Personal Report: L.A. WesPAC fundraiser
Submitted by hekebolos on October 29, 2005 - 5:29am.
Firsthand Accounts
This is cross-posted from my blog, Far-Shooting Politics: http://hekebolos.blogspot.com. I was at the WesPAC fundraiser in L.A. Friday evening, and attended the blogger meeting, together with MSinLA and a few others.
General Wesley Clark was in Los Angeles today for a WesPAC fundraiser at a private residence in Cheviot Hills. The event was supposed to start at 7:00, but Michael Webber of SoCalGrassroots prevailed on the General to meet with some bloggers as a preamble. So there we were, in a private room at a roundtable with the general. The bloggers in question included myself, John Amato of Crooks and Liars, Mark Kleiman, MS_in_LA of Who's Counting, and Steve and Pam of SteveAudio. So essentially, seven bloggers, together with Wesley Clark and his wife Gert, all just having a conversation. Arianna Huffington was supposed to show up, but she had other obligations. Quite a forum, and a singular occurrence. I should be getting a picture soon from WesPAC--when I see it there I'll post it here.
We were only supposed to meet for 15 minutes, but the General gave us twice that amount of time, sharing stories about his encounters with Pat Robertson and talking about his ideas for foreign policy and his critiques of the administration, and what type of talk and mentality appeals to voters. One of the especially memorable exchanges on this topic was on the topic of torture. Mark pointed out that while we all know that torture isn't okay, there's a broad swath of America that doesn't think that. But I took that a step further and said to the General that we have to fight battles on the blogs every day with people who think that torturing prisoners actually makes us safer, and don't realize that it doesn't actually produce any more actionable intelligence--and we don't have any credible military personnel pointing that out.
I think that the General would have kept on talking to us for hours, but we finally had to break it off so he could address the rest of the donors at the fundraiser. And what a public speaker he is. He advocated that the Democrats change the public perception of their party to be the one that represents the common good, faith, values and service and patriotism. He also pleaded that each one of us needs to put the good of the nation ahead of our individual pet causes--a message that many people need to hear. If you haven't gotten a chance to hear the General speak, you're really missing a treat. He's warm and charismatic, but clear and powerful when he needs to be--a fantastic public speaker who can captivate and hold your attention.
As a side note, I got to meet a couple of other congressional candidates seeking election in 2006: Mary Pallant, who is seeking to unseat Elton Gallegly in CA-24, and Russ Warner, who is doing the unthinkable by challenging David Dreier in CA-26. Mary is a very fun and engaging lady--we had a little football rivalry going on, since she's USC and I'm UCLA. Russ is very friendly as well--he brought his son with him, who just got done serving a tour of duty in Baghdad. It was very intriguing to speak with him because it was the first time I had actually spoken face-to-face with someone who had served in Iraq. I asked him to describe his experience if he could, and he only had one word for me: "chaos."
When I get some pictures from the event I'll post them. This was a very fun day, and solidified my initial primary support for the General--presuming he runs in 2008. But first, we have 2006 to attend to.
It sounds like you were treated to something that few of us have had the privilege of.....nearly a one-on-one discussion with General Clark. Having been in his presence on a number of occassions, I can only imagine that he was in fine form last night! There is nothing like hearing him speak to an intimate group like that!
Wow.....what a man like that could accomplish, for the betterment of our country, at this low point in our history. If only......
Great account. Thanks for sharing.
I bet that roundtable discussion was something special. Lucky you. :)
Thanks for sharing some of the evening and the comments with us! First hand accounts are the best. Having this kind of close encounter to ask questions and hear comments from General Clark is the opportunity we'd all love to find ourselves in.
the great post from your blog. Welcome to CCN!!
BTW, I posted a response on your blog as well--enjoyed my visit there.
The General gets it right. Competence--What a concept!
That's a wonderful report. Thanks for taking the time to give us a thrill.
Remember what he said at the Denver Living Room Conversation with Wes and Gert just about ten days ago. He said that if there are things in the Democratic Party platform that can't be sold in all 50 states, they shouldn't be in the platform. It's the common good over the special interest.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
BE THE CHANGE you wish to see in the world.
If not us, WHO? If not now, WHEN?
It was a thrill reading this. Also thank you for the information on Russ Warner. I have been looking for this information.
He appeared last night on Larry King with Barbara Boxer to discuss the indictments, BUT the only thing that he talked about was campaign issues; and what he will do for CA in Congress on future issues. He was completely out of focus. King told him that his "agenda" was not tonights topic. I think he's in trouble for supporting Bush's policy for war and failing to address the immigration issue and insuring homeland security.
*************************************************************************
"Debate, Dialogue, Discussion, Disagreement - that's not wrong -that's not unpatriotic, that's one of the highest forms of patriotism and love of country, and we need to say it!" - Gen. Wesley Clark (US Ret.)
I was the early bird with the green sweater. Already read your blog (found it through technorati) -- I'll be keeping an eye on it from now on.
for the nice posting over here -- we are all looking forward to your coming to our NCCM in Little Rock next August!
It was great talking with you and seeing someone so newly energized about General Clark as well. He's the real deal.
I'm so glad we all had the opportunity to have that little private roundtable exercise!
Thanks for sharing this with us hekebolos! It's great that you also posted to your blogspot blog.
voted up your crosspost on DKos as well. Hope others do the same.
You'd be taking them to the Better Business Bureau if you bought a washing machine the way we went into the war in Iraq. Wes Clark, CNN Aug 17 2003
And I'll be posting here very frequently from now on. Thanks for the warm welcome to the community.
Your report was ACES hekebolos!
1. Show up * 2. Pay attention * 3. Speak your truth, and * 4. Don\'t be attached to outcome -- Angeles Arrien
You must go look at these pictures, at this link posted by Jackie Wollner in a comment at hekebolos' blog....I especially love the ones of Wes and Gert..how he does look at her!
"The mark of leadership is not to standup when everybody is standing, but rather to actually stand up when no one else is standing" - Pulitzer Prize winning author Samantha Power, introducing Gen Clark
stimulated several blogs just on this site. It has occurred to me that not only should we cross-post things to other blogs, but also we should cross reference blogs on the same or similar topics within Wes's space for the ease of those interested in the issue but not on-line when they appeared. So, see these other blogs here on the same or similar issues.
Captain Ian Fishback-what he reported
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/2160
Torture and Patriotic Vigilance
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/2165
Captain Fishback does the Right Thing
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/2157
General Clark, the Raconteur
Thanks to hekebolos and msinla for both posting accounts, for those of us who were not able to attend.
One of the highlights of the WesPAC April '05 fundraiser was an audio/video was made of the speech/gathering, and was posted. Does anyone know if such exists for last Friday night?
Thanks.
Nathan
We, on the blog, live vicariously through the generous bloggers who share their experiences meeting with the General.
Can't imagine how it must have felt being in a round table discussion with him. We all dream of picking his brains. Heh
Anyway, thanks so much!