A Welcome Rug: Got to Have Friends

Dear BW Readers,

This past week I was at a conference at Duke. While the first few days were the hottest on record and the pollen heaviest ever, springtime in the southland was splendid otherwise. I was treated to a walking tour in the Doris Duke gardens and dinner in its lodge. Many of the participants there are my personal friends I've known for years; felt comfortable.

Thursday night, a gentle rain fell in the area. It lasted several hours, but certainly did not deter me from any activities. On Friday morning, it was nippy (upper 40's--50's), but the sunshine awoke me to a beautiful day. I was looking forward to it albeit I would have to leave early in the afternoon to drive back to Champaign.

Fellow bloggers NCDem Amy and Bettync had e-mailed ahead to meet each other as both live within a hour of Duke and I was in town. I had met NCDem Amy before in person, but not Bettync. Amy and her spouse agreed to pick me up at my hotel, then we would meet Betty at the Red Window Warehouse outside of Carrboro as the store was having a sale. In addition to purusing the furnishings and furniture of the place, it was an opportunity to say hello to Red Window's proprietor, Elizabeth Anania Edwards.

The warehouse sale was housed in a former used tire store on Old Greensboro road. We drove past it, but in the midst, we recognized Elizabeth in the doorway. So we found the nearest driveway, turned around and turned into the gravel parking lot of the store. Amy went in first, giving Elizabeth a hug. Then I walked in, and Elizabeth recognized me as well. I said, "hello sweetie" as we hugged and she said "hello, how are you?" (And I asked, is it OK I call you sweetie?--"Sure")

Then Amy and I saw Betty. Betty was looking at a candle holder and said, "Benny?" I nodded. Then she said "Betty" and we hugged too.

We asked Elizabeth about the concept of her store and warehouse. Elizabeth explained that she enjoyed buying furniture and furnishings around High Point and was able to get many of the warehouse inventory at discount and was able to sale it to potential customers for wholesale or not much above. It was terrific that the profit meant enough to keep her business afloat but wanted to offer customers unique pieces at discounted rates. Much of the furniture was "distressed" to make it look antique, but many customers liked the textures. Indeed, the warehouse had many types of wardrobes, mirrors, as well as rugs.

We also met Elizabeth's sister, her niece, and her grand niece. Elizabeth's sister resembles her except she is a bit taller and has long darkish hair.

I bought a handcrafted rug (that you see at the beginning of the post) that I thought would be great for Mr. Benny's condo in Florida for when he moves. Elizabeth was unware that Mr. Benny was out of work and had looked for a job for over 6 months. She asked where he was moving and I said Florida. Then Betty was kind enough to tell Elizabeth he was moving to where she had given a speech not long ago--at Nova SE. Elizabeth quipped, "Oh that is a nice campus and everyone was so friendly!"

Elizabeth used a calculator to include tax with the price and wrote up all of the orders for us herself. She took credit cards and checks, but the credit card numbers were written down on a special form, which I thought was great in order to utilize low tech, be more approachable to the customer, and not worry about electronic transactions right away.

A funny moment. Amy was purchasing something and filling out one of those forms. She said she needed her reading glasses but didn't have them with her. Elizabeth had a pair on her head, and without missing a beat, handed Amy her glasses to use for better focus. Great timing and so down to earth!

Elizabeth treated all of her customers that way that morning --answering questions, acknowledging their needs, etc.

At one point, Amy mentioned that she (herself) wished that she had gotten into politics at an earlier age. Elizabeth's sister said Elizabeth would have been great at it too when she was younger, but Elizabeth was quick to point out that she grew up in the 60's when she was against the Establishment, so she was wary of politicians then. Touche!

For the most part, Elizabeth shied away from politics in our conversations back and forth in the group--understandable as she was wearing a business owner's hat. Instead, we talked about about Elizabeth's kids and how well they were doing. We found out Cate is working for a judge this year and thinking about private practice in the near future. Elizabeth's treatment is going along; she's adapting to some recent changes in medications.

No, we did not talk about John nor the Gold Dust Woman. Nor did we want to. Not an appropriate venue, and in our view, it's still a very private matter for them.

Elizabeth noticed I had lost some weight (at least when Amy pointed out that she almost didn't recognize me at first earlier that morning) and I was pleased to say I had lost 42 lbs since last anyone had seen me. Everyone beamed along with me.

Amy, Betty, Elizabeth, and I posed for a pic.



When we said good-bye, Elizabeth asked been curious for awhile as to how I came about being called Benny on the OAC/JRE08 blog or naming my blog Benny's World. I explained my story from 2004 from when John was running with John Kerry and I had 2 cats. One of them was from Massachusetts and was more of the personality of Kerry, but the other cat was named Benny. Benny reminded me more of Little Jack. She said, "it's great to know that you named your blog after your cat. " (As aside, Elizabeth is allergic to cats and I alluded to that point to her sister and Elizabeth in saying that I regret I could not have her visit my home, which she acknowledged, "oh yes, I am highly allergic to cats!")

As we were leaving, Elizabeth told me how proud she was of me. I replied, "you too." And a last comment to her, "And you hang in there, sister." One last tug on her left arm. She smiled.

What a classy lady.

The remaining 4 (Amy, Mr. Amy, Betty and I) went to lunch and caught up on the latest happenings of former Edwards supporters. We ate at Elmo's diner, but as many situations when we were volunteer bloggers, we had to go do other things. We also all agreed that the campaign's ideas moved Obama and Clinton from no campaign (it was all about them at first) at least to the middle, if a little more. And like my conference friends, I felt so comfortable with them too. Elizabeth made us feel comfortable too.

Too short of a visit. It was quality visiting though.

Elizabeth seems to be transitioning well; not at all being the politician's wife anymore. She's a mother, a sister, an aunt, a great aunt, an engagement speaker, and a business owner. And we have an opportunity to be a part of her transition as we continue to transition ourselves away from the campaigns.

A song for us all from Bette Midler, "Friends"--which reminded me of that experience altogether--from former politician to volunteers--some stayed or are now friends. That rug I bought symbolizes a welcoming one towards kindred spirits.




Next day--for Elizabeth, a woman who knows literature better than I ever would, but this quote resonated with me when I was in college, and it seems to describe you, as well:

One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield---Tennyson, "Ulysses"

Bruce Speaks from the Heart in Philly About Obama

On the Net, I saw The Boss perform live in front of 50,000 folks in the City of Brotherly Love this afternoon. He did some of my favorite songs, such as "Thunder Road", "No Surrender", and closed with Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land". NCDem Amy caught a bit of the concert when Springsteen gave a speech so poignant and left the crowd ready to go out and help Obama win the election, using metaphor of rebuilding the house for saving our country.

Springsteen is an American treasure and is at his best here. No bitterness in his voice, but a tone of hope, and from his point of view, a time for our country to start healing from the abuses of the past 8 years.

From My Way News:

The legendary rocker interrupted a seven-song acoustic set at a voter-registration rally in Philadelphia on Saturday to praise Democrat Barack Obama and bemoan the crises facing the next president. Springsteen said that America remains a house of dreams for some, but that too many people have given up on the promise of fairness and equality.

"I've spent 35 years writing about America and its people and the meaning of the American promise - a promise handed down right here in this city," said the New Jersey rocker, whose songs often depict down-on-their-luck, working-class dreamers. "Our everyday citizens ... have justifiably lost faith in its meaning."

The speech is followed by the performance of "The Rising". Enjoy.

Elizabeth Edwards on POTUS 08

Our lady Elizabeth Edwards appeared via phone on National Journal's On Aire, a Friday show on POTUS08 (which is on XM Satellite Radio channel 130) and I missed it! However, thanks to the marvels of the Internet, I have read the transcript and listened to the podcast. Tammy Haddock asks Elizabeth questions about Obama's campaign, McCain's health care plan, and the issue of sexist commentary in the MSM.

Q: Elizabeth, I have to ask you first, because I know you were overseas, because we saw these reports that Senator Edwards would not be interested in the vice presidential slot. Is that true?

Edwards: Um. Well, of course it's true if he said something (laughter). He was asked, wouldn't you make a good vice presidential candidate? And John demurred and said, I've done that, and I want to be as helpful as I possibly can to Senator Obama, but this is not something to which I aspire.

On McCain's non healthcare plan:

Q: Were you surprised after the vaunted -- all the vaunted coverage of the excellent Republican campaigns over the years -- that they stepped right in that and gave you a huge window to walk through?

Edwards: I've been absolutely floored that they did that. He has added a new portion -- Senator McCain's health care plan, which was already pretty disastrous -- he added, in response to me, added a new section which was to put people with pre-existing conditions in high-risk pools.

I was calculating what that would cost. And you sort of have to get ready for this -- so we already know it's $3 trillion for the $5,000 tax credit he is giving out. $3 trillion -- it's a lot more than anybody else is thinking about, talking about spending. But if my computer calculator is correct, if people with pre-existing conditions who are currently covered by employer health care -- and he wants to sort of end employer health care -- if those people have to go to high-risk pools, which is what it looks like they'll have to do, the cost would be $450 trillion.

This -- you know, it's not just that this is a budget-breaker, you know. We thought that President Bush could do a lot of damage, did a lot of economic damage, in his seven years so far, but he's going to put him to shame if he is really talking about doing something like this.

Q: And, as you know, Senator McCain has asked Senator Obama to join him in town hall meetings this summer. Maybe, let me ask you this question -- we have Doug Eakins, who is a senior policy adviser, economic adviser, to the McCain campaign -- maybe an issue challenge to them, on the health care side, to debate you on these issues?

Edwards: I would be happy to sit down with 'em. I think it's good for people to hear both sides of what's good and bad -- been talked about by people who speak their language, don't try to speak above them and who can sort of call the other guy when it's, you know, a bunch of malarkey.

(laughter)

You know, everybody knows some of what politicians say is malarkey, and having somebody there to call them on it is good. I'd be happy to do that any time and any place.

About sexism in the media:

Q: Well, it goes around my friends in the newsroom -- I have to ask you about a front-page story in The New York Times today all about the media coverage of Senator Clinton, including my old colleagues at MSNBC and other cable channels and networks. Do you think the coverage of Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign was sexist? Katie Couric says so.

Edwards: It was sexist. I thought that it was extraordinarily negative, particularly at one point later in the process when it almost seemed to be an insult to the commentators on television that she was continuing to press her case, I thought, instead of viewing it as it really was, which I think it was a moment of incredible strength. She was winning these late primaries. She had a perfect right to take the position she did until it was -- until the case was clearly decided. And yet they treated it as if it was insulting.

I suspect they would've given the same treatment to a man, but I'm not positive. They didn't -- I don't remember hearing the same clamor for Howard Dean to get out, but the process hadn't gone as long as it had, so I didn't think that it was fair. I think that if any one of those people had been in her shoes they would've continued to try to get the nomination. Had any single one of them changed places with her, they would've done it -- man, woman, green hair or not.

If you wish to read the rest, go here. I left out the more speculative parts, but they are interesting too. If you are like yours truly, and miss listening to Elizabeth, go here. I did both, of course!

Luckily Elizabeth is first on the show, so you don't have to listen to the drivel of McBush's economic advisor.

A big h/tip to NcDem Amy for bringing this to my attention.

Elizabeth Edwards Slams McCain's Health Insurance Plan

Great interview of EE on MSNBC.



Here's a link to a NYT article about the McSame plan. Someone on CNN thought McCain was trying to distinguish himself from Bush on this one, but essentially, it's similar to the President's.

I do not know how anyone thinks that $5000 tax credit (and essentially, still means you have to wait until the spring or summer to buy health care coverage since the credits are on the tax return and are sort of like rebates, and yet those could be taxed the following year too ?Hard to say) is going to work without getting rid of pre-existing conditions is beyond me. And I don't see how $5000 will help when insurance companies continue to charge whatever they want on life saving prescription drugs. I understand what McCain is trying to do with the market approach, but that hasn't been working either. And I don't understand why government run insurance is good enough for him and his family, but not for the regular taxpayer who is paying his insurance.

And as usual, Elizabeth was asked about endorsements. No, the Edwardses are not endorsing anyone. EJ Dionne appeared on Keith Olbermann's show last night, and lended some observations that supported Elizabeth's reasons why it is wise for them to keep their own counsel, mainly as an endorsement right now isn't likely to change the outcome of the race at present.

Cracks me up that at the Daily Kobama there isn't one day whereby the Kossacks don't demand an endorsement from the Edwardes for Obama. Why does it matter so much?

31 delegates.

Video courtesy of NcDem Amy.

John and Elizabeth Edwards to Join Forces with Moveon.org for Recession/ Iraq Initiative

John Nichols from the Nation Reports that JRE and EE will be on a conference call with Moveon.org and SEIU to launch a get out of Iraq initiative.

The multi-million-dollar Iraq/Recession Campaign, which launches Monday, seeks to remind voters, in the words of organizers, that, "As economic concerns weigh heavily on the minds of Americans, opposition to President Bush's reckless war in Iraq continues to grow. The massive cost of the war in Iraq – hurtling toward one trillion dollars – has increased demand for a strategy to bring U.S. troops home. The Iraq/Recession Campaign will highlight the majority of Americans who want to see leadership on investing in critical priorities at home and establishing real security throughout the world."

( h/t NCDem Amy at Daily Kos)

Now BW readers, you may recall that John Edwards predicted some time ago that McCain was likely to be the Republican front runner and nominee. When Bush announced the surge in late 2006 and McCain supported it, JRE called it "the McCain Doctrine".



JRE at Riverside Church last year, talking about the McCain Doctrine. He could not be silent on the surge.

I also found this piece at HuffPo. More l8tr...

But don't expect any candidate endorsements from the Edwards at this time: just causes.

John Edwards on Letterman

He cracked me up. A presidential candidate with a good sense of humor.

Video clip via NCDem Amy.