This is sad—and foreboding. Edwards never got a fair hearing once the media got a whiff of Hillary and Barack's panties. Politics has long been a popularity contest, but the goddamn media have turned it into "American Idol." She was already a "celebrity," and they made Obama one, too. Thus, any candidate's position on health care, Iraq, global warming, unions, whatever is treated like what Britney wore [or didn't] to court yesterday. If you think I exaggerate, recall the nonsense about whether or not Hillary was trying to flash her breasts during a US Senate session. "Who did your hair, Hillary?" "Who designed your tux, Barack?" Their treatment of them is no deeper than that of those walking red carpets instead of the road to the White House. Too bad Hillary's too old to gossip about a "baby bump" but who is Baby Dannielynn endorsing? Too bad Obama will never do a nude scene, but who is Snoop Dog endorsing? Paris? Martha? Carson? The Beckhams? Madonna? Mika? Reichen? Amy Whinehouse? Tom Ford? Jessica?

As we're bounced around and around, manipulated and masturbated by the hydra-headed theocracy/punditocracy/celebocracy, and the Cardinals of the Church of Conspicuous Consumption [Obama is just another of Oprah's favorite things like her Favorite Bedsheets and her Favorite Designer Shoes; he's wedged between the HDTV Refrigerator with Weather and Info Center and the Williams Sonoma Perfect Endings Cupcakes], I'm hoping we haven't seen the last of John Edwards or his wife on the proverbial political stage.

As I'm hoping Sen. Clinton gets the nomination, I'm hoping he will be her running mate [though for various reasons I don't expect it]. Some have suggested him for US Attorney General. That would fit. Just as Secretary of Housing & Urban Development would better fit Obama based on his passion for community work with the poor in Chicago.

Whatever happens, I'm not sorry for trying to get people listen to some of the unique things he was saying, or for the money I contributed to his campaign, though I am more sorry now that I didn't attend that gay pride breakfast with Elizabeth after I bought a ticket. May she live long and well.

MEMO TO JAMES DENTON ["Mike" on "Desperate Housewives" and a tireless and articulate Edwards campaigner]: call me, I'll make it better.

Not only am I sad Edwards is dropping out, but I'm furious that he's doing it before I have a chance to vote for him!

This "democratic" primary process, where small, unrepresentative states are allowed to vote before California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Michigan and Florida--among others!--and thereby decide who we get to vote for is anything BUT democratic! When the state with the largest voting population hasn't weighed in and yet the race is over but for a choice between two, it's crazy!!!

Michael Bedwell’s unconcealed adoration of Bill and Hillary Clinton is based on campaign tripe and hype, not reality. That's understandable since he's a political clone of Leland Frances.

He wants us to believe that Hillary Clinton is against the war, that she’ll end it. The opposite is true. From the day Bush began to push for an invasion of Iraq to steal their oil she’s been an avid supporter of the oil piracy that so far has murdered over 650,000 Iraqis and killed 3,941 GI’s. In addition there have been several hundred GI suicides and almost 29,000 wounded. Hillary Clinton’s eager and consistent support for the oil war and the Democrats constant funding of it make them co-responsible with Bush.

Hillary Clinton, who gets the bulk of the campaign contributions doled out by Big Pharma, HMO’s and insurance companies is bitterly opposed to socialized medicine. She sat on the Board of Directors of Wal-Mart and is a firm supporter of NAFTA and other union busting bills. NAFTA is a rolling environment disaster. When Mexican and Central Americans flee the destitution caused by NAFTA she and the Democrats turn a cold shoulder, denying them drivers licenses etc. The Clintons have always supported tax cuts for the rich and cutting the welfare safety net for working people. That combined with their union busing has sabotage our standard of living. It’s something no Democrat should be proud of but Bedwell is.
Her party cleared the board for 2008 by gutting ENDA, dropping the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill and refusing to repeal DADT and DOMA. Then, rubbing salt on (back) wounds they rammed though gaybashing Bush nominees to the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals and as Attorney General. They didn’t utter a peep when Bill Clinton’s nominee to the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of bigots.

Hillary Clinton is a right centrist Republican in drag. Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stones outstanding political commentator, who recently published an excellent expose of Huckabee, has just completed one about Hillary Clinton. Clinton routinely He attacks the Press, Obama and her myriad other critics by saying they reading from the Republican playbook, a theme repeated by ‘Bedwell’. He compares her partisanship to Nixon’s and goes on to say “What people forget about Clinton is that she is basically a Republican at heart. She campaigned for Barry Goldwater once upon a time and even canvassed poor neighborhoods in Chicago looking for "vote fraud" by Democrats. She was president of the College Republicans at Wellesley. In 1968, at the height of America's most intense cultural debate in a century, she only abandoned the Republican Party because it backed Dick Nixon instead of her favorite, Nelson Rockefeller. That’s why she’s admired by former Senators and bible study littermates Brownback and Santorum, as well as Rupert Murdoch of Faux News and Pat Robertson of the loony right. (Taibbi’s story can be accesses at alternet dot org story number 75233.)

Obama is just as bad. Clinton’s differences with the Republicans are cosmetic at best. A vote for either is a wasted vote for an openly declared enemy of the GLBT communities and a vote for war, economic disaster and crappy health care.

Brynn, it’s not just the flawed primary system that screws things up. Its laws that keep third parties off the ballot, the Electoral College, and above all money that determines who runs and who doesn’t. As Bil said a day or so ago, there are better candidates but they’re not running. People get caught up in the election hysteria and feel they ought to for someone, even an open enemy of GLBT equality like Clinton because they feel they have no choice.

I like www pollster dot com because it’s a compilation of polls, a poll of polls. If you look at it and at the money the candidates get at another useful site, www dot opensecrets dot org you’ll find an uncanny correlation between contributions by big business, big pharma, big military industrial contractors etc and poll numbers.

Money rules, the rest is hype.

[EDITOR'S NOTE:] This comment has been deleted for violation of TOS.

Thanks for joining the discussion at The Bilerico Project! Please be respectful of others. We reserve the right to delete a comment that is off-topic, abusive, uses excessive foul language, is exceptionally incoherent, includes a homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist or other slur or is soliciting and/or advertising.

I think John Edwards was quite sincere in his convictions concerning poverty and other issues he champions. However, I still have to wonder about the how one squares eing on the other side of the "Cardinals of Conspicuous Consumption" referred to in a comment above with the $ 400 haircut.

Alex Blaze is only 24 years old. Wanna bet this comment gets deleted now?

R, just how is Alex's age relevant? Get over yourself!

Lately, Alex has been posting some of the most thought-provoking and interesting posts I've read anywhere on the net.

I was wondering that too, Brynn. I don't see how it's relevant to anything.