I’ve had a busy but excellent couple of days in the San Francisco Bay area. Thanks to Ben Rosengart for organizing a meeting with a dozen people in Berkeley. The discussion we had was great. Some have asked why I hadn’t noted that former Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) had endorsed Barack Obama.
Shooting down a spy satellite whose orbit is decaying is either an exercise in super power vanity or an action designed to escalate the further militarization of space.
MoveOn just announced that they’ll run a petition ad in USA Today with the following text: “The Democratic Party must be democratic. The superdelegates should let the voters decide between Clinton and Obama, then support the people’s choice.” I was disappointed and surprised that no one was doing anything like this.
George W. Bush certainly seems like he likes to strangle things. He’s been trying to strangle Cuba and Cuban-American families with tightened restrictions on family-related travel to emphasize how much every President of the United States since Eisenhower has tried (and failed) to undermine Fidel Castro’s government.
Sarah Stephens, Director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, got this fantastic clip of Barack Obama speaking about US policy towards Latin America at the TC Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia — and made some apt comments about Cuba and Venezuela.
So, tomorrow I’ll be meeting a few readers at Cafe Roma in Berkeley at 4 pm at 2960 College Avenue. Frequent commenter Ben Rosengart is coordinating.
Every week — usually on Tuesdays (but not this week) — I chat about American politics with radio show host Deborah Cameron on 702 ABC Sydney radio. I really enjoy it and find her a very well informed, thoughtful host who digs into a lot in a short ten minutes.
I am a Grinch when it comes to rallies. I don’t like the noise, the spinwheels, the signs, and the illusion of joy. The high flying speeches and smiles, the ritual of orchestrated applause — the happy screaming. I don’t like hype. I want detail.
I haven’t been doing many coffee house meetings during my travels lately because my schedule has been out of control — but for those interested and in the respective corners of the world I’m going to — I can meet tomorrow (Thursday) in either San Francisco or Berkeley mid-day or early evening.
Barack Obama has just announced support for a national infrastructure bank — similar to the one that Senators Chris Dodd and Chuck Hagel have been pushing for in Congress.