Kossacks, we here in North Carolina need your help.  You see, we are trying to unseat Elizabeth Dole in the coming elections and we have a terrific progressive candidate who we believe can do that but guess what?  Good old Chuck Schumer stuck himself and the DSCC smack in the middle of things and convinced a centrist, corporatist state Senator, Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, to run even though she didn't want to!  Apparently our progressive candidate Jim Neal who stepped up and announced his candidacy, something Hagan wasn't willing to do, isn't who Chuck "Mukasey is OK" Schumer and the rest of the old guard think should face Dole in November so they "enlisted" Kay, an establishment Dem.  

Vincent Joseph Anania, 87, father of Elizabeth Edwards, died yesterday in Chapel Hill, NC of heart failure.

Father of three and grandfather to many, Mr. Anania leaves behind Elizabeth, his wife of sixty years.

Elizabeth Edwards has conveyed that in lieu of flowers, contributions to the Wade Edwards Foundation at www.wade.org would be most appreciated.  Here is more info for you:  http://www.journalnow.com:80/...

Just wanted to let fellow Kossacks know so that any who wish to do so would be able to donate and send their condolences.

Thank you in advance.

Update:  After I signed off of the computer last night Elizabeth Edwards graciously posted her thanks for all of the comments here.  We thank you, Elizabeth, for stopping by.

Sung to the tune of "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) by The Velvet Fog (Mel Torme) sigh... love me some Mel Torme.

OK, lyrics up, folks!

And thank you Senator Schumer for business as usual!  Snark!

Sharing John's trait of optimism I found myself very uncomfortable this morning as I wandered around the house feeling like I had lost a limb or something.  I'm simply no good at staying down for too long.  As if by having ESP a friend and fellow Edwards supporter called me and when we were finished lamenting John's campaign suspension, cussing the media, and sharing our fear for our country as we march toward totalitarianism, we began a discussion about what we could do now that would be of value to those of us who feel that John's voice and his message are now more important than ever.

Follow me below the fold to see if you are interested.

I want to say some things to you and I mean to do it nicely and from my heart.  We have had so much nastiness back and forth that it has become difficult to believe supporters of a candidate other than one's own have hearts, but we are all human, so of course we do.

We proud John Edwards supporters have been astonished for months now that John offers positions and policies, real deals, and the next thing we know, Obama is saying the same thing and taking the credit.

I came across an OpEd today that covers this issue perfectly and I'm going to share it with you because I think it is vitally important to us all.  It speaks to "meat" over glitz.  Please read it.

And, if you haven't done so already, check out StevenLeser's diary, it is an eye opener as well.
http://www.dailykos.com/...

BlueNC's Anglico diaried this issue yesterday, and I applaud him.  Well done Anglico!  

I just sent our County Chair the following email:

Dear Jim,

It is with regret that I must tell you I am resigning as Precinct Chair for Harnett 9 here in New Hanover County effective immediately.

You are doing a superb job as County Chair and I wish you continued success.

My reason for resigning is the action taken by the State party urging Kay Hagan to run against Jim Neal for Elizabeth Dole's Senate seat.  I, as a Progressive, find it unconscionable that the State Democratic Party would make such a move... more politics as usual rather than true progress.

I will be focusing all of my efforts on behalf of John Edwards, Larry Kissell, Marshall Adame and Jim Neal, all progressive candidates.

No more "politics as usual" for me.

Best wishes and thanks for all you do,

This, that and the other one title diaries "... suicide..."  Have any of you lost someone you love to suicide?  Do you have any clue what that means and how it feels?  I can answer "yes" to both questions.  Can you?  If not, stop with the suicide meme.  Please, if for no other reason than out of courtesy.  Since it appears necessary, I'll try to explain below the fold.  Please note, this won't be for the faint of heart or the queasy.

Yup, us pooties are Democats, one and all!  Ya see, we're all rescue catters, and only Democrats (good folks) would bother to see the good in us, not to mention the love we give our humans.

We all have our stories so our Mom will introduce us and show you our pictures below the fold... meow!

Hat tip to Salo for coining the phrase "S-Fear", meaning fear on the part of the blogosphere.  It's so apt it boggles the mind.

While reading TomP's diary yesterday morning, one discussing John Edwards taking on Hillary and Blackwater, I came across a comment by David Mizner that said it all so stunningly clearly to me that I had to do something with the emotion swirling around inside.  David very aptly said:

Yes, well You know the sphere is in trouble, soulwise, when Edwards gets endless grief for doing public financing while Hillary gets almost no grief for systematically shaking down K-Street.

I'm not saying JRE's decision should be beyond criticism; I'm saying the priorities of the sphere are way screwed up right now.

Amen to that David.  "S-Fear"

Disclaimer 1: This is my personal opinion.
Disclaimer 2: I would feel this way even if I didn't support another candidate.

I liked Hillary Clinton when Bill was running for President in '91-'92.  She was smart, she had guts, and as the rumors of Bill's womanizing came out she held her head high.  I respected her for that, figuring it must have been so painful to have your intimate life put under such a nasty microscope.

As time passed my liking turned to dislike and distrust.  It started when she worked on Universal Health Care, in secret and with apparent disdain for the opinions of others outside the Clinton circle.

Many other events colored my opinion of Hillary Clinton, events you are all aware of, such as the Travel Office debacle, the futures trading that reaped her a huge amount of money...

And now she is running for President.  It's labelled "inevitable".  I don't like inevitability when it comes to presidential candidates.

How to start?  wmtriallawyer's diary of yesterday really got me thinking and much of what I thought about left me even more unsettled.

First of all, I hope he stays right here and continues posting because I learn from him.  That's selfish, but there you have it.

I learn from so many here and candidly, when I want the news of the day, I come here rather than going to the traditional media.

When I was a ten year old Girl Scout, our troop had the yearly duty to sell Girl Scout cookies for fifty cents a box.  We took orders in February with delivery in March.  By taking on this responsibility we were supposed to learn how to work, and a little something about integrity.

At that time I lived in Scranton, PA, and typically in the months of taking orders and making deliveries we would have a lot of snow on the ground and freezing cold temperatures.

Nonetheless, I trudged out in the snow and cold to take orders in the hopes that I would sell the most boxes and win the award!   But, I never did because Prissy, daughter of our troop leader, always won, every year.  Why?  Because her dad took her order sheet to work and took orders for her, thus knocking out any competition.

You are probably wondering why I am yammering on about selling Girl Scout cookies, right?  Follow me below the fold and I'll tell you.

So, nice nice, John Edwards received endorsements from not only the Carpenters, but in addition, from the United Steel Workers, and the United Mine Workers!  No skinny easy feat!

In addition, Unite Here is expected to give him their endorsement as well.  Problem???  Oh, yeah!!  Check it out.

This isn't about me, but I'm going to use my situation to make a point.

I'm one of the lucky ones.  I have a chronic disease, not life-threatening, but requiring treatment by medication, which I will take for the rest of my life.  I have health insurance, and am blessed enough to be able to pay the difference between what is covered by that insurance versus what is charged by my specialist and the pharmacy.  Along with all of that, I'm an RN and my son is a physician.  As I said, I'm one of the lucky ones and yet, you wouldn't believe what I go through to receive that treatment and what I'm charged for it.

This is for you, nyceve, because you do such a wonderful job of bringing the healthcare situation in this country to light.

So, now Matt Stoller wants a "conversation" about John and Elizabeth Edwards being "a little racist" and how they "owe" a blogger an explanation of why John's campaign isn't "gaining traction" in the AA community.

Please, somebody throw me a bone here.  I've read Stoller's diary and David Mizner's diary and I recommended one of them:  David Mizner's.

Matt Stoller is a little uncomfortable with Edwards?  Can't quite get a bead on it and so offers up "a little bit racist" as his reasoning?  Well, I'm a whole lot chapped.

I just received this email from Joe Trippi:

Dear friend,

Today, we need your help to send a message to insiders like George Bush's Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who have no respect for the rule of law, our rights and freedoms, or the Constitution.

Gonzales, the man who helped enable torture at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and illegal spying on Americans, is now facing a possible perjury investigation for lying to Congress.

President Bush may be incapable of admitting when he makes a mistake (yes, too many to count)—but you and I and the American people still have the power to tell Gonzales that it is time to go!

Add your name to our message to Gonzales today.

That's it, I've had it!  Sweet Mother of the Saviour, this is a presidential campaign, not freakin' daycare!  I am beyond pi**ed to read yet again that John Solomon, that "great" writer for WaPo, has attempted to dis John Edwards about his hair.  As my wonderful Dad would say, "Jesus Connecticut Christ!"  Grrrrr.............