"I'd storm the gates of Hell with John Edwards - and expect victory", receives Karita Hummer's First Golden Pen Award

Don Vila, Winner of Karita Hummer's Golden Pen Award: First Recipient of KH's Golden Pen Award




I'd storm the gates of Hell with John Edwards - and expect victory.

Cross-posted from John Edwards 08 Blog

I have the great good fortune to post with grannyhelen, and I'll piggyback a bit from her post "Why I'm Sticking With John Edwards"
http://www.progressivessouthbend.org/200 8/01/why-im-sticking-with-john-edwards.h tml .

I should be clear that there is nothing she says that I differ with -other than my own circumstance, of course. My support of John Edwards though is highly visceral as well as intellectual. His campaign gets to who I am and the change I want to see in the world.

Aside from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., my only heroes up to now have been my parents.

Anyone who knew my father would describe him as person of high standards, possessing a fiery intellect and unquestioned integrity. Honesty was compulsory in our household, and my first and ongoing training in critical thinking took place at the dinner table every evening.



Focused and driven














The Thinker
















My mother spent many years working (for small stipends, at best) in Third World countries helping others better their lives - including stints in Guatemala, India and Peru. Her organization sponsors demonstration projects. These projects guide locals to available resources, provide volunteer labor and technical assistance, but the residents plan and implement the projects. They're also expected to sponsor a project of their own for others.

The projects can be as simple as micro lending programs or as comprehensive as the transformation which took place in Conacaste, Guatemala.

A small mountain village, Conacaste had no running water, no electricity, etc. A good chunk of time was lost to the women of the village as they walked to the river (over a kilometer away) or other basic chores needed to keep their families going.

By the time my mother left, Conacaste had running water, electricity, new businesses and even a social club for the village women. She wrote a very enjoyable book "Between Two Worlds - The Human Side of Development" about her experiences.

People who have read my previous essays may remember my parents were active in the civil rights movement (and included me in the activity) and allowed me my own activism without interference when I was older.

There's a lot more I could add, but I suspect you get the point. I come from very good people.

Now I have daughter who will turn five in March. Now it is my turn to set the example, to be the change I want to see in the world.

Four years ago, I discovered someone running for President of the United States who seems to feel as I do - someone who is impressed with the idea of doing what's right, rather than what's expedient or materially self enriching. Someone who could provide an example to others of the possibilities and was willing to the lead the fight to achieve them. He didn't win, but I certainly didn't forget John Edwards.

After he announced this effort from the ninth ward of New Orleans in December of 2006, I spent a great deal of time investigating what he had been doing since 2004. He had clearly done a lot of soul searching about the Iraq War. He had toured the world - witnessing the abject poverty inherent in so much of it. He spoke to not just to leaders, but to the citizens as well. He had formed a poverty center - studying the issues and calling experts together to propose solutions.

This experience clearly has honed his world view. It seems very simple - yet most people either can't grasp it, or don't believe it. I'd put it this way: It is in our best interests not to (consistently) act in our own selfish interest.

Grannyhelen noted some of John Edwards' detailed proposals - and he has a lot of them. I'd point out that if you look at them in their entirety, it's clear that they form a tapestry to lift people from poverty, keep those not in poverty - but threatened with it - from slipping into it and reclaim our role as an important, responsible world citizen. Or put it another way, to recognize the advantages he (and I) have had, and pay it forward.

I see what's great about my country and the people I hold dear in The Campaign To Change America.

And if you missed the short video "Challenge The System: The Edwards Movement Is Growing", click the link below. It is powerful. (3700 views in twenty-four hours)


I am baffled by people who complain that John Edwards expresses negativity. He has said “The American people are optimistic – relentlessly positive…” as is he. He also recognizes reality, and has ideas about changing it to a better one.

And by the way, take the title of this piece literally.

Don Wheeler
South Bend, IN