NETROOTS UPDATE w/pics
(bumped by management.... nice pics! originally authored 2008-07-19 20:55:52 -0400)
If anyone saw Nancy's Q&A you saw her use the same old tired lines about FISA that were all debunked by Glen Greenwald. Then she blamed the Senate and by implication Harry Reid for letting it go to the House in the first place which was totally weak on her part. It was infuriating because she knew that we knew better. That was so insulting that I almost left.
Thank goodness for CodePink and their show of dissent. Afterwards when asked about what a new Democratic majority would mean she referenced rebuilding America's infrastructure. Decoded that means earmarks. Not once did she say that rescuing the Constitution was on that agenda. I wanted to throw something at her. But I didn't. I could feel my pulse in my ear drums I was so pissed off.
Al Gore's "surprise" appearance made getting up and to the exhibit hall worth while. He denied any interest in being a part of an Obama administration. He wants us all to sign up at wecansolveit.org and sign up in support of his 10 year Apollo type agenda to make the United States 100% run on renewable resources. I signed up from my phone just so I would get it done immediately because if Al says so, I don't ask questions.
Shortly after that panel came Lawrence Lessig. I only went because Sam told me to go during the meet up. That was probably the best presentation I've seen here. Only 9% of Americans think Congress is doing a "good" job. He based his presentation on public financing being the answer to restoring trust in our legislators. I completely support his effort. He recommends that we join something he calls Change Congress. It works like Creative Commons where you pick what you support and it gives you candidates who match your priorities. This is his model for public financing. I'm going to give that a try.
The Written to Spoken word session that Sam was a speaker at with Cenk was interesting to me, but only because I am such a worry wart over the future of progressive media. Sam and Cenk did not get to speak as much as I wish they could have. The question and answer period was limited so most of us could not ask questions.
One funny moment at the session was When I went to meet Cenk and shake his hand, I had hidden a Center for Constitutional Rights condom in my palm. The look on his face when he realized I was passing him something was hilarious. He put it in his pocket and I now feel like I've done my duty to keep Austin safe.
One never knows what that Cenk is capable of getting into.
I did get to talk to Sam out in the hall when we were done but all he wanted to talk about was "how toniD was doing?" :) I told him what I have read.
I bumped into Phillipe Collin again and confronted him again about how much ad revenue we would have to bring in to get Sam back on. We went back and forth but basically he broke down and told me the existing AAR team would have to pay a heavy penalty to release a certain nuisance from his contract. I'm guessing you understand what I mean and I won't quote figures. I still think we can package Sam with Ads ready to sign up and offer them to Novam. Those are after all our ad airwaves and our market dollars we spend for goods and services. We have been quiet way too long. I'm not done with this. In fact, I've only started.
