JRE Buzz (30): Courage Edition

Welcome BW readers to JRE Buzz where you can get the latest news and blog information digest about John Edwards and his family. (photo credit: bittar_earings)

Elizabeth is the big buzz this week, and will be for some days to come since her book, Saving Graces, was released to the public by retailers. I must say that I was fortunate to have ordered my copy from Amazon and I got it the same day as buying in the store. Is that service or what?

Elizabeth and her book were showcased on the Oprah Winfrey show on Wednesday, and on a segment of Brian Williams' NBC Nightly News last night. On MSNBC's site, you can e-mail Elizabeth a question. If you missed Oprah, my friend Machka of Southern Hope has recorded the session and posted it on V-Social.

People released another piece, this one online, that gave her a few Q's to answer off the cuff. (Photo credit: Grant Delin) Does she not look like a future First Lady here?

Rusty Jacobs at WUNC did a really nice segment as well for the locals in the Triangle area. Paul Jones, the ibiblio czar, posted Jacob's radio report on his blog, and thus gets a hat-tip. Click here to listen.

Tidbit: Jones teaches at UNC-CH School of Information and Library Science, and he started ibiblio there, using Open Source software by a nearby company called Red Hat. So as a librarian, I have great respect for Jones, who reminds me of a Berkeley hippie, and I think he's cool.

Back to the buzz...

Edwards is travelling in Uganda as I blog. But upon leaving for Uganda, which has been a hell hole along with Dafur, he issued a statement that would persuade us to imploring our Senators to vote NO for the Military Commissions bill. It was quite appropriate for Edwards to say something, considering that torture has been going on in Uganda for a long time. We should be following the Geneva Conventions. But did our great Senate listen to him? Hell no.

12 DINOS joined with the Republicans on the vote to give Bush permission to rewrite the writs as he sees fit, thus more leeway to torture prisioners and not give them a chance to defend themselves either.

Snarkville

Today's snark happened on Wednesday over one of my favorite places, the DU. Someone posted out of context a response that Elizabeth gave to a question about the differences in how Elizabeth saw the Kerrys and themselves.

Here was the title of the thread: Time mag: Elizabeth Edwards hints at Kerrys' 'lifestyle problem' in Q&A

Elizabeth was trashed so badly by some folks who support Kerry but also the Clarkies who haven't exactly forgiven Kerry for picking JRE over Clark as a VP nominee. On the Kerry forum, when I saw Elizabeth getting pounded a second time, I posted the following, as I have visited there many times, and know at least one person personally who is Kerrycrat:

I was so hoping you weren't going to do this here. As I supported Kerry/Edwards last time, I want to say my piece.

Elizabeth Edwards hints at Kerrys' 'lifestyle problem' in Q&A

There is nothing that says that in the Time piece. She does not say they have a lifestyle problem. That's absurd.

Additionally absurd is the interviewer's question about the plush lifestyle of the Kerrys--that is misleading as well. We don't know since it was in writing if that was the exact answer or not or the exact question either.

To me, what I read, but it was not literally written:

What are the differences in how the Kerry's and Edwards' spend their respective wealth-- since Edwards has said he was blessed with everything he could want. That is more appropriate question in this instance.

Now let's look at EAE's answer again:

EDWARDS: It's a different kind of luxury, I think. I know the people whose artwork is on my walls--they're not the old masters. I shop at Target. We eat at Wendy's (on their wedding anniversary, which they do each year--it's in the book--my note). Even though we have a lot and I feel very blessed, we are basically the same people we were when we first started out and made, between us, $28,000 a year.

Where they haven't changed either: Elizabeth still wears the $11 ring John gave her when they married. But Elizabeth and John will tell you they just built a new home and there's quite a bit of space in it on a good chunk of property outside of Chapel Hill, not too far where JRE works at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Yes, Elizabeth chooses to go to Target or Costco when she could go to more expensive stores, but she doesn't want to. I don't think she is criticizing THK or her family. It's just a difference of how they approach spending their money.

But we are all missing the point here.

Instead of passing judgment on both Kerry and Edwards' campaign, which many of us at the DU have strong opinions about, it's more important to focus on that Elizabeth is finally cancer-free and she beat it. The Kerrys were very supportive of them when they found out that Elizabeth had cancer. It was heartbreaking for all of them (and to all of us) to lose an election and have to whisk Elizabeth off to Mass General/Dana Farber to confirm their worst fears: she had breast cancer.

I looked up the poster to see other threads, and I noticed the poster doesn't come here very often, in fact I couldn't find anything, and it made me wonder if s/he was stirring up the pot, especially as there were quite a few threads today about JK contemplating another run.

So, Elizabeth did not trash the Kerrys. The only negative thing I saw in the book was that the K/E campaign folks were not prepared to give her much in the way of resources for a staff to help her campaign for JK/JRE. I'm guessing they were trying to keep the costs down, but considering EAE was a star on the campaign trail, it's a miracle she had a loyal staff. She did a fantastic job explaining Kerry's views and regulations that strangled our country...or that were too loose. No one could explain tax code like she could, as one saw in Harrisburg, PA.

Lastly, she didn't forget any of you when you sent her a note on the Prayers for Elizabeth site, that was later turned into a booklet that a JREG person compiled and sent to her. It's mentioned on page 321 of her book.

I can see how you all would be upset, but truly, this is BS doin' by someone. To me, it was to pit this community against others, and you noticed the Clarkies jumped in. Jeepers...wonder why.

I suggest reading EAE's book, Saving Graces, to get a better look at them and at her as a person, and to watch Oprah Winfrey's show today. See earlier thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ... .

Thanks for reading, and while I'm sorry to see you all in a tissy at the moment, you all illustrate how passionate you feel for a John Kerry Presidential run in 2008. And that's a good thing.

And I meant it. Know what? The pounding stopped..just a couple of ankle bites after that, and one of the forum leaders decided to take the high road and declare that the forum is for positive information, and were trying to lead others away from snarkvilledom. John Kerry should be proud. And I was proud of him too for voting NO on that stupid Detainee Bill.

Upcoming Events

Elizabeth is on the Today Weekend Edition tomorrow morning at 7:30. She hits the road starting Monday or Tuesday for the book tour.

Lastly...

How does this thread all add up to be about courage? The day Elizabeth discovered the lump, she went out shopping for some new clothes as she needed to get warm. Her red jacket of courage kept her strong, sort of like the red badge of courage. She was courageous in spilling out her heart in her book about her grief, yet meeting others in various ways who also helped her stay strong. John and Cate's strength in holding together as a family instilled courage and helped Elizabeth during her months of cancer treatment. John's going to Uganda which still is a dangerous place and an IRC worker was killed last month, but he wants to help the people there.

And courage from this blogger to stand up for others when there is more than one point of view to consider.

More buzz l8tr...

Tags: John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, Benny's World, Saving Graces, Oprah, Uganda, Detainees Bill, torture, Democratic Underground, positive actions, John Kerry