My final report on DemocracyFest is going to be brief, as I was away in the afternoon during most of the good stuff. I arranged to catch up with former Alaska Senator (and Presidential candidate) Mike Gravel across town for what turned out to be an extended interview, so I wasn't able to catch Dennis Kucinich calling into the conference (GreenVermonster was there.... perhaps he'll grace us with his impression). Nor was I able to catch Matt Dunne's presentation on "Service Politics." Basically all I can recount further is a piece of the e Pluribus media presentation, and of course the big speech by DNC Chair Howard Dean.
The good news, though, is that I was able to secure interviews not only with Gravel, but with Dunne, and even Howard Dean. I'll have the Dean interview up at some point Monday and will trickle out the others as I can transcribe them. Hopefully I'll also have the Hodes/Shea-Porter clip by the end of the week.
After days (weeks) of jumping through technological hurdles, we've bade i to and through the 1st Day of DemocracyFest. Today is the 2nd and last day.
I missed all but a couple of minutes of every speaker, but Odum's coverage allows me to "see" them vicariously. but that means I can't give any cool accounts of "Encounters with Greatness."
We do have one of the most compelling speakers of the event coming up tonight, just before Dean (note, the rest of the event requires a ticket).
In 2004 Carlos Arredondo answered the door to find two men in uniform - waiting to tell him his son was dead. Alex had gone to Iraq and would never return home. Carlos asked them to leave, and they refused. Learn abou Alex, about Carlos and Melida's (Alex's step mom) wonderful son, and their ongoing mission to end the conflict in Iraq.
Naturally, getting to the hotel in Manchester wasn't as easy as it should've been, but after getting only mildly lost in the driving rain, I arrived late for breakfast and only just in time for John Edwards' scheduled appearence. Fortunately for me, Edwards was on politician time (late), so I got to hear the last extended minutes of Democracy For America President Jim Dean (he of the eerily similar voice to his brother).
(Details on Edwards, Jim Dean, Paul Hodes, Carol Shea-Porter, and the impeachment panel including Jeffry Taylor, Dan DeWalt, Dave Lindorff and Adrienne Kinne below the fold...)
Many of you know that I'm one of the volunteers who helps put together DemocracyFest. This year I'm trying to juggle the task of arranging speakers and trainers.
As you might expect, in the 2 weeks before a big event, it gets really, really busy. It's kinda important to be able to communicate.
Here is the tale of annoyance that is my life at this moment. There's no rantiliciousness, juicy gossip, or anything really interesting, just another installment of the bizarre reality I seem to live, below the fold.
