I forgot to mention I went to this thing. Kucinich, Hilary and John Edwards showed up out of all the candidates on both sides of the aisle. I think you can watch it online here.My thoughts:
-Does anyone seriously think that solving the massive damage on the scale of "global warming" lies in the hands of a president? If so, holy ghost help us all.
-Assuming that it's at least important what the candidates think about global warming, given the fed's track record with handling disasters in light of the Katrina fiasco, what possible action plan can we even reasonably believe makes sense and is do-able when addressing such an imposing topic?
-Kucinich came on first. Says some okay things. (particularly about impeaching Cheney, but that's outside of this forum) He doesn't stand a chance.
-Hilary was next. It was weird, because as someone who is a native Angeleno, I don't get starstruck. Two exceptions were when I met Scorsese and Magic Johnson. And this isn't leading to being starstruck by Hilary, no way. But before her entrance the intensity level rose at least two levels, and it was palpable, like waiting for the band to come out. The Wadsworth Theater is a stately, intimate theater that holds a few thousand, and when Kucinich was talking the aisles were empty. With Hilary, the aisles filled; pr flacks, aides de camp, assorted indie reporters (mainstream ones got seats, of course), and the rest of the assorted plebes.
-Hilary, chugging along, then had the misfortune to have a heckler stand up and begin a tirade that went on until they bounced him on his ass. What was interesting was to watch her and her escalating reactions; 1) She just kept talking! No shit, as the crazy heckler was shouting away with all eyes on him, she just kept right on going. 2) Then, she got her hard-ass on. Leaning an elbow on the podium, she stared this dude down. This of course made every male in the audience grab his balls while images of Bubba, cowering on his knees in front of her danced through the air. 3) Finally, she blurted out, "Were you invited to speak today?"
-John Edwards - a decided letdown, came on and proceeded to put his hands in his jacket pockets while he spoke. Weird move, that. But the weirder thing is that the dude was frumpy. I mean, for all the dough he has, you'd think he'd have duds that are hand tailored. Oh yeah, a lot of peeps left after Hilary.
Basically, it was mildly entertaining, but for anyone at all interested in global warming, yer better off reading a book.
I also think that this is a critical time in our history, not just because of the environmental challenge, but because of whatever response we put up. Because part of the reason we're in the mess we're in - and I mean everything, not just the environment - is because we place the potential power we have in synergy into leaders. To be fair, part of that equation is by default, because the powers that be have rigged a really hard game to unravel.
It's gonna take strategic, hard work, something that scares both left and right alike.
You reminded us that new worlds do not come delivered on silver platters. New worlds, new ways of living do require getting the hands dirty. New worlds require more than lip-service and appearances.
-Essex Hemphill, to Audre Lorde
