Posted today at the Huffington Post is a hit piece that implies that Edwards is a hypocrite for calling out Hillary for being on the cover of Forbes under the caption "Business Loves Her" because he spoke at the "Fortune Global Forum" in 2002.
Huffpo is veering into Drudge territory with this one.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
First, Edwards is not on the cover of anything, let alone being touted as the candidate business loves.
But more important:
Huffpo uses the headline: 2002: Edwards woos business at Fortune Global Forum.
Contrast the characterization ("woos") with the actual speech he made, excerpted as follows:
We have to do better, and we can. We don't have to look to Wall Street or Washington to find the principles we need. We can find those principles in the way millions of small business owners, factory workers, office workers, salespeople, and secretaries live their lives every day. Even as government has failed in its responsibilities, most Americans have embraced theirs. They are working harder than ever before, even though too often they're earning less. They're volunteering more in their communities, even though economic pressures mean they have less time to give..."
"Finally, we need an economic policy based on creating opportunity for all Americans, and giving everyone who works for it the chance to share in a strong economy's rewards. I've had some success in my life, and I'm proud of that. But success and security should not be the province of a fortunate few; we have to start growing together again.
Over the last 29 years, average Americans have seen their pay rise by about 10 percent, while the pay of top executives has risen by over 3,000 percent. That kind of disparity is just plain wrong. I am all for incomes rising at the top, but I want incomes rising across the board. We don't want tax rates so high that they slow down growth, but we also don't need an economic theory that helps a handful of people at the top rather than millions in the middle... "
"To be precise, I believe we should put off additional cuts in the tax rates for families earning more than $200,000 per year. We should not create new deductions for very high-income earners..."
"First, we should eliminate tax shelters that serve little or no purpose but to provide a legal way for companies to hide their income. Too many people benefit from America's public investments and capital markets and then renounce their citizenship to avoid paying their fair share. That is a disgrace, and it certainly shouldn't be legal."
So yeah, Huffpo is correct: Edwards spoke to the big mucky-mucks at Fortune - only he wasn't in the least bit "wooing" them - he was schooling them, about economic fairness.
I hate to see Huffpo go the way of Drudge, looking for gotchas and using misleading headlines.
My guess is that if there's any video of Edwards' 2002 speech before the big business community, the campaign could use it in an ad to show him standing up to them right to their faces, years ago.
I call on Kossacks, no matter who we support, to put down this sort of crap, drudge-like "journalism" against our democratic slate. Especially with an election on the horizon, it's crucial that we have real journalists who tell the truth to the American people, and that we expose the lies and half truths.
Let's not stand for it.