My night w/ Thom Hartmann

[WilliamPitt]

I mentioned this in a thread yesterday:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=112521&mesg_id=112521

I didn't know what to expect when I got there. I'd been told it was a 'dinner party,' but as it turned out, it was a party party with food...so there were a lot of people, a lot of milling about, your standard crowd issues etc. It was fun.

I cornered Hartmann in one room with a few other people. Right off the bat, I have to tell you that he is one of the smartest humans I've ever spoken to, and is also a really sweet, nice, funny guy. His wife is at least as smart and funny as he is. Anyone who thought this was some wild-eyed conspiracy bombthrower can put that to rest; he is a straight up academian with an incredible amount of data at his immediate command.

I have to apologize, because the conversation did not linger very long on the voting issues. We sat around with a lot of other smart people and hashed out strategies to deal with it all, and everyone was excited about the Conyers hearings. Most of the questions you all put forward did not get into the conversation, I am sorry to say.

I got the definite sense that Hartmann was stepping lightly around the voting issue because he'd been forced a couple of weeks ago to publish a retraction and an apology for some of the stuff he'd written. Specifically on the Jeff Fisher/Florida thing, Thom was very clear that there isn't anything at all to that particular angle.

Most of our conversation, actually, was centered around all the work he's done on the Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific SCOTUS case that gave corporations 14th Amendment rights, i.e. the birth of corporate personhood. The story is amazing, insane and frustrating as hell, and will be the subject of an essay of mine really soon. Just a wild story. Mr. Hartmann is very, very, very smart, and, oh yes, he already knows about and loves DU. :hi: Thom!

There were two other people at the party who I had a great time talking to. One was Chris Lydon. Anyone here who listened to 'The Connection' on NPR will remember Lydon as being, basically, the inventor of intelligent talk radio. He's a really nice guy, sharp as a tack, and an attentive listener. He got an earful from me oin Iraq, Iran and the vote, I can tell you. Those of you who enjoyed his work should know that he is working hard to get back into the game, big time. Stay tuned for that.

The other person I met, and wound up talking to nonstop until 5am, is a man named Stirling Newberry. Newberry is one of those guys who has seen and done so much across so many spectrums - political, econmomic, military - that his grasp on the issues is spherical in nature; i.e. he has wisdom from all the angles. I was deeply impresed by him, his thoughts, his strategies, and what he thinks the real ballgame is about. An example of his thinking can be found here:

http://www.bopnews.com/archives/002338.html

I came away from the night filled with the knowledge that we have a lot of goddam smart people on our side who are working very hard at think-tanking a new route to victory for us and our causes. It was a good feeling.