Jane Hamsher on John and Elizabeth Edwards
The bad news is that Elizabeth Edwards has had a recurrence of her cancer, though it's treatable. The good news is that Elizabeth Edwards is still the remarkable person she has been all along. No one believes in John Edwards more than Elizabeth, so the campaign goes on.
In January, Jane Hamsher had an operation for cancer but insisted on being part of the team of bloggers watching the Scooter Libby trial in Washington. Republicans ready to exploit the Edwards situation and thick-headed conventional wisdom types who are ethically and socially challenged these days should keep in mind that they face a considerable force in Jane Hamsher; she's ready to take on all nonsense. Here's Jane's post from Firedoglake:
John Edwards is very high on my list of presidential candidates though I haven't committed yet. But I do know this. There is a shifting wind in this country. I don't know if a Democrat will win the presidency in 2008 and whether that would be followed by a few years of serious reform, but change is coming. The last fifteen years have exposed a level of rot in Washington that the American people can no longer ignore. That rot is not limited to right wing Republicans. Even a small percentage of Democrats seem far behind the times and ignorant of the issues facing our country. And then, there's the lobbyists and the campaign contributors with deep pockets and the right wing media machines and even supposedly neutral media types who haven't got a clue how out of touch they are. Most of the Democratic presidential runners currently in the race would make fine presidents and would be a vast improvement over the current occupant in the White House, but there are only two Democrats, in my mind, who truly get it; John Edwards is one of them.
In January, Jane Hamsher had an operation for cancer but insisted on being part of the team of bloggers watching the Scooter Libby trial in Washington. Republicans ready to exploit the Edwards situation and thick-headed conventional wisdom types who are ethically and socially challenged these days should keep in mind that they face a considerable force in Jane Hamsher; she's ready to take on all nonsense. Here's Jane's post from Firedoglake:
I was discussing the prospects for the Edwards campaign this morning with some friends after hearing the rumor that following the press conference, Edwards still had a full schedule booked. Someone mentioned that if in fact Elizabeth's cancer had returned, it didn't mean that Edwards would necessarily drop out — he might elect to stay in the race anyway. She might want him to.
"That's what I'd do," I said.
... All I can say was that it was really important to me to stay in the game following my surgery, to know that this "thing" hadn't beaten me and I had a life that it was not going to derail. Even though Christy, Marcy, Pach, Swopa, Jeralyn and Arianna practically had to prop me up and my brainpower was marginal when I was in DC, I was at the Libby trial. Every. Single. Day. I needed to know, for myself, that even though accomodations had to be made, I was still living my life on my terms. I fully understand why Elizabeth made the decision she did. I can't know what it's like to be in her shoes — her cancer is now incurable, but treatable, which must be really, really scary – but I like to think I would've had the courage to do the same thing. It's awfully brave.
Elizabeth has always been really supportive. She called me the day before my surgery in January to wish me luck. It meant a lot. I wish her the best of luck as well. ...
John Edwards is very high on my list of presidential candidates though I haven't committed yet. But I do know this. There is a shifting wind in this country. I don't know if a Democrat will win the presidency in 2008 and whether that would be followed by a few years of serious reform, but change is coming. The last fifteen years have exposed a level of rot in Washington that the American people can no longer ignore. That rot is not limited to right wing Republicans. Even a small percentage of Democrats seem far behind the times and ignorant of the issues facing our country. And then, there's the lobbyists and the campaign contributors with deep pockets and the right wing media machines and even supposedly neutral media types who haven't got a clue how out of touch they are. Most of the Democratic presidential runners currently in the race would make fine presidents and would be a vast improvement over the current occupant in the White House, but there are only two Democrats, in my mind, who truly get it; John Edwards is one of them.
Labels: 2008 election, Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards
posted by Craig at 2:22 PM
2 Comments:
I agree wholeheartedly. I also hope and pray Hamsher and Elizabeth Edwards both make it.
S.W., in 2004, my wife wrote to Elizabeth Edwards after her announcement that she had breast cancer; Mrs. Edwards wrote a short but personal note back. A class act. My wife is one of the lucky ones; she's a seven year survivor in an era when the treatment keeps improving. We're lucky our health insurance was very good at the time, though good insurance is now getting tougher to come by.
As time goes by, it's amazing how much more personal the stakes in politics are becoming. In some ways, it's 1932 all over again.
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