Queen Elizabeth

Recently, John Edwards has risen to the top of my presidential nominee list. He has laid out his agenda in a very explicit and user-friendly structure that has put ending poverty at the top of the list, with a sub-category under that bullet of creating a universal healthcare sytem. He is, as he has again and again alluded to, the first candidate to lay out a plan that maps out the creation and implementation of such a system. The only negative thing I have to say is that his new tough guy attitude seems to wear a little thin as an obvious attempt to cater to the machismo that is so precious to the right to garner swing votes, he has thus far won my vote. But, this blog is not about him.

Just yesterday, over breakfast, one of my friends argued that John Edwards' actions were deplorable for not putting down the rally sign and staying home and taking care of his wife whose recurrance of cancer has just been diagnosed. Stun and shock overwhelmed me. Now, since the intial press conference where she announced her diagnosis and Edwards announced that the campaign will continue I have not read or seen much news on the issue; maybe I should not be shocked, maybe this argument has popped up alot, but an avenue for a negative character evaluation had never crossed my mind.

To me, we should applaud the courage of woman who realizes that her own ailments are miniscule when compared to the ailments of a nation for which her and her's purport to have the cure. Elizabeth needs not be taken care of, she took care of cancer by herself the first time. It shames me that today in America we (or at least who ever is making the aforemetnioned argument) still perceive a wife as property to be maintained. These same objections come from the side of the aisle which degrades Middle Eastern cultures for their sexism, but it seems to me that wearing an hijab is not far removed from having your own independence veiled by deep seeded ideology.