An Edwards Voter From Appalachia: "So here's my not earth-shattering announcement: I quit too."

Shit, shit, shit!
by Joy Busey
Wed Jan 30, 2008 at 10:25:29 AM PST

My $.02 on shit. Please ignore and let it scroll on off, I'm just venting.

John Edwards found his voice and his mission this time around, going for his own heartfelt vision. He gave me a little hope that maybe I could finally have a voice and a vote that counts. But I'm poor, like most of the people he's championed. I kept meaning to send $10 when I got paid, but every time I got paid I had to keep the electricity on or the phone on or the car running or the farm out of foreclosure. I just never had a single extra cent, always behind. So I couldn't help him, no matter how much he needed my help. All I could do was talk - stand by him in real life and on the internet...

I failed. That's nothing new.


They don't see us, they don't hear us. We get platitudes and lip service when they want to play to the cheap seats, but we don't count . They talk about a 'maybe' recession coming for their millionaire and billionaire friends - we've been in a full-fledged depression for years, but nobody cares. This is Southern Appalachia.

It's not our country, it's just the place we happen to be and we've no way out. We've no health care, no way to keep up with inflation, our jobs have gone to India and China. 3 of 5 people in this region qualifies for Medicaid and food stamps, but only 1 of 5 gets them because there's not enough to go around. Our children go to war because they've no hope to go to college. We hope they can do better somewhere else, because we've nothing here to offer them. Hope... we hope a lot, it's about all we've got. Our hopes are always dashed in the end.

When whatever faceless, interchangeable Dem takes over next year, they will try to force me to buy worthless health insurance and pretend that somehow solved the "health care crisis" they won't admit exists. But I can't afford worthless insurance and can't beat the cap on Medicaid, so they'll fine me if I show up at the ER. All that does is force me not to seek medical care - I'll have to die at home unattended. Already told grandson to bury me on the mountain where they buried the nameless, faceless prisoners who died building this railroad as slave labor back in 1908. Told him not to mark it or tell the gub'ment. They didn't care when I was alive, they've no business pretending to care when I die. Then hopefully he'll let the farm go, move somewhere where he's got half a chance at life.

...................

So here's my not earth-shattering announcement: I quit too.

more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/30/132015/512/151/446314

kick

Just as he has exhorted us to do, and left us a template to use.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4291436

People here are not going to give up.


Howard Dean once said the only way we lose is if we give up.

And what would you rather see happen? Us all giving up in disgust and another republi-CON taking over? If we allow that to happen, then John Edwards' work will surely end.

DO NOT GIVE UP. DO NOT GIVE THE BAD GUYS MORE ROOM. To do that will be to say THEIR way (that got us fucked up like this in the first place) will continue, instead of OURS.

And NONE of us in this country, or across the world, can afford that.

Edwards was addressing: "It's not our country, it's just the place we happen to be and we've no way out." That is the saddest truth of all; it isn't Joy's country, it isn't mine, it belongs to someone else, but not us...

apparently this all about "I am better off than you" or "I am better than you".

even if no one else does.

I am sitting here in complete agreement with you and my heart goes out to you and to all the others like us that supported a "poor man's candidate" believing that maybe just maybe there was hope to be had in this nation. For a brief moment in time we had a "voice'. We had someone that wasn't owned by corporations and special interest groups. Now, one again we have no representation. It is a sad fact that Edwards just didn't have the financial backing that he needed to make it all the way to Washington D.C. What a shame. Please do not feel alone in your sadness for you are not. There are many of us out here that are saddened and shocked at the news of Edwards dropping out of the race.

"Hope... we hope a lot, it's about all we've got. Our hopes are always dashed in the end."

I guess more hope from Obama wasn't what he was looking for.

... and ever since the 06 midterms I have http://www.google.com/search?as_q=corpgovactivist+appalachian&hl=en&num=10&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&cr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=democraticunderground.com&as_rights=&safe=images">urged progressive Democrats to think carefully about Appalachia/Border States/Upper South states.

If Huckabee is on the GOP ticket, I seriously anticipate four more years of GOP rule in the White House.

- Dave

a sad day.

Its all too obvious that only money matters in this country. I just can't talk any more right now.

:cry:

I have no intention of voting for anyone but a Democrat in November, but... fucking hell, I thought I had a chance to actually vote for someone I could be proud of on an emotional and spiritual level, and not just the least of all the devils (not to actually compare Obama and Clinton to demons, but simply that I did not see in them what I saw in Edwards.)

precisely because mandates hurt people in the same situation as the OP.

But my sympathies go out to him on losing his candidate of choice. I know I felt very similarly when Kucinich dropped out.

and left behind I feel. The corporatist and the unknown entity. what a choice.

like this woman. This brought tears to my eyes. K&R...

A sad day

I unregistered to vote. I'm done.

I'm with you neighbor. I grew up vegan before vegan was cool, except we called it too poor to eat meat.

I did manage to scrape together a few bucks to send a few times. And I ordered some stuff from the web store that never came.

My brother and I went to see him in Nashville on Monday. I got his autograph after the awesome and moving speech he gave.
I sent the campaign another $25 on Tues. When I got home Tues. from work the volunteers for his campaign had left a message asking me to join them to watch the debates.

I just DO NOT get it!

Wait it out.

I don't care I am voting for him anyway. My vote doesn't count anyway, maybe THEY will pause long enough........ Oh, never mind.

:hi:

My sons and I saw him Mon. in Chattanooga before he got to Nashville. The rally was amazing and I'm still stunned that just 2 days later he dropped out. I've already proudly voted for him and I don't feel like I wasted my vote, because I would vote for him anyway on the 5th.

I'm glad that you had the opportunity to see him. :hi:

:cry: I've never read anything so sad :grouphug:

John Edwards lost, and y'all ready to - literally! - keel over and die?

Wimps.

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STFU.

Why the fuck don't you have a star by your name? Can't even cough up five bucks for a web site you have been on this long. Fuck you. You chastise a poster that has ponied up after 50 posts and try to get cred because you have more time here. Fuck you again where is your star bullshit head? Fuck off asshole.

Who the fuck does this asshole think he is to shove shit in faces of people who PAY for this site? Welcome darlin.

it's a sad, sad day for we edwardians and to have some shitbag shove it in our faces... UGH!! and for the record - edwards did not lose. so there, right? anyway, i appreciate you havin' my back and i'm happy to be here. at least i have somewhere i can go where other people are feeling the same way i'm feeling.

And for that I get a torrent of verbal abuse. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

I understand your crushed feelings. I cannot comprehend, however, the overwhelming urge to just plain give up because your favored candidate in a primary didn't win. It's like you all are extreme masochists - the more misery you can endure, the better you feel.

And, sorry, that's bullshit. Keep on fighting. Don't quit. It's not the freakin' end of the world.

Who got what they wanted by quitting?

Feel free to call me more names. Whatever.

The way you handled your words is not motivational.

your not doing yourself or your candidate any good here.:spank:

Because calling a poor working guy a quitter because he can't afford to donate is such a good way to help get him back into the fight. Maybe he, like many of us democratic wing people feel like we have been "priced out" of democracy by the corporate media and the DLC

Good going.

to FUCK OFF AND DIE.

If that's okay with you, Nr. Tarantino.

No, I don't donate to this site. One look at GD:P over the past month will tell you why I don't. I think that's a good reason. I have donated in the past. So "fuck you again bullshit head fuck off asshole" yourself.

:applause:

Where is your star? We should believe you why? Come on long timer with no support to DU but capping on poor folk. Quitter. Gutless Wonder.

1. Obama saw the spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is my beloved nominee in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:13)

2. Obama fed 5000 screaming fans from a single bag of cheeto's.

3. Obama cured a ham.

4. Judas Rezko turned him in for 30 pieces of silver and a plot of land.

5. Well, you know how the rest of the story goes...:evilgrin:

I heard it was more like 15,000 fans, from a vending machine-size bag of cheetos... but no matter, that's the first time I've smiled since before South Carolina (without the aid of alcohol).

I too plan on voting for Edwards anyway, in my PA primary -- exactly what I did in 2004. As for the GE, I'll need some serious convincing not to vote for one of those crazy third party candidates that often seem to materialize. I'm not the sort to vote for the candidate I'd rather have as a neighbor or drink a beer with, but I must admit a large part of my problem with jumping ship to the other two stems from sheer, stubborn resistance to the evangelizing of the media and their supporters.

Joy Busey's piece was brilliant.

when Dean bowed out and left s with the baggage-laden John Kerry. But I sucked it up after a bit and voted for him in November anyways because there are larger issues at stake here.

Clinton isn't perfect. Obama is way less than perfect. But in voting for either one of them this fall I am putting someone in office that will not use biblical innuendo to stifle biomedical research, will not censor global warming scientists, will not appoint a raft of Scalitos to the judiciary, and will not continue to destroy our standing in the global community.

just like the man you say you support. :grr:

do not understand exactly what others feel has been LOST....??? and I am not speaking about John Edwards...I am speaking about the ability to honestly select/elect "the best person to run this country"...the election process is lost, has been compromised, or whatever you care to call it...when everyone but two, either of which will make election history for the Democrats,(hell have already made history just by virtue of running) have been forced out of the race, even before "super Tuesday"...open your eyes...for crying out loud...the loss is far, far bigger than John Edwards and most likely encompasses the future of this country's election processes...can we afford to disenfranchise the voters??? I wonder, because it's apparent, that is exactly what's happening...wb

working ...especially in Nevada where HArry Reid and his Clinton pals made sure that miners, hotel workers, restaurant workers, retail workers, casino workers and other statewide did get to leave their workplaces to caucus.

But then again, the poor are easily distracted with work and worries and don't have time to spend online frequenting bulletin boards like this or blogs with real information. They may not own a computer, let alone internet access. How would they really have found out about a man who spoke for them? TV? Ads? Well, we know why those didn't get to them ...corporations. The corporations that keep the working class down and treat them like they are nothing more than wallets. We are all such economic slaves.

Covering the latest tiff between H. Clinton and B. Obama, that's where.

The fact is that most Americans get their news from the mass media, not from the Internet. Sad but true, if the MSM don't mention it, it doesn't exist.

Dearest Joy, for what it's worth, you are in my prayers. I too understand SO much of your comments and lifestruggles.

"I kept meaning to send $10 when I got paid, but every time I got paid I had to keep the electricity on or the phone on or the car running or the farm out of foreclosure."

I just lost half my income ...( child support - my ex quit his job to avoid a $50 a month increase) and I have been fighting a thick depression like tar in my veins for weeks...months...years? You are right on about recession vs depression. I have been living that reality too...try to eliminate struggle from your vocabulary when every day feels like a lesson in prometheus' punishment (that's the guy who rolls the huge boulder up the hill only to have it roll back down again..)

JE was the closest thing to a light at the end of the tunnel for alot of us.
sorrow runs deep today
I just hope it isn't because Elizabeth is getting sick again :(

But no matter what I can't quit
I WILL vote for him in CA on Tuesday
I will continue to hope aginst hope that something will happen to wake me from this nightmare where the future is so very uncertain.
because right now, it is all I've got

edit spelling fixes

is an understatement. I am not angry at Edwards. Shit...to put yourself out there like he has...especially with a wife with cancer, in a word...WOW!! When I heard the news this morning, I sank into my seat. I disagreed with Edwards on the war. I disagreed with him on the Patriot Act. BUT...he admitted he was wrong on the war...don't know about the Patriot Act. I do know this...he talked about issues I cared about. He talked about the poor, health care, etc. This past summer I got a real taste of something that "just wasn't right." I lost two grandparents and my job in the span of 4 months. I got to know what it felt to be scared...and I'm single. I saw the nursing home costs of my grandparents; I saw the bank and nursing home take everything; I saw them getting no help, except when they were destitute. Dammit, something like this made me receptive to a message of folks like us.

So, because he actually talked about stuff that impacted real people and because of his remorse of the Iraq vote, I could forgive. I can't forgive Hillary because she won't disavow it. There is something else that REALLY sticks in my crawl about Hillary. I remember the HRC debate where Melissa Etheridge why she was not for gay marriage. Hillary's response was that preferred to say that she was "really pro civil union." That speaks to me that she is "really pro separate but equal." Was Edwards pro-gay marriage, no, but there were a number of other issues (above) where he was dead right. Finally, Obama hanging out with Donnie McClurkin just told me how "pro gay" he really is. So, Obama hangs out with virulent homophobes, and I'm expected to chose between these two? NO WAY!!! Next week, Edwards is my write-in. In the general, I may not, for the time ever, even vote. I'm sick of "well he/she's better than the Republican" guiding my vote. I want to be FOR someone just once.

you said it. i CANNOT vote for obama. i will NOT vote for anyone who thinks a homophobe is a good thing. i CANNOT vote for hillary. i'm uncomfortable with her and bill's relationship with the elder bushes. it makes me incredibly uneasy AND of course so many other reasons. i, too, will send in my absentee this week for je. after that, i will either write in his name in the ge or go batshit crazy and vote for ron paul (i know, i know... i am feeling a little crazy right this minute - i'm sure i'll come to my senses). i will never hold my nose to vote for anyone. but really? it's a bullshit game and i'm tired of playing it. we are all pawns of the corporate masters. anyone know which country is the easiest to get a dual passport? i've been smelling the coffee for a long time, but my eyes have finally and completely opened. time to find a new home, methinks.

that was very painful to read, and I knew I had to finish it...

just so true... the wealthy (those who are able to put back ANY kind of money every paycheck, or blow it on frivolous goods like escalades when they already have a year old sedan that would do them just fine) all talk about recessions hurting their investments in the stock, bond, and futures markets, when the fact is - a vast majority of us are in a recession or depression - depending on where we live and our family's recent historical life in America.


:cry:

"It's not our country, it's just the place we happen to be and we've no way out."

Thanks Kpete, for everything you do.

because they are Not-Sees.

Now we have choices that will, in my opinion, bring very little change.

the mess made these past 7 years, more fighting in Congress and no real change where we need it most. It will all be just an illusion.

like the one mentioned in the OP and others who are going without health care, food, losing jobs, etc. and the many more who will join their ranks as this economy keeps sinking.

They truly have no hope anymore, there is no one left to represent their interests. If by some miracle a Dem is elected this fall, they will do nothing. Neither of our candidates cares or has the political will to do anything.

The best we can hope for people hurt by the economy is a one term president and another chance in 4 more years.

I a not extatic with the choices either, but let's not just write this fight off.

It is comforting to know I'm not the only one thinking and feeling that way.

We all feel your pain. We all are now suffering like your depressed region has done for generations.
The "Good Fight" has died with Mr. Edwards dropping out. Who can blame him? This country has tuned into a Red Verses Blue Tournament with the Coaches and Referees all playing Golf together. So I guess Appalachia and the rest of us will all just have to eat spam! Literally and figuratively.

My husband, who rarely interjects himself into a political dialog, even though he's a Democrat and always votes, was on the phone this morning. I almost dropped my cup of coffee when I heard him talking to a friend. He had called him about a different matter, but it soon turned into a political discussion.

I heard him say that the ONLY person who really could have done ANY good dropped out yesterday! He went on to talk about how America has been going down hill for such a long time. He used to work for GTE and he was talking to a fellow employee. Verizon TOOK over GTE and many of his friends who still work for the phone company have told him "lots" of stories about what changes have been made. Those still there are also frustrated and unhappy and we are glad he retired early when he did. He benefited because of it, as the changes that have been made by Verizon are not as "employee" friendly, albeit better than some. At least they STILL have a Union.

What I want to convey here is that IF MY husband, who has chided me on occasion about my dedication to changing the political landscape, is now talking THIS way... you can bet your bottom dollar there will be many more who will be waking up.

What MSM, The D.C. Elites and Power Brokers have done to this country is DIRTY! Most of it is CRIMINAL, and MOST OF IT tells this family they don't give a S--t about "we the people!" So go ahead, have your party... IF a Democrat gets elected, something I doubt will happen now... but could be. Still, you may be left holding an empty bag, AGAIN!!

What many may see is that TOO many people have "had enough" and the REVOLUTION that should have come under the so called "big tent" the Democratic Party boasts about, will shrink fairly fast. Many will vote THEIR HEART, and that's better than "selling out!" I myself DIDN'T want this to happen, but WE know who to thank for the mess, AND WE ARE REVOLTING in own little way. If I REALLY believed it was going to change I might "hold my nose" but I HONESTLY don't think it's going to change!

If I'm wrong, I WILL apologize... I can do that, while some can't!

4-8 more yrs of repugs will devastate civil liberties in this country.

it quite that way... but in reality, I suppose it's the same thing. I QUIT too! I tried to give money, time and especially my heart. Yesterday, whether many will EVER see it, we LOST! We lost ONE GREAT man, despite his past foibles, despite not realizing "back then" certain issues could have turned into such a mess.

BUT, this man DID realize it, he said it... and for me he meant it. Many said he apologized too much, but I say he took RESPONSIBILITY for those decisions. That much more different than the choices we are left with now!

What all too many here don't realize is that you may ACTUALLY find MORE Busey's than you think are out there. And even if John Edwards says he still wants a Democrat to win, so many of us aren't sure WHAT a Democrat is ANYMORE! Many say give it a couple of days, but I've given it YEARS... a couple of days is just that... a couple of days that will get me NOWHERE!

Time will tell, some will return, some will hold their noses, but I just bet you MANY are going to QUIT! As I've time and time again... BEWARE Of What You Wish For! Call it sour grapes, call me a sore loser, but you know NAMES don't hurt me! What has happened HURTS ME!!

I cried as I read Joy's words and she speaks for millions. Her description of American is accurate although it shouldn't be. John Edwards should have given hope to everyone. Instead all we heard was historical. I voted for Edwards and my husband will also when his absentee ballot comes. The more I have read at DU the less sure I am of what I will do in November. I voted for Anderson in 80 and for the first time in many years the quilt is being replaced with memories of why I did.

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Your vote doesn't count. This is why there was such a high percentage of "uncommitted" in Michigan, folks wrote in Edwards or Obama but they were not registered either as candidates or as approved or registered write-in candidates, so their votes didn't count as intended.

Edwards never had a chance working within our corrupt political system. Its like joining the Mafia to fight crime.

The set-up was there from the beginning. Those that resonated with people most are ignored, marginalized and ridiculed out of contention. Those with the most money, not the most commonsense are promoted as our so-called front-runners as we the people are again forced to shallow the lesser of two evils - yet one more time.

If Clinton becomes the nominee she'll drive every republican in the country to the polls and cause many democratic voters to stay home. If Obama is the choice, every bigot in the counry (and there are a lot of them) will crawl out from their rocks to defeat him and in another "very close election" brought to you by Diebold, and whatever war-mongering rethug they have as their candidate becomes POTUS and we continue our slide into Hell.

If per-chance Clinton makes it to president or Obama, there really isn't 0.05% between the two and the corporations win no matter what.

It's most likely too late to change anything before this corrupt system changes itself by collapsing under its own weight. Of course this collapse will be extremely horrific in which there's a good chance we'll never survive, much less recover. Maybe the economic collapse coupled with bush's attacking Iran (my bet this WILL happen) could be enough to break the floodgates of frustration to have that long over-due revolution we need to flush this criminal organization we refer to as our government down the toilet bowl of history. This to horrific but with much better results.

One can only hope that we're all wrong. That Clinton or Obama make it and can effect positive change and put people before power, but I wouldn't bet on it.

"Hope makes for a good breakfast and a lousy supper."

"The tree of liberty from time to time must be nourished with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.

I submit that time has come.

Drugs are the main source of economy. People are getting Lorcets 90 a month for pain. Then they sell them on the street for $8-10 each. That is what they live on. Those "lucky" enough to get Oxycontin on prescription can get as much as $100 each for them on the street. The times are desperate. It doesn't matter to these folks if a Democrat or Republican wins. Like Edwards, they have given up.

The Democrats have allowed the Republicans to ravage the country economically. They could have won the hearts of rural America forever bailing out the casualties of the early 1980s farm foreclosures by letting them refinance with low-interest loans, but NOOOOOO.

They could have protected union members when Reagan fired the PATCO workers, but NOOOOO.

They could have voted down Reagan's tax "reforms," but NOOOO, a Democrat, Dan Rostenkowski, later jailed for corruption--in Chicago, no less!--co-authored the bill with Bob Packwood.

Poor people either don't vote because they know that neither party cares about them OR they vote Republican because the Republican Party at least pays hypocritical lip service to their values and NEVER refers to them as "white trash," at least not outside of fancy social occasions that are closed to the general public.

Here's something YOU can do. Rally as many of those hopeless people as you can and find someone to replace Mich McConnell! Campaign for that person & get him/her elected as a Dem.!
I know a lot of you were disappointed with the results of the 2006 Dem. upsweep; BUT it just wasn't big enough,the Senate is too evenly matched. I watch a lot of Cspan being semiretired & working at home..............
If we could get rid of that phalanx of greedy, obstuctionist pugs from some of the southern & western states; McConnell.Kyle, Dominici, Craig, Hatch, ( I think he's leaving) You get the idea...........then we COULD have bipartisan legislation for the good of the people AGAIN. I'm old enough to remember it used to exhist!
Throughout the history of this country INDIVIDUALS, have always been able to effect change.
Our problem today, is a new one. WHen I was a child growing up, most people living in our town,( south Jersey) had their own small business. The class division wasn't so obvious back then. We were rich but we sweltered in the humidity( air conditioners not being available) and scratched mosquito bites right along with the poor blacks, most of whom had a modest house near a body of water, stream, pond..........and wonderful patches of flowers and vergetables growing in the yards.....
Today I have a modest house along a stream........but it is a real hardship, on my to small SS income, to buy seeds to plant a garden out back! That's right. vegetable seeds are difficult, and flowers are a LUXURY! Hard to believe that just 40 years ago my husband brought home a $50.00,2 story dracena marginata plant to put in the living room.
Nowadays between the fictional news and entertainment, non-reality TV, and the need to conform to keep your job, plus the left behind factor in public education for the last 30 years at least, has left people unable to know how to be independant;( that proud American myth now approaching fiction!)
Being detached from nature is another free float factor. If you are a farmer you KNOW that global warming is happening. You learn to hatmonize withthe forces of nature.
( I saw a black weasel out by the stream yesterday......) 17 years ago I saw one too, only it's coat was white, to camiflage it in the snow.)
The hopeless of Appalachia are pretty much like the hopeless in rural Maine. But I have been dogging them for 4 1/2 years, at a cost to my local popularity! All I can do; I can't afford to drive to DC and protest march! And you know what, some of them are waking up and starting to rally! Now they get it! I could barely get them to the last election.....now they are attending impeachment meetings! This election, lets not give up lets improve on the last one!
The way I see it Hillary's firmly entrenched, & NOT maleable; Obama looks like the better choice for listening to the people. If he can inspire hope in the young, rather than desperation...that's a start! After JFK was gone, WE young people he inspired, carried on in his absence!
Or if you can do a write in in your state that counts do so for JE! Or Mike Gravel.he IS stil in the race, and tho older than Mcinsane, doesn't have hardening of the brain cells, his ideas are youthful!
Therre I've said my say!
"Be the change you wish to see in the world!"

:cry:

We must take this fight to the local level. I suggest you contact every candidate running at the local level and question them on impeachment. If they give you any other answer than they support impeachment inform them you will not vote for them. I am very depressed couldn't work at all yesterday. Well that period of morning is over and it's time to get back in the fight. This will likely be my last Presidential election. Doctors told me 6 years ago that I could die before leaving the office. One of the things that has kept me going was the hope that I could live to see Bush thrown out of office. We can't change the direction we are headed with the election of one man or woman. We must elect a Democrat as President we can't let the Repukes have another 4 years. That however isn't enough we must also kick out the obstructionist factions of of the Democratic Party who refuse to do the bidding of the people. The primaries are the only chance we have to do that. Don't stay home get out and vote on Tuesday. The life you save may be your own.

its the same story here. There's nothing to add except that we lost a good man yesterday and I don't know what to do next.