Writers' strike ends its second week Mr. Edwards goes to the picket line

Some 12,000 film and television writers have been on strike since November 5 in a bitter conflict with the studios and networks over revenue from material distributed over the Internet and other new media. No talks have taken place since the walk-out began and none are planned.

Edwards is a millionaire politician seeking the Democratic Party nomination through an extremely limited appeal to widespread resentment against social inequality and corporate power. An Edwards supporter would be hard-pressed to outline a single concrete measure the former senator intends to take against big business; instead Edwards mouths populist and nationalist generalities about the raw deal American workers are experiencing.

There is nothing for the working population in Edwards’s program. He is a staunch defender of the profit system. His web site explains that he stands for “a strong, principled national security policy” as the “foundation of America’s strength.” His disagreements with the Bush administration and his Democratic rivals are of an entirely secondary and tactical character. He speaks of the need to “strengthen homeland security, stand by our soldiers at every turn, while respecting the Constitution and living up to our ideals in the fight against terrorism.”