John Edwards' Real Problem

Reason's Hit-and-Run blog had a story yesterday about John Edwards' hypocrisy with respect to his "Two Americas" rhetoric and his desire to cut the line for a PS3. The second of the two comments below is incredibly incisive and really illustrates the core of the problem with politics in general and with democracy in particular. (Emphasis mine in the below comments.)

Will Allen | January 5, 2007, 4:34pm | #

Joe, as I have understood him, Edwards says he has a problem with what he views as extreme wealth disparity, but perhaps I'm wrong. If he only has a problem with some people being poor, why the reference to the "two Americas"? Why not simply note that there are people who are poor?

Gilbert Martin | January 5, 2007, 5:12pm | #

What Edwards actually has a problem with is that he isn't the president.

He wants to remedy that problem and needs to come up with some rationalization to pawn off on the public as to why he should be president.

Hence, the "two Americas" routine.

In short, his expression of concern for "poor people" is a lie.

But, he's hardly unique in that regard. All the other liberal Democrat politicians in the entire history of the country from FDR to Nancy Pelosi who claim their reason for initiating some government power grab or redistribution scheme was concern for the poor, the children, the middle class or whatever have all been liars.