Rally to Restore Sanity: A Loueyville Twitter Special Edition

For the first time ever, I am handing over the reins of my Twitter account to a guest tweeter.  This Saturday, Roommate will be attending the Stewart/Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity/Keep Fear Alive event in Washington, DC, and he will be tweeting live from the event.

Follow me (him) at @loueyville.  He'll be signing his tweets as /rm.  If I have anything to interject, I'll sign my tweets as /lou.

Roommate says, "Don't forget, my motto is 'We MUST keep fear ALIVE."

I have to say, I'm really looking forward to this.  Obviously, I think Roommate is a funny funny guy-- otherwise he wouldn't be my best friend of almost nine years-- and he's kind of a loose cannon.  I wish I could be there, but the live broadcast plus Roommate's commentary could make for a really excellent Saturday afternoon!

Are you going to be tweeting from the Rally to Restore Sanity/Keep Fear Alive?  Comment below.

Rally to Keep Fear Alive with Sanity?

It is very possible that Loueyville.com will have its own roving reporter on the ground during the Stewart/Colbert "Rally to Restore Sanity"/ "Keep Fear Alive" event on October 30 in Washington, DC.

And it may very well be that I may hand over my Twitter account to said Roving Reporter so he can tweet to his heart's content from said rally.  A first for Loueyville.com.

Details forthcoming.

But RallyMAO.com is organizing satellite events in all 50 states.  And so far the only one listed for KY is a nebulous one in Lexington (warning: facebook page).

Is this the best we can do?  An aggregate rally for Cincy, Louisville, AND Lexington?

Do better Louisville.  Any news of a more local rally?  Let me know at lou (at) loueyville.com

$6 to Visit Indiana: What's Worth It?

Today the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority released a report suggesting a $3 toll-- each way-- on the Ohio River bridges.

I don't really get my politics on in this blog.  So, I don't want to talk about what you think about the proposed tolls (although I hope your answer is [a] bad idea [b] really bad idea or [c] worst idea ever).

What I want to talk about is-- what in Southern Indiana would be worth paying an extra six bucks for?

I've been very forthright since I moved here that I am practically allergic to crossing the bridges into Southern Indiana.  Sure, I have a mild bridge phobia, but it does deeper than that.  It's... it's just a "thing."

And it's NOT an "Indiana" thing-- don't get all "You're a Louisville snob" on me.  When I lived in New Orleans, I knew empirically that the nearest Home Depot/Target/etc was across the bridge on the West Bank, but I persisted in traveling an extra 10 minutes or so to the stores in Metairie (an equally hideous suburb) for the entire nine years I lived there.

Roommate & I cross the river every month or so to visit his family in Columbus, Indiana.  I once crossed the river to go to a rocking holiday party in New Albany.  I'll still make those kinds of trips, of course.

But what else is worth the extra $6 that a bridge crossing may end up costing you?  Comment below,  email me at lou [at] loueyville.com, or tweet me @loueyville, and if I get enough responses, I'll post a list.

I'll start you off:  I think I'd be okay with paying $6 for an occasional seasonal Huber's visit.  Likely in the fall.  For pumpkins and apples.

More On the Mayor's Outstanding Seniors

The Courier-Journal published the bios of the students honored at Thursday night's awards ceremony.

Seriously, Loueyvillagers, I realized today that I am not quite the cynical, hard-hearted, bitch that I sometimes think I am. (yet) Here's why:

(1) The fraking Susan Boyle story makes me cry. If you don't know who she is, watch this. Who is the pretty blond judge on Britain's Got Talent?? Watching her reaction to Boyle's singing KILLS me every time I watch it. (Yes, I've watched more than once.)

(2) I am currently reading a non-fiction book about a CAT. A cat that lives in a LIBRARY. In a small town in IOWA. Seriously?? Me?? Yeah, I'm reading it and loving it. What gives? (This book is DEWEY, by the way, and it was written by Loueyvillager Bret Witter, whom I'm going to try to interview after I'm done reading... sniffles... the book.)

(3) Read the bios of these kids... it's just not possible to be cynical when you hear about how damned awesome some of these kids are. (Yeah, I'm sure some of them are shits, but really...)

Happy Thunder Day! Hope those clouds hold off for the fireworks.

The Kids are Alright, and We Will Be Too

Tonight I had the good fortune to attend Mayor Uncle Jerry's celebration for the Outstanding High School Seniors of 2009. The award celebrates students who may not be #1 in their class (although there were a fair number of valedictorians in attendance), but who otherwise distinguish themselves as being damned good kids, often through adversity or despite odds.

Around 50 kids, one from each area high school, were honored. There were teen moms with 4.0 averages. Young men who finished their sophomore year with a 1.0 GPA who now are tops in their class. Kids whose folks had died, whose folks had abandoned them, who raised younger siblings, yet still excelled in school. Older students, students with disabilities... stars, all of them.

And here's the thing: Uncle Mayor Jerry asked each kid where he or she was going to college, and around 80% were staying right here at home. Maybe as far away as Murray or UK or Moorehead, but 80% were staying in Kentucky. There was a Yale, an OSU, a Marquette, a USC, a couple Univ of Cincys and Toledos... But, those young moms with the 4.0s (there were at least 3)-- U of L or UK. The kid with the 3.8, president of his class, and quarterback? Bellarmine.

Every so often, I hear Loueyvillagers getting down on their town. Well, this should give you hope. The best and the brightest? A heckuva lot of them are sticking around. And, as guest speaker, Helen Mountjoy, the KY Secretary of Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, said by way of ribbing our Mayor For Life-- maybe, a long, long time from now one of these kids will run for mayor. But not for a long, long time.

Soap Box: Blog For Choice

I know, I know. Earlier today I decried my lack of focus.

But I still have 15 minutes left of 1/22 to join in the annual "Blog for Choice" challenge. On the anniversary of Roe Vs. Wade, it asks us: "What is your top pro-choice hope for President Obama and/or the new Congress?"

Please, President Obama, help your fellow Americans understand how important the Supreme Court selection is. My heart screamed during the Roberts/Alito nomination processes. It felt like no one else was paying attention. Please, please President Obama remind us that the power of the Supreme Court can outlast your presidency. It can overpower your presidency. It just doesn't often take center stage like your presidency does.

I'm sure Al Gore would join me in imploring you to make a big honking deal of any Supreme Court nominations you make or any Supreme Court decisions you challenge.

Roe v. Wade is in the hands of a very select group of people... people YOU can select... people the average American doesn't believe has big, huge sway upon their lives.

Nothing to Do With Louisville: Do the Obama!

I know, I know... there's absolutely NO reason for me to post this video to Loueyville.com, but we DO have a new president today, and he IS pretty fantastic. And this CNN mash up Obama getting down (and boogie-oogie-oogying) on Inauguration Night made me SMILE almost as much as watching the Former Occupant get on that helicopter and fly away. Two reasons:

(1) I just love that he did "the Bump" with that lady. The Bump gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies and reminds me of weddings from the 1970's.

and

(2) I think we can say for certain that there is an "Obama Dance" and it is basically "Shake your fists up around your shoulder and step-touch, step-touch, step-touch while wiggling your butt." It's kinda white-guy-ish, but nowhere near as embarrassing as Bush's "Flail Dance."

What Are YOU Doing Inauguration Day?

I don't remember anyone ever asking me, "Are you doing anything special for inauguration?" before, but I've been asked that several times this year and have started asking the question myself.

Derby City Espresso is hosting an all-day Good Bye Bush Party with $1 espresso shots and $1 PBR on the 20th.

What are you doing Inauguration Day?

Do Banjos Count?

Rick at the Ville Voice mentioned in passing today that there's still a law on KY's books that requires that Metro Council members (and other elected officials) must swear an oath that they haven't fought in a duel.

The Secretary of State website sez:

In Section 228 of the state’s constitution there remains a link with Kentucky’s violent past. That link is the famous “dueling clause.” Since 1891, the commonwealth’s officials have had to swear or affirm that “since the adoption of the present Constitution, I being a citizen of the state, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within the State or nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons [or pianos? that would be okay by me... reference my distaste for dueling pianos, here], nor have I acted as a second in carrying a challenge nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God.”

I don't know why, but that just made my day....

Quick Bits and Happy (Belated) Anniversary to Me!

My previous post was my 100th post AND unwittingly posted on my two year anniversary of my move to Our Fair Ville. (Leave it to me to have my 100th post and my anniversary post be a somewhat snarky one... ).

A few quick newsy bits that have fallen through the cracks while I've been laid up.

First of all, the US Conference of Mayors named Loueyville the "most livable" large city in the US! Huge deal. Big news. And well deserved.

Secondly, next weekend is Lebowski Fest, easily the city's coolest counter-culture landmark event. Unfortunately, this Lou will most likely be out of town for the event, but even if I didn't consider myself an Achiever, I'd still want to hit this particular Fest because it will feature a guest appearance by Duff "Ace of Cakes" Goldman and one of his custom cakes. (Believe me, when you're laid up for more than a month, a whole world of TV opens up to you-- Ace of Cakes on Food Network kicks ass. It's like that motorcycle show for food geeks.)

Anyway, stay tuned, Friends of This Lou. I know I'm just dribbling posts at this point, but hopefully as my health evens out, so will my output.

BTW: I have a new goal-- the bloggers at the Ville Voice were named the best in Louisville in this month's issue of Louisville Magazine. I'll never be as current events-y as they are, and Rick and Jake ARE quite good... but some day (let's give it two years) that title will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine. :)

NTDWL: My "future wife" is so smart

Seriously... Elizabeth Edwards in 2012, folks.

Her NYT Op-ed from this weekend is brilliant!

Comedy Caravan: Obama fundraiser 4/30

Since my well-coiffed future husband, John Edwards, resigned from the race, it will probably come as no suprise that Lou officially endorses Obama. (Please note that saying that JE is my "future husband" is no reflection on my feelings for Elizabeth Edwards-- see my review of her speaking engagement in Lexington here. She is an amazing woman and at times I liked to pretend that she was running for prez instead of John. Heck, if I swung that way, she could be my "future wife." I wish her continued health. There's always 2012.)

Next Wednesday, April 30, the Comedy Caravan hosts an Artists for Obama fundraiser featuring Tony Yates with performances by Keith McGill, Lawrence Thomas & Will Hardesty. Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $15 and donations to the campaign are encouraged. Sources say that the Caravan has been receiving negative feedback for hosting this fundraiser, despite having hosted Republican events in the past without similar protest. That alone is a reason to attend-- support free speech, y'all.

Speaking of Comedy Caravan, from May 1-4, the comedy club is opening its stage to comics in town for the Derby. There's no slate of performers, but it's likely some A-list comics will show up to give impromptu shows. I'll let you know if I hear any good rumors.

Breaking Bad in the Highlands

This morning, Grinstead Avenue was closed due to a meth lab fire. According to the C-J article, it was a "small to medium" lab and the fire was under control within 15 minutes but the scene was still being cleaned up more than seven hours after the fire.

Back in NOLA, especially after Katrina, I used to spend a lot of time reading the message boards on our local newspaper's website. I've only just now started to pay a tiny bit of attention to those on the C-J's site. Seriously, if you ever want to have an understanding of the depths of paranoia, insanity, bigotry, and assholishry in any given community, check out its local online message boards. Whooo-eeee, that's some scary stuff. Maybe more scary than having a meth lab in your hood (albeit less detrimental to your property values).

Exhibit A from Liquidat31: The drug problem will never be under control. Never has been, never will be. That is why successful people don't live in areas the drug dealers live in. You rarely see a meth lab in Prospect or East Louisville. Occasionally a loser will slip thru the cracks, but overall those areas are filled with successful people. Therefore, if you don't like the drugs then you need to get a real income that will put you in a decent area. That is the only thing you can control....you can't control the losers around you.

For the record, if you stood at the site of the meth lab and spit really, really hard, you might be able to hit the windows of the houses on Cherokee Road, one of the most tony 'hoods in the city and home to a lot of successful people. A bit of hyperbole, but only just... in fact, let's let MapQuest decide for us... yep, as the crow flies it's 404 feet, the length of a fairly average home run hit. So a hit, yes. A spit, no. (BTW: the world record for cherry pit spitting is a whopping 95 feet and 6.5 inches. Whoa.)

Geoff "Jeff" Davis Representing the Worst of KY

Remember, Lou moved here from New Orleans, so she's no stranger to deeply embarrassing political leaders. (Thank Jeebus, though, I didn't live in Louisiana when they almost elected a governor who was a Grand Dragon in the KKK). That doesn't mean my head didn't pop off when I heard that KY Representative Geoff Davis said, in reference to Obama:

"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button. He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."

Gasp. Choke. At a GOP dinner in KY.

Davis's reps have not denied or tried to explain away what he said, and Davis himself is reported to have hand-delivered an apology to Obama. But interestingly enough, I haven't seen one single report that tells me how the crowd reacted to the comment.

Was it: Gasp? Choke?

Was it?

Because here's the thing, what stuck me as so jaw-dropping about the whole thing is that Geoff Davis is not some withered old Strom Thurman dinosaur. The man's 49 years old! Sure, it's no less offensive when fossils crack open their bigoted big mouths and let some heinous slur spill out, but-- and let's hope lightening doesn't strike me down for saying so-- when a fossil says something assholish, then we can at least comfort ourselves with the knowledge that the fossil, and those who share fossil's archaic beliefs and preferences, will not be long with us. (That's a very bad thing to say, Lou. Do shame!)

This man's not even old enough to be my dad (well, okay, maybe if he was a strapping young just-barely-teen who "really listens and understands," and my mama were a Florida schoolteacher). We've got a good twenty, thirty, maybe even forty years of his brand o' bigotry to endure.

Email Geoff Davis at his website. He's the Rep for Kentucky's 4th District ("the fightin' fourth!") which includes the area right around Cincinnati (which, yes, I know is NOT in Kentucky, but it kinda feels like it is). Davis sits on the board of CASA, the Court Appointed Special Advocates, working with juveniles who have been abused and neglected. He and his daughter have mentored in inner-city schools. I'm thinking the folks in charge of having Davis work with these kids might want to think about how being called a "boy" by this big rich white man may effect of a young black inner city youth.

(Note: I say Davis is rich because, seriously, who can afford to have SIX kids these days except rich people? Well, except Jon and Kate from TLC and that fundamentalist family with 17 kids on the Discovery Channel. Huh. I didn't realize that Jon & Kate are super religious. Never would have guessed from the couple of shows that I've seen. Now see, this is how the religious right is going to take over the world-- by breeding!! Oh, now, Lou's taken quite the side trip here).

(Isn't Jeff Davis the Garfield guy? Oh no, no, that's Jim Davis. No, Jeff Davis was the President of the Confederacy... well, now, that's awkward!)

Neighborhood Association IV: Still Crazy after All these Months

*DING*

A pretty blonde in a bikini and stilletto heels steps over the ropes and enters the ring. She circles slowly, holding over her head a white sign reading "ROUND..."

...Who knows what round this is at this point, huh?

Last night (11/19) the Original Highlands Neighborhood Association (OHNA) held its November meeting and elections for six of the twelve Board of Directors. Roommate came with me this time; I was glad to have a witness. A full three-quarters of the meeting progressed with civility and sanity. Impressive.

The elections appeared to go off without a hitch. There were 9 candidates for the 6 open seats. Each stood up and spoke for 15-30 seconds about how much they loved their neighborhood and wanted to serve for the greater good. They seemed to come from all walks of life, all segments of our fairly diverse neighborhood. I engaged in the process, did my best to make democracy work for me. But to tell the truth, the process felt palpably inauthentic.

Let's face it, folks. For Lord only knows how long this neighborhood-- or at least the OHNA-- has been a hotbed of controversy surrounding one issue and one issue only: the Historic Preservation District. Only ONE of the nine candidates said anything about his or her position on the issue, and he was not elected to fill an open seat. One of the ringleaders of the anti-district movement ran but kept his mouth shut about the issue. Unless you knew he'd been one of the most-- if not the most-- aggressive campaigners on his side of the issue, he would have just come off as another concerned citizen/business owner. I applaud the man who came straight out and declared his horse in this race. At least he was giving us fair warning: a vote for him was a vote for a voice of anti-district on the Board. The rest of them... who knows???

Both the candidates and the OHNA are at fault for this. Yes, it was a democratic election. But would we stand for a government election where we were just given names and bios for the candidates? The election came down to who seemed the most likeable, who had a job that you admired, who gave you a good vibe. I suppose every one of us should take some of the blame-- somebody should have stood up at the meeting and said it was impossible to make an "informed" vote without information. Maybe it should have been me. Mea culpa, too.

The poo hit the windmill when the litter tzar of the neighborhood stood up and gave some details about clean-ups and then implored the incoming Board to review the OHNA Neighborhood Plan. He said, basically, that it was an important document with specific suggestions and that they should look into starting to implementing those suggestions ASAP.

Commence to poo-flinging.

Who drew up this document? It was done in secret! It's a farce! (repeat this last sentence at least ten times) Who is this 'they' of which you speak? Who paid for it? Where did the money come from? Don't you claim to represent the community!... be quiet... sit down.. closed doors... mismanaged... no one wants this... elite minority... the black helicopters are coming for all of us...

Okay, I made up that last little bit. This time, both sides threw the poo. And it wasn't quite as bad as August's meeting. But I left rattled. Call me sensitive, but the level of hostility shown by those who oppose the plan is just plain discomforting.

Keep in mind: this is different from the Historic Preservation District; this is a wide-sweeping plan for the neighborhood in general. I've read it. You should too. It's here.

Roommate said he left his first meeting feeling pretty hopeful about the neighborhood association, despite the outburst. He said that he felt as though the majority of the people were just shaking their heads in disbelief at the insanity. I felt less optimistic. I can't help but feel that we'll get nothing productive done as long as the inmates have such a presence in (and may now be in charge of-- who knows?) the asylum.

O'Reilly's Sole Food: the Louisville Factor

If anyone ever asked me (so far they haven't) whose public scorn would I most welcome, Bill O'Reilly would be right near the top of that list. O'Reilly, Ann "Waaa! Why doesn't anyone declare a fatwa against me?" Coulter (answer: because you're irrelevant), Rush Limbaugh, the big W, Karl Rove (although that might make me piss my pants too), etc.

So I would like to extend a big, enthusiastic, Loueyville YOU GO GIRL! to Tamara Ikenberg of the Courier-Journal who was, according to this MSNBC.com article singled out for derision by O'Reilly for reporting on his recent bout with foot-in-mouth. I don't think he mentioned her by name (next time, Tamara! it's good to have goals!!), but he did mention the "Louisville Journal" as one of the many media outlets that have slandered him. Apparently everyone has taken out of context his words about the surprisingly good table manners and lack of "craziness" of the black guests at Sylvia's restaurant in NYC.

For the context, visit Media Matters (whom O'Reilly has likened to the Ku Klux Klan-- that's so cool!).

Elizabeth Edwards in Lexington

Here’s a tip for faithful readers: You know something matters to Lou when she hops in the ol’ (check engine light’s been on for months) jalopy and drives a significant distance to be there. Mama don’t like to drive.

But this morning, jalopy (still proudly emblazoned with the Kerry/Edwards ’04 bumper sticker) and I chugged our way down Highway 64 all the way to Lexington to see Elizabeth Edwards at a Small Change for Big Change fundraiser. I’d started to think that there wouldn’t be many people there. The Edwards campaign had been emailing me daily for weeks and had called me twice within the past few days. Lexington seemed an unlikely venue—a much redder city than Louisville in this red state.

Yeah, I was a little wrong about that one. I got to the Downtown Arts Center fifteen minutes early, secured a second-row seat in the black box theater, and looked sympathetically at the campaign workers, desperately trying to fill the seats behind the stage so that, on camera, it would look like there was a significant crowd.

And then people just kept coming and coming, and pretty soon all the seats were filled and people were sitting on stairs, standing in the corners, getting a little cranky as time ticked by, 5pm came and went, and still no Mrs. Edwards.

Then the head of the Young Democrats of Kentucky took the stage, apologized for the wait and explained that Mrs. Edwards was on CNN as he spoke, talking to Wolf Blitzer. The crowd let forth a harmonious, “Oooooohhhh!”

Jonathan Miller, Chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party and State Treasurer, introduced Mrs. Edwards. Handsome and eloquent, Miller seemed genuinely behind the Edwards campaign and cited Mrs. Edwards’s recent spat with Ann “I sold my soul to the devil for pretty blonde hair” Coulter as evidence that with Mrs. Edwards we would be sure to have a First Lady of genuine grace and civility. This came up often during the evening, people congratulating Mrs. Edwards on her strength and courage.

She’s shorter than she looks on TV and in pictures. And older, too. She took the stage with confidence, spoke eloquently about every single issue that the audience threw at her, and genuinely knew her stuff.

Here’s the thing. I’ve been married once, and never at any point during my marriage—even the salad days, though there were admittedly few— would I have ever, ever trusted my husband to speak for me and represent my beliefs to anyone, anywhere. That’s probably a shit example because, clearly, we were not on the same page (any page, ever). Heck, I’ve dated some amazing men, men whom I felt deeply understood me and my beliefs, and still, I never in a million years would have been comfortable with them going out and yammering on about what I think to anyone, anywhere.

But Mrs. Edwards seemed “on message” 100% of the time. And her husband’s policies seem to be her own as well. This is an amazing thing. She didn’t just buy in; it was apparent that she had co-authored or co-imagined these ideas. And that’s what impressed me most. John and Elizabeth Edwards have a vision for America. And it’s a good one.

In her opening remarks (which were brief, she said, so she could get to questions), she mentioned that her 30th wedding anniversary was coming up next month, and as they were moving, she’d come across her wedding album with a copy of their wedding vows. In their wedding vows, John and Elizabeth pledged to not only love and protect, but also to work together to help those who were less fortunate. She said that back then it seemed like the optimistic vision of two naïve 20-somethings, but that in retrospect, “it’s been the map for our lives.”

Lord, if you can’t love that then…

I had the privilege of being able to ask a question. I told her that tomorrow—today, now—marks my one-year anniversary of living in Louisville after having moved here from New Orleans. I thanked her and her husband for the attention that they have paid to my home city. And I asked her what John would do, specifically, to help rebuild the levees in New Orleans. She didn’t really directly get to the heart of my question except to say that she knew that John wanted to assemble the “best minds” of engineering from all around the world to address that issue. But what impressed me most is that she said that as soon as he was in office, he would appoint “one person” who would be the liaison to the city that would report to him “daily.” Someone who—every day—he would ask, “What did you do for New Orleans yesterday?” Wholly accountable to him.

Not bad. It’s a start.

She answered questions about outsourcing (we pay taxes and companies who send business overseas are subsidized? That’s bullshit.), healthcare (100% universal, citizens paying no more than 4% of their wages), immigration (use unmanned drones to detect border crossers, penalize people who hire unlawful immigrants, give immigrants and their families a clear path—with penalty involved— to citizenship), cancer (if cancer were a nation, we’d wage war, better fund the NIH), the loss of her son (it’s like having your leg cut off, no one asks you if you’re over the loss of your leg, you just learn to walk on one leg), Veterans’ benefits (each Vet should be assigned one case worker who is also a Vet), and the war in Iraq (John is really, really sorry he voted for it), all with integrity and good humor.

When talking about immigration, she said that even though there’s no “ding” on the door, when you walk into Blockbuster, even if you can’t see a worker, some worker somewhere, says, “Welcome to Blockbuster!” If they have the technology to know that someone has entered Blockbuster, why can’t we use that same technology to detect when an immigrant has crossed the border? (And what IS that technology anyway?)

When talking about her battle with cancer, she said that when people say that they pray for her health, she tells them to, instead, pray for the health of Supreme Court Justice Stevens.

A woman, a cancer survivor, gave her a necklace that she has worn every day for the past ten years. Mrs. Edwards remarked on the sisterhood of cancer patients and apologized for not being able to put it on because chemo had caused neuropathy in her hands and she can no longer button the clothes of her children or grasp the clasp of jewelry. It made me cry. A terrible reminder that this is a woman who could be dying. It was the first question (comment) of the evening, and no matter how jazzed up you could be from that point on, it just felt so horrid and wrong that this voice was springing from a woman in deep, mortal pain.

One of the last comments of the evening came from a man who self-identified as a registered Republican, but whose son had died of cancer in March. He’d written a book about it and gave it to her, asking if she would read it and consider giving him a blurb. For those of you who don’t know (and bless the Edwardses for not putting this more center-stage), Wade Edwards, their 16 year old son, was killed in a car crash in 1996. Wade, by all accounts, was a remarkable kid. And as a response to his death, the Edwardses founded the Wade Edwards Foundation which funds an after-school program for students in North Carolina, and he is an inspiration for the Edwards campaign policy to make the first year of college free for every American.

When in the presence of Elizabeth Edwards, it’s so easy to imagine her at the helm of this country in one way or another. It’s a keen reminder of how disappointing the wife of the Current Occupant has been. Seems like Laura Bush’s only achievement has been convincing her husband to read “some Shakespeares” from time to time. And that’s a sight better than her mother-in-law, who seemed like a pretty nice lady, but who upon visiting Katrina evacuees in the Astrodome said that “so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

Unlike these ladies-who-lunch, Mrs. Edwards calls to mind another strong and strong-headed First Lady. Dare I say it, but there’s a whiff of Hilary Rodham Clinton to her.

I came to the event 95% sure that Edwards was my man. I left and immediately affixed the bumper sticker to the jalopy. It’s official, folks, the Loueyville website heretofor endorses John Edwards for the Democratic Nominee in 2008, and without question endorses Edwards for president.