Last night on Bill Moyers I saw an interview with Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky of the world famous in Poland Institute of Expertology.

They were on Moyers to discuss their brilliant new work of satire: Mission Accomplished! Or How We Won the War in Iraq: The Experts Speak, a compendium of quotes abridged with the occasional established facts about the expert prognostication we've been lucky to have endured during the run-up to and the duration of the War in Iraq.

The book opens with this quote:

You need someone in office who will tell the truth.

George W. Bush, Republican candidate for the U.S. presidency
October 17, 2000.

Experts agree: this is an essential quality of distinguished leadership. Even in Poland.

There are a few kinds of partisan divisions on the issue of health care reform and two of them exist on our side of the spectrum. First, the Obama-Clinton divide on mandating employer based care and second, the left has a structural divide between advocates of single-payer and employer based health care.

I live in Massachusetts and as a blogger at this site I am seriously disappointed that partisans of all varieties continue to trash and defame my state's efforts to address costs by mandating coverage. I am particularly incensed when partisans don't tell the truth about my state. And I think we need to have this discussion honestly because if we can't get real national reform that works for actual people in the next administration then we'll be ready for the proverbial fork.

I read the Why Elizabeth Edwards is Wrong diary and I think the diarist owes a correction, several of them actually. But this diary is not about Mrs. Edwards as she can speak for herself. This diary is about us having an honest dialog.

Trying Some Disney Attitude to Help Cure Walter Reed
by Steve Vogel

Fifty medical workers -- doctors, nurses, therapists and administrators among them -- sat in a room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center gazing at a slide of Donald Duck on a screen.

The oft-cranky Disney cartoon character, wearing his blue sailor jacket and cap, was in a palpable rage. His webbed feet had lifted off the ground, his beak was gaping, and his white-gloved hands were tightly clutching an old-fashioned two-piece telephone.

If you're concerned about how the media regularly engage in the demonization and denigration of liberal voices in our country today then you should check out the article at FAIR.org Friday. Voices that express mainstream American values and offer the only hope for the future of our country that is.

Taking Offense at Edwards

By the time the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries passed in early January, there had been several distinct cycles in the media coverage of the fight for the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton went from inevitable nominee to also-ran to comeback kid in the space of a week, for example, while Barack Obama was transformed from hopeful newcomer to sure-thing front-runner in one evening.

One media trend remained remarkably steady, though: the press corps’ hostility to the John Edwards campaign.

The bus was late, but the show was sweet - bittersweet. John Edwards closed out his NH campaign in Dover last night to a rapt audience.

Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and James Denton were there. The whole Edwards family was there. The entire campaign family was there. The family of labor showed up in full solidarity for John Edwards. The enthusiastic family of environmental activists represented by Friends of the Earth was there.

But another family came to the Elk's Lodge in Dover tonight to support John Edwards at his final campaign event in NH.

The family of Nataline Sarkysian, a beloved daughter and sister, a friend and a young teenager so full of hope and potential, an American no longer on this earth for the sake of a few dollars more on the bottom line, that family was there tonight in Dover. The Sarkysian Family was there to raise their voices in protest during their time of intense grief to remind us that pernicious influence of corporations is not just the ultimate boogeyman out there in the political landscape today. No, the story of Nataline is a story about the human costs of the system we live under today in this country.

I don't think that Barack Obama is a hypocrite.

As long as they keep it positive I really don't have an opinion one way or another what these 527's do at all. Especially when in the case of the Alliance for a New America they represent "special interests" like the SEIU, its labor constituency including people like nurses and even as one Obama supporter inferred here a possibly senile old lady duped out of her money by a forger.  

I think the recent spate of Edwards hate by many Obama supporters at this website is just another attempt to attack John Edwards on personality with smears and innuendo, but there is a much larger issue here than I know your candidate is but what is mine?

A feisty and boisterous overflow crowd greeted Team Edwards Wednesday in Portsmouth, NH on a chilly and gray day with more snow forecast for the Granite State. "Only in NH would someone ask the band a question," and JJ, a volunteer who introduced Peter Coyote, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, even got heckled by another attendee.

That mood was matched by the tone and passion of the new John Edwards stump speech.

"America Rising" is not a warm and fuzzy retooling of a "harsh anti-corporate populist" message that Edwards has been accused of delivering in this race. The remarks by Edwards were fairly consistent with the message I've heard since summer and they encapsulate the core values of our nation. The speech is truthful and aspirational. We were all in the mood for some truth-telling on Wednesday.

Follow me below the fold for all the video of Edwards's closing argument: "America Rising."

N.O. fracas over plans to raze housing

NEW ORLEANS - Protesters angry about the pending demolition of more than 4,000 public housing units stormed a City Council meeting Thursday in a confrontation that ended with a prominent civil rights lawyer being hauled off in handcuffs...

"We live in a system where if you cheer or chant in the City Council you get arrested, but you can demolish 4,500 people's apartments and everybody's supposed to go along with that? That's not going to happen," Quigley said.

"There's going to be a lot more disturbing the peace before this is all over, I'm afraid."

Follow me below the fold for the real story on the ground including video of Maxine Waters in New Orleans on the second anniversary of Katrina.  

On Saturday night I was invited to attend a screening of the new movie, Honk for Peace, in Greenwich CT as part of the Connecticut Film Festival. Ned Lamont, Alan Schlesinger, the filmaker Corey Boutilier, the whole Lamont crew and of course, Hollywood Bob, all come out to see the film and enjoy some Q & A with Ned after the screening.

So imagine my surprise when Alan Schlesinger, the Republican nominee for the CT Senate race in 2006 completely repudiated the Bush administration on Iraq seen through the light of Iran.

Follow me below the fold for another shocking repudiation of Bush foreign policy by a self-admitted former acolyte.

This vlog contains much of the Q & A for two events that I attended in October of 2007 in NH: Dover and Exeter. At the Dover Town Hall Edwards received the Friends of the Earth endorsement. Exeter was old school retail politics at its best and had a very warm vibe because I taped it the day after the Red Sox won the World Series for the second time in four years.

Why is there an extraordinary disconnect between the strength and goodness of the American people and the government?

Part of it is incompetence: there's no question about that. But I believe it's not just incompetence, I think it's also ... the creeping effect of corruption.

It did not start with George Bush ... I think it has been building up for twenty years. And what are the examples of it? They go on forever ...

These things are not an accident. They are the direct result of the poison fruit of corruption.

On Monday I attended an Edwards event at Exeter Town Hall in NH. It was NH Retail at its very best.

The Edwards stump has taken a major step forward since I saw him two weeks ago, the content has changed and the tone has shifted to that of an urgency in his current speech. The distinctions are now razor sharp between John Edwards and the rest of the field, "you have choices in this election and you need to be aware of them." The reality of where we are as a country today and the vision for where we all want to be as a people are now painted in excruciating and moving detail on one issue after another: universal health care; corruption; disenfranchisement of the citizenry; economic fairness; our two unequal school systems; global warming and conservation the list goes on ...

And it's only about 23 minutes so you can imagine, man. Follow me below the fold for the full video and the antidote.

I went to see Elizabeth Edwards in Brentwood, NH at a stunning home in a beautiful country setting right outside Exeter last Friday. She "hadn't done one of these in quite some time," but she wasn't rusty and the packed house of about 100 people were happy to get a chance to see our favorite Elizabeth talk about the campaign.  

She gave us a good look at her husband and who he really is, the broad strokes on the rationale for the Edwards message, discussed the 50 state strategy, answered a few questions and she met Margery, a wise sage, published poet and a Great American.

Follow me below the fold for all the video of Mrs. Edwards in Brentwood.

On the second anniversary of Katrina, I attended a candlelight vigil held on the Haynes Boulevard Levee in New Orleans East. It was well attended by city officials, community leaders and regular citizens that came out that night to honor the dead and renew their commitment to bringing New Orleans East back as a viable and vibrant part of New Orleans.

As we stood on "the levee that did not fail," Cynthia Willard-Lewis, New Orleans council member from District E, urged us to:

continue to talk about what we have seen and what we have heard. For two years we have seen great confusion and a sense of abandonment. And so we continue to tell the stories that hope beyond hope drives the people of Eastern New Orleans.

So in that spirit follow me below the fold to meet Pearl and Margie, two unbelievable survivors making it work in the city they love and still call home.

I went to see Elizabeth Edwards in Brentwood, NH at a stunning home in a beautiful country setting right outside Exeter, NH. About 100 people came out early Friday evening to see our favorite Elizabeth.

The whole family will be doing the Partridge Family thing over the next few days throughout the state and as Elizabeth told us today, Exeter has always meant Halloween to her since she saw a bunch of grapes walking out of the Town Hall down the street a few years back.

She was a few minutes late but we didn't mind one bit. And she did not fail to impress us with her remarks. But something struck me as so outrageous, I decided to post it as soon as possible. Follow me below the fold for the latest news on the anti-Edwards whispering campaign that is in full swing in the Granite State. Things that go bump in the night. The irony.

At a recent house party and town hall meeting in Dover, NH John Edwards showed up with Brent Blackwelder of Friends of the Earth Action to receive the group's endorsement for Democratic nominee for President. He came to campaign in a retail politics state and answer some very tough questions from NHer-ites; to give them a good look up close and personal at my choice for the nomination.

But he also came to criticize the system awash in "big campaign cash" as the true obstacle to the reform of our government and its policies on almost every issue today and particularly on global warming and health care. Edwards breezed through his remarks spending the bulk of his time at this campaign stop answering questions, but he kicked it up a notch on his criticism of Clinton on two main issues: lobbyists and Iran.

Follow me below the fold for all the video and what I hope is not the future of our party: defeat in 2008 with Hillary Clinton as our nominee.  

Why Wal-Mart? There's a lot of different ways you can answer that question. You can talk about the negative impact they have on their workers. You can talk about the terrible effects they have on the community or the nation.

But maybe this is the best way to understand:

You're talking about a company with the economic power of Standard Oil and the values of Big Tobacco.

-- Chris Kofinis, Wake-Up Wal-Mart.
video source from Change to Win

I was invited to attend a screening of the movie sponsored by the Newbury Democratic Town Committee with special guest speaker Gov. Mike Dukakis at Newbury Elementary School in Newbury, MA. Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) was also in attendance and spoke briefly.

Follow me below the fold for all the video, a bit about the movie and what citizens all over this country are doing to take their communities back from a company with the values of Big Tobacco.

Friends of the Earth Action: Fighting for laws and lawmakers that protect the environment announced their endorsement today of John Edwards at a Town Hall meeting in Dover, NH.

As Brent Blackwelder, FoE-A President, and John Edwards stood on the grass just outside a lovely home in a stunning waterfront setting they both talked about why the issue of global warming is so vital to the future of our country and planet. Mr. Blackwelder enumerated the reasons for the group's endorsement, but his remarks were not just about the endorsement and the mortal peril our planet faces as the living breathing organism that it is.

Blackwelder laid down the gauntlet on the corrupt process that we all face as citizens of this country. A process and a system that makes honest dialog on an issue like global warming nearly impossible today.

Follow me below the fold for all the video of Blackwelder and Edwards in Dover today.

On the second anniversary of Katrina, I attended a candlelight vigil held on the Haynes Boulevard Levee in New Orleans East. It was well attended by city officials, community leaders and regular citizens that came out that night to honor the dead and renew their commitment to bringing New Orleans East back as a viable and vibrant part of New Orleans.

As we stood on "the levee that did not fail," Cynthia Willard-Lewis, New Orleans council member from District E, urged us to

continue to talk about what we have seen and what we have heard. For two years we have seen great confusion and a sense of abandonment. And so we continue to tell the stories that hope beyond hope drives the people of Eastern New Orleans.

So in that spirit follow me below the fold to meet Jennifer and Eva, two survivors making it work in the city they love and still call home. New Orleans, cher.