Anyone else getting tired of "managed democracy"?

Among the 100 or so invitees to the annual Bilderberg conference under way Sunday in a northern Italy resort is potential U.S. vice president John Edwards.

Reporters generally are not invited and those who are observe the conference group's general pledge of secrecy, reinforcing the view of conspiracy theorists that the elite gathering is up to no good, London's The Guardian newspaper reported.

Sen. Edwards is regarded in Democratic circles as a good performer in his battle with Sen. John Kerry for the nomination to be presidential candidate and so is expected to be a finalist when Kerry chooses a running mate.

Other invitees are Mrs. Bill Gates and likely are regulars Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger and U.S. Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2004/060704edwardsatbilderberg.htm

“Now,” Kucinich continued, “we have a candidate who voted for the war and voted to fund the war, but says he against it. He voted for the Patriot Act, and now he complains about its abuses. He voted for China Trade in 2000 knowing that Americans would be hurt, and now he’s decrying the unsafe products pouring into this nation from China. He supported nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, now he’s against it.”“Will the real John Edwards please stand up?” Kucinich said.

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=2416

We use the term "permanent government" as it was
described by Lewis Lapham, editor of HARPER'S MAGAZINE:

"The permanent government, a secular oligarchy... comprises the
Fortune 500 companies and their attendant lobbyists, the big
media and entertainment syndicates, the civil and military
services, the larger research universities and law firms. It is
this government that hires the country's politicians and sets the
terms and conditions under which the country's citizens can
exercise their right --God-given but increasingly expensive --to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Obedient to the rule
of men, not laws, the permanent government oversees the
production of wealth, builds cities, manufactures goods, raises
capital, fixes prices, shapes the landscape, and reserves the
right to assume debt, poison rivers, cheat the customers, receive
the gifts of federal subsidy, and speak to the American people in
the language of low motive and base emotion."<1>

http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/envis/doc98html/miscrwwe99626.html

“John Kerry was hammered by the Republicans and by many in the media for changing his positions on the war and other issues in the 2004 campaign,” Kucinich noted. “The fact of the matter is that he wanted to come out against the war in 2004, and John Edwards argued against it.”

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/kucinich-edwards%E2%80%99-pro-war-posture-in-%E2%80%9904-raises-serious-credibility-questions/

The fifteen percent threshold rule in the Iowa caucus makes being the second choice of the supporters of other candidates an important factor in determining the ultimate winner. In 2004 Kucinich threw his support to John Edwards helping him come in second place, but it now looks like he won’t make that mistake again. I always found that decision strange considering that both Dean and Kerry were far closer to Kucinich’s position on the war and civil liberties issues than Edwards was. It took an article in The New York Times which did make some errors to finally convince Kucinich he was wrong.

The article alleges that ““Mr. Kerry had increasing doubts about the war. But Mr. Edwards argued that they should not renounce their votes — they had to show conviction and consistency.” This is not entirely correct as Kerry had made it clear at the time of his vote for the IWR that he would only support going to war if we were proven to be threatened by WMD. When Bush failed to prove this, Kerry opposed going to war before the war started, even calling for regime change in Washington in protest. Kerry often repeated the slogan “wrong war, wrong place, wrong time” during the campaign.

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=2416

An angry Dennis Kucinich lashed out at John Edwards on Friday, saying his Democratic rival showed “a consistent lack of integrity” by suggesting fewer candidates should participate in presidential forums and then trying to explain his remark to reporters. “This is a serious matter and I’m calling him on it,” Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in a telephone interview Friday. “Whispering, trying to rig an election, then denying what’s going on and making excuses. It all reflects a consistent lack of integrity.”

Kucinich’s comments came after Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton were overheard Thursday discussing the possibility of limiting the number of participants in future presidential forums. In an exchange captured on camera and open microphone by broadcasters after an NAACP forum in Detroit, Edwards approached Clinton onstage and whispered in her ear. “We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group,” Edwards said, and Clinton agreed. “Our guys should talk,” Clinton said, complaining the format had “trivialized” the discussion.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/kucinich_accuses_edwards_of_trying_to_rig_election/

2: conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class; "a bourgeois mentality" (WordNet 2.0 http://www.dict.org/bin/Dict)

On day seven of the Main Street Express bus tour, Senator John Edwards delivered a major speech on his bold vision to lift up middle-class families and make sure that all Americans have a fair shot at the American Dream. At this critical time in our nation's history, with the economic divide wider now than at any other time in the last thirty years, Edwards unveiled his Middle Class Rising agenda that will help build One America where the middle class prospers and all hardworking Americans can find good jobs, save for the future, and have guaranteed health care and retirement security.

http://johnedwards.com/news/headlines/20071216-lifting-the-middle-class/

But in actuality, it's been difficult throughout this primary to point to any particular demographic that has glommed on to Edwards' message. Indeed, his support has often come from unexpected places. In Iowa, the first and last state where Edwards made a real play to win, his supporters skewed upper-income and were more likely to call themselves "conservative" than were supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Although he consistently spoke about the importance of organized labor, Edwards came in third place among union members, despite the United Steelworkers and SEIU endorsing him in the state. (The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees endorsed Clinton and advertised on her behalf in Iowa.) And he performed better in suburban areas than in rural ones.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=whither_edwards_supporters