The Obama Diary

This is long. Go get a beverage.

I had a conversation with some friends of mine who are so angry at the John Edwards mistrial, they can hardly see. They personally hate him with the passion of a thousand suns, and believe that no matter how much good someone has done, it’s all negated by the bad.

It made me really think about how misled we all are as a country, thanks largely to our broken Media/Press, and how misplaced our anger and outage is.

First let me say that I’m BEYOND angry with John and Elizabeth Edwards. I’ll get to that later, but first:

– How many people out there have thought this trial has been about misuse of campaign funds?

– How many people are aware of the six specific charges brought against John Edwards?

– How many people wondered WHY Edwards is being charged when so many others seem to do the same thing or worse, with not only full impunity, but encouragement?

Now think about the source you got your information from.

For those of you unsure, here are the six charges (link):

1. Conspiracy - Violation of Title 18 – Section 1001

2. Illegal Campaign Contributions (too much from one person.)

3. Illegal Campaign Contributions (too much from one person.)

4. Illegal Campaign Contributions (too much from one person.)

5. Illegal Campaign Contributions (too much from one person.)

6. False Statements - Violation of Title 18 – Section 1001

Title 18 USC § 1001 is basically about lying to the government, NOT the misuse of campaign funds. The Federal Campaign Election Act of 1971 is related to charges 2 through 5.

John Edwards was never specifically charged with “Misuse of Campaign Funds.” Sure, they threw in all of the things bought with that money (that was personally sent to a staffer, not to the campaign), but there is no law against being a douchenozzle or cheating on your wife, or paying for the upkeep of your mistress. If there were, Newt Gingrich would be in prison for life.

Apparently, either that specific law doesn’t exist, or else it’s so vague that no one can be convicted of it. How else to explain the likes of Christine O’Donnell or all those GOP Presidential candidates who run for office with zero hope of getting the nomination, all so they can make money they can then live off of after their campaign tanks?

How about Sarah Palin getting millions in donations, and then toured the US in her own custom made bus, all while never running for office?

I’ve searched for actual convictions of “misuse of campaign funds” and can’t find any. I do find Mail Fraud, Money Laundering, and Lying, but not actual convictions of specific misuse of funds. Maybe someone can help me out.

I in no way approve of what Edwards did. It was douchey. But there is a world of difference between using money to hide your mistress, and trying to influence voting and election outcomes. There are those who say they’re one in the same when it comes to Edwards, since he was known as a “family man”, whatever that means… (As if it’s the same as paying people to LIE on blogs, show up at campaign events, sending mailers with incorrect voting information and dates, giving money to candidates specifically to help your profits by getting Obamacare overturned…. The list is endless.)

I tend to not care about someone’s personal life (unless they’re blatantly hypocritical, and a serial liar.) Someone’s ability to help the poor, create opportunities for those who have had none, and improving public schools has absolutely zero bearing on how they’re getting laid. Can it be a distraction? Depends on the person. I’m not voting for a husband. I’m voting for someone who is capable and genuinely wants to serve the public, and make life better for their fellow citizens, not just enrich themselves at everyone else’s expense. Sadly those people are few and far between. Edwards was one of them.

John and Elizabeth were complicit in taking campaign funds while knowing the truth of his affair would damage his presidential bid, and the Democratic Party as a whole. I’m especially enraged for their ridiculous arrogance in thinking they could keep that information a secret, and/or no one would care.

What country had they been living in? This isn’t France. This is America, where Lindsay Lohan is far more important than the record filibustering and outright lying of the GOP.

If Elizabeth was healthy and they were separated no one would have cared. However, Elizabeth had cancer, and that made the situation in the minds of most Americans, a classic tragedy, even if he had the affair with Elizabeth’s blessing. I don’t know. I don’t care. Their marriage isn’t my business.

I do care that they were stupid, and thought the rest of us would be as well. I’m pretty sure there IS a law against not speaking out on something you know will be completely damaging to you if ever discovered (and likely will be) while taking people’s money in good faith, but he wasn’t charged with that. (And if there’s not a law against it when it comes to campaign finance and contributions, there should be.)

I am also enraged that they both John and Elizabeth knowingly put the entire party at huge risk. But how did they do that? Is it because we have higher morals than the GOP, who do more, far worse behavior, in broad daylight, but scream about it louder when it’s anyone but them because IT’S OK IF YOU’RE A REPUBLICAN? Why do we care? Why do we allow the now completely sociopathic GOP to bully us about morality, then not call them out on it, and refuse to tolerate it? It’s insane.

More importantly, why have the sane Republicans allowed their party to be taken over by nut-jobs?? Why doesn’t any of their behavior put the GOP into huge peril? Because that behavior is now championed by the Right. Lying gets you more donations. Win at any cost - even CHEATING & STEALING. In fact, the more Mafioso and crazy you can be, the stronger you look. Ask Donald Trump.

If found guilty Edwards would have faced up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines for taking $925k from TWO people (which is too much from two people for a campaign - too bad they’re not corporations today - in 2007 & 2008 that was still illegal.)

Now compare that to Sarah Palin living off of MILLIONS of Campaign donations and she didn’t even RUN. How is that okay? Because she never cheated on Todd? Why does that even matter? (Levi might tell us otherwise.) What about Cheney + Blackwater $ + KB&R $+ Halliburton $ + LYING = millions of people killed? Not to mention still being on those payrolls while VP. What about Sheldon Adelson actively trying to finance WWIII? Why doesn’t he just go live in Israel since he hates the US so much. MEOW HISS (sorry…. he just really makes me want to drop him into a shark tank dressed up like an old fat wounded seal.)

As for good things being negated by bad, while it’s easy to allow my rage to go there, after giving it some thought, I actually can’t agree when all is said and done. Two wrongs don’t make a right. But two wrongs and a right don’t make three wrongs. Bill Clinton cheating on Hillary was bad. But it didn’t negate all the eight years of peace and prosperity we had. And the bad he did, DOMA, DADT, NAFTA, and a shiteload of other things I disagree with, doesn’t negate the GOOD he did. Even DOMA, as bad as it is, signing that then, was better than having Bob Dole as POTUS at the time, and sending gay rights back even further.

Regarding the Edwards trial, the one count the jury agreed NOT GUILTY on was the Mellon funds of 2008. If you’re going to be angry, direct your anger at the very laws that allowed that to happen - and the fact he was NEVER charged with the MISUSE of any of those funds. Be mad at Citizens United, and everyone who wants no regulations or oversight on anything having to do with MONEY.

Our society has been hijacked, and we’ve all allowed it to happen because of greed. No one wants to pay taxes so our education system gets starved of funds and our populace becomes an army of easily swayed morons. We take away regulations on our media and the press becomes all about making money instead of informing the citizens. Churches preach hate and get tax breaks.

My anger is that what he was charged with was stupid, and the Press didn’t explain that. It was a witch-hunt. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve to be in prison ALONG WITH THE REST WHO MISUSE FUNDS and those who run for elected office, with NO INTENTION of ever getting elected, just to get contributions and KEEP THAT MONEY TO LIVE ON.

But no one should be in prison if they didn’t break existing law. It doesn’t help that the laws we need no longer, or have never, existed. It also doesn’t help that our Press fails time and again to explain how or why we don’t have the right laws to stop this behavior.

Which brings me back to our broken media, and my larger anger. We allow this. We allow them to mislead and misinform us. We reward them with money when they print stories of no importance on the Kardashians, and fail to demand investigative journalism on the lies of Mitt Romney, and the election fraud of Karl Rove.

I have some hope. There was finally, after years of spewing non-stop insanity, some pushback on Rush’s radio hate porn, and he’s losing sponsors. But it’s going to take a lot more from us, to get back to having a real Fourth Estate. Money is the bottom line, and speaking out, calling sponsors, and not spending your money on media outlets that LIE will help. Calling and writing when you have a complaint, doing the same when they run a good piece will too. Take another step and subscribe. Use their sponsors and call/write and tell them why – both the media outlet, and the sponsor. TWEET. TWEET. TWEET.

We also need to demand reform from our representatives. It should be illegal here for the News to lie to the public, just like it is in Canada. It should also be illegal for anyone running for government office to lie. Period. To the public, to the press, to their campaign staff, or to their wife and kids. If you’re running for office, you give up your right of “free speech” when it comes to LYING.

But WE must demand it.

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