Brother racked up different kind of record (Next Edwards' Meme)

[MarkTwain]

Those of us who engage the opposition, should be expecting this as the next "guilt by association" and smear against Senator Edwards. Hmmmm. Let us remember and remind our challengers that Senator Edwards' brother is, indeed, in "good" company what with The DimSon himself having experienced the "pleasures" of drink and an automobile amongst his other "youthful indiscretions" which, if memory serves, continued well into his thirties.

Brother racked up different kind of record
By ADAM LISBERG
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. - Sen. John Edwards strode through North Carolina's courtrooms in the 1980s and made his reputation as a lawyer. His little brother, Blake, saw plenty of courtrooms then, too - as a defendant. While his illustrious brother won legal victories and earned millions, Wesley Blake Edwards racked up speeding tickets, license suspensions and impaired-driving convictions. In 1987, he served seven days in jail for driving under the influence. Three years later, he permanently lost his driver's license when he was arrested for driving under the influence for a third time. Despite being banned from driving, Blake Edwards was pulled over in April 2003. He resolved the charge by paying a $100 fine.

- SNIP -

Blake Edwards lives with his wife, Debbie, 46, and their daughter in a modest two-story home that his brother bought for him with $100,000 cash in 1999, property records show. Blake Edwards works as a union electrician, and his well-worn toolbox sat on the front porch after he returned from work last week.

- SNIP -

Despite the sticker, John Edwards' little brother does not appear to be registered to vote in North Carolina. Debbie Edwards is - as a Republican.

With Maki Becker in New York
Originally published on July 11, 2004

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/211134p-181909c.html

[Placebo]

1. Edwards' bro sounds like Bush..

I thought i was reading dubya's bio for a second there :)

[prodigal_green]

4. Anybody remember Billy Carter or Roger Clinton?

File this under "colorful southern families" trope.

While these guys added some interesting gossip, they had no impact whatsoever on the election.

The pugs might want to be careful looking into family history btw, Neil Bush is one they'd like to keep under wraps and Cheney's lesbian daughter could be dragged out for the religious right whether it is politically correct or not.

[Placebo]

6. lol

c'est vrai...

the repubs can't really try and make this an issue though, unless they want the dems to really push some of the bush family's personal problems out onto the national media scene with full force

[enough]

18. Right, lets say that a little louder,

so the repukes don't miss it.

Those Neil Bush "asian hotel-room" stories can always stand a few more tellings.

[Kahuna]

2. So, his brother is like bush and cheney....

:shrug:

[Doosh]

3. so his brother is an electrician, and a bad driver

SCANDALOUS I TELLS YOU!

[Terran]

13. Really, what a terrible person he must be.

I wonder if he's ever been bankrupt, or had to take anti-depressants, or done any number of things that happen to ordinary people. The scoundrel!

[Kadie]

5. How many DUI's does cheney have?

Does he still have his license?

[olddem43]

10. You don't need a license when you have servants -

Nixon didn't even have a license. But John Kennedy did, even as president.

[havocmom]

7. Goodie, the 'brother card' throws Neil Bush into play

and I am willing to bet John Edwards' brother did not cost taxpayers nearly what Silverado Savings & Loan cost us!

for background and fun:
http://www.rationalrevolution.net/bush_family_and_the_s.htm

Just Google Neil Bush + Silverado Savings and Loan and get:
Results 1 - 10 of about 1,780 for Neil Bush + Silverado Savings and Loan.

Oh, puleeeze, play the brother card you dimwit Rovian slime balls! It will go about as well as claiming Kerry doesn't like the military of Edwards has no experience like Cheney does.

Another inedible turkey Rove, brother against brother, BFEE loses the match

Wanna match driving records of candidate kin? How about Laura's boyfriend, the one with the tire tracks?

[AP]

9. Right on.

[The_Gopher]

25. don't forget about Neil Bush's hookers!

[havocmom]

26. Personally, I try to leave sex scandal out of things but you are right

It is a topic the wingers seem very responsive to in a sick sort way so maybe we should talk it up, but always add that it was while he was married. Gotta get that barb in when bush* keeps mouthing off about protecting the scantily of marriage by denying gays the opportunity to have society recognize their commitment and fidelity. Gee, how does the Bush family really act to protect marriage? Didn't Poppy have a honey on the side too? Wow, that's great. It means Dems aren't the only ones getting laid on the side!

And one can't get into that part of Neil's life without asking about just why his very well heeled family treated the mother of his child so shabbily. Also wanna plant seeds of curiosity about when and by whom the child of his current spouse became pregnant with her child. Hey, did they ever do that paternity test thing? How'd that come out any way? we all ask innocently.

But, no, I don't really think we have to resort to that, unless they play the sex card next. Do I think they will do that to? Yeah, you betcha!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

33. Who needs hookers?

Neil's S&L scandal speaks volumes...especially since Daddy handled everything in the typical family fa$hion.

[AP]

8. I hope we hear more about Neil Bush, Silverado and all the taxpayer money

that went to reimbursing depositors whose money made a nice life for Neil.

As for Blake Edwards, if this doesn't humanize Edwards even more, than I don't know what.

Every good Democrat has a brother who shows just how fine the line is for most Americans to have fulfilling lives, and lives that aren't so rewarding.

Now I want to know what Edwards's little sister does for a living.

[ikojo]

11. Remind people of Bush's brother, Neil Bush

who cost taxpayers MILLIONS of dollars during the savings and loan scandals of the late 80s and early 90s.

Details on the Bush boys, Neil and Jeb are in an excellent 1992 article from Mother Jones magazine...this article details Neil's failed savings and loan as well as Jebby's connections with Cubans of less than savory character.

Those who live in glass houses (even on the rich side of town) SHOULD NOT cast stones that is for sure!

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1992/09/bushboys.html

GEORGE II

None of George Bush's offspring is more his father's son than George W. Bush. George Jr., or "Shrub" as Molly Ivins refers to him, began his own Texas oil career in the mid-1970s when he formed Bush Exploration. Like the business dealings of his brothers, George's company was not a success, and it was rescued in 1983 by another oil company, Spectrum 7, run by several staunch and well-heeled Reagan-Bush supporters. But by mid-1986, a soft oil market found Spectrum also near bankruptcy.

John Ellis ("Jeb") Bush

After graduating from Texas University, Jeb Bush served a short apprenticeship at the Venezuelan branch of Texas Commerce Bank in Caracas before settling in Miami, in 1980, to work on his father's unsuccessful primary bid against Ronald Reagan. Campaigning for Dad was hardly a paying job. But Jeb was about to learn that being one of George Bush's sons means never having to circulate a résumé.

In the next few years, financial support flowed to Jeb through Miami's right-wing Cuban community. Republican party politics and a series of business scandals -- including Medicaid fraud and shady S&L deals -- were inextricably intertwined. A former federal prosecutor told MJ that, when he looked into Jeb's lucrative business dealings with a now-fugitive Cuban, he considered two possibilities -- Jeb was either crooked or stupid. At the time, he concluded Jeb was merely stupid.

NEIL BUSH

Federal regulators determined that, while Silverado was pumping loans to Neil's two associates, Neil was completely dependent on the two men for his income. The failure of Silverado -- its closure delayed until after the 1988 election -- cost taxpayers about $1 billion. After almost two years of hand-wringing had passed, an expert hired by regulators declared that Neil suffered from an "ethical disability," and he was required to pay a $50,000 fine for his ethical lapses at Silverado. Neil's estimated $250,000 in legal bills generated by the scandal are reportedly being paid for him by a banking-industry lobbyist who is fighting to get banks deregulated.

[liveoaktx]

29. His ex-wife's book coming out 6 weeks before election

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=526292
A new book on the Bush dynastyis set for release just six weeks before November's knife-edge presidential election. The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty by Kitty Kelley will have an initial print run of 500,000, and the main source is believed to be Sharon Bush, the ex-wife of Neil, President George W Bush's wayward brother.

[olddem43]

12. He probably didn't have anyone to expunge or lose his records.

[AP]

17. The dog burned my microfiche...

[LittleApple81]

14. To Bush*: don't throw bricks when you live in a glass house. They

have so many semi-ineterred skeletons in the House of Bush that they stink to high heaven... He does not want to go there. It must be that sense of untouchability that people in power get, otherwise I don't understand the idiocy of this attack.

[annxburns]

15. Two words for you baby ....

...

Neil Bush

[jpak]

16. John Edwards bought his brother a house

Now them thars real (Democratic) Family Values.

Now let's talk about Dubya, Nichole and Neil Bush (sex and booze and drugs), JEB"s tax evading wife, and Dick Cheney's DUI's and potty mouth, and other Republikan "fambly" values...

just to mention a few...

[AP]

19. Incidentally, DWI is the upper middle class white guy's crime that they...

...never get punished for.

It's nice to see that JRE bought his brother a house but didn't try to use his legal connections to get his brother out of being punished. (Could you imagine if his brother had hurt someone because his brother protected him?)

Now, compare that to the privileges of being a Bush.

Hey, maybe Blake could get Barbara Bush to make him a fake Maryland driver's license?

[Judi Lynn]

22. A point they would like to ignore, no doubt, AP

So glad you extricated that one valuable truth from this story: Edwards DID NOT use special privilege to conceal his brother's acts.

Makes him far cleaner than the _Bushies.

I would also imagine he bought the house and his brother's repaying him, rather than going through a bank, etc. I've heard that arrangement used innumerable times. It's common.

[Cooley Hurd]

20. His brother's name is BLAKE EDWARDS???

I guess Inspector Clouseau is on board? :silly:

[Cocoa]

23. that's really weird

Blake isn't the most common name.

[UpInArms]

21. hell, we don't even have to go the the loser brother, Neil -

the apples that fell off GWB's tree are bad, too!

Let's see how many citations and court appearances did those rowdy twins have?

[playahata1]

31. Let's see, here's some other Presidential "loser" brothers:

Roger Clinton
Billy Carter
Elliott Roosevelt (Theodore's brother, Eleanor's father)

So the f--k what? These dimwits will stop at NOTHING to drag Edwards through the mud. Do they honestly think the American people are THAT stupid?

[kayell]

36. Yep, *s childrens behavior says a lot more about him than a siblings

behavior could possibly say about Edwards. Parents are generally expected to have some influence on how their kids turn out. Brothers? I don't think so.

[PurityOfEssence]

24. Damn! One brother talks to the dead, one did all them Pink Panther movies

This shit's just gettin' too weird

Hey, wait; he did that Victor/Victoria thing too. Hell, he's some kinda drunken homo-loving union commynist. Hell, leastways his wife toes the straight and narrow.

[notbush]

27. I could really care less, and most of the public feels the same.

Whether it's Bush's brother,Edwards brother or Jesus Christ's brother.
None of them have a damn thing to do with the race for the Presidency.

[Myrina]

28. Let's not forgot the SD GOP Governor <?>

Who committed DUI manslaughter (I can't remember his name) ...

or if the GOP REALLY wants to talk about 'family problems', the book by Neil Bush's ex-wife should be hitting the shelves pretty soon ...

[stevedeshazer]

37. You must be referring to

former congressman Bill Janklow. He was previously SD Governor.

[bloom]

30. it's not that unusual for a Presidents brother

to be the "problem child".

The funny thing about the Bushes is they have no exceptionally successful ones - and here George is there anyway. :eyes:

[riverwalker]

32. Cheney's two DWI arrests

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/cheney_doc.html

"Cheney's first DWI conviction came in November 1962 when he was 21. According to this docket from Cheyenne's Municipal Court, Cheney was nailed for drunkenness and "operating motor vehicle while intoxicated." A Cheyenne Police Judge found Cheney guilty of the two charges and hit him with a 30-day suspension of his driver's license. Cheney also had to forfeit a $150 bond posted at the time of his arrest. Further information about the case--such as the defendant's blood alcohol content or whether Cheney was jailed following the bust--is unavailable since other court records from that period have been destroyed, according to Wyoming officials.

Details of Cheney's second Wyoming arrest, in July 1963, have also fallen victim to time and records destruction practices at the local Municipal Court. But a police arrest card (similar to the one that haunted Dubya) maintained by the Rock Springs Police Department shows that Cheney was fined $100 for his second DWI conviction. The card lists the charge against Cheney, who was then working as a groundman laying power lines, as "11-44," the criminal code classification for drunken driving, according to Police Chief Neil Kourbelas. At the time of the Rock Springs arrest, Kourbelas said that local cops and judges would not have known that young Cheney was a boozing 'n driving recidivist. The police department, Kourbelas said, "wouldn't have had the ability to automatically check with other jurisdictions to find out if anyone had had prior arrests or convictions. We could have arrested Jack the Ripper back then and had no idea what he had done."

[JDPriestly]

35. Working class brother

shows that Edwards' roots are working class. The whole issue could turn on the Repubs since Edwards' brother is an example of the problems ordinary working class people have. Working people either get help to buy a house or rent; they lose their licenses if they don't drive safely because they don't have the connections to get their records cleaned up; they register Republican although they don't benefit from Republican policies.

[MasonJar]

34. And how does this stack up with the Bush boys, who made

money out of the savings and loan atrocity, sleep with whores and many equally obnoxious activities. These Bushies had better watch their step. There is a trial lawyer in the crowd now.

[stevedeshazer]

38. My brother is a Republican

He's also an asshole. We'er barely on speaking terms.

That's all they've got?

That's all they've got??

[daleo]

39. Bush and Cheney both had impaired driving charges

Bush's brother had prostitutes visit him in Thailand.

Bush and Cheney do not really want to go down this road, if they have even half a clue.

[Spiffarino]

40. To think that they won't go down that road...

...is an insult to the proud, brazen stupidity of BushCo. They are like a group of 10-year-old delinquents throwing rotten eggs: toss, run away, return, repeat. Their tactic is to put out as many doubts in as short a time as possible hoping something bad will stick.

It's the same tactic McCarthy used in the 40's and 50's. Remember, it was ten years before McCarthy was censured; most of the damage was already done. People back then - the news media and our elected representatives to be precise - were afraid to do anything about him for fear of falling into his hands and bring branded traitors.

Sound familiar?

[daleo]

42. Well, there is no doubt that a compliant media helps the BFEE cause

Most of us here know how hypocritical this is, but it is true that it takes a certain level of knowledge if the media fails to point out the obvious.

[JayS]

41. This story makes Edwards sound...

...human. It is nice that he looks out for his brother and tries to help him. We should all have family like that.

[saracat]

43. Doesn't this qualify Blake to be a repug vice prez?

He is more qualified than Cheney too! More Dui's LOL

[Hekate]

44. Edwards bought his bro a house: great family values there

I think it says an awful lot about John Edwards and HIS sense of family values: that he bought his struggling brother's family a house so they can have some security. That's really kind.

As for the rest of it: only a compliant corporate media would refrain from mentioning the legal scrapes of Dickie and the Bush Boys, especially as relates to alcohol abuse. Oh wait -- we have one of those, don't we? (meaning compliant media)

Hekate