Hello Mallika, I'm glad you took notice of this.

After much thought, I think the Edwards' combined courage provides an infusion of humanity into a presidential race that just might benefit from the realness of this fearless couple.

The Edwards are exposing their strength, fortitude and even faith in a public way that can be a great example for others.

The question is - how will voters respond? Will they be more concerned with a candidate that might take a hike if his wife's condition worsens... or will they be moved to passionately support the couple?

In an era where the almighty dollar often rules the road of campaign success, it'll be a fascinating commentary on the will of the people. Sen. Edwards can stand up in strength for what he believes in, with his wife at his side most of the time.... but will the campaign dollars be pulled in fear that the personal challenge might be too much?

If this couple can conquer such personal issues with grace, do you think this will bolster public opinion of his strength as a democratic candidate?

All the best, love the site, Judy

Dear Mallika

Elizabeth Edwards is doing what she wants to do. However, Couric may have been telegraphing what some feel: that Elizabeth may be sacrificing her health for her husband's ambition. The feeling exists because Elizabeth looks 20 years older than her husband. He's been growing younger-looking, and her face seems to be showing all the pressures of the challenges this couple has taken on. In their press conference, he looked completely happy and upbeat. She looked determined, but not happy. In NYC, everyone I've talked to since the press conference had that take on it, no matter their gender or age. Everyone admitted to that view reluctantly, because it's also clear that she has a great deal of courage and determination, and she loves her husband very much. Maybe we'd have felt better if he'd looked pressured, tired and upset, too, rather than happy.

love, Heath

It's nobody's business what people decide to do in situations like this. End of story. Not much of a 'scoop' for Katie, who was her usual annoying self, if you ask me.

Ironically, the real 'scoop' of this 60 minutes was the interview with Hassen Butt.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/23/60minutes/main2602308.shtml

Some excerpts:

"We’d talk about the suffering of the Muslims all over the world," Butt tells Simon. "We were very well-versed in the Koran, in the verses of the Koran, in the sayings of the Prophet and show that how it was permissible for people to go around killing innocent men, women and children."

"You would explain to them why it's permissible to kill innocent men, women and children?" Simon asks.

"Well, a better way to put it is, we would take away the innocence from the person so they were no longer innocent men, women and children," Butt explains.

"So, men, women and children would become non-innocents?" Simon asks.

"Become non-innocent and hence, combatants and allowed to be targeted," Butt says.

(sort of like how nazi's got the german people to de-humanize the jews)
Another:

"What I've come to realize is that killing for the sake of killing, and killing in the name of Islam for the sake of killing, is completely and utterly prohibited. And there's a big disease, a big problem and a cancer in the Muslim world. And it's a very dangerous cancer, and it needs to be dealt with," he says.

How? "And I really believe, if Muslims can pluck up their courage to ask questions, regardless of the consequences, then I do see that there is still hope, you know, to solve, to cure this cancer," Butt says.

Hassan Butt made his about face public last January at Cambridge University, at the debating union. For the first time he revealed that he had left the network and announced his strategy to confront radical Muslims.

"The position of moderate Muslims is that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. Do you buy that?" Simon asks.

"No, absolutely not. By completely being in denial about it's like an alcoholic basically. Unless an alcoholic acknowledges that he has a problem with alcohol, he's never gonna be able to go forward," Butt argues. "And as long as we, as Muslims, do not acknowledge that there is a violent streak in Islam, unless we acknowledge that, then we are gonna always lose the battle to the militants, by being in complete denial about it."

Hello Mallika and Everyone,

I saw the interview. Katie asked some tough questions but you got the feeling that these were the questions that were floating around Washington and the Nation. The interview was excrutiatingly thorough but John and Elizabeth answered every question with patience, tolerance, clarity. They were concise and straightforward and becuase of the way they faced those questions you felt you were in the presence of two wonderful teachers. Their love for one another is clearly apparent, and btw John doesn't look all that young and Elizabeth is stunningly beautiful, by the end of the interview you felt reassured, and you would simply honor any decision they would make. It was a wonderful lesson for Americans that had nothing whatsoever to do with politics, although you had no doubt this Man and Women are wonderful teachers and are capable leaders. They are truly blessed in everyway..

ruth

Hello Mallika and Everyone,

I have never felt that John Edwards would raise to the top in the Presidential race, only as a possible Vice Presidential possibility, and I still feel that way.

My question before this announcement was always why is he running? Does he really think he has a chance? I still feel that way, especially, now, with the cancer announcement, why continue the run when it looks as though the Presidency is not really possible? Just my observations. Still, I honor their choice and do not feel, at all, that Elizabeth is sacrificing for her husband's ambitions.

ruth

Tony Snow's cancer has spread.

Sort of ironic that two famous people from different ends of the politic spectrum would become hit with cancer again both in the same week.

Sort of reminds me when Princess Di and Mother Thersa both died in the same week. Although not politically, they were also two people that were opposites in many ways but were working toward common goals.

I think God sends these messages from time to time.

Makes you realize that there will always be a point where humans can find common ground.

Hello Mallika and Everyone,

Today it was announced that Tony Snow, the President's press secretary, has a recurrence of cancer. Although, these diagnosis are extremely difficult to hear about and your heart goes out to anyone who is facing such a serious illness it is strangley leveling as far as what "everyday" people deal with in their lives and puts a compassionate note in front of all the "political" nonsense that we are faced with each and everyday. It has somehow made us all aware of our mortality. It has brought death into our consciousness as a Nation, instead of just individually, and there is something beautiful about it. I am deeply touched by what Tony and Elizabeth are facing, alone, and with their families, and I feel somehow strengthed by their ability to face their difficulties with their Nation watching, closely. There is such beauty in their simple courage, in our simple courage as a species to get up and go on in the face of the unknown, even though we may be the worse for wear, we still get up and that has got to stand for something about us as a species, we sure know how to "keep on truckin."

just thinking..ruth

Edwards NOT pulling out of the race in the worst time of his wifes life just proves the point in spades is really no surprise to me when one looks at what he is capable of doing to the sick, and the maternity Doctors in the country?

I think it is safe to say that most husbands, and wives would bend over backwards if they could afford with ease, and financial peace of mind to stay home and comfort their dying spouses, but not this guy, it looks to me that he is so obsessed with his aspirations to become a DICTATOR, that he will now try to play on the sympathy's of the voters to GAIN votes using his terminally ill wife as a PROP!... ( won't these maniacs do ANYTHING, SAY ANYTHING FOR A VOTE?).. when he should be at her side sitting in their comfortable pool chairs by his huge swimming pool, combing his hair with one hand while counting his money with the other:

Another OBSESSED WEALTHY MANIAC, the way I see him!

Personally I hope this back-fires on him BIG TIME it would be small consolation for penance.. for what he has been responsible for in tearing down the health providers, along with the right thing to do to look after his wife BEFORE HIMSELF, and most of the country don't want or need him anyway, he needs HIMSELF!

Steve

From The Wall Street Journal Editorial

Did Edwards Do Right?

John and Elizabeth Edwards's announcement yesterday that her cancer has recurred and he is still running for president drew some emotional criticism. This is from reader Cliff Thier:

At a business dinner a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a woman I hardly knew. It was the first time we had met face-to-face. She mentioned to me that she was a cancer survivor. I said that it must have been terrifying. She said that it was and it wasn't, and she explained what she meant. But out of nowhere, she said that her husband didn't handle it well. He was in denial, she said. Not very supportive. It was obvious that she was disappointed he hadn't been there for her more.

It was an odd thing to say to a stranger. It might have been that I was the only person she ever said this to. Maybe she told it to me because I was a stranger and we weren't likely to meet again. And I wasn't likely ever to meet her husband.

I remembered that conversation when I heard that John Edwards was going to continue running for President. I was struck that the report of Mrs. Edwards's cancer was that it was "not curable but treatable." Another report said that people who are so afflicted "on average" live from 2 1/2 to 5 years.

After reading fawning instant analysis after fawning instant analysis of John Edwards's "brave" decision to continue running for president--even though his wife may be fighting for her life, and even though they have young children--it struck me that the pundits and journalists are completely wrong.

Some fundamental questions escaped their notice: Is this the kind of husband that women dream of? Are female voters going to trust a man who puts his wife's life second to his ambitions? Are American men going to look at John Edwards and wonder to themselves, "Hey, what the hell kind of guy is this?"

Elizabeth Edwards may have a small number of years left to her. Her husband could return to private practice and spend all his free time during those years with her and their children. Hell, he's so rich that he has the luxury of not going back to work. Either way, he could spend every minute with his wife and children that he can. His wife needs him. His children need him. If his wife dies while he's in the White House, who will care for their young children? The Secret Service?

Look, it doesn't matter what Elizabeth Edwards might have said in private or in public. It's not her character that I'm concerned with.

It was John Edwards who made this decision. He could have simply said to his wife: "You and our children are more important to me than any damn job."

But he didn't.

Reader Linda Kidwell echoes the sentiment:

I've always found Edwards slimy, but even I was prepared to give him kudos for doing the right thing by his wife. I was thinking very highly of him in spite of myself yesterday morning [when it was erroneously reported that he was suspending the campaign].

I have two colleagues with breast cancer, and I've seen that their husbands step up to take on a huge burden of managing the home in ways they didn't before. It is a life-changing event in the fathers' family lives.

I can't believe any man would continue to run a national election campaign with a wife in this condition.

But blogger Dean Barnett, who himself suffers from cystic fibrosis, a degenerative respiratory disease, is far more charitable. Barnett says that he went through a stage of denial when he was first diagnosed 11 years ago and that the Edwardses may be experiencing something similar:

I think I may know some of what the Edwards are feeling. They've been running for the White House for seven years now. And make no mistake--as Hugh [Hewitt] points out in his book, running for president is a family affair. It's more than a dream and an ambition for them. It's a big part of what defines their lives.

So they walked out of that doctor's office refusing to let her disease take their lives away. Some people are calling their decision courageous; others find it puzzling. Having been in a situation analogous to theirs, I think I have some understanding and I know I have some sympathy. They're working through all of this. Their first instinct is not to surrender. That's good, and it's what you would have expected. People who seek the presidency aren't the types who give up or even compromise easily.

Through the years, I've come to view serious and progressive illness as an ever constricting circle with oneself at the center. The interior of the circle represents the contents of one's life. As the circle gets smaller, things that were inside get forced out. Some of these things are dearly missed; other items that were once thought precious get forced to the exterior and turn out to go surprisingly unlamented.

At the innermost point of the circle are the things that really matter: Family, faith, love. These things stay with you until the day that you die. At the very end, because the circle has shrunk down to its center, they're all you have left.

But as we approach that end, we finally realize that all along they were what mattered most. As a consequence, life often remains beautiful and worthwhile right up until the end. The past several years for me have been a journey to what's at the center of my life. One of the things I found there that I didn't expect to was writing. (You lucky people.)

The Edwards have begun their own journey of that sort. Whether they still find presidential politics at the center of their lives a few months from now is an open question. Regardless, the journey is theirs, and one would have a heart of stone to wish them anything other than good luck and Godspeed.

Our own reaction to the (erroneous) news that Edwards would suspend his campaign was the same as Kidwell's: a surprised admiration. When we watched the news conference, though, we were inclined to reserve judgment. Barnett's post helped us clarify why.

This was a decision the Edwardses made in private, and we have no way of knowing what transpired between them. Maybe Mr. Edwards told Mrs. Edwards he was going to end the campaign to care for her, and she, out of a combination of guilt and denial, begged him not to.

Elizabeth Edwards received her diagnosis Wednesday; the press conference was Thursday. This was a quick decision, perhaps a rash one. It really tells us nothing about either Edwards's character, one way or the other.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110009827

My Rant!

Edwards has fallen victim to his own "communist manifesto" that teaches "Hypmotism" or facsimiles of same, and has actually hypmotised HIMSELF!.. to believing that he could be a "President" (Dictator) even though he has nothing from his past that would qualify him to enhance the building of the Unites States in any of his endeavors, that I have found except taking advantage of a bent Justice "system" to create huge wealth for himself, but how does that help the United States or it's people?

So the only thing that Edwards has to offer the American people is the huge self centered EGO he has acquired generated by his very fortunate successes of "creating" a personal fortune for himself, and in record time, and now that his lust for money is at a comfortable level, what comes next with these multi millionaires now that they have more money than they will ever need? they then turn to the ultimate adventure and challenge.... to become a DICTATOR... politics is below these types that’s why Edwards is going for the whole KINGDOM.... in his psychotic mind!

After all won't he get a buck-a-vote for LOSING! GIGGLE GIGGLE!

He is obsessed and committed with the money to back him up, and he will be back!

And he does have many of his ilk that kiss his ring!

However in this race he won't get near the ticket!

But young enough for him to say "But maaaaybe NEXT TIME?

He's got the time and the money to wait, and live "like" a king until he tries again to become one!

God bless the troops:

Steve:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A psychiatrist met a friend and exclaimed, "I heard you died."

"But you see I'm alive ," smiled the friend.

"Impossible," said the psychiatrist.

"The man who told me is much more reliable than you."

(HE STOLE THIS FROM THE LIBS, "DON'T LISTEN TO THE 'FACTS'...LISTEN TO 'ME'"!)

Edwards a very very dangerous man as I see him!

If the law and the present "system" allow a shyster to make millions on the backs of the working stiff, the way Edwards apparently has, we can't blame Edwards, he's smart enough to use the "FLAWED" laws to create himself untold wealth!

However a guy like Edwards is not satisfied that a "bent" system, that he could take advantage of to JUST attain wealth that most Americans can only "dream" of that allows him to live like a KING, he wants to "BE" A KING!

One would think that having more money than they will ever need, would satisfy their "trip" through life, and enjoy their money, but NO, money gives them a new found feeling of POWER, and their next goal after they have created wealth is to become the "faces" of "NEW" LEADERS OF THE WORLD!

We only have to look as close as Soros ( working to be a "behind the curtain" President), Pelosi, Heintz-Kerry, Gore, Co former Presidents Clintonszz, to name a few of the most dangerous of the bunch have proven to me that they care less about POLITICS now with their new found wealth, and more to creating a Castro, or Chevez regime of Dictatorship to elevate their personal EGO at the expense of all the people not only of this country but of the WORLD!

God bless the troops:

Steve:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#Early_life.2C_education.2C_and_family

EXCERPTS FROM WIKIPEDIA!

Legal career

Four Trials by John Edwards Both Edwards and his wife began private practice with law firms in Nashville, Tennessee. Edwards became an associate at the law firm of Dearborn & Ewing in 1978, doing primarily trial work, defending a Nashville bank and other corporate clients. The Edwards family (John, Elizabeth, and son Wade) returned to North Carolina in 1981, settling in the capital of Raleigh.

Before entering politics, Edwards was a personal injury trial attorney. He represented families and children, and specialized in corporate negligence and medical malpractice claims. Edwards made his personal fortune through his trial successes and his 2003 financial disclosure forms showed a total net worth between $12.8 and $60 million. Edwards was criticized for paying himself mostly through subchapter S corporate dividends, rather than a salary, to take advantage of a tax-law loophole that allowed him to avoid paying $591,000 in Medicare taxes; Edwards claimed that he chose the subchapter S structure to protect his assets from liability.

Edwards' first important case was a 1984 medical malpractice lawsuit. In that case, Edwards won a $3.7 million verdict on behalf of his client who suffered permanent brain and nerve damage after a doctor prescribed a drug overdose of anti-alcoholism drug Antabuse. In 1985, Edwards obtained a $5.75 million settlement in a cerebral palsy case for medical malpractice during childbirth, representing Jennifer Campbell, a five-year-old cerebral palsy patient. This established the North Carolina precedent of physician and hospital liability for failing to determine if the patient understood risks of a particular procedure. During the trial, it has been argued that Edwards relied more on his verbal skills as a trial lawyer than on actual science. While delivering his summary, Edwards said that "I have to tell you right now – I didn't plan to talk about this – right now I feel her [Jennifer], I feel her presence...[Jennifer's] inside me and she's talking to you."

The biggest case of his legal career was a 1997 product liability lawsuit against Sta-Rite, the manufacturer of a defective pool drain cover. The case involved a Cary, North Carolina girl, Valerie Lakey, who was disemboweled by the suction power of the pool drain pump when she sat on an open pool drain whose protective cover other children at the pool had removed, after the swim club had failed to install the cover properly. Despite 12 prior suits with similar claims, Sta-Rite continued to make and sell drain covers lacking warnings. In his closing arguments, Edwards spoke to the jury for an hour and a half without referring to notes. It was an emotional appeal that made reference to his son, Wade, who had been killed shortly before testimony began in the trial. Mark Dayton, editor of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, would later call it "the most impressive legal performance I have ever seen." The jury awarded the Lakeys $25 million, the largest personal injury award in North Carolina history. The company settled for the $25 million while the jury was deliberating punitive damages, rather than risk appeal. For their part in this case, Edwards and law partner David Kirby earned the Association of Trial Lawyers of America's national award for public service.

In December 2003, during his presidential campaign, Edwards (with John Auchard) published Four Trials, a biographical book focusing on cases from his legal career.

Hello Mallika and Everyone,

Steve, you actually wrote something yourself! I'm impressed, and it has that, oh, so familiar, disdain about it. Maybe, if you cut and paste, enough, and, write enough, you can work through that humongous pile of disdain you have obviously taken such care to horde.

have a not so disdainful day, ruth

I don't want to question anyone's motives for campaigning when his wife is dying of cancer.

But.

If it were me, I would end the campaign and spend the rest of the time I had with her traveling the world or enjoying it, whether it's one or ten years.

He is a very wealthy man and can afford to, and he has ZERO shot of winning this time around anyway.

She is in my prayers, though.