The Ultimate Hypocrite- John Edwards

[irishunclebill]

IMO, worse than all of them. He goes on and on, wailing about the misfortunes of others, and tells anyone who is foolish enough to listen that if he is elected President he will solve our health care problems and eliminate poverty in the United States. Noble character that he is, he also plans on eliminating poverty throughout the world. How will he accomplish all of this, simple, he will tax the middle class to death to fund his social welfare programs.

Meanwhile, this former ambulance chasing lawyer, who made his initial fortune off the misfortunes of others, and by so doing, helped to escalate the cost of medical coverage for everyone, today reported $29.5 million in assets, including millions of dollars in a hedge fund he worked for part-time. Edwards and his wife also reported investment income of nearly $6 million over the past 16 months and earned income for Edwards of $1.25 million. His biggest single source of earned income was his $479,512 salary from Fortress Investment Group, a hedge fund for the super rich for which he was a consultant last year, and for which by most accounts he did little or nothing to earn his salary.

The hypocrisy of this guy is mind boggling. He makes a half-million doing nothing for the super rich, and then spouts tired old platitudes about how the wealth of this country is not properly distributed. If he were truly concerned about poverty in this country, why not donate a chunk of that $29.5 million instead of planning on relentlessly taxing the rest of us to fund his glorified bullshit plans. Just another phony populist, hiding behind silver tongued blather. I would vote for just about anybody before I would even consider this fraud.

 

[onenybrother]

Tell me a anybody who asks for your vote, who not a hypocrite.

 

[GoshenGipper]

IMO, worse than all of them. He goes on and on, wailing about the misfortunes of others, and tells anyone who is foolish enough to listen that if he is elected President he will solve our health care problems and eliminate poverty in the United States. Noble character that he is, he also plans on eliminating poverty throughout the world. How will he accomplish all of this, simple, he will tax the middle class to death to fund his social welfare programs.

Meanwhile, this former ambulance chasing lawyer, who made his initial fortune off the misfortunes of others, and by so doing, helped to escalate the cost of medical coverage for everyone, today reported $29.5 million in assets, including millions of dollars in a hedge fund he worked for part-time. Edwards and his wife also reported investment income of nearly $6 million over the past 16 months and earned income for Edwards of $1.25 million. His biggest single source of earned income was his $479,512 salary from Fortress Investment Group, a hedge fund for the super rich for which he was a consultant last year, and for which by most accounts he did little or nothing to earn his salary.

The hypocrisy of this guy is mind boggling. He makes a half-million doing nothing for the super rich, and then spouts tired old platitudes about how the wealth of this country is not properly distributed. If he were truly concerned about poverty in this country, why not donate a chunk of that $29.5 million instead of planning on relentlessly taxing the rest of us to fund his glorified bullshit plans. Just another phony populist, hiding behind silver tongued blather. I would vote for just about anybody before I would even consider this fraud.

I actually heard about that on Rush Limbaugh during the last Presidential primaries. At one point Edwards actually had billboards up that said "Let me sue your Dr.".

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

I met Edwards in Atlanta and supported him in the last election, but for now its either Hillary or Obama. I do hope that Gore runs this time. It will make my choice pretty easy.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I always want to puke when he insists on mentioning in every stump speech the fact that he his dad worked in a mill & he will help all those like his dad who are blue collar & need his help (read: too dumb to think for themselves, so big brother will tell them what to do & how to think).

My former governor had the best line of the debates last night when he noted that the last congress has been spending our tax dollars like John Edwards in a beauty shop.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

I actually heard about that on Rush Limbaugh during the last Presidential primaries. At one point Edwards actually had billboards up that said "Let me sue your Dr.".

Thats ridiculous.

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

That's what I thought.

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

If ya'll want a current look at global warming, visit a recent post at 'stones thread'.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I met Edwards in Atlanta and supported him in the last election, but for now its either Hillary or Obama. I do hope that Gore runs this time. It will make my choice pretty easy.

All I remember about Edwards in the last election was how Cheney schooled his ass in the debate. Say what you want about the old man w/ a bad ticker, but on that one night he made Edwards look like the inexperienced, sophmoric fool that he is. BTW, check out how he made his millions...pretty shameful (not that he's the only one!).

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

I actually heard about that on Rush Limbaugh during the last Presidential primaries. At one point Edwards actually had billboards up that said "Let me sue your Dr.".

Is that the same Rush Limbaugh that called Jerry Garcia "just another dead doper" while he was addicted to prescription pills? I wouldn't believe one word that comes out of that hypocrites mouth.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

All I remember about Edwards in the last election was how Cheney schooled his ass in the debate. Say what you want about the old man w/ a bad ticker, but on that one night he made Edwards look like the inexperienced, sophmoric fool that he is. BTW, check out how he made his millions...pretty shameful (not that he's the only one!).

Cheney made a lot of his money through Halliburton, the company that is raping the American taxpayers wile moving their main offices out of the countried to gain a break on its taxes.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Is that the same Rush Limbaugh that called Jerry Garcia "just another dead doper" while he was addicted to prescription pills? I wouldn't believe one word that comes out of that hypocrites mouth.

Ok, well I heard about it on Glenn Beck too.

BTW I wouldn't ever believe anything that comes out of the mouth of any of the liberals that you support. So I guess we're even.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Cheney made a lot of his money through Halliburton, the company that is raping the American taxpayers wile moving their main offices out of the countried to gain a break on its taxes.

Please excuse my typos. Go Irish!

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Ok, well I heard about it on Glenn Beck too.

BTW I wouldn't ever believe anything that comes out of the mouth of any of the liberals that you support. So I guess we're even.

Glenn Beck is totally obnoxious, much like Limbaugh and O'Reilly. They rant and rave, but have nothing to say except Republican spin. Things are bad. How many times do we need to re-examine the war in Iraq. The fact is that we went into the whole thing with NO PLAN. How long ago was "Mission Accomplished?"

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

Is that the same Rush Limbaugh that called Jerry Garcia "just another dead doper" while he was addicted to prescription pills? I wouldn't believe one word that comes out of that hypocrites mouth.

An addiction to prescribed medicine is a common thing. Wanton illegal drug use is another. Is it not ok for people to make mistakes, while trying to do/say the right things? Al Franken is a known liar who gets away with murder. Rush is someone who speaks the truth, and gets attacked by the great defenders of free speech because they oppose his views. I guess Bill Clinton is a bigger hypocrite because he lied to the faces of the American people, as our president. I don't hear those on the left saying that about him. Rush may be a hypocrite, but aren't we all, to some degree??

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

An addiction to prescribed medicine is a common thing. Wanton illegal drug use is another. Is it not ok for people to make mistakes, while trying to do/say the right things? Al Franken is a known liar who gets away with murder. Rush is someone who speaks the truth, and gets attacked by the great defenders of free speech because they oppose his views. I guess Bill Clinton is a bigger hypocrite because he lied to the faces of the American people, as our president. I don't hear those on the left saying that about him. Rush may be a hypocrite, but aren't we all, to some degree??

How does Franken get away with murder? It seems that bin Laden is getting away with murder because the Bush administration has all but abandoned searching for him "Dead or Alive." As for Limbaugh, having your housekeeper illegally get you prescription drugs is "wonton illegal drug use." I'm just glad that we can agree to disagree in this great country.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Cheney made a lot of his money through Halliburton, the company that is raping the American taxpayers wile moving their main offices out of the countried to gain a break on its taxes.

What's that got to do w/ the fact that he punked Edwards ass in the debate? That's like saying Edwards earned millions by besmirching hard working OB/GYN docs w/ junk science but it was too late to reverse the ruling once this was proven. And I wonder who got a bigger cut of the cash? Edwards or the plaintiffs. Hmmmmmmmmm?

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Bush and Cheney "punked" the citizens of this country. Iraq was not a threat and had nothing to do with 9-11.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

You do realize this "dead horse" about Iraq has been beaten numerous times on Irish Envy w/ no one changing their opinions on the matter?

Secondly, even a non-partisan objective viewer would have to admit that Cheney put Edwards over his knee during the debate & spanked him like a little school girl.

 

[irishunclebill]

Tell me a anybody who asks for your vote, who not a hypocrite.

True that. Some just worse than others and Edwards is the worse. All the other rich people running for President don't try to pretend they are not, only Edwards.

 

[ShivaIrish]

I think it's a very valid point about Edwards. He's just moved into a house that, when completed, will be worth more than 6 million dollars. What? That's pretty crazy, and it's hard to believe he truly understands the poor.

By the way, Guiliani reported earned income of 16.1 million (I assume that's approximate?) over the past 16 months. A million a month--that's quite a bit.

For those who say that it takes a lot of money to be a liberal--yep, probably in most cases it takes a lot of money to be a national liberal politician. Same as being a national republican politician.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I think it's a very valid point about Edwards. He's just moved into a house that, when completed, will be worth more than 6 million dollars. What? That's pretty crazy, and it's hard to believe he truly understands the poor.

By the way, Guiliani reported earned income of 16.1 million (I assume that's approximate?) over the past 16 months. A million a month--that's quite a bit.

For those who say that it takes a lot of money to be a liberal--yep, probably in most cases it takes a lot of money to be a national liberal politician. Same as being a national republican politician.

Yup, I think we can all agree that ANY nat'l politician requires tons of cash if they want to compete. Of course, it's no guarantee of victory, but it gets you in the game. Just ask Steve Forbes, Ross Perot & Michael Huffington.

 

[IrishCalves]

I've stayed out of political talk on this site, but I'll at least venture one here. So let me preface this by saying that most of my ideological preferences fall in line with Democratic policies.

There is no denying that the presentability of a candidate is critical to public perception and support. I'm sure most of us have heard that those who watched the Kennedy/Nixon debate said the former won, while radio audiences consistently thought that the latter was better. In 80 and 84, our nation elected a Hollywood actor, who was labeled "the great communicator". If you're going to tell me that Michael Dukakis looked and sounded better than Bush Sr in 88, I think you're kidding yourself.

Like him or hate him Republicans, Bill Clinton had charisma and an articulate speaking manner, part of what made up his "Come back kid" persona. And with George Jr, he had more charm than Al Gore, hands down. In the most recent election, John Kerry reminded half the country of the slow-talking Treebeard Ents from Lord of the Rings. The guy who probably had more energy than even Edwards was Howard Dean, and one overplayed sound-bite brought an end to his presidential future.

With that in mind, I think that is the only reason why I could see myself favoring John Edwards as a candidate - and mind you, this is from a liberal minded thinker - is for the simple purpose of presentability, and thus winning. Whether you like him or not, he is a smooth, composed, eloquent speaker. Now, the content of such words may be utter crap, but he makes himself believable to some just by the way he speaks. He's the prettiest face, one that won't have botox rumors around him like the last Democratic candidate. He's got a face that can win.

Other than that though, I'm not a big fan. He can get into the office, but what will he do with it then? I just haven't seen many of the realistic, hands on tough love negotiator instincts in the way he talks... we aren't going to need more rhetoric in a post-Bush White House (and no, I'm not trying to bash Bush - just giving a low budget state of the Union). The international community (including many of our allies) thinks of Americans as pistol wielding morons that shot up the wrong country on half baked intelligence. The Middle East... well, the daily bombings against US soldiers ought to be a good indicator of how they feel about America. I don't even want to know how pissed half the citizens of New Orleans must be that we let an American city get as bad as it got. And my point here is, we aren't going to make those and the many other situations that are fouled up better by smooth sounding rhetoric, about "uniting" the two Americas that he so often speaks of. But thats just me.

 

[Akron Irish]

I myself am writing in Jeb Bush for President.

 

[irishunclebill]

GD3- Great post, very sensible and balanced. The only comment that I take issue with is the New Orleans comment. Who exactly are the "we" that let New Orleans get as bad as it got.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

I myself am writing in Jeb Bush for President.

The last thing we need is another Bush in the White House. Although he is probably the smartest of them all.

 

[IrishCalves]

GD3- Great post, very sensible and balanced. The only comment that I take issue with is the New Orleans comment. Who exactly are the "we" that let New Orleans get as bad as it got.

Good point... I think I mentioned "we" because the source of blame on that issue is relatively unclear. Was it Bush? Was it FEMA? Was it just Michael Brown? Was it the state/local government? It was a pretty poorly stated sentence, I'll give you that.

New Orleans is still a mess, and a lot of lessons about responsibility, and who gets put in charge of bureaucratic institutions, need to be learned by the next administration. And in my eyes, Edwards needs a lot more than the simple rhetoric he's shown about uniting the two Americas he sees.

 

[LOVEMYIRISH]

The last thing we need is another Bush in the White House. Although he is probably the smartest of them all.

Nah, Bush-41 was the smartest...but he was boring as toast and lost his domestic policy focus...thus his loss in the election.

 

[LOVEMYIRISH]

Tell me a anybody who asks for your vote, who not a hypocrite.

Bill Richardson

 

[irishunclebill]

Good point... I think I mentioned "we" because the source of blame on that issue is relatively unclear. Was it Bush? Was it FEMA? Was it just Michael Brown? Was it the state/local government? It was a pretty poorly stated sentence, I'll give you that.

New Orleans is still a mess, and a lot of lessons about responsibility, and who gets put in charge of bureaucratic institutions, need to be learned by the next administration. And in my eyes, Edwards needs a lot more than the simple rhetoric he's shown about uniting the two Americas he sees.

Totally agree, it was all of the above because none of them were prepared for a disaster of unprecedented proportions. Hope they all learned their lessons, but the cynic in me is telling me that is doubtful.