Received today a letter from John Edwards asking if he should run. My reply:

John: Please run. Our country is at a critical 60-year post war turning point; the point which generational analysts like historians William Strauss and Neil Howe show to be the most dangerous in the fate of world journeys: The war in Iraq is a quagmire and can possibly open to a Shiite/Sunni conflagration with Iran, Iraq and Russia on the one side and the Saudis, Israel and the United States on the other. The dollar is sinking to a valley between the Yen and a Euro creating a situation unlike any recession we have seen in our history. And as Katrina pointed out, poverty in America in endemic, hidden under a TV illusion of racial equity and worker fairness.

Not only does the infrastructure of our country need to be rebuilt. All Political systems need to be as well. In the last six years we have seen the failure of Congress in voting for a deceptive war resolution and even more so we have seen a complete failure of the press at the highest ranks. The press accommodated, appeased and enabled war fever and absolutely egged on the Dungeon & Dragons warriors in the Oval Office. We have seen the failure of the Supreme Court in propping up an illegal election. And most important, we have seen the failure of the American people who let this all come to pass without a squeak.

The Judiciary, the Legislative, the Executive, the Press, and the People: In the last six years we have experienced a catastrophic failure of American self-government. Like the Popular Front in Europe during the 1930s, the neocons today count on the weakness and political expediency of the conventional politicians to advance their agendas as their Fellow Travelers. The weakness and expediency of the opposition is their strongest weapon. Today, Senator Clinton, who fully appeased, enabled and advanced the neocon agenda in the Middle East perhaps more so than any Senator other than Joe Lieberman, is the Democratic front runner.

There will be great difficulty in turning the corner. The two front-runners in the Democratic Party, Senator Clinton and Senator Obama, are celebrities. There is nothing which qualifies them to be President. A run by Senator Clinton in particular will fully alienate the South and the red states, exaggerating a condition which has grown in the last 25 years, possibly leading our country to permanent division. And as Mudcat Saunders and Steve Jarding said in their recent book, “Foxes in the Henhouse” a race with candidates (like Senator Clinton) which thoroughly ignore half the country is not only immoral, but foolhardy. The Democrats face a catastrophic failure in ignoring the red states and 2008 could well be their last.

John and Elizabeth bring hope to America again by returning us to ourselves through love and family, faith and community; responsibility and compassion.

Sincerely,