ChrisWeigant.com

Netroots Nation Musings

[ Posted Thursday, July 29th, 2010 – 18:20 PDT ]

So I have arrived back home from the big Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas. Since it was the first one I've been to, I thought I'd share some random impressions. Now, I know this sort of thing doesn't appeal to everyone (which is why I didn't even attempt to "liveblog" the conference), because quite frankly if you weren't there then you probably don't want to hear about it. For those readers, I apologize, and swear we'll be right back to normal columns here starting tomorrow. This is also why I posted a column very late yesterday as well, to give you something else to read, just in case this sort of thing bores you.

In any case, these musings are mostly random and presented in no particular order whatsoever. This may be a little confusing.

Which is a good place to start. This wasn't just the first Netroots Nation I've attended, but the first convention of any type. So the entire thing was a new experience, and admittedly somewhat confusing in nature.

We missed the first morning by sleeping in (Vegas is a nine-hour car ride away, in mostly-100-degree weather, and we were exhausted). But once my wife and I got registered, we dove into the proceedings with gusto. The conference consisted of three main segments: an exhibit room filled with tables of an interesting mix of organizations, breakout training sessions and presentations in over a dozen small-to-medium-sized rooms, and major speeches in a huge banquet room that held everybody.

The breakout sessions covered a wide range of topics, and as we had been warned, there was at least once when two or more interesting subjects were being covered at the same time. Luckily there were two of us, so we were able to cover twice the ground, but there still were interesting sessions we had to miss. The selection was large and even the presentations we had to miss sounded very interesting, for the most part. The quality of people speaking at the sessions varied as well, in terms of both experience and knowledge, but at least for most of what I saw, the sessions were top-notch.

The exhibit hall was moderately large, and had tables staffed continuously throughout the conference. Of course, the first table we hit was to get our free "schwag bag" full of all sorts of stuff I have yet to read (conventions are a mad whirl of energy, where you don't have a lot of free time). I do have to single out one organization in the hall, who picked the perfect free gift for the schwag bags, though (at least as far as I am concerned). Working America -- in what even conservatives would have to admit was a politically incorrect (and bold) move for a Lefty convention -- provided us with two Lipton tea bags, which had liberal messages pasted on the packets (sample: "WALL STREET: I AM NOT YOUR ATM") as well as their organization's name. Now, in this political climate, tea (and tea bags) has taken on certain connotations, you might say. It's not even a stretch to say that tea bags are a political statement of sorts. But thankfully, Working America ignored all of that, and provided us with free tea bags for the entire conference.

Being a drinker of tea, and not coffee, I sincerely appreciated this.

The main speakers in the big room were mostly pretty excellent. We did miss seeing Van Jones, but did catch Ed Schultz, who was pretty fire-breathingly hot. There were too many good speakers to even list here (see the Netroots Nation site for the full list, and likely videos of all the speeches, by now), but the headliners on the last day were of particular note. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi addressed us in the morning, complete with a video from President Obama addressing the convention, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke in the afternoon, and Senator Al Franken was the keynote speaker in the evening. Pelosi and Reid were question-and-answer segments, whereas Franken gave the closing speech to the whole conference. All were very interesting to hear live.

But, while seeing politicians in the flesh was certainly a thrill, the best thing about the entire experience was meeting others in person who do what I do -- all the bigtime and smalltime bloggers. I met people I've only corresponded with via email, and was able to put a face to their names. I met people who I've never corresponded with, but whose writing I admire and respect. I met several fellow bloggers (and even employees) of The Huffington Post, which was fun just for the "club within a club" aspect (the conference is the brainchild of DailyKos, and the crowd was overwhelmingly Kos-centric, so meeting Huffington Post folks was relatively rare). And I met plenty of people I'd never heard of, but will be checking out online in the near future.

But the most interesting were the people you'd just bump into in a hallway and chat with for a few minutes. I experienced the range of opinion from "center-left" to "left" to "way, way left," which sounds like a joke but was actually very interesting. I'd hear people say of the same speaker "I don't agree with him, but I respect his speaking ability," as well as "I thought his talk fell flat, but I totally agree with his position."

OK, maybe it wasn't all that (to coin a phrase) "fair and balanced." But I'm not kidding, I found the range of opinions on issues and presentation to be fascinating. A conference, after all, is about getting like-minded people together to exchange ideas, and that was (to me) the most interesting part of the whole week.

To facilitate this, with a liberal (so to speak) application of booze, I have to single out the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (or "P-trip" as they liked to call it, assumably for "P-triple-C"), who hosted the best party suite of the week. Actually, they put on a party for two nights running, but we stayed away the second night so we'd have the energy to get up early to catch Pelosi's breakfast address. This gathering was legendary, complete with meeting the strangest of people from the strangest of organizations, as well as more than a few nationally-known bloggers whose names you would likely recognize (sorry, but their names have safely "stayed in Vegas," so don't bother asking).

I'd be lying if I didn't say that it was fun to be recognized as well. [This whole paragraph is going to be written by Chris' Ego, so if you find that sort of thing too saccharine, please skip to the next one... you have been warned.] The first person in the entire conference we talked to was the woman who checked us in and gave us our credentials. She looked at my name and said "Chris Weigant... Chris Weigant... where have I heard that?" I tried a few suggestions ("Friday Talking Points?"), but it turned out she follows me on Twitter. This, I have to say, was kind of stunning, and totally cool. But the best of these "getting recognized" encounters was when I shook hands with the Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, Bill Halter. I had to tell him that I had just given him an award in my column (see: FTP [131]) for being the best Democrat of the week. His response was that he knew, because he had read it. He thanked me for doing so, and I thanked him for being personally responsible for forcing Blanche Lincoln to champion derivatives reform. I have to say, that was a high point of the convention for me.

But the best part of the conference I've saved for last -- meeting Matt Osborne of Osborne Ink fame. Matt had been to Netroots Nation before, so he was invaluable for getting oriented in the chaos of such a large meeting. Matt is way more plugged in to the whole blogging world than I am, so this was appreciated immensely. Time and time again, he steered us in the right direction so we'd have a great time at the convention. While we did run into other people here and there, Matt was the only one we planned on meeting in advance. On the way home from the conference, we both had our share of car troubles as well. All told, though, we'd like to publicly acknowledge Matt for mentoring us and making our week at the big blogger wingding much better than it otherwise would have been.

With the shadow of the 2010 election season hanging over the conference, it was likely not as exciting as previous years have been, when Democrats were riding high on the pendulum of public approval. But the very first "YearlyKos" (as it was called then) was in 2006, before the Democrats took over either house of Congress. The first one was also held in Las Vegas, and we heard from many of the similarities between the two. But even with the damper of facing a tough election, it was great to be among so many like-minded people, all of whom realize that politics isn't a sprint but a marathon at times. The energy was pretty amazing, and the attitudes of most were positive and forward-looking. Next year's Netroots Nation will be held in Minnesota, and we're looking forward to (events willing) attending it next summer. If this year's was any measure, it will be an exciting week.

 

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

 

Cocaine Sentencing Injustice Slightly Lessened

[ Posted Thursday, July 29th, 2010 – 00:34 PDT ]

Crack cocaine, it is widely known, causes irrational behavior. I speak not of irrational behavior among the drug's users, but rather among politicians. It has done so ever since crack appeared on the scene in America during the 1980s. Today it was announced that Congress has approved a bill (which will now head for President Obama's desk) which will scale back the worst of the irrational legislation which passed in the Reagan era. Somewhat. In true incrementalist fashion, Democrats have now made things slightly less unfair, but fell far short of actual fairness. It's as if, right after the Civil War, Congress announced that black people would now count as four-fifths of a person, instead of the previous three-fifths -- in other words, a step towards equality, but not exactly the giant leap of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. Which makes it rather hard to praise such an effort, even though it does represent (some) progress.

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Program Note

[ Posted Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 – 04:23 PDT ]

We are back at home base, as is the car... to which I can only respond: "don't ask."

I apologize for the interruption in our normal column service, and promise everyone that a Wednesday column will appear at least pretty close to normal posting time.

I just drove 500+ miles, and for the first time in a whole week, the temperature dropped below 95 degrees. In other words, we're glad to be home! The temperature when we arrived home was 55 degrees, which is exactly half of the average of what we experienced for the time we were gone (the top record was 115 degrees, the day the car broke down...).

Anyway, just wanted everyone to know that the car repair nightmare is over, things are back to normal, and to offer my apologies, once again, for the interruption in our normal service here.

 

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

 

From The Archives -- Taxing Marijuana

[ Posted Friday, July 23rd, 2010 – 17:00 PDT ]

[Program Note: Sorry, no Friday Talking Points column today. The good news is that this will be our final "encore presentation" of an old column, and new columns will begin again on Monday. This column ran approximately a year ago, and was rather prophetic, since a report just out by the folks at RAND -- not exactly a bunch of hippies, in other words -- confirms exactly what I predicted here. The report said that the price of marijuana would drop (if legalized) from $375 to $38 per ounce -- the exact ten-to-one ratio I predicted last year. So it's good to be confirmed in such a fashion, I have to say. Of the two proposals discussed in this column, the first (the one with the 25 square foot limit) is the one which will go before California's voters in November as Proposition 19.]

 

California voters may soon get a chance to weigh in on whether marijuana should be legalized and taxed by the state. If enacted, this may help the state's budget by providing revenue from a brand new source, while also freeing up money that previously went to enforcement efforts against marijuana growing. Of course, marijuana would still be illegal under federal law, but this may be a turning point in the legalization movement -- the point where politicians desperate for tax revenues see dollar signs instead of prison bars when looking at the cannabis plant.

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Reaganomics Today

[ Posted Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 – 17:00 PDT ]

Another dispatch from our resident cartoonist, C.W. Cunningham. And you thought there would be nothing here but a reprint of an old column today... surprise!

 

Reaganomics

About the Cartoonist | Reprint Policy

 

From The Archives -- For Michael Collins

[ Posted Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 – 17:00 PDT ]

[Program Note: We will be running repeats of a few past columns this week (except tomorrow, tune in...). New columns will return next Monday. The following column ran one year ago today. For all the forgotten geeks of the world, I thought it was worth running once again.]

 

Quick -- who was Michael Collins?

No, not the Irish patriot who had a movie named for him, but the American Michael Collins. Don't recognize his name? Even today, after watching yesterday's news?

You're not alone. Very few people remember the name Michael Collins. And yet, without him, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin wouldn't have been able to take those giant leaps for mankind down on the surface of the moon. Because Michael Collins was the guy who had to stay aboard Columbia, the "mother ship" of Apollo 11, which orbited the moon while the Lunar Entry Module (LEM) Eagle descended to the lunar surface.

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From The Archives -- Tea And Sympathy

[ Posted Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 – 16:29 PDT ]

[Program Note: For the rest of the week, we will be presenting encore presentations of some favorite columns here (which sounds ever so much nicer than "re-runs"...). By request, the first of these is the very first column I ever wrote on the "Tea Party" phenomenon, which I enjoy because it makes me look prophetic at the end, with the warning to the Tea Party folks to police their own ranks (which makes it relevant today, after the schism between the Tea Party Express and the rest of the movement over racism). In any case, later in the week we'll have an original cartoon for you, so it won't all be old stuff, I promise. Regular columns will resume next Monday. Thanks for your patience.]

 

Tea doesn't get much respect in America. This historical snubbing will continue Wednesday, with protests across America meant to evoke the Boston Tea Party, a seminal event in the foundation of our county. How effective these protests will be is going to be open to interpretation, however.

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More Biden, Please

[ Posted Monday, July 19th, 2010 – 17:29 PDT ]

The White House is, quite obviously, getting back into campaign mode. This is a good thing for Democrats, because it means putting the last spadeful of dirt on the carcass of President Obama's hopes of bipartisanship in Washington during his term of office. But while Obama has recently begun to make the case to voters why electing Democrats this November is a good idea, Vice President Joe Biden has apparently been doing a much better job in terms of framing the debate on Democratic terms. Which means the smartest thing Obama could do right now is to send the Vice President out in front of the media and in front of campaign events to make the case a lot more strongly than Obama could (or should). In other words: more Biden, please.

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Friday Talking Points [131] -- Democratic Campaign Advice

[ Posted Friday, July 16th, 2010 – 16:14 PDT ]

This week, Congress -- moving with its usual less-than-blinding speed -- passed a Wall Street reform bill, a mere two years after the crisis hit. Wall Street responded by pulling a secret lever which caused the biggest earthquake Washington has ever felt.

Well, actually, that's not strictly accurate. The D.C. area did experience a mild (by Californian standards) 3.6 earthquake, but I would pin its cause on the fact that the Nationals baseball team now has a hot pitcher. Anyone who laughs at the possibility of baseball influencing plate tectonics obviously wasn't in the San Francisco Bay area for the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, which happened at the exact time the third game of the World Series was about to begin -- between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. It was obvious to anyone who felt the quake that fault-line tension among baseball fans across the bay was the reason the stresses in the earth were triggered.

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Some Good News For Obama

[ Posted Thursday, July 15th, 2010 – 16:32 PDT ]

President Obama got two pieces of good news today: the Senate passed Wall Street reform, and the volcano of oil on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico may finally have been brought under control. Whether this does him any good with the public remains to be seen, however.

The passage of Wall Street reform today is very big news indeed, but -- unlike with the healthcare reform effort -- most Americans simply aren't paying that much attention. Even the ones who are paying attention to this landmark legislation are often hard-put to describe all the ins and outs of the new law. Financial markets are very complicated and confusing, and regulating the financial markets is equally arcane and mind-numbingly boring to most folks (who wouldn't know a credit default swap if one came up and offered to rub sunscreen on their back). The fight -- both pro and con -- on Wall Street reform never really echoed much outside of lower Manhattan and Washington, D.C. Which means that the success of passing the new law may also go unnoticed by many folks out there.

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