DebateGate
General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: R.R. on November 18, 2006, 11:53:04 AM
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The Two John Edwards
How the '08 hopeful's PlayStation misstep undermines his "Two Americas" meme.
Jeff Taylor | November 17, 2006
Everyone loves a good hypocrite; they make us feel superior just for being consistent, if not competent. Accordingly the Internets are getting a good snort out of Wal-Mart basher John Edwards getting caught looking for Wal-Mart to hook him up (http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/16/D8LEJIOO0.html) with a Playstation 3.
Edwards explains that an overzealous campaign staffer – is there ever any other kind? – took his family's longings for a Playstation 3 a little too seriously. A call was placed to Wal-Mart to see if the Edwards clan could somehow jump to the front of the line for season's hottest gotta' have gift. Aside from the staffer's positively insane decision to reach out to a Raleigh Wal-Mart given all of Edwards' repeated slams of the company, nothing too surprising here. Just garden variety American ruling class behavior.
But Wal-Mart took that request and did something very unusual – it went on the offensive, issuing a mocking press release on the incident:
Just like the millions of Americans who turn to their neighborhood Wal-Mart for their holiday shopping needs, Wal-Mart announced today that former Sen. John Edwards is seeking to be one of the first to get a Sony PlayStation3, one of the most coveted holiday gift items this Christmas season.
That the Edwards request actually made its way to Bentonville, where a decision was made to respond, and to respond forcefully again sets Wal-Mart apart from most of corporate America. Try to imagine that happening with a Big 2.5 automaker, for example. News of the request would take a week to get past an iron guard of executive VPs. Wal-Mart acted in hours.
However, the slapstick of the Edwards misstep should not obscure the really big picture, the fatal flaw in his "Two Americas" spiel. Many thousands of Americans evidently have $600 to spend on a video game machine. What's more, this Christmas is expected to usher in the year of the flat-panel. With price points dropping below the $1000 mark, high-end TVs are moving down-market fast with Wal-Mart leading the way.
Contrary to the Edwards' pitch that labor-hostile companies are leaving American workers destitute, somebody is making some money out there in America. More importantly, they are making it in many, many cases without a union card. This reality will very hard for union-funded Democrats like Edwards to ignore as the 2008 presidential campaign unfolds. Hewing to the union rules, clear evidence of prosperity, like perhaps a shortage of $600 game machines, will have to be swept out of the campaign.
Impossible you say? Edwards has a head start. From his perch at the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the UNC Law School, Edwards has spent the past year and a half flying around the country telling everyone how bad things are. Predatory lenders, for example, are lending too much money to poor people who in some cases cannot pay the money back. Yes, things are bleak indeed.
The alternative to a Democratic presidential campaign marked by a downward spiral of Pythonseque depravation one-upsmanship might actually address issues like the federal entitlement explosion or comprehensive income tax reform, two areas where Republicans have failed miserably to advance any coherent solution. Should Edwards or Hillary Clinton or someone find away to talk about these things without class-warfare cant, they'll have a head start on the general election.
In any event, maybe the best thing for Wal-Mart to do is stop chortling and go ahead and give John Edwards a PS3 and a couple games. Throw in a flat-panel too. Maybe that way he'll reacquaint himself with American prosperity and abundance and be a better candidate for the experience.
http://www.reasonmag.com/news/show/116797.html
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I wouldn't have thought you were fool enough to believe this crap. I guess I would be wrong.
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Edwards would not have tried to buy his PS3 from Wal*Mart.
This is obvious swill, of the sort that Rush's 'confidential sources' (ie bogus crapmeisters) would come up with.
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This is obvious swill, of the sort that Rush's 'confidential sources' (ie bogus crapmeisters) would come up with.
Perhaps both you and Lanya have trouble reading. It didn't say Edwards did it. It said a staffer of Edwards called on their behalf, perhaps without their knowledge. Who knows. It's an interesting story. Something firedoglake or john Amato would have fun with if it were a republican under the spotlight.
Methinks both of you are being a bit sensitive and I' m not so sure you are up to the two year barrage coming the dems way.
Mikey was smart. He distanced himself from the dems right away.
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Suppose this guy was PAID to call Wall*Mart just to create this story. That is what I am supposing.
Edwards is certainly not so stupid as to have initiated any part of this fiasco. He is nearly as rich as God, and would have purchased his PS3 on Ebay or would have hired someone to wait in a line....and NOT at Wal*Mart line.
Use your head.
Please.
This has nothing to do with sensitivity. It is exclusively a demonstration of logical bullsh*t detection.
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Like i said , the staffer could have done it on his own. trying to please the boss is not unheard of in this country.
Why make it a conspiracy or try to float it down da Nile?
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Explain how Edwards could be guilty of hypocresy if he knew nothing about the request to Wal*Mart.
This is what RR has accused him of, after all.
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Oh please!
Surely you aren't suggesting unfair articles and pundit postulating should be banned from this venue.
Lanya and Knute would be rendered speechless.
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Suppose this guy was PAID to call Wall*Mart just to create this story. That is what I am supposing.
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards acknowledged Thursday that amid his criticism of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a volunteer member of his staff asked the world's largest retailer for help obtaining a hot new Sony Playstation 3 for Edwards' family.
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061116/APF/611162631
You supposed wrong.
Shouldn't Edwards just admit that he enjoys Walmart's low, low prices just like about everybody else?
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So someone else DID ask about this. Not Edwards.
And you are an ass for calling Edwards a hypocrite, aren't you?
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Where was this young unpaid staffer supposed to get the $600 for the playstation if not from the Edwards'?
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Perhaps Karl Rove was financing the deal.
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Every blunder by a Democrat, always comes back to Rove.
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Every blunder by a Democrat, always comes back to Rove.
Didn't you know? Rove can outsmart 'em all. And they admit it.
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Rove can outsmart morons.
There are far too many morons.
Rove adds nothing to the cause of good government. He is simply a turd in the punchbowl who has managed to convince morons that he is a cluster of tasty fruit.
They drink the punch because they are morons.
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He is simply a turd in the punchbowl who has managed to convince morons that he is a cluster of tasty fruit.
One wonders why so many morons are elected as Democrats, then.
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Rove can outsmart morons.
I suppose Rove used his mindrays to command Edwards to take advantage of Walmart's rollback prices?
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The morons are those voters, who in response to Rove's trickery, vote for members of The "Stupid Party", as the Republicans are called by geniuses everywhere.
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The morons are those voters, who in response to Rove's trickery, vote for members of The "Stupid Party", as the Republicans are called by geniuses everywhere.
Genii ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius
"Geniuses are often accused of lacking common sense, or emotional sensitivity. Stories of a genius in a given field being unable to grasp "everyday" concepts are abundant and of ancient vintage: Plato in the Theaetetus offers a picturesque anecdote of the absentmindness of Thales. Some individuals in this "Absent Minded Professor" or lacking social skills arena fall in the Autism Spectrum (such as Asperger Syndrome). Einstein reportedly sawed the rudder off his sailboat while at sea. A genius's intense focus on a given subject might appear obsessive-compulsive in nature, but it might also simply be a choice made by the individual. If one is performing groundbreaking work in one's field, maintaining other elements of life might logically be relegated to insignificance. While the absent-minded professor notion is not without merit, a genius is just as likely to encounter emotional problems as anyone else. Note the peculiarities of figures like Glenn Gould and Bobby Fischer. Such examples, however, are likely products of mental or emotional instability rather than genius per se, though there is a researched correlation between I.Q. and maladjustment [1]."
"In the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, a genius is a person in whom intellect predominates over will much more than for the average person. In Schopenhauer's aesthetics, this predominance of intellect over will allows the genius to create artistic or academic works that are objects of pure, disinterested contemplation, the chief criterion of the aesthetic experience for Schopenhauer. Their remoteness from mundane concerns means that Schopenhauer's geniuses often display maladaptive traits in more mundane concerns; in Schopenhauer's words, they fall into the mire while gazing at the stars."
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The morons are those voters, who in response to Rove's trickery, vote for members of The "Stupid Party", as the Republicans are called by geniuses everywhere.
Funny then. Why did you say that Edwards staff was tricked by Rove? Edwards hires Republicans?