I'll miss John Edwards

He was never very close to having my vote, but I appreciated having John Edwards and his populist message in the mix. He was one of the candidates the media marginalized because they won’t spend the money to cover everyone in a thoughtful way, so they called him “angry” and pushed him over into the Paul/Kucinich corner. I think the real question should have been, “Why aren’t we all as angry as Edwards?”

Lord knows I’m not anti-business, but is there any question as to who really sets domestic policy in this country? The drug and insurance lobbyists write our health care legislation and give us the most expensive health care in the world, with results comparable to Poland’s. Our Vice President gathers together leaders of the major oil and energy companies to craft energy policy, then refuses to make public who attended. That’s worked out well if you enjoy paying $3.50 for a gallon of gas.

The media companies pushed through legislation to allow a small number of them to concentrate control of a much larger number of TV stations and newspapers. Wall Street rapes and pillages without restraint while throwing fabulous fund-raising events for our leaders. (Thank you for those innovative sub-prime mortgages, by the way.)

CEO’s loses billions and walk away with tens of millions in bonuses based on profits that were never real in the first place, and who does anything about it? At least Edwards was raising a stink. But now he’s gone and his issues along with him.

Hankster shared the following from The Nation, speculating that Ralph Nader may jump into the battle again in order to give voice to these anti-corporate arguments, which I welcome. Money has captured the political process and real change is not going to happen until someone changes that.