For whatever reason, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic tonight and so I thought I'd share with you some of what brought me to Edwards and why I'm still here.

• International poverty and the only candidate I've heard make it an issue


• New Orleans and a real commitment both to helping the survivors of the dual natural/man-made disaster called Katrina and to ensuring no American ever facing such abuse by his or her government again


• taking a stand against a president out of control, demanding Congress take action at the expense of his campaign, and really meaning it when he says "support the troops, bring them home"


• a tour through the ignored and forgotten places in America including Virginia's southwestern corner, a beautiful and economically depressed area whose people have hearts of gold and souls of steel


• standing strong with the labor movement even with some of them haven't stood strong with us


• knowing the difference between being rich in money and rich in spirit, asking us to rise up together in that spirit.

Each of these reminds me of a different moment in the last year.  It's been wonderful and I'm looking forward to more of the same.


Now, on to the news:

1. Taking on the Media -- Head-On

Okay, I know you've seen this about a million times but I just love it.  The music, the talking bobble heads, I've almost worn out my link to this video and sent it to everyone I know (including more than a few Republicans!).  So, join the fun -- if you haven't watched it yet, take a minute; I'll wait right here for you.  And send it to a few friends and family.  Because you know what?  The media doesn't get to take our votes away!  Not yet!


2. Edwards on O'Reilly: "He has no idea what he's talking about."
Ok, he's stating the obvious but this time, John Edwards was stating the obvious about O'Lielly at an event put on by US Veterans, a non profit organization that reintegrates homeless vets back into society. Edwards's comments was in response to O'Lielly's challenge issued Tuesday evening on his show:

O'REILLY: Well, we're still looking for all the veterans sleeping under the bridges, Ed. So, if you find anybody, let us know. Because that's all the guy said for the last...
SCHULTZ: Well, they're out there, Bill, don't kid yourself.
O'REILLY: They may be out there, but there are not many of them out there, OK. So, if you know where there is a veteran sleeping under a bridge, you call me immediately, and we will make sure that man does not do it.

I love it, this is the kind of fighting spirit I like to see in my candidate -- taking it directly to the right-wing nuttery:

"I heard that, last night, Bill O'Reilly, ... he challenged me about whether ..., in fact, we have that many veterans who don't have a place to live, and some of them are sleeping under bridges. Well, he ought to start by coming to Las Vegas, if he wants to know what's going on.

"America has the responsibility to do something about this. We do. And the fact that this talk show host, Bill O'Reilly, is willing to speak out that blatantly, when he has no idea what he's talking about, is an example of how America doesn't understand the problem, doesn't understand how serious this issue is."

3. Recent and Interesting Diaries

• POLL:  Are you IN for Friday's $$$-Drive for Edwards? by Rob in Vermont


• Keeping It- Why I Support John Edwards by asdjrocky getting ready to be 'boots on the ground' for Edwards in Reno


• Ok you Edwards supporters by AJsMom a nice surprise in this one!


• Survey USA Drops Edwards Based on "Judgment" by sarahlane another piece of the "let us decide for you" group trumps overwhelming support


• Homework - Three Nice Things by natasha a reminder of a game played in kindergarten after a playground fight, it worked every time!


• Edwards Stays Focused on Issues as "Coast to Coast" Tour Begins by RDemocrat coast to coast, getting the message out despite it all!


• Edwards: "This president will never use Ronald Reagan as an example for change"  [Updated] by NCDem Amy a strong response well said
  
  • A personal note here: digby is one of my favorite bloggers, she usually hits just the right nail in an argument to seal the deal and describes what I'm thinking but so much better. akr nyc reminded me in a comment to NCDem Amy's diary to take a look at digby's take on this issue. I commend digby's article to you all -- as usual, she is spot on!


• Edwards Takes on The Media by cosbo and takes them on quite nicely, too


• Edwards responds to Obama's Reagan comment by Terre a different take and at times a different conversation


• Huffpo: Edwards Union support strong:crossover from SEIU by wade norris union members or union executives? I'll take the membership!


• Fact-checking factcheck.org by chuckles1 it's bad enough when they don't cover Edwards, ...


• Update w/ More Edwards; O'Reilly "Has No Idea What He's Talking About" Re Homeless Vets by TomP classic TomP, unfortunately also classic O'Lielly


• Michele Norris wastes some of John Edwards's time. . . and ours by Red Wind again, it's bad enough when they ignore Edwards, ...


• Why I'm Voting For John Edwards in The NJ Primary by Nick Lento cross-posted from bluejersey.com, show a state blog some love


• At Shakespeare's Sister (otherwise known as Shakesville), not for the faint of heart but I love this lady--she has the voice and passion of a tiger! I Write Letters by Melissa McEwan


• Hardball's Big Number is Edwards' Big Number: 7

4. Tomorrow, Jan. 18 - GO FOR THE GOLD

[We interrupt our previously scheduled and ongoing review of John Edwards's Plan to Build One America, a manual of his ground-breaking and in-depth policy proposals for a better America to focus on another ground-breaking effort. Our regular series will return shortly.]

As Rob in Vermont said in his diary earlier today,

Let's be optimistic.  Let's be ambitious.  After all, we're supporting a candidate who knows that having ambitious goals is the first step toward achieving great things.

Yes, this does have that 'shoot for the stars, reach the moon' feel to it, but doesn't that actually feel good? Don't you want to believe, even for a moment, that you can be part of something much bigger than yourself, that you can make a real difference for this country and our future?

KingOneEye said it best in his diary with the original idea for tomorrow:

There's been a lot of talk in these parts about how the media is shutting John Edwards out of the race. He has been excluded from polling. His campaign events have not been covered. Other candidates with less to show for themselves receive more attention. Etc.....

All of the these things are true. And all of the solutions I've seen have merit. We definitely need to put pressure on the media to cover this election fairly. But the media is probably not going to alter course and suddenly exhibit a journalistic integrity that they haven't even thought about since their freshman year of college. They need to be given a reason to change course; a reason that fits their definition of news.

So either Edwards could engage in a high speed police chase with Britney's kids on his lap and a missing white girl in the trunk, or he could raise $7 million dollars in one day.

We CAN make this happen, we CAN demonstrate that there are more than 2 choices for the Democratic nomination this year, we CAN show the MSM (or traditional media or talking bobble heads or TWEETY) that they are pissing off a hell of a lot of people.

We can do this by sending this message to everyone we know, whether they support Edwards or not:

Tomorrow, Friday, January 18, 2008, you can be part of really taking back the power in this country from an arrogant media elite. The media and "pundits" seem to believe that the American people can't think for themselves and don't deserve honest and fair journalism.

A grassroots effort unaffiliated with any campaign or organization has sprung up to show the media that while they don't take their responsibilities as journalists seriously, we take our role as citizens very seriously.

Tomorrow, we're going to send them a message in the language they understand: money.

We must not let them make our decisions for us by tailoring the news coverage to fit their agenda. Study after study has shown that the media is deliberately erasing one candidate, John Edwards, from the news. Let's make sure the media finally understand that they are there to report the news, not to create it.

By thrusting John Edwards's visibility forward with financial support that makes the press do a double take, we are effectively slapping the collective faces of the reporters who think they know what they're talking about; of the pundits who think they know what's best; of the blowhards like Bill O'Reilly who dismissively wave off our candidates as phonies and losers.

GO FOR THE GOLD

I'm going to donate what I can to John Edwards on Friday, because I believe his ideas deserve to be heard just as those of Clinton or Obama.

Please give what you think is fair, whether you support John Edwards or not, to send a message to the media.  Go to the secure contribution page at the John Edwards website (https:/www.johnedwards.com/action/contr ibute/form) and be part of this grassroots effort.

Thank you, for sending a message, for standing tall for a fair and honest press.

Use this, use your own words, it doesn't matter -- just get the word out!!