Molly Ivins book (Bushwhacked) [View All]

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isn't funny. Instead it is outrageous in the truest sense of the word. It should be required reading for all of those who insist on trashing our candidates. It should be required reading for those who won't vote for Dean or Lieberman or whomever if they actually get the nomination. It should be required reading for those who won't for candidates based on issue x or y or z.

Our votes aren't ours. They belong to people like Odell Edwards, who is a child Rod Paige left behind, the family of Dr. Frank Niemtzow, who died of tainted food, Luz Cruz who owes just under a grand to the gas company and has to choose between food and heat, the family of Willie Searcy who was killed as a result of injuries sustained in a car wreck and due to his family not being able to have him watched by real pros, and several other people whose stories she tells. Note that some of the above names are ficticious to protect the people involved.

None of the people I mentioned, save Searcy, is likely to be known by anyone here. They are ordinary people, living sort of ordinary lives, in the America that Bush has created. I know these people aren't glamourous but they are where the rubber meets the road. They are why it matters who wins this race. They are why party matters. They are why I will vote for whomever wins this primary race. They are why I won't trash Kerry, Kucinich, Gephardt, Lieberman, Sharpton, Moseley Braun, Clark, Edwards, or Graham. I will work my heart out to see Dean as our nominee but I will work every bit as hard to see whomever our nominee is win the White House. I owe it to the people in that book. My vote isn't mine this time. Don't take my word for it. Read Molly's book. I won't call it enjoyable but I will call it necessary.