Reply #14: Absolutely [View All]

[ultraist]

Edwards recieved glowing remarks from Martin Luther King III and there were many standing ovations, including a 4 minute standing ovation from where Belafonte himself stood. Of course, Belafonte is another activist fighting against poverty.

High praise indeed.

I listened to the live stream audio of the speech and was really moved by Edwards' speech but moreover, the long standing ovation was very inspiring. WE, the people are breaking the silence.

Edwards is being called the leading anti war candidate and his voice on the national stage is precisely what we have been waiting for.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/01/15/report-from-huffpos-meli_n_38718.html

John Edwards had a hard time getting through yesterday's anti-surge speech at Harlem's Riverside Church, repeatedly interrupted by cheering from the pews. Standing where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached against American involvement in Vietnam 40 years ago, the former Democratic senator from North Carolina declared that, "As he put it then, there comes a time - not just for Dr. King, but for all of us - when silence is betrayal.''

It is a betrayal to quietly countenance widespread poverty in the richest country in the world, he told a crowd of 1,200, and a betrayal to stand silent in the face of an AIDS epidemic ravaging a new generation of African children. With a Clintonian comfort level at the pulpit, he drew the most sustained ovation of the day when he said, "It is a betrayal not to speak out against an escalation of the war in Iraq.''

Edwards, who is running for president in '08, has not only opposed the president's plan to send 21,500 more troops into Iraq but has argued that it is time to bring 50,000 home. The only Senator mentioned in the speech was Arizona Republican John McCain, when Edwards called the plan the "McCain Escalation."