21 years age, after having dropped out of law school & gone into debt to be a full time organizer/staffer for him three years before, my candidate Gary Hart was exposed by the Miami Herald & National Enquirer, as a guy who had cheated on his wife & the rest of us.  About a decade later, as a country, we went though the all too fresh partisan impeachment over an episode of sex & lies.  I've seen & lived this story before and my heart really does go out to the hundreds of people who worked so hard for the Edwards Campaign.  My advice is to grieve, cry, live, learn & grow.  Your campaign was not really about John Edwards just as my campaign way back in the 1980's was not about Gary Hart.  

I recently posted on the issue of "tolerance vs. approval" as it relates to choosing where we live and with whom we socialize within the context of how these and similar decisions effect or are effected by our principles - and thus our political actions.

The subsequent brief discussion made me realize that I'd really like to know  just how many Americans consider such notions, or instead tend more toward the oft-abused "agree to disagree" approach, and thus end up failing to do their part in serving the critically necessary tenets of opposition in a democratic republic.

More after the crease, with a poll.

These days, in the quest for ratings and money, some news programs cease to be factual.

The FCC should look into this. Fox News is a misnomer. It should be called Fox Entertainment or The Republican Channel or Fox Rumors, but it does not qualify as a news channel.

I sent the following letter to Barack Obama, via his spokesperson, Bill Burton.  I am posting it here because I've changed my mind about FISA - again. If anyone was paying attention (which I doubt) or if this confuses you, let  Glenn Greenwald unconfuse you. Glenn is the man!

In short, I wrote a number of comments to stories and diaries here urging people to calm down about Obama's new FISA position.  All day today, I felt like shit.  I realized why just tonight.  Barack Obama's sellout of the Constitution, and his bailout of the telecoms makes me sick!

I've written a letter telling the campaign exactly what I will and will not do for Obama at this point.

The full text is below the fold....

The Lieberman-Warner Climate inSecurity Act (CISA) can accurately be described as the Coal Subsidy Act. With all the embedded subsidies and support for the coal industry, why is the coal industry fighting the Coal Subsidy Act?

In short: not enough.  

In short: Profits.

Come on Hoosiers! This is your time. Obama will not let you down. He'll work everyday to make this a better country for all Americans. Vote Barack Obama and change the world!

I'm feeling great about Obama! I believe Indiana will reject the status quo and vote for the future.

Not much of a diary, but I'm feeling real giddy and positive today about Indiana.

Following is the latest draft of "What We Stand For." With input from many others, some colleagues and I have developed this statement of principles, or worldview, as the basis of unity for a proposed new project, a "network of home-grown communities." It is presented here to illustrate the kind of declaration that could help strengthen and hold together broad, ongoing, progressive coalitions.

As stated in the Book of Proverbs, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." And, to paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, the ancestor of every political movement is a statement of purpose.

Let me first say that on the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel, Obama has shown more boldness than most pols with presidential aspirations. The possibility that he might bring some sanity and decency to American policy on this issue is a reason I voted for him.

But as the campaign has progressed, he's gotten more timid on the issue. And now he's timid to the point of compromising his principles.

Sometimes a moment presents itself that perfectly expresses such a wide range of emotions that it leaves you fairly breathless.

I had a moment like this last night while I was watching TV.  I thought to myself, if someone asked me to sum up for them who I was and where I'm coming from, I would point to this.  So I'm pointing now.

More over the fold.

To put forth the question bluntly, what's the difference between Randi calling HRC a whore and Bill implying that Michelle Obama should be lynched?

Attributed variously to Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Arabic culture is an old saying that goes something like this.

Third rate people talk about people.
Second rate people talk about events.
First rate people talk about ideas.

We wonder if the concept cannot be extended to the speech of political candidates.  And, perhaps, political reporters.

Third rate candidates talk about events.
Second rate candidates talk about issues.
First rate candidates talk about principles.

Today's Washington Post opinion piece by James Carville sums up everything that is wrong and sick about him and the two Clintons and their brand of American politics.

Carville reminds us...

So, when asked on Good Friday about Richardson's rejection of the Clintons, the metaphor was too good to pass by. I compared Richardson to Judas Iscariot. (And Matthew Dowd is right: Had it been the Fourth of July, I probably would have called him Benedict Arnold.)

Well, I suppose that makes Hillary Clinton into Jesus and George Washington. (Keith Olberman made that observation.) But that's not how we should do politics in a democracy.

The survey about Clinton supporters not voting for Obama, and vice versa, is GREAT news. I actually like the fact that we Democrats have such deeply held beliefs that we are deciding to hold our ground. No one will ever again accuse us of not having spines.

My only request is that we all agree to start acting like adults and stop pouting because other people don't agree with us.

The Obama Presidency approaches. Senator Clinton's admirably pugnacious effort to win the nomination has milked the opposition of the succor that would have nourished their autumn offensive. Republicans and conservatives may be adopting an aloof posture, as though the heated competition for the nomination is helping them, but it is not. Senator Obama's few "issues" have been discussed, dissected, and deliberated ad infinitum.

He will win the nomination, after a heated primary (as FDR did in 1932); he will win the Presidency in a surprising blowout (as FDR did in 1932); but FDR instituted the New Deal not because he had planned for it, but to capitalize on electoral success and address growing class rage.

If President Obama feels no pressure to push the country leftward, he will have no incentive to do so, because moving to the Left is by definition the riskiest thing a modern American politician can do: it activates the forces of organized money and unifies the geographically and ideologically disparate forces of conservatism.

Jimmyjames has a very well written, well reasoned diary that discusses the "electability" argument. I complete agree with his conclusion, but I want to take on the logic of one sentence in particular because I hear it a lot amongst Democrats and the NetRoots:

"If I'm honest with myself, I know that I will vote for any yellow dog that is on the ticket.  The stakes are too high to stand on principle."

Here is my question, if the stakes are so high how can we NOT stand on principle?

When it comes to the fundamentals of education, there are the "three Rs":  Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic.

Environmentalism's Three Rs:  Reduce use; Reuse things; Recycle as much as possible.

And, for energy, there are these Three Rs: Reduce use (via efficiency and conservation); Renewable power as much as possible; Remediate for any use of non-renewable power sources.

I haven't decided who to support as the nominee -- well, aside from Hunter S. Thompson, and he's too busy being fireworks to run.  So instead, I've drafted portions of the speech that I want the nominee to give.  This is necessarily rough, incomplete, un-fact-checked, and disorganized.  So be it.

As an Edwards supporter, I am naturally disappointed that he suspended his campaign today. At the same time, I am heartened by people’s determination to continue promoting progressive values in our country – a struggle that was aided by JRE’s campaign and won’t stop now. As the great labor leader Joe Hill said on his deathbed, "Don’t Mourn, Organize."

At the same time, I am puzzled by the automatic shift some JRE supporters are making towards Obama, and ask you to consider three points: