew and were largely ignored and overlooked. Kucinich had some good points but was not forceful and lacked fire. Gravel seemed to struggle in and out of lucidity, providing some comic relief here and there...but it seemed like just so much nonsense and a little embarrassing.





































Netroots Nation is going to be the new name of this convention, and I think that its fitting that Markos step back at this point from being the king of this little party and let it grow beyond a blogger comment site that has become a social networking site. This organization has to be allowed to become as powerful as it is, without the collar of the person that is Kos.
Markos gave a really nice speech, which was quite touching all in all...and the comedians ranged from just so-so to pretty OK...and the community feeling was pretty strong over ice cream sundaes for those who waned to stand on line for half an hour to make their own or ices for the rest of us that wanted coffee more than anything.... by the time we all ended up sitting round on the couches blogging and watching the drunken goings on out on the patio.

By the time I stumbled down to the closing brunch this morning and loaded up on fruit and...bacon... (and a pretty funny exchange with staff about the huge amount of vegan bacon available and not taken, how they never serve that and don't really know what it is, and remembering that Janeane Garafolo said that she is a vegan except for bacon and sausage!)and listening to the debrief comments by the panel and many of the commenter's from DK, it seems like everyone feels like it was a huge success and that its a must for next year, no matter where they hold it!

Best purchase (thanks to Jill): a long Ethernet cable so I could sit on the bed with the laptop...it has really changed my hotel experience to be able to lay in bed and be on line at the same time!!

Tomorrow AM I'm off to the shambles of my home, where my William has taken to his bed with a headache, a baby chick died, and apparently no laundry has been done in days...Mom is nauseous, so I'm out of luck. It is really hard to get away like this because the falloout comes pretty hard. Next time I may just get a pet sitter and bring Will and Ben along....let them hang out at the pool or something...maybe next year will be more kid friendly. Jr. Activist Caucus anyone?

So, I know what Ill be doing this week...not to mention all the actual WORK I have to do...
Oh well...you wanna play, you gotta pay!
I met some really great people, had a great time with Jill...and did some good writing. I love going to new cities, even if I don't get around much, and I love getting alot of new ideas and feeling like Ive got something to say.
Thanks to everyone who worked so hard on this thing. Its greatly appreciated and I'm really looking forward to next year!

I hate flying....wish me luck!

Votes, and Breakout Groups, and No-shows...Oh My!!

So up in the air are we here at the Kos...after a fantastic session on the Ned Lamont campaign with Ned himself sitting in the audience, and getting to go and say hi to him after and urge him to run again for anything...and then a really informative and fun session with Bob Geiger about building an audience, which was his own story and his inside tips...it seems that the issue is a vote on FISA that may go over till tomorrow...and if the senate also has to vote tomorrow then we lose Obama and Clinton and possibly Schumer ...so, it looks like those of us who maybe were juggling sleeping in with seeing the Reid, Emmanuel, Pelosi, and Schumer panel, moderated by Geiger, may just have gotten a little more sleep.
I still am not buying that this cancellation is anything more than them pulling out of what is an uncomfortable political situation when you're balancing on the fence so precariously. Its almost as if they sent Howard to do the talking and are hoping to wash their hands of the thing...
Hillary first canceled her meet and greet break-out group, delegating it to her chief advisor or some such. This caused some great consternation considering that people had to pick a candidate and those who were dumb enough to choose Hill were stone out of luck. Today there were signs on her booth that she was in fact coming to her meeting...but now....we may lose them all! And am I glad that Jill and I each picked Edwards!!

Yearly Kos 2 Update: Reid, Pelosi, Emanuel Cancel; Fingers Crossed for Schumer

Its not for nothing, I guess, that what Mom just was telling me was true: Rush Limbaugh and O'Reilly are in full frontal attack mode and the suits who supposedly represent US are reacting...or over-reacting to the Rovian smear campaign which is calling us a "hate group"... that is more of a death throe than anything I can explain...and it should be funny except....
These people were sent out there largely by what we did and what we're working on all the time.
I have only one response to these chickenshits...
Bwak, Bwak, Bwak

Let Pelosi know what you think:
(415) 556-4862
(202) 225-4965
or email her office at: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov.

Harry Reid has a form here
DC office: Phone: 202-224-3542 / Fax: 202-224-7327

Rahm has a form here
DC office:phone: 202-225-4061
fax: 202-225-5603

Masonic...not, Shriners.....Day 2 at the Yearly Kos....

I wish I had more stamina....
Yesterday was a whirl and just plain fun! Jill got here as I was still gathering myself up from the exhaustion of home, travel, and all that...immediately went off for lunch with a friend, which included walking in the heat (no, I didnt go!) and stopped ot ge tme a long ethernet cable so I could stretch the computer to the bed. How does anyone sit at a desk all day anyway? It drives me crazy.
We walked around and hit the NY/NJ/CT caucus, which was nice in that people introduced themselves and some faces got placed with nicknames...but it turned out that it wasn't really CT., and I was the only CT there...in any case, we had to split pretty quickly to hit the Firedoglake caucus, which was sort of cancelled because of a room mixup, but outside we found Christie Harden Smith and a bunch of bloggers sitting around waiting for anyone who might show up to just say hi.
My experience with FDL, besides being a fan of their reporting, is through the Lamont campaign. There were some great people there, and the room opened up early so we could use it as a meet and greet...Bob Geiger was there with his friend John who is a Lawyer/Dr out of San Francisco, working on inner city health and nutrition issues, and we had some fun chatting and laughing with them...
I met Spazeboy and TBC from Myleftnutmeg
and they were talking to me about community blogging and how its great to contribute pieces...to which, I told them that they might want to take a look here before they go shooting off their mouths about all that, in that I tend to write LONG, and it may not be the right exact format for that sort of thing. I guess that there is alot of cross posting going on out there and I just dont know if I fit in that world. I am so much (too much?) more chatty and impressionistic than alot of what I see...and this was more a prelude to a book (not even about politics, but then isnt everything about politics?) than anything else....
But in any case, I like the people here and it feels great to be with so many like minded people who are so passionate and who touch so many other people....and many of whom have made a difference in the mess that this country is in and how we get our information...a huge difference.

On the other hand, there is a group of rock-star bloggers here who are a little too full of themselves and seem to think...as we used to say in Brooklyn...Who They Are!!
Its so clear to me that these people have a very important role in what has happened and in the evolution of information technology and writing. But the problem is that as they move along into the important work of TV punditry and book writing, they leave a gap if they arent able to recognize who else is out there. I often go on these big sites and see the "open thread," thing or a little blurb and then "comments," and, its not that I dont like comments...I love them...but there is a certain chat room quality to much of it, that is almost like SPAM that has to be sifted through. The social thing is fine, but I wonder where you draw the line in a gap filling medium that is so very important to the entire world at this point.
So, I would like to see more real writers being brought along, and recognition of that.
Since we are in a world where anyone can put material out there, it just seems like maybe some care should be taken to have real contributers from outside of the existing stale gene pool to bring in some fresh perspective.


Last night's keynote speech reminded me why I voted for Dean back then, and also how much I miss Sam Seder on the radio every day...not to mention that the comedians pretty much were just so-so, as opposed to Maron, who shoulda been here (were he not in Scotland at the Edinberg Comedy Festival for an entire month.) The food was great and most of the people were fun...and Howard spoke about how we have to make America great again in order to restore the global evolution that happens naturally when you have a force like America just being itself. Forcing your political system doesnt work, as if we needed that illustrated for us, and the best way to encourage democracy is to support other countries and show them what its like. It hardly makes sense to reverse our own constitution while trying to force some farcical democracy onto a country that has not gotten to the point where they want it so badly that they rise up themselves to get it.
I like to hear that kind of talk from our leaders. Its just too bad that the actions on the part of the party don't exactly represent what Dean is saying...so it all comes down to a very patriotic and stirring rah, rah speech...but what does it mean?



Air America Radio is represented by the "embedded" Sam Seder, who was featured in a smarmy email sent around to us ex-premium subscribers, as if they had sent a full crew with him to broadcast live from the Kos...no, no...Sam is taping interviews with his one producer, Lauren, in his hotel room with the likes of Joe Conazin...and what the fuck is Mark Green and his brother thingking with the new lineup announcement?...Oh forget it...Air America is dead to me...except for Sammy, Rachel, and Ring of Fire.
Cenk from Young Turks is here but its unclear what hes doing besides walking aorund being Cenk of Young Turks, and as if we didn't quite get it he came out in a change of wardrobe (again!...the guy has suits!) into a T-shirt that said Young Turks....


Tom Hayden is walking round, walking by, signing his book...and...oh there are so many, many things to do and people to see...but we have been so happy sitting in the lobby saying hi to everyone and blogging...
I guess we are now off to the What Happened to the Lamont Election...and then to one of Bob Geiger's talks about how to get your blog noticed, which Im less interested in the subject of than hanging with the fun people in the class.
I dont think Ive laughed this much in a long time or had more fun...
Maybe its a quirky and geeky kind of fun, but...I like it!

Greetings from the Yearly Kos....

Disgusted that I lost a pretty big post last night, and tired from the up all night getting things ready, stress, and travel itself, I’ve arrived in this flat place, where I have a Hyatt room with a view (check out the ballpark,), a Westin-like bed, not so heavenly, and even fireworks that were just set off outside of my window at dusk last night, so close and at an angle that I’ve never seen before.

Of course that bomb sound makes me jump, and I’ve been looking at a bridge collapse on Keith Olbermann, and feeling spooky in general….tired and worried. Finally I guess I have to turn off the TV and try to move on to the issues at hand.

This bridge thing is not about tragedy, folks…Its infrastructure! This is what happens when an administration puts all of its money into wars that feed their own cronies and pockets and….what happens when bids go out to the lowest bidder regardless of the quality of the work…with no oversight….no oversight…remember Reagan saying that there is no reason that big business cant oversee itself?...

It’s not like the Big Dig hasn’t been going on and on forever in Boston; and didn’t a huge slab of concrete fall from the ceiling of that onto some cars?

New York, and apparently Chicago are in constant construction, but it all seems to be scrambling to keep up, when general upkeep is defunded more and more.

Is this the fault of the unions? Large corporations that use shoddy materials meant to need replacement sooner than you would’ve thought? Human error and lack of inspectors to even do the job of looking at everything from our food to the bridge we’re crossing?

Call this a metaphor for what’s wrong with how we’re doing things and our seeming inability to change course effectively.

This isn’t just some tragedy…its what happens when you have 6 years of the defunding of social programs and infrastructure, undercutting in bidding, and cronyism….and this bridge is not just some bridge, it’s the Bush Administration, Iraq, Halliburton and its subsidiaries, melamine and poison in our food, and the fucking computer that doesn’t really work and keeps needing tech support.

Apple is to PC as socialism is to capitalism. (Go figure that one out…and I’m a PC person who just wants a fucking PC that works for longer than a month at a time!!…so…?)

It’s hot here and the convention center is HUGE. It’s the biggest convention center in North America and there are all sorts of things going on…The people who work here seem to not care what any of the conventions are and the guy at the desk was quite surprised that the bloggers were coming here. What happened to the youth of America just being interested in their surroundings? The pizza girl in the Panini shop was musing that perhaps Barak Obama would stroll in there and order a pizza from her…like a star! I was telling her that maybe you can get a band at the booth and go and see him; security is no doubt tight, but they are having some forums with the candidate of your choice, and so…why not? I picked Edwards anyway, but when I think of what I want to talk to him about should I ever get the chance it all rolls together into me dissolving into tears while trying to explain how screwed up the system is and how I’m struggling so hard to get just one family on some health plan and to have heat this winter. Next thing I know, a friend of mine who is in the system is telling me that the same place where they are holding summer camp for the inner city kids and then the after school program is where some mentally ill patients are being “mainstreamed,” which is consisting of the patients sitting in chairs around the edges of the place where the kids are. And this began with the information that the kids need more counselors and supplies. The minute you scratch the surface of any of this, the whole bridge comes down. That’s what I want to tell Edwards. Not that he needs to come to my little city and fix the problems there, but that the whole system needs to be changed in a way that is not even possible for one president over 8 years…even one party 16 years! And this is what leads to people feeling like its all just too upsetting to even do some little part of helping in society, or to at least KNOW what’s going on. I suppose that if you live in my area, it makes it a little hard to drive around in that Hummer and plan your ski vacation if you have any idea of what your downtown neighbors are going through. But for society to work properly, we all should know, even if it’s a safety issue or for your property values; keep them in OK circumstances and give them a chance, so they won’t come to your neighborhood and rob you!

I’m fascinated by a Shriners convention that is going on here. There are Queens of the Golden Sphinx and Grand Ruler of all Oblivion and all that; completely African American, men and women and families, all dressed nicely….then walking by was a natty older man carrying a very tall stack of white straw hats…and a woman in the elevator had a great red tote bad that had golden sphinxes on it and gold lettering that I was trying to take in...The Queens of the Order of the Golden Sphinx, or some such….And the great big Shriner’s hats with the gold lettering….Juxtaposed with the slacker gen x,y,z goateed bloggers….every time the elevator opens I wish I was ready with my camera because the mix is fantastic!

I was following a group of black women in matching white dress suits with golden necklaces, sashes, and huge hats like crowns, each saying something or other, and there was a sign saying The Court of the Grand Messianic…whatever…and I was SO there, man!...but a kid in a suit at a desk stopped me….and I was trying to make my way down to the Starbucks where a huge mix of people were standing on line in the understaffed place, and chatting along: lurker here, blogger there...poobah and queen this way…

Here I am... back to this post and need to rest a bit before I figure out what’s going on, and get some food…just sit in the lobby and watch the comings and goings…but I was asking a bellman if the Shriners had any problem with having their pictures taken because I really want to photograph the thing…

Mom just told me, along with stories about the boys and birds and little chickens and did Wayne show up with the bucket truck yesterday, that when she worked at Storyville during college that the Shriners were THE wildest party that would book the place. That after the food service they would bring out the booze and lock out the help till morning. Morning brought a giant cleanup job beyond anything she had ever seen….But these Shriners are like a Baptist Sunday church group…during the daytime hours anyway!! We will have to see!!

Meanwhile in the south building of the largest convention hall in North America (and I am trying hard not to walk a million miles, lest I end up renting a scooter and really having some fun!) the empty shell of the Yearly Kos registration booth was abuzz last nite with volunteers running round, and here and there were signs that that the hipster youth was taking over from the Queen Sphinxes. I just want to check out the store…I’m all about shopping for swag…Shriners swag!! Ill do my best to at least get pictures.

Anyway, the booth was running late for the early arrival registration, and I went over to sit on a couch and watch the goings on while blogging (which I lost in that the file exists but it has no text in it. I was using a program called Jarte, and saved to a word format….the file is there but has nothing in it…oh well…) outside the bar where the organizers and known blogger guys were talking seriously on their phones and moving and shaking the blogosphere, or at east the YK….and after getting my bag and Edwards wristband for Saturday, I got all caught up in photographing the art and decoration here and in the center.

There is a wall o’ bones and ancient tools that repeat and repeat, and there is a tapestry/rug thing that I could swear looks like 9-11 and the fall of the World Trade Center, but is actually the Chicago skyline. The architecture of the place is so huge and it brings to mind…um…fear of the marketplace. Anyone would get agoraphobia here. It’s actually like a huge World Trade Center in that its got is own airflow and is like a world unto itself. I have to explore a bit more to find the mall and shops and food court, but really I’m pretty happy right here between the edge where the Kos is, and the lobby of the hotel with panini like fancy pizza, Starbucks, and the comfy couches full of people with laptops on one side and groups of bejeweled Shriners on the other.

More later from fantabulous YK2, where I am hard pressed to even leave my room but every time I do I get so many ideas…few of them having to do with progressive politics;-)

OK....Here are the girls....@ 1 day old! (Ive got Will on photo duty while Im away, so there will be more to come!!)

and, Im expecting some Serama eggs to incubate any day. Seramas are tiny chickens who, if they are bred right, are small enough to sit in your hand, with the girls being under a pound...go figure that I want the strangest breed who will likely end up int he basement for the winter...mud room at least...

Off to the Yearly Kos...Welcome to Vincent Bird...John Edwards for President... and my Limited Experience With the Other America

Welcome to Vincent!! he is a baby Indian Ring Neck parakeet who has just come to live with us from Parrots & Co.. What can I say? Some things just make sense....and Vincent did.



















Well, one good thing about this whole mess is that life goes on...Gonzalez, Iraq, and the Hitler Youth who have been running important programs in our government, like HHS, run by this guy who threw back important reports that didn't have the correct political angle.












What makes this guy able to change reports about the health of the American public, and isn't it rather Third Riech-ian to force department after department to mention the success of Bushco a certain number of times in each paragraph...? How can this be??


























Here we are poised on the edge of the week that will feature the Yearly Kos, complete with all the major democratic candidates sniping at each other while looking sideways, shifty eyes to try to figure how that looks on them, and repositioning their bustles to march away with their various entourages...however that works....and I am slayed by the huge and disgusting specter of what Bushco has made of this administration and our constitution. Every blog, every television channel, for Christ's sake!!...every person that I meet on the street who sees my impeach button is just in sputtering disbelief. At least there is community in that, and there will be community at the Kos in that we feel that somehow we can do something in that all of our voices together have become very loud no matter how tiny any one of us is (thats me...the tiny one!)

Never have I seen such dripping contempt for the law, the branches of government, and the people, as I have with this crowd. The Nixon Whitehouse was absolutely liberal and socially correct, law-abiding and ...um...sweet, compared to this crowd. I just wanted a little something to sink my teeth into, not the fall of the empire!

















I'm living in fast forward and as usual I have too many irons in too many fires, and too many feet in different worlds. I've not been blogging much this week because every time Ive made a draft, it seems that life moves past that place and it all seems quaint.
So, yes, as of today I am apparently going to the Kos, and I wish I could say that Ive got all my chickens in a row and parrots standing at attention, but I don't...and this big messy life continues its course towards the nearest iceberg...if those even exist anymore. Maybe that's why the basement keeps flooding.
















Jill did a fantastic job of encapsulating the democratic debate, as she has also been doing a great week-in-review thing at The Crone Speaks blog, and will have it up later on as an alternative to the reruns on 60 Minutes.
The thing that struck me was that Edwards is getting fed up; I like him when he is fed up. When he says things like "aren't you just SICK of this?" it really touches me....I was sick of this from the get-go, and I want Bush out of office...people are dying, people are suffering, and our country is falling apart.
But more to the point is that I have been trying to navigate some very difficult necessities with Ben's family, and it has given me full exposure to just a tiny part of what the day to day is like for people in the other America.
For those of you who don't know Ben, he is my son Will's best friend,and has been a wonderful addition to just about every day of our lives in one way or another for the past 5 years. Lately its every day because, thanks to welfare reform, Ben's mom has completed a course in being a home care companion and now has intermittent work that she has to take in order to secure her benefits, which takes her away from Ben (her 6th kid, and the only one still at home...the rest are grown up,) and the 2 grandkids that she is raising. I'm talking about a job that begins early Monday morning and goes till Saturday morning, 24 hours per day.
Who cares for the kids? Well, if Bill Clinton and the idiots who pushed this idiotic reform through ever asked that, maybe we would have less of a problem with kids in the inner city caught up in drugs, gangs, pregnancy, or just slipping through the cracks and unable to get their work done.
An older gentleman, who is just wonderful, watches the children during the week at this point and one of Ben's older sisters has been around with her 3 kids, but he is old and she is screwed up, and her kids are problematic, and the house is too small.
I take Ben because I want him and also because I don't want him to be there, doing nothing, and unable to read because its too noisy. Some of the kids go to the city camp, and some hang around.
In general the grownups seem to be careful about not letting anyone go to the playground alone...but, how long can that go on? One girl is a beautiful, tall 13 year old, and one kid is a troublemaker...one of the cousins is a tiny girl who has been known to kill small animals, and the last time I saw the responsible older sister/mom person, she was sitting next to an open bottle of rum with a pack of Newports on the couch next to her, braiding a kid's hair painfully, and slurring about how she has lost her housing and is moving to Florida in a couple of weeks.

This is welfare reform up close. Mom is working, the programs are limited and there are few supplies because the high school kids come into the community center once a week and steal everything. The public school puts out its supply list in a week or so, and each list contains items that cost roughly $100 per kid if you get the cheapest items at Staples. Mom is not around, and the local Supermarket moved from 1 block from the "complex," to 2 miles away, across the street from another huge supermarket! So, Shoprite opened a humongous market on rt. 1, which was needed, and then Stop and Shop proceeded to close their store and move directly across the street. Where is the city planning committee when these things are decided?
The "Village" which was built on the rubble of the high rise projects that used to be a fortress against the cops are cute little streets, like cul de sacs, carved into the inner city, with white houses and some low-rise apartments and condos for sale, but are only notable in that they look good in a driveby or a flyover, but are so shabbily constructed as to be made literally of plastic. The door jambs are flexible plastic that have taken on the dirt of a million little dirty hands and when you go to press the doorbell the entire piece bends in and then pops out. The carpeting inside is white; enough said....the blinds are the cheapest mini-blinds and have long ago buckled under their own weight, much less being opened and closed. These small houses are "rented" to low income families who are giving a portion of their benefit check for rent, and so there is no extra money for upkeep. The city has seemingly done none themselves, except to keep the streets clean. There are no garbage cans on the streets nor are there mail boxes. One has to walk off the compound to go to the post office, much less the store or market.
Going to the market used to consist of walking 3 blocks and pushing a cart back, but now it involves walking miles in the heat and pushing a cart back or taking a cab. Of course, one or two towers of the old projects still stand up the street, so these people are the lucky ones. The gardens are well tended and the residents of this place show alot of pride in their homes.

recently, the police came to the house next door to Ben's to find a guy who had an outstanding warrant for ...um...murder. he wouldn't come out and a bunch of guys came outside, a crowd gathered, and the new crop of Stamford police academy grads tasered a bunch of guys and threw some people around. This is the house next door that always has very loud rap music coming from it. The Bloods gang has a problem with certain Haitians and has shot guns in and around this area....and Ben feels like it is all very safe there. There is a strong Christian Haitian community down there, but Ben's family are not church members, so they keep to themselves and with their small group of friends and family.

In the time that this struggle has been going on with Ben's mother's work. I have continued to do what I have always done with them, which is to be their friend and to have Ben here as much as he wants to be with us. I also have, for the first time, helped them with doctors and groceries.
A social worker who had hooked Mom up with the schooling and job that takes her away for entire weeks at a time was supposed to help get the Husky health insurance forms in...and let me tell you, these are complicated forms for ME to fill out...so, she found herself too busy and out of money and blood pressure medication. The doctor wouldn't fill it unless she went in and that cost $90, not to mention the medication cost. So, she ran out of meds and became so sick that she couldn't work, get food, get out of bed...and finally she called me and asked if I could front her the money to see the Doctor.

I did, of course, and I also got some food because the cupboard was bare! I then set about filling out the papers to get Ben health insurance from the state, and realized that she is also eligible as a caretaker...not to mention that the two grandchildren that she has custody of are already on it, and she should have been offered it long ago for her and for Ben. The problem is that the forms are crazy complicated and even with a highlighter and little stickies, its nearly impossible to get it all done in reasonable time when someone is gone 100% of the time during the weekdays.
This is welfare reform....and I am keeping Ben up here while the others are left down there....I check the food, bring groceries, and hope for the best. I give the caretakers there my phone numbers and they lose them over and over...and finally we have a number of where the mom is working, so we can reach her. She got a cell phone but it is a pay as you go which is expensive, and she is only making $500 flat per week, which comes out to around $4 per hour....Oh, did I mention that this job is only temporary? Previously it was only the weekends, it may change again at the drop of a hat...who knows? Part of poverty and living in that other America is that everything is intermittent and everything costs more. Takeout or delivery food when the market is too far, taxis because you have no car, pay as you go phone at as much as 25 cents per minute because you cant guarantee payment in order to get an account with a cell phone company or don't have a credit card because you were offered many in the past and..... This is how it is.
















Our social services that were so handicapped by the Reagan administration in the days of Manhattan with streets covered with the homeless and AIDS patients, have been dealt such a blow by this horrible administration that it is impossible to judge budget feasibility or where we stand in the larger picture of what social security was supposed to be in spirit in this country, and it is unclear to me if we can have any focus group look at things against the current backdrop and make improvements or to assemble a panel of great philosophical minds and try to remember what it is that America is...what we were...why we were formed...and what we want to be.













































John Edwards is the guy to bring that conversation back to life. He has kept a consistent message since before this mess began, and even when the handlers got ahold of him, he has stayed on message.


Look, the majority of the country is on board with the anti-war, anti criminal behavior by our elected officials deal, and I'm not saying that we should let up in any way, but the important things to get done past that are diplomatic and having to do with how we will survive as a society if we don't honor the weakest among us. Wasn't the point of the formation of America so that everyone could have a chance at some sort of a life and the opportunity to achieve much more than that. Weren't these ideas formed by people who were fleeing a monarchical system that ensured a permanent upper class that one could only be born to, and a permanent underclass? Our constitution and laws are supposed to protect the rights of all people, and the aim of this government is supposed to be to perfect the original aim of the idea that everyone has the right to fulfill their potential in full while living with rights and dignity. I know that someone out there will bring up slavery and women's rights, but the point to me is that we are charged with the responsibility of working hard to perfect the tendency of humans to do what is the selfish, barbaric, and crazy thing. Isn't religion largely based on that? And isn't our government also based on that as well? Its the striving to overcome our own tendencies and to give everyone a chance...that would have to include putting a check on unfettered ...anything....we do not have the moral strength to do this internally...right?

I want to discuss the wealth factor in the Edwards equation, but I may save it for another post, because I am hoping that the issue evolves into the reality that they are ALL wealthy, and that the image of the slick lawyer who would take you to the cleaners is being exploited by the right here, and pasted on Edwards, with no real evidence that he has done anything to anyone...except to win against some large corporations. And since when does the average person care about large corporations being made to pay royally for mistakes that take people's lives? Especially when awards are decided largely next to a picture of how much a large corporation makes.
You would think that Edwards was taking grandma's farm away because she bumped someone's car at a red light! Now, that's good use of propaganda...but it has nothing to do with reality.
I hope that Edwards addresses this head on....and keeps up the good work like the great HAIR video: