Obama in 08'
- Thread starter wkmac
- Start date
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spacemenace
Guest
Anybody left of Hitler would be considered a liberal on this forum.
Perhaps when the Draft is reinstated and the families of the Warmongering Chickenhawks are forced into the game the evils of unnecessary wars will be
felt by all?
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The Warmonger’s Brigade
by Michael Gaddy
...excerpt:
It appears the Bush administration has a real problem on its hands – the war effort is not going well at all and the military is on the verge of "breaking." I do believe I have a plan, which if implemented right away could provide the needed relief Bush is desperately searching for. Desperate times call for desperate measures. If this country is indeed in danger of having to fight the enemy on our soil, it is time to pull out all stops. If the Bush administration is serious about "protecting our freedom" and this is not a war started on lies to increase the bottom line of companies from the Military Industrial Complex, it is time to deploy the Warmonger’s Brigade.
...
December 22, 2006
Michael Gaddy [send him mail], an Army veteran of Vietnam, Grenada, and Beirut, lives in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest.
Visit this url to read the full text: The Warmonger’s Brigade by Michael Gaddy
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I would include the folks with 'W' bumper/window stickers. Regardless of their age. And a 'W 04' sticker gets you 2 tours, as you were dumb enough to request a 2nd dose of Bush.
spacemenace
{edited by moderator - copyrighted material - removed full text and redirected readers to originating url}
wkmac
Well-Known Member
Obama strong in new poll - A Concord Monitor Article - Your News Source - Concord NH 03301
More good press for Obama. This guy is either running or he's smart as hell and he may be that regardless. If this keeps up and he continues to build up steam he could be in a real powerful position not running as the party power brokers may give him the keys to the city if they have already decided on another horse in 08' but want him to pitch the party horse on race day. Either way, Obama comes out of this a real potential nominee or a very powerful Senator on the Hill.
More good press for Obama. This guy is either running or he's smart as hell and he may be that regardless. If this keeps up and he continues to build up steam he could be in a real powerful position not running as the party power brokers may give him the keys to the city if they have already decided on another horse in 08' but want him to pitch the party horse on race day. Either way, Obama comes out of this a real potential nominee or a very powerful Senator on the Hill.
Mac you need to stop watching the LIB MEDIA.Obama is the biggest two stepping liar I have ever seen.He said in an interview before his book came out he would serve his six year senate term.Now he is looking at his options.HMMM!Asked how he felt aboout gay marriage he wouldn't give a yea or nay.sidestepped.Ask about the war he said he never supported it.LIAR.This guy is SLICKER than SLICK WILLY.I bet he didn't inhale neither.Better yet I bet he thinks that Clinton didn't have sex in the White House with an intern.But on that thought I just pray there is a better choice then what has been put out there so far.Please somebody run that can save the great UNITED STATES please.
wkmac
Well-Known Member
Let's see, I got Any and Big Arrow screaming at me about being way to liberal and Slothrop screaming about my utopian dreams of a wild west "Libertarian" society. It's really libertarian (lowcase L) put that's really a insignificant point. What I see as a very good thing as these 3 so very far apart in view but each authoritarian non the less are at the same time in complete opposition to my views or at least what they percieve as my views.
This is excellent! Fantastic! That is "EXACTLY" the effect I was looking for. Keep it up folks.
08' will now get interesting as Joe Biden will announce next month of his intent to run. Biden is considered by many across numerous political camps of being a real expert in the area of foreign policy. I saw Biden on one of the Sunday shows a few weeks back and I was impressed with the fact that he seemed to understand the factious nature of the situation in Iraq and across the Mideast region and the significance tracing back to the days of the Ottoman empire. He also asked the all important question of "how can you bring democracy to a people who not only have no history of it, politically or culturally, but have no real desire for it?" And his point to which he is correct is "you can't!"
I also found it of interest late last night watching Larry King where Bob Woodward played tape of a recent interview with the late President Ford where he said he would not have gone into Iraq either. I think that Jimmy Carter and George Bush have a lot in common in that their failures as President have more to do with having the wrong people around them but then again, it also depends on how much autonomy they have in picking their people and in either case I'm not convinced they did. GW in any case should have listened to his father who at the time had global support and didn't go into Baghdad because Bush 1 had people around him who like Biden understood the dynamics and nature of the region and maybe moreso now having the hindsight of seeing their own failures at the times through present day eyes.
As for Obama being a liar, slicker than Willie, etc. Look. all politicians to some degree lie and play the slick game, it's how the damn system works to begin with. Washington is a big hog waller and it's driven by blotted self important hogs who's only real desire is to be the big man on campus and call the shots to their own self designed religion called "my societal plan for a greater America!" Why else would anyone spends millions and millions of dollars for a job with so many headaches and where in the private sector they could likely earn far more and enjoy a more private life? It's all about the power!
Yesterday on C-Span I watched the 08/28/74 first press conference for then President Ford and it was so amazing to hear him speak on some of the problems that 32 years later we still have and worse. He talked about the need for more energy independence and the need for more domestic gas and oil drilling. He also spoke of nuclear energy and the need for more in the area of solar power which at that time was a very infant industry but showing lots of promise.
Now fast forward 32 years and look at us. Our dependency on foreign energy has grown vastly worse and even though solar power has leeped by light years from what it was in 74', we still see little broad use of it especially in the sunny clims of the southern US whether that be eastern or western. In other words, with all this gov't of both political parties as the dems contolled the Congress etc. but for a brief period of the Senate in the early 80's and then of course after the 94' election the repubs. had control but as for the Presidency the dems have held a total of 3 terms and the repubs a total of 5 if you count the current term and not the term of Ford at the time and barring some radical change over the next 2 years I'd be willing to bet the White House could go back democratic meaning a good chance the executive and legislative bodies are controlled by one party again. But the point in 32 years where both parties have had their shots, neither has in any way solved a very important national issue and in fact it's been allowed to get worse and even worse now contary to Bush's grand energy plan.
Tell me, on that track record alone why should I or anyone else have any faith in a gov't that has been a total failure on such an important issue? Any122, you scream to high heaven about the failures of the IBT and rightly so but then you champion a gov't political entity (repubs.) who are involved in a far greater failure. Big Arrow I think has championed more to the IBT side and warns of the eminent disaster if APWA comes to bat. Again Big at the same times supports the disasters of energy policy of his cherished conservative horde with the "Liberalism is a mental disorder!" Hey Big, come here a minute man, let's talk. Did you know back in the day that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin and Patrick Henry were actually called politically speaking "LIBERALS!" Yeah the "L" word man. Now today we call that Classical liberalism but they were called liberals none the less. Now if Liberalism is a mental disorder the the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and other documents like the Mechlenburg Accords were drawn up by mental idiots. Is that what you mean?
And now we come to Slothrop who I haven't seen say much on the union/pension fraciuos, in fact I can't remember a comment at all but in some causes on the war in Iraq Slothrop was correct (I know some of you will just hate me for saying that, deal with it!) but I say some because I consider Slothrop's opposition more out of dislike for GW and repubs. than any real principled opposition to "Empire" as Slothrop would then turn around and hand that same gov' the same amount of power it takes to be an empire. I guess the empire Slothrop wants is the one made in his/her image (sorry Slothrop but I've never heard you declare your gender so out of respect I don't want to offend in case I got it wrong) and what the rest of us want for our own lives is really irrelevant now isn't it.
But again I would ask Slothrop the same question I posed to the other 2 and that is why should I believe or support the political factions you champion (democrats) when they have been such a total failure with such an all important issue? Oh God, don't tell me because they oppose GW because that's only become vogue of late. 3 years ago they walked lock step with him.
Sometimes I agree with repub issues and other times I agree with the dems and in the most recent election I actually voted for the democrat running for our Congresssional seat not because I supported his positions but to divide Washington as much as I could and to send a message to the repubs. who do control the local seat and still do. Hmm! Did I throw my vote away in voting for the dem like some say when I vote for a "LIBERTARIAN" or other independent party candidate? Watching the response from the pavlovian dogs on this one should be fun.
Why should I support the status quo of the 2 political parties when with issue after issue the problems only grow worse and the only solution is to increase the size and scope of gov't to implement some new and improved plan only to see the problem continue to worsen and the entire solution cycle begin again followed by the failure cycle. Tell me you 3, why should have thrown down my entire support behind a system with this kind of track record? You want more gov't then solve the damn problem and be done with it. Even Marx and Engels at the end of their grand experiment would have dissolved gov't because in their view all problems would have been solved and gov't no longer needed. Hell, at least at the end of the day they got it more right than Washington does now or will in the future based on track record!
Oh, here's something to consider. Howard Dean, when he ran for President raised the bulk of his funds via direct donations from people on the internet. I think Dean scared the elitist and they jumped on him like sink on -----, yeah you smell it! IMO, they made him party chair much to the dislike of the Clintonistas to make sure this maverick did take his ideas to the next level. I would have loved to see the "Dean" model of political activism taken out for a spin against the old guard of the republican and democrat parties. May not agree with the platform but the battle would be oh so refreshing! Or the fact that Pat Buchannan actually did an excellent interview of Ralph Nader which ended up is a good discussion of ideas and the 2 of them had a surprising number of issues they agreed on which cause some speculation that the 2 of them could form a political alliance and shoot for the White House. Not certain this could ever happen but the discussion of ideasthese 2 could bring to the national kitchen table for discussion IMO would be awesome! Love to see that as well.
OK, get ya guns out and kill me so you can shut me up!
This is excellent! Fantastic! That is "EXACTLY" the effect I was looking for. Keep it up folks.
08' will now get interesting as Joe Biden will announce next month of his intent to run. Biden is considered by many across numerous political camps of being a real expert in the area of foreign policy. I saw Biden on one of the Sunday shows a few weeks back and I was impressed with the fact that he seemed to understand the factious nature of the situation in Iraq and across the Mideast region and the significance tracing back to the days of the Ottoman empire. He also asked the all important question of "how can you bring democracy to a people who not only have no history of it, politically or culturally, but have no real desire for it?" And his point to which he is correct is "you can't!"
I also found it of interest late last night watching Larry King where Bob Woodward played tape of a recent interview with the late President Ford where he said he would not have gone into Iraq either. I think that Jimmy Carter and George Bush have a lot in common in that their failures as President have more to do with having the wrong people around them but then again, it also depends on how much autonomy they have in picking their people and in either case I'm not convinced they did. GW in any case should have listened to his father who at the time had global support and didn't go into Baghdad because Bush 1 had people around him who like Biden understood the dynamics and nature of the region and maybe moreso now having the hindsight of seeing their own failures at the times through present day eyes.
As for Obama being a liar, slicker than Willie, etc. Look. all politicians to some degree lie and play the slick game, it's how the damn system works to begin with. Washington is a big hog waller and it's driven by blotted self important hogs who's only real desire is to be the big man on campus and call the shots to their own self designed religion called "my societal plan for a greater America!" Why else would anyone spends millions and millions of dollars for a job with so many headaches and where in the private sector they could likely earn far more and enjoy a more private life? It's all about the power!
Yesterday on C-Span I watched the 08/28/74 first press conference for then President Ford and it was so amazing to hear him speak on some of the problems that 32 years later we still have and worse. He talked about the need for more energy independence and the need for more domestic gas and oil drilling. He also spoke of nuclear energy and the need for more in the area of solar power which at that time was a very infant industry but showing lots of promise.
Now fast forward 32 years and look at us. Our dependency on foreign energy has grown vastly worse and even though solar power has leeped by light years from what it was in 74', we still see little broad use of it especially in the sunny clims of the southern US whether that be eastern or western. In other words, with all this gov't of both political parties as the dems contolled the Congress etc. but for a brief period of the Senate in the early 80's and then of course after the 94' election the repubs. had control but as for the Presidency the dems have held a total of 3 terms and the repubs a total of 5 if you count the current term and not the term of Ford at the time and barring some radical change over the next 2 years I'd be willing to bet the White House could go back democratic meaning a good chance the executive and legislative bodies are controlled by one party again. But the point in 32 years where both parties have had their shots, neither has in any way solved a very important national issue and in fact it's been allowed to get worse and even worse now contary to Bush's grand energy plan.
Tell me, on that track record alone why should I or anyone else have any faith in a gov't that has been a total failure on such an important issue? Any122, you scream to high heaven about the failures of the IBT and rightly so but then you champion a gov't political entity (repubs.) who are involved in a far greater failure. Big Arrow I think has championed more to the IBT side and warns of the eminent disaster if APWA comes to bat. Again Big at the same times supports the disasters of energy policy of his cherished conservative horde with the "Liberalism is a mental disorder!" Hey Big, come here a minute man, let's talk. Did you know back in the day that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin and Patrick Henry were actually called politically speaking "LIBERALS!" Yeah the "L" word man. Now today we call that Classical liberalism but they were called liberals none the less. Now if Liberalism is a mental disorder the the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and other documents like the Mechlenburg Accords were drawn up by mental idiots. Is that what you mean?
And now we come to Slothrop who I haven't seen say much on the union/pension fraciuos, in fact I can't remember a comment at all but in some causes on the war in Iraq Slothrop was correct (I know some of you will just hate me for saying that, deal with it!) but I say some because I consider Slothrop's opposition more out of dislike for GW and repubs. than any real principled opposition to "Empire" as Slothrop would then turn around and hand that same gov' the same amount of power it takes to be an empire. I guess the empire Slothrop wants is the one made in his/her image (sorry Slothrop but I've never heard you declare your gender so out of respect I don't want to offend in case I got it wrong) and what the rest of us want for our own lives is really irrelevant now isn't it.
But again I would ask Slothrop the same question I posed to the other 2 and that is why should I believe or support the political factions you champion (democrats) when they have been such a total failure with such an all important issue? Oh God, don't tell me because they oppose GW because that's only become vogue of late. 3 years ago they walked lock step with him.
Sometimes I agree with repub issues and other times I agree with the dems and in the most recent election I actually voted for the democrat running for our Congresssional seat not because I supported his positions but to divide Washington as much as I could and to send a message to the repubs. who do control the local seat and still do. Hmm! Did I throw my vote away in voting for the dem like some say when I vote for a "LIBERTARIAN" or other independent party candidate? Watching the response from the pavlovian dogs on this one should be fun.
Why should I support the status quo of the 2 political parties when with issue after issue the problems only grow worse and the only solution is to increase the size and scope of gov't to implement some new and improved plan only to see the problem continue to worsen and the entire solution cycle begin again followed by the failure cycle. Tell me you 3, why should have thrown down my entire support behind a system with this kind of track record? You want more gov't then solve the damn problem and be done with it. Even Marx and Engels at the end of their grand experiment would have dissolved gov't because in their view all problems would have been solved and gov't no longer needed. Hell, at least at the end of the day they got it more right than Washington does now or will in the future based on track record!
Oh, here's something to consider. Howard Dean, when he ran for President raised the bulk of his funds via direct donations from people on the internet. I think Dean scared the elitist and they jumped on him like sink on -----, yeah you smell it! IMO, they made him party chair much to the dislike of the Clintonistas to make sure this maverick did take his ideas to the next level. I would have loved to see the "Dean" model of political activism taken out for a spin against the old guard of the republican and democrat parties. May not agree with the platform but the battle would be oh so refreshing! Or the fact that Pat Buchannan actually did an excellent interview of Ralph Nader which ended up is a good discussion of ideas and the 2 of them had a surprising number of issues they agreed on which cause some speculation that the 2 of them could form a political alliance and shoot for the White House. Not certain this could ever happen but the discussion of ideasthese 2 could bring to the national kitchen table for discussion IMO would be awesome! Love to see that as well.
OK, get ya guns out and kill me so you can shut me up!
Wkmac,
I’ll take some time to respond to your treatise.
Firstly, I am a male, so ‘he’ would be the proper pronoun. You are correct in stating that I do not agree with your libertarian viewpoint, simply because it doesn’t work. If it ever worked, just once in the history of mankind, I would consider it. Call it ‘authoritarian’ if you please or just call it facing reality, which I prefer.
I have always been opposed to the war in Iraq, because it was apparent to those of us who took the time to investigate, that it was based on dubious premises from the start. I was in favor of the Afghan war, though not the way it was run (and lost, BTW).
I have no inherent dislike of Republicans, and no inherent admiration for Democrats. I support those who endeavor to better the citizenry of this country, and improve the conditions of the rest of the world.
I am opposed to Empire by any administration, be it Clintonian or Bu****e. Empires tend to exist for the elite, and rot from within. I was, and still am, a Dean supporter. He would make a fine president, IMHO. Of course, that will never happen. Of late I have supported the Democratic viewpoint, since they seem serious about fiscal restraint and social equality.
Regarding the pension debacle, I am collecting my reduced pension from Central States, and have no say in any of the workings of the Union or the Pension Fund. Retirees don’t have a vote in anything, so why cry about it. Hopefully those of you who do get a vote will use it. Oh, never mind, I guess most of you don’t really care, judging from the turnout in the last Teamster election.
On a final note, both Buchanan and Nader think much more highly of their own importance than is generally shared by the rest of America. Bloviating baffoons, the both of them, IMHO.
PS---Thanks for not posting to Lewrockwell.com.
I’ll take some time to respond to your treatise.
Firstly, I am a male, so ‘he’ would be the proper pronoun. You are correct in stating that I do not agree with your libertarian viewpoint, simply because it doesn’t work. If it ever worked, just once in the history of mankind, I would consider it. Call it ‘authoritarian’ if you please or just call it facing reality, which I prefer.
I have always been opposed to the war in Iraq, because it was apparent to those of us who took the time to investigate, that it was based on dubious premises from the start. I was in favor of the Afghan war, though not the way it was run (and lost, BTW).
I have no inherent dislike of Republicans, and no inherent admiration for Democrats. I support those who endeavor to better the citizenry of this country, and improve the conditions of the rest of the world.
I am opposed to Empire by any administration, be it Clintonian or Bu****e. Empires tend to exist for the elite, and rot from within. I was, and still am, a Dean supporter. He would make a fine president, IMHO. Of course, that will never happen. Of late I have supported the Democratic viewpoint, since they seem serious about fiscal restraint and social equality.
Regarding the pension debacle, I am collecting my reduced pension from Central States, and have no say in any of the workings of the Union or the Pension Fund. Retirees don’t have a vote in anything, so why cry about it. Hopefully those of you who do get a vote will use it. Oh, never mind, I guess most of you don’t really care, judging from the turnout in the last Teamster election.
On a final note, both Buchanan and Nader think much more highly of their own importance than is generally shared by the rest of America. Bloviating baffoons, the both of them, IMHO.
PS---Thanks for not posting to Lewrockwell.com.
Slothrop is the biggest liberal on this forum.He needs help so he can understand that LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER.As far as Pelosi even if the dems impeach Bush he would be out of office before it was final.As for Hillary Hitler Clinton who would be crazy enough to let the Clintons or the bush family back in the White House?Are we that stupid to let the same two familys control the country for another four or eight years?As for Barack Hussein Obama OK or was it Barack Saddam Hussein Obama or Osama?Never Happen.We can only hope there is a better choice than what we see now or PRAY FOR A ACT OF GOD!Maybe SLOPTHROP will throw his hat in!
speaking of mental disorders, your post just proved a whole lot about you.
Hawaii Five O
Hawaii Five O
First off wkmac; Osama Obama is a congressman not a senator. Not only is he a congressman but a junior one at that who has not even completed his first 2yr term. No first year congressman has ever been elected president in the history of this Republic. I know that there is always a first time for everything, but Osama is a stretch and my prediction is he will be one of the first to drop out of the race if he even runs. Just one mans opinion, remember you heard it here first.
CTOTH
Not retired, just tired
First off wkmac; Osama Obama is a congressman not a senator. Not only is he a congressman but a junior one at that who has not even completed his first 2yr term. No first year congressman has ever been elected president in the history of this Republic. I know that there is always a first time for everything, but Osama is a stretch and my prediction is he will be one of the first to drop out of the race if he even runs. Just one mans opinion, remember you heard it here first.
He's a Senator from Illinois. mac's gonna blast you with like 2 pages of reading and 7 pages of reference. Good Luck 5-0
wkmac
Well-Known Member
upsguysavannah
Active Member
Obama is a Senator, he was elected in 2004 to his first term.
upsguysavannah
Active Member
A person's name has nothing to do with their abilities or potential, so please grow up and get over the whole "Hussein" and "Obama-Osama" thing. If the man can unite our country and begin to undo all of the damage that Bush The Idiot has wrought, then we should give him the chance.
By the way, watch out for John Edwards... he's a brilliant man with a strong message, and he genuinely cares about people. He's my bet for the nomination, unless Al Gore jumps in????????
upsguysavannah
Active Member
"Ambulance chaser"... please take a few minutes to learn some real facts about the guy before you bash him. Edwards spent 20 years representing people like you and me in courtrooms before he became a Senator. I don't consider helping people to be ambulance chasing.
Here's a cut & paste profile on Edwards for the cut & paste queen:
FindLaw Newsmaker Profiles - John Edwards
As a veteran trial lawyer, John Edwards brings to his Vice Presidential candidacy years of legal experience honed in personal injury cases in state and federal courts. Until he graduated law school at the University of North Carolina, he explains in his autobiography http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743244974/findlaw-20/ "[t]here were no lawyers in my extended family. There were millworkers, grocery clerks, ministers, Marines, boxers - but not lawyers." When he was eleven years old, Edwards wrote that he wanted to be a lawyer "to protect innocent people from blind justice the best I can." Edwards pursed this vision trying to live his life by righting wrongs, captivated by television shows like The Fugitive and Perry Mason. Twenty-seven years after he passed the bar exam, Edwards' track record as a litigator remains remarkable: according to North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, he obtained verdicts and settlements for his clients totaling more than $175 million over his career.
Republicans and Democrats continue their debate over malpractice awards medical costs, and corporate liability during the 2004 presidential election campaigns, but even conservative publications like The National Review bestow a healthy respect of Edwards, acknowledging that he "brings real strengths to the Democratic ticket." His twenty years of success as a trial lawyer, followed by his election to the U.S. Senate, are surely a key factor for such respect.
Edwards' successful track record as a trial lawyer is intimately connected to his skill at communicating his clients' cases to juries. He is a master of breaking down sophisticated medical terms into layman's language, and known for his meticulous trial preparation.
The wide variety of personal injury cases that Edwards accepted (some of which are detailed in his Thomson Legal Record and on Westlaw) were generally complex, and typically involved life-altering tragedies. He obtained multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for catastrophic birth injuries to newborns. In the 1988 case of a couple whose daughter suffered cerebral palsy when a doctor and hospital staff failed to timely respond to fetal distress, Edwards' and his legal team won a $1.5 million pre-trial settlement against the obstetrician, and $6.5 million trial verdict against the hospital (later reduced to $4.25 million). In another case involving birth-related injuries, including cerebral palsy, he secured a jury verdict of more than $23 million.
Edwards' first big damages award involved the medical malpractice case of E.G. Sawyer, a salesman who sought medical help for his drinking problem. Instead of help, however, he received a debilitating overdose of Antabuse, the drug used to control alcoholism. Edwards showed the jury that the doctor and hospital gave his client three times the maximum daily recommended drug dosage, resulting in permanent brain and nerve damage. A judge warned him that local "juries down here don't award more than a hundred thousand dollars." Since the plaintiff was an alcoholic, the judge added, he said Edwards' client would lose the case. The jury's disagreed, awarding Mr. Sawyer damages of $3.7 million. Injuries and wrongful death lawsuits from motor vehicle accidents involving cars and trucks were also a staple of Edwards' law practice. Reported settlements for some of these included damage awards of $3 - $5.89 million. Settlements in some of his other, similar cases remain confidential, but may have been even higher.
Perhaps no trial victory was greater in the eyes of Edwards's fellow lawyers than his record-setting product liability award for the Lakey family, parents of a five-year-old girl whose daughter was disemboweled after she became caught in a wading-pool drain, and lived. The manufacturer, Sta-Rite Industries, knew about similar drain cover injury lawsuits involving its products, but still failed to include a warning on the drain's cover. The company initially offered Edwards' $100,000 to settle his clients' case, The jury rendered a verdict of $25 million. Under North Carolina law at the time, punitive damages could have tripled that award, but Edwards' clients settled. For that case, Edwards and his law partner were honored with a public service award from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
In January 2004, an obscure conservative web site charge that Edwards' trial record was based upon “junk science”, alleging that cerebral palsy and brain damage may not be birth-related injuries. GOP supporters and talk show hosts have repeated this “junk science” label, but retired North Carolina Superior Court Judge Robert Farmer, who presided over a landmark $25M product liability case that Edwards successfully litigated, rebuked such claims in an interview on Fox News.
FindLaw Newsmaker Profiles - John Edwards
As a veteran trial lawyer, John Edwards brings to his Vice Presidential candidacy years of legal experience honed in personal injury cases in state and federal courts. Until he graduated law school at the University of North Carolina, he explains in his autobiography http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743244974/findlaw-20/ "[t]here were no lawyers in my extended family. There were millworkers, grocery clerks, ministers, Marines, boxers - but not lawyers." When he was eleven years old, Edwards wrote that he wanted to be a lawyer "to protect innocent people from blind justice the best I can." Edwards pursed this vision trying to live his life by righting wrongs, captivated by television shows like The Fugitive and Perry Mason. Twenty-seven years after he passed the bar exam, Edwards' track record as a litigator remains remarkable: according to North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, he obtained verdicts and settlements for his clients totaling more than $175 million over his career.
Republicans and Democrats continue their debate over malpractice awards medical costs, and corporate liability during the 2004 presidential election campaigns, but even conservative publications like The National Review bestow a healthy respect of Edwards, acknowledging that he "brings real strengths to the Democratic ticket." His twenty years of success as a trial lawyer, followed by his election to the U.S. Senate, are surely a key factor for such respect.
Edwards' successful track record as a trial lawyer is intimately connected to his skill at communicating his clients' cases to juries. He is a master of breaking down sophisticated medical terms into layman's language, and known for his meticulous trial preparation.
The wide variety of personal injury cases that Edwards accepted (some of which are detailed in his Thomson Legal Record and on Westlaw) were generally complex, and typically involved life-altering tragedies. He obtained multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for catastrophic birth injuries to newborns. In the 1988 case of a couple whose daughter suffered cerebral palsy when a doctor and hospital staff failed to timely respond to fetal distress, Edwards' and his legal team won a $1.5 million pre-trial settlement against the obstetrician, and $6.5 million trial verdict against the hospital (later reduced to $4.25 million). In another case involving birth-related injuries, including cerebral palsy, he secured a jury verdict of more than $23 million.
Edwards' first big damages award involved the medical malpractice case of E.G. Sawyer, a salesman who sought medical help for his drinking problem. Instead of help, however, he received a debilitating overdose of Antabuse, the drug used to control alcoholism. Edwards showed the jury that the doctor and hospital gave his client three times the maximum daily recommended drug dosage, resulting in permanent brain and nerve damage. A judge warned him that local "juries down here don't award more than a hundred thousand dollars." Since the plaintiff was an alcoholic, the judge added, he said Edwards' client would lose the case. The jury's disagreed, awarding Mr. Sawyer damages of $3.7 million. Injuries and wrongful death lawsuits from motor vehicle accidents involving cars and trucks were also a staple of Edwards' law practice. Reported settlements for some of these included damage awards of $3 - $5.89 million. Settlements in some of his other, similar cases remain confidential, but may have been even higher.
Perhaps no trial victory was greater in the eyes of Edwards's fellow lawyers than his record-setting product liability award for the Lakey family, parents of a five-year-old girl whose daughter was disemboweled after she became caught in a wading-pool drain, and lived. The manufacturer, Sta-Rite Industries, knew about similar drain cover injury lawsuits involving its products, but still failed to include a warning on the drain's cover. The company initially offered Edwards' $100,000 to settle his clients' case, The jury rendered a verdict of $25 million. Under North Carolina law at the time, punitive damages could have tripled that award, but Edwards' clients settled. For that case, Edwards and his law partner were honored with a public service award from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
In January 2004, an obscure conservative web site charge that Edwards' trial record was based upon “junk science”, alleging that cerebral palsy and brain damage may not be birth-related injuries. GOP supporters and talk show hosts have repeated this “junk science” label, but retired North Carolina Superior Court Judge Robert Farmer, who presided over a landmark $25M product liability case that Edwards successfully litigated, rebuked such claims in an interview on Fox News.
What? The $4 million you and your husband can pass on to your children tax free isn't good enough?
Read this for some insight.
TomPaine.com - Estate Tax Pyramid Scheme
I realize that living in the top 2% has its drawbacks, but try to cope, Queenie.
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