Still two Americas

The second greatest tragedy of John Edwards' fall from grace (the first being the damage he did to his family) was that Edwards had been one of the first to call out on a national stage the idea of there being, economically, two Americas.  Edwards tried, in a way few other national Democrats did or do, to remind the party of its roots and its commitment to championing those in poverty.

In early December The New York Times ran a stunning story on Dasani, a homeless child in New York, and the travails her family faced.  Admittedly, Dasani's parents had made some bad choices, and predictably, the conservative rag The New York Post ran an editorial shortly after its publication in which it raised the usual republican tripe that it was entirely the parents' fault, despite all evidence to the contrary (a republican line of callousness that began with the happy idiot, Ronald Reagan, who, if God is truly just, is currently rotting in hell for his crimes against humanity).

The simple truth is that those in poverty, for the most part, are no more to blame for their lot in life than a single grain of sand is responsible for a dust storm.  The American dream has been dying a slow death since Ronald Reagan's tenure in the White House, and it's only been exacerbated by the Great Recession.  Those born in poverty are much more likely to remain in poverty, and, increasingly, those born in the middle class are facing a future of poverty as well.  America has become a land of plenty for those at the top and a land of permanent want for those at the bottom.  It's called income inequality now, but John Edwards, for all his faults was right:  we have two Americas.  And as Pope Francis has noted, it is the issue of our time.

If the Democratic Party wants to be on the right side of history (let's face it, republicans don't give a fuck about ordinary Americans as long as they can score political points with the 20% of Americans who represent their radical fringe), it would be wise to make their New Year's resolution for 2014 to redevote itself to reaching out to the needy and the homeless, to the working poor and the middle class, and putting their well-being before the Party's corporate benefactors.

The War on Poverty can be won, but it will not be won by Wall Street.

It will be won by Main Street.

Peace,
emaycee