Barackface

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Google Video: Bill Clinton

Charlie Rose - Rahm Emanuel / Bill Clinton / Roger Rosenblatt

Montage of funeral for Jordan's King Hussein includes footage of U.S. delegation, including then president Bill Clinton and former presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford as well as other world leaders.

"Close" Bill Clinton 4President TV Ad
"Plan" Bill Clinton 1992 4President TV Ad
"Hope" Bill Clinton 1992 4President TV Ad
President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky

Brooke Ellison has the cutest smile.

The other day there was a DL21C event where Brooke Ellison was to introduce Claire McCaskill. And I showed up a few minutes early, and McCaskill was still on her way. There were few people in the room. I naturally walked over to Ellison to introduce myself. She took one quick glance at me and just broke into this disarming smile. I joined in. It was a naughty, prankish smile.

Usually I introduce myself saying, "Hi, I am Paramendra, I am from Nepal." If you say India, people think outsourcing and are alarmed, first thing.

It felt like I had seen her at some other event before. I had recently visited her website.

Then I wandered off onto the floor. When you do that, you usually bump into at least a few young, white males who are huddled into each other, talking perhaps baseball. You read the Do Not Enter sign and let them be. I don't much care for baseball, or football, or basketball. I care, but not enough to know the scores. And I am fine with that. Politics is my sports, politics and soccer, world cup soccer.

After her speech, McCaskill worked the room. I walked over to her and told her I hope she wins because we need more women in the Senate. Then I asked her who she thinks is going to be president. I guess I am a little too early, too excited about Hillary. I don't hear the clear echo. She gave me a long list of hopefuls, which was perhaps the diplomatic thing to do.

"Here, I just touched a Senator," I said, and touched her shoulder. She grinned.

This guy David who runs the show at DL21C, I don't know if he knows me or not, but we have talked at least once. I am not too eager to get on his rolodex. I am not yet rolodex material. Although I ended up talking to this guy who works at the same company as David. The guy had worked for Bobby Kennedy. I was impressed.

Leila Noor showed. Dana Northcraft was in tow. They make quite a pair. I guess they are good friends. I have seen them together so many times. Leila told me Brooke is running near her part of Long Island. I did not know. She noticed I looked dressy.

"I am discovering I actually like the rest of it, I just dislike the tie."

Dana took me to task for drinking Coors beer. "Did you know that they fund anti-choice positions?"

I did not know.

"I'd rather be drinking tea right now," I said.

Dana is a midwesterner. I am a refugee into New York City from the great states of Kentucky and Indiana.

Right now Drinking Liberally is my organization of choice in town. I like the structurelessness of the whole thing. You just show up. You don't even talk politics half the time. There are no guest speakers. There is no center. There is no top. There is occasionally free beer, although it is perfectly okay to not drink, my first choice option.

And Justin Krebs and I have gotten a little jokey. There is that comfort level. Only last Thursday I learned for the first time that David, one of the cofounders of Drinking Liberally, works at Google in town. I was so impressed. And I did not know during all these months of knowing him.

This is such a commercial town. People are constantly trying to figure out how much money you have. As in, where do you live? What do you do? The idea of making money fascinates me, although I don't enjoy the process of spending all that much, although you will have to try me after big bucks. But money is a privacy issue, no? As in what you make and spend is your thing. And classist comments are no different from racist comments, sexist comments.

Getting people to talk about their work is great. But skip the money part. Just talk to me the craft of what you do. Are you a carpenter? How do you work the wood?

So I cornered David. He said yes, he has been with Google five years now. I told him I think Google is the sexiest company alive. ("I read your blog regulary," he said months ago.)

Leila knows David, but at the Brooke event Leila and Justin introduced themselves to each other. I was so surprised they did not know each other.

At the last Drinking Liberally Justin talked up some attack ads Brooke was facing. One says, "I don't play golf, I have a handicap." That made me so angry.

"That will backfire," I said.

"And there is another in California. The Dem in question has no legs. The ad there is, the Democrats want to cut and run in Iraq," Justin informed.

That is so low. For the electorate such attack ads should be dead on arrival.

I also met this guy who makes political documentaries. He apparently has won some Emmy Awards for his work. And his beautiful Russian wife.

"The largest electronics shop in Moscow is owned by someone from my country."

"I read War and Peace at high school."

"What do you think of Putin?"

"Moscow in the most expensive city on earth."

She said she had met some "weirdos" at the Drinking Liberally in San Francisco where she was recently. Justin was on defense.

"That is a smaller town. The weirdos have fewer things to do there." I was chuckling.

The guy expressed interest in making a documentary on the Maoists of Nepal. When I got back home, I introduced him to a few people over email, including the editor of what is perhaps the largest, definitely the first Nepali newspaper in America, a Li Onesto who has interviewed the top Maoists in the past, a local Julie who has made two movies in Nepal, and the star video blogger of the April Revolution who I worked closely with.

Adam and Stephanie were just done working on a campaign. And one guy whose name I forget. He is headed next to Ohio for election work. He said he can't drive.

Liberally Tipsy
Justin Krebs
Drinking Liberally
DFNYC, Drinking Liberally, DL21C, Cosmopolity
Primitive Liberals Need To Stop Attacking Hillary

It was at the Brooke event, I was one of the last to leave, as was Justin. And Elizabeth, who is one of the DL21C leaders, and Hilary with the Spitzer campaign. We talked shop. Justin said he knew Brooke from college.

On The Web

Brooke Ellison for New York State Senate
The Brooke Ellison Story: Ready for School A screech of brakes, a small body flying through the air -- and 11-year-old Brooke Ellison couldn't move or even breathe on her own. The Brooke Ellison Story (2004) (TV)
Harvard Gazette: Ellison '00: 'Miracles happen' since her news-making graduation from Harvard College in 2000, she has written a book
Bookreporter.com - Author Profile: Brooke Ellison and Jean Ellison
Brooke Ellison - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Brooke Ellison Story - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Morris Agency Brooke Mackenzie Ellison was struck by a car on her first day in seventh grade and given little chance of survival.
Amazon.com: The Brooke Ellison Story: DVD: Christopher Reeve,Mary ...
CNN.com - Transcripts she inspired Christopher Reeve .... She was paralyzed from the neck down at age 11.

ClaireOnline.com - Claire McCaskill for United States Senate
Missouri State Auditor - Claire McCaskill
Claire McCaskill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DSCC : Biography of Claire McCaskill
DSCC : Missouri
STLtoday - News - Missouri State News
Claire McCaskill (Senate MO) | WesPAC
Claire McCaskill: See what people are saying right now on Technorati
Claire McCaskill on the Issues
Claire McCaskill: Information From Answers.com

In The News

Claire McCaskill intern updated Facebook info. UM Maneater, MO
Michael J. Fox To Host McCaskill Fundraiser KMBC, MO
Talent’s Bid for Re-Election to Missouri Senate Could Be Even ... New York Times the Democrats’ recruitment of a strong candidate in state Auditor Claire McCaskill ..... spurred CQPolitics.com to change its rating on the race to No Clear Favorite from Leans Republican. ..... a year when many voters are expressing frustration with the direction of the country, the war in Iraq, Bush’s presidency and Congress. ..... the series of debates underscores the closeness of the race. “If Talent was leading by 60 percent, there might be one debate. Five suggests Talent is really fighting from a dead-even spot” .....
Mudslinging Starts Early In Tight Senate Race KSDK
For underdog, Senate run not about winningColumbia Daily Tribune
Claire McCaskill at a glance Belleville News-Democrat, IL

Friday, September 29, 2006

Google Video: Martin Luther King

I have a dream...[Martin Luther King]

Stock Footage;close up civil rights rallies / Martin Luther King, Jr. archival footage on computer screen

Stock Footage;B/W 1960's Martin Luther King, Jr. making speech

Stock Footage;B/W 1960's PAN to Martin Luther King in civil rights march / Montgomery, Alabama / SOUND
Stock Footage;B/W 1960's PAN of civil rights march / Martin Luther King / Selma, Alabama / SOUND
Stock Footage;B/W 1960's Martin Luther King in civil rights march / Selma, Alabama / SOUND

Google Video: Malcolm X

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Hillary 2008: Enough White Men

Friday, September 22, 2006

YouTube: Bill Clinton

Movie: Iraq For Sale

Upper West Side Baby Boomers for Truth on Iraq October 9
Movie with Daniel & Judith October 12

On The Web

Benefit screening of Robert Greenwald's new documentary, "IRAQ FOR ...
ABC News: Documentary Slams US Companies Working in Iraq
YouTube - Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers - Trailer
News Hounds: Olbermann Talks To Robert Greenwald About New Film ...
Robert Greenwald
Robert Greenwald's documentaries
Iraq for Sale
OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers
The Blog | Arianna Huffington: Iraq For Sale: Will a ... Democrats looking for another way to nationalize the midterm elections need look no further than their movie multiplexes and DVD players. ...... Robert Greenwald's latest film, Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (coming soon to a theater -- and a living room -- near you) is a devastating expose of how the Bush administration and the Republican-led Congress have allowed private corporations free rein in Iraq, leading to billions of dollars in profits at the expense of American troops, American taxpayers, and the people of Iraq. .... the hits-you-in-the-gut documentary also highlights their shocking incompetence -- and makes a mockery of the GOP's "we can keep you safer" 2006 framing. ..... The Republicans have turned Iraq into a corporate welfare gravy train ...... a film that connects on both an emotional and an intellectual level ...... the political action committee of Halliburton, the king of the Iraq profiteers, has given 91 percent of its donations in the current election cycle to Republican candidates ...... the GOP has repeatedly derailed Democratic proposals to increase competition for government contracts, create a new criminal penalty for war profiteering, put limits on the kinds of jobs (such as interrogations) private contractors can do, and establish a Truman-style committee to investigate the companies making a killing in Iraq and Afghanistan while young Americans make the ultimate sacrifice. ....... companies such as Blackwater Security, CACI International, Bechtel, Fluor, and, of course, Halliburton ...... Remember how in 2004 a DVD presenting Bush as having "the moral clarity of an old-fashioned biblical prophet" was distributed to tens of thousands of American churches? Well, Democrats should get a hold of that mailing list and make sure those same faithful viewers see Iraq for Sale before Election Day.