Recently in Non Bermuda Category
The latest Jib Jab is out. Imagine what they could do with our crazy political soap opera.
Your Hillary vs Obama entertainment on the day of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries:
This Obama/Hillary parody is worth a few laughs:
Some parody based on the Yes We Can video (which you should watch first to fully enjoy these). Not particularly kind to Sen. McCain, who I think is a very decent individual, but the comedy is priceless:
I'm smitten. I know.
Speeches generally don't move me, but Obama's consistently do. His campaign is turning into a movement:
Two powerful endorsements of Barack Obama today.
Toni Morrison's is typically eloquent, pinpointing Obama's potential to be a hugely uniting figure through his rejection of simplistic political categorisations and political combativeness:
When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country's citizens as "we," not "they"? Someone who understands what it will take to help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world?
Ted Kennedy reinforces it:
"With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion. With Barack Obama we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay."
US conservatives understand the power of Obama:
And unlike Clinton and especially Edwards, the Obama message is about unity, not divisions; and hopes rather than grievances.
Obama puts the glaring inadequacies of our political leadership into sharp focus: "Unity not divisions; and hopes rather than grievances."
Our leadership, despite the cynical attempt to steal some of Obama's glow, pales in comparison. It represents everything Obama rejects: Divisons not unity; and grievances not hopes.
It worked for them, no doubt. It won't serve us well as a community however.
If you're a TV aficionado, and you're wondering what the current state of the High Def DVD wars are (Blu Ray is close to victory it would seem), let me direct you to this YouTube video which explains it all:
Total class:
If only Bermuda had leadership that possessed a fraction of his integrity and sincerity.
I'm taking some time off from the blog.
On Sunday night my nephew Jacob in Canada passed away after a lifelong battle with leukemia.
He endured more in his 16 months than anyone should ever have to endure in a lifetime, and he did it with a smile on his face.
He will be missed but never forgotten.
Big changes in the Bahamas with the ousting of the Progressive Liberal Party after one term and the return of the Free National Movement who won 23 of the 41 seats in Parliament.
Lots of interesting potential parallels and precursors to Bermuda's upcoming election.
- Bahamas' racial breakdown of the electorate is about 88% Black, 12% White - the new Deputy Prime Minister, Symonette, is a white Bahamian (from one of old Bay Street families).
- The PLP attempted to play the race card but it seems to have been rejected
- Ethics, corruption and trust were major issues in the elction.
But Ingraham's party successfully raised ethical questions, including allegations that immigration officials fast-tracked a residency permit for pinup model and billionaire's widow Anna Nicole Smith, who lived in the Bahamas until her accidental drug overdose death in Florida in February.Ingraham, who was prime minister from 1992 to 2002, portrayed the election as "a matter of trust." He also accused Christie's party of allowing foreign investors and foreign workers to profit at the expense of Bahamians.
and
The two rivals are lawyers and former partners in the same firm. Ingraham's FNM was associated with the predominantly white "Bay Street Boys" who ran the Bahamas prior to independence from Britain in 1973.The party lost in a landslide when Christie's PLP, traditionally seen as the party of the black majority, swept to power in 2002. The FNM had its revenge on Wednesday by making Christie's government the only one-term government in the post-colonial Bahamas.
Ingraham's party appeared to have won over young first-time voters and the "float voters" with no strong party ties. Independent candidates took four seats in the last election but failed to win any this time.
The FNM had lodged charges of corruption against Christie's government and accused his party of offering cash and jobs for votes in Wednesday's balloting.
Hmm, all sounds so familiar.
I'm not sure if anyone cares, but I saw John Mayer at Madison Square Garden last Wednesday with a surprise appearance by Alicia Keyes for "Gravity". Great concert.
Like with most things nowadays, someone posted it onto YouTube. So if you're interested in a great 9 minute jam (shaky camerawork but good audio) here it is:
Last night I watched "Street Fight" a documentary about the Newark, New Jersey Mayoral Race between challenger Cory Booker and incumbent Sharpe James [Note: It is available at Leisure Time].
You may remember that Cory Booker was brought to Bermuda twice by the UBP to speak.
Besides being a gripping documentary, anyone who is interested in the mechanics and tactics encountered when running an on the ground election campaign against a no-holds barred opponent shouldn't miss this.
There are many parallels to the racialisation of our election campaigns, alhough this one is between two black American Democrats; one representing the old guard and the other a young up and comer.
Observers of Bermudian politics will note the many overlapping themes and tactics involved. For example, Mr. Booker - a black Democrat - was labeled by his opponent as a white Republican jew because he dare challenge the black establishment candidate.
Sound familiar? Shysters and Uncle Toms anyone?
Watch the trailer:
With the never-ending racial-ness (or is is racial-mess) of Bermudian politics I thought it worth a lighter look at America's "Blackness Scale", courtesy of Saturday Night Live.
This is totally off topic I know, but the challenge for today is to tell me whether this is some elaborate act of satire, or a seriously deluded twit. Either way I've been laughing for 24 hours:
Watch his follow-up video....
I won't tell you what my theory is so as not to influence your opinion...
I thought the same thing.
The more I see, hear and read Barack Obama, the more I am convinced that he is the real deal, a poltician with a rare combination of intellect, charisma and vision who gets it, truly gets it.
Today, he announced that he is establishing a Presidential Exploratory Committee - the first official step in running for president.
The following except from his statement sums up not just the problems that America faces, but Bermuda's:
But challenging as they are, it's not the magnitude of our problems that concerns me the most. It's the smallness of our politics. America's faced big problems before. But today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions.And that's what we have to change first.
We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.
This won't happen by itself. A change in our politics can only come from you; from people across our country who believe there's a better way and are willing to work for it.
"The smallness of our politics"; "gummed up with money and influence"; an inability to overcome this and "tackle the big problems that demand solutions".
Sounds familiar.
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
What do we have today?
The Premier saying that open space is sacrosant and that he'll "do everything [he] can to prevent the hospital being built on the Botanical Gardens."
Say what?
His Cabinet put that idea forward through his Health Minister.
You've got Ewart Brown either ignorant or feigning ignorance on the hospital plans in his 'vision' statement. While I agree with him on how it needs to be handled he clearly doesn't know what was included in the BHB Master Plan and was (presumably) a part of Cabinet's decision in that regard.
You've got two Cabinet Ministers openly campaigning against their Premier, without either resigning their portfolios, or being fired.
Collective responsibility is officially dead in Bermuda.
Bermuda can't afford this type of self-indulgent, divided and directionless Government any longer.
UBP leader Wayne Furbert is right; whatever the outcome in tonight's PLP leadership vote the party will remain divided. The divide is simply too great.
Followers of US politics, or those who enjoy watching political aspirations implode, will get a kick out of this. Presidential hopeful Senator George Allen, or maybe more accurately former Presidential hopeful Senator George Allen, has had a rough couple of months after he directed an obscure racial slur at an opposing campaign worker at one of his rallies. His excuse was even better: that he made up the word and had no idea it denoted a monkey. Talk about bad luck, huh.
This has led to a constant trickle of news articles suggesting he's - shall we say - not the most racially/ethnic/religiously sensitive person in the world, which have led to Slate magazine creating The George Allen Insult Generator.
It's safe to say that once one of these is created for a politicians, any presidential hopes previously held should be gone.
Bermuda needs one of these for Senator Burch. Unfortunately I lack the graphic design and programming skills to create it myself.
So it seems that the Italian football rumour was just that...a rumour.
Far less exciting is the real story, which is that the group is apparently a bunch of Italian travel journalists.
Got to love the Bermuda rumour mill. Glad I can do my bit.
Finally I've tracked down free links (part 1, part 2, part 3) to Stephen Colbert's absolutely hilarious skewering of President Bush, and the White House press corp...to their faces at the Annual White House correspodent's dinner.
If you are yet to watch this, I can't begin to describe how uncomfortably hilarious Colbert's masterful monologue was.
Here's the transcript. It's funny by itself. But you've got to watch Colbert for the full impact.
Completely off topic, but obsessive fans of the show "Lost" may get a kick out of my brother's theory behind the show, which has caught the attention of the people at Entertainment Weekly who seem equally obsessed with decoding it all:
Paragraph 4: "Then, next week, I'm going to report on all your theories — from Sean Dunleavy's elaborate comparison of Lost to Animal Farm..."
I've never seen the show, so I'm blissfully ignorant of the hoopla, but its annoying fans are everywhere.
Totally off-topic, but of critical importance:
The 2005 Tour de France begins tomorrow, which means that Bermuda politics will take its rightful place behind Lance Armstrong's back wheel.
This is Lance's last tour, and promises to be a great race as he tries to go out on top with an unprecedented 7th consecutive win.
Even better is the news that Bermuda Cablevision recently replaced the Outdoor Network with the Outdoor Living Network (OLN), on digital channel 101. In the nick of time!
For the uninitiated OLN carries excellent live daily coverage of the Tour and a great evening wrap-up as well, in addition to a live audio web feed to chew up your company's bandwidth.
The race begins tomorrow with the individual time trial, at 12:30 our time, and every day (almost) following for 3 weeks of pure heaven.
I lived in Indonesia as a Rotary Exchange Student from 1991 through 1992 and traveled extensively throughout the country, although not so much into Sumatra.
Because of that I feel a particular sadness in watching the impact the Boxing Day Tsunamis have had on Aceh, as well as the other regions and countries impacted.
Please give through the Bermuda Red Cross via the following accounts:
Bank of Bermuda Acct # 701 21565
Butterfield Bank Acct # 200 060 60401365 200
I have no idea where this came from (a Canadian maybe) - but it's funny.
For the record, there are a number of reasons why the Republicans won, not just the religious vote, but this made me laugh.
In case you haven't had enough of the US election, Newsweek has started running their behind the scenes stories on both campaigns (new sections added daily).
The reporters were given extensive behind the scenes access but the stories were embargoed until after election day:
Check out this CNN crawler headline (from Salon.com's War Room):
"PUBLIC SPLIT ON WHETHER BUSH IS A DIVIDER"
Tonight is the first of the US Presidential Debates, with annoying pre-debate spin beginning at (all times Bda) 8PM, the irrelevant debates at 9:30PM, and the even more annoying post-debate spin from 11PM until you can no longer tolerate it. In all likelihood little of any substance will be said between the canned lines Bush and Kerry haven been memorizing for weeks anyway.
A couple of things I'll be watching for:
whether Kerry can actually walk to his podium without changing direction (at least to mock the incessant spin of the Republican smear machine);
and whether Shrub will be able to contain that smirk of his, biting his bottom lip to hold it in.
Thankfully, to increase the entertainment factor, a reader sent in the rules for the Presidential Debate Drinking Game (source unknown) which are mercifully substantially shorter than the assinine 32 page debate rules themselves (may need a subscription, 7MB file).
Presidential Debate Drinking GameDrink One Sip of Beer If:
Anyone says "terrorism"
Anyone says "Halliburton"
Anyone says "flip flop"
Anyone says "Saddam Hussein"
Anyone blames "the media"
Anyone mentions their own military service
Anyone says "September 11"
One candidate interrupts another candidateDrink Two Sips of Beer If:
Bush says "cut and run"
Kerry says "W stands for wrong"
If either candidate talks past their time limit
Kerry brings up Bush's "Mission Accomplished" moment
Bush mentions Crawford, TX
Anyone looks at the wrong camera
Anyone whips out "evidence"
Anyone says "Osama bin Laden"
Anyone mentions blogs
Anyone invokes the hurricane sympathy vote
Anyone mentions "North Korea"
Kerry mentions Bush wants to reinstate the draft
Everytime you see anyone wearing the yellow "LiveSTRONG" braceletFinish Your Glass If:
Anyone in the audience gets dragged out of the auditorium
Anyone in the audience gets off an unscripted question
Bush mispronounces any word or name
Anyone says "Osama bin Hidin'"
Anyone uses a sports metaphor
Anyone attempts to speak Spanish to pander to LatinosDo a Shot If:
Bush mentions the deficit
Bush accuses Kerry of being "French on terrorism"
Kerry accuses Bush of being a pansy for avoiding Vietnam
Bush admits he made a mistake ("miscalculation" counts)
Ralph Nader shows up insisting on airtimeFinish the Bottle If:
Anyone challenges anyone to a dual
The moderator rips off his mask to reveal his true identity is Karl Rove
This commentary from Bahamasb2b.com on life under the Bahamian PLP is eerily similar to what we're going through here.
Spooky.
Ok, it's not political and not Bermuda but it is the Tour De France.
If you're interested you can listen live courtesy of the Outdoor Life Network with the masterful Phil Liggett commentating.
The political junkies out there might be interested in the online exhibition of US presidential campaign ads.
There's also an article in yesterday's NY Times (so you may need to subscribe) about this exhibit.
Could the US IRS be helping or hurting us? An issue which could impact Bermuda's (re)insurance industry has re-emerged after not materialising in 2003.
The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill (Senate Finance Bill [S. 1627] "Jumpstart Our Business Strength Act" or "JOBS Act") on May 11, 2004 which includes a provision to limit the Foreign Housing exclusion under section 911 of the Internal Revenue Code (section 454 of the Bill is the relevant clause I think) . Under current tax law a qualified individual may exclude up to $80,000 of foreign earned compensation and a certain amount of their foreign housing cost from income.
The new US Senate proposal would restrict the combined foreign earned income exclusion and foreign housing exclusion to a maximum of $80,000 in total for tax years beginning after December 31, 2003.
Bear in mind that this is a Senate Bill at this point and would have to be reconciled with a House Bill and signed by the President. Considering the House is Republican controlled there's a strong likelihood that any final bill would be different than the current Senate version and this provision may be removed.
What this would mean is that US taxpayers claiming the full $80,000 foreign earned income exclusion (most reinsurance execs) for 2004 onwards won't be able to deduct their housing costs. For those of us who live blissfully free of income tax nightmares this can be translated to mean a drastically higher effective taxable income for individuals working in Bermuda who receive a housing allowance (some as large as $15,000/month and up).
My take is that there are a couple of potential outcomes if this were to occur.
1) Bermuda becomes a less desirable place to work and our companies can't hire the best staff unless they do item 2 below.
2) Operating in Bermuda could become even more expensive as the salaries of US employees would have to be grossed up to mitigate the personal income tax hit they'll take, flowing through to higher expenses for the employer.
3) US employees and the big companies here will develop a sudden vested interest in not paying crazy housing allowances, bringing down rents somewhat. This might provide some relief but will also take dollars out of the pockets of those Bermudian landlords who are making a mint off of $12,000 and $15,000 a month rental incomes.
I don't think Bermudians should see this a potential silver bullet to the housing crisis because a supply and demand problem remains from restricted available land and a thriving international business sector. But clearly a lot of employees don't negotiate their rents as hard as they would if it were their own money. Now that their employer and their own bottom lines could be affected the allowances may be reigned in somewhat.
I'm sure we'll see this develop as the House Bill (House Ways and Means Bill [H.R. 2896] "American Jobs Creation Act of 2003 or "AJC Act") makes it way through the process.
If you're a political junkie like me, you can get your daily fix with the Note, published daily by ABCNews.com (completely US focused).
This is by far the most comprehensive US daily political roundup out there.
It's a little late notice but Chris Rock has a new stand-up special on HBO tonight at 11PM Bermuda time.
If it's half as good as his last one we're in for a treat. You can preview some of it in this article on Salon.com (subscription may be required).
Ok, so I'm cooling out on vacation in Canada, pick up the Globe and Mail and flip on the news and begin reading and listening to news reports that make me think I've never left home!
What could it be?
The Federal Auditor General has just released a long anticipated report into the misuse of federal funds in Crown Corporations involving the channeling of funds into Liberal party friendly pockets (see story here) for little or no service.
The Liberals are in damage control mode and the new Canadian Prime Minister and former Finance Minister Paul Martin is struggling to contain the scandal with an election due to be called soon.
The similarities to Bermuda's own financial scandals of the past 5 years are striking - but there are also a few things of note in the Canadian situation that should be pointed out:
1) Someone has been fired! Fancy that, someone held accountable for their corruption.
2) The Prime Minister ordered an immediate inquiry, the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee is meeting to discuss the report and the report was discussed in Parliament! Wow, inquiries, committees and discussion!
3) No-one, not even the accused, have attacked the Auditor's integrity, or called for her to be replaced, or called her a racist - well, that wouldn't really work with a white auditor and a mostly white government would it? If only our PLP didn't always have that card up their sleeve ready to play?
So, we'll wait and see how this unfolds but already the Canadians are closer to reaching a resolution and holding people responsible that we are!
I picked up this Chicago Tribune story from the Pondblogger. The short newspaper article makes for thought provoking reading (it's worth subscribing - it's free). I can't wait to get my hands on the book.
Mr. Gates raises issues that would stimulate significant debate here in Bermuda as well.
This is a worrying little story. My favourite quotes are:
"If you're teaching the concept without the word, what's the point?" said Rep. Bobby Franklin, a Republican. "It's stupid. It's like teaching gravity without using the word gravity."
and
"If teachers across this state, parents across this state say, 'This is not what we want,' then we'll change it," said Cox, a Republican elected in 2002.
If you're interested in a free trip to the Presidential Inauguration in January 2005 then you might want to play the Presidential Futures Market at PBS.
Some food for thought on the role of the US as the sole superpower:
The New Yorker: The Critics: A Critic At Large - POWER RANGERS
I wanted to elaborate a little on my previous post about the PLP Government's apparent lack of concern representing Bermuda's interests to US politicians. (I also should declare that I work in the International Business sector and have perhaps an increased awareness of the potential impact to this sector of our economy.)
We should be concerned not just at the legislative threat, which is real, but at the Premier's dismisive comments on the topic. Alex Scott is a substance-less Premier, proven out by his lifelong history of spin over substantive comments, and his regular public quoting of polling numbers (he quoted them again last night on ZBM). While Mr. Scott may lack the knowledge of the international business sector to respond appropriately, he should at least acknowledge the seriousness of the threat rather than wave it off as 'campaiging'.
As I've said previously, the 'Bermuda Loophole' isn't really our bread and butter business, so why do I think we should be so concerned at Sen. Kerry's comments?
Sen. Kerry's statements were a tactic to gain votes, Mr. Scott was right about that, but they also have a long term negative impact on our reputation as a business jurisdiction. When you couple a legislative change to prevent re-domestications, with a damaged international reputation and a lack of presence in Washington by our representatives, I believe that you have a danger brewing for Bermuda's economic prospects. But it's not too late to address these attacks.
While we continue to allow US politicians to besmirch Bermuda's name we must recognise that their tactic is as much to intimidate companies into either re-locating back to the US, or to prevent clients doing business with Bermuda based companies (see the Calpers pension funds) and more worringly to prevent new startups incorporating at all in Bermuda. These are the major threats that most concern me.
The US tax code is unlikely to change any time soon, although John Kerry's pledge to close the loophole within 500 days of gaining office boxes him in somewhat on that. (I imagine Premier Scott would have dismissed that as well. The PLP promised to have a plan to turn around tourism in 100 days after taking office in 1998 and here we are 5 years later with no plan and sinking air arrival numbers.)
Bermuda is a reputable business jurisdiction. We've worked long and hard to establish ourselves as a desirable location to operate out of, so much so that many publicly traded companies are now based here.
So why has our influence in Washington waned under the PLP?
Simple. While the PLP were sucking up to Castro and cozying up with Caricom, our relationship with the US started to deteriorate. The recent public criticism by the US consul over the Cuba relationship should have been an obvious enough sign. Dr. Ewart Brown publicly insulting the US President's intelligence wasn't much help either, nor is the fascination with being a big fish in a small pond with Caricom (an organisation constantly at battle with the US over economic issues).
It's long past time for the PLP to start representing our interests to the economic powers with whom our fates are tied, not profiling and wining and dining with Caricom and Cuba.
Now I'm really worried! This article in Friday's Mid Ocean should scare the hell out of all Bermudians.
Why should it concern them? Not only because US Presidential candidates are attacking Bermuda, that's been building for a few years now and has picked up the pace after the September 11 attacks, but because Premier Scott doesn't have a clue - or an interest apparently, in addressing this properly. Dismissing this as only campaigning is incredibly naïve and negligent in representing Bermuda's interests.
The fact that Bermuda has become the poster child for the appalling behaviour of US regulated and publicly traded companies is particularly distasteful when you consider how valuable the Bermuda market is to the US, and worldwide economy. Bermuda has in fact been the saviour of the US insurance industry many times over (see this Bermudian Business cover story for some additional background):
- In the 80’s ACE and XL were formed in the Caymans (and subsequently Bermuda) to fill an enormous gap in the excess liability market.
- When Hurricane Andrew devastated the insurance industry in 1992, the Bermuda market responded, providing critical insurance cover to US insurers, US homeowners and other US businesses.
- After September 11, Bermuda responded within weeks to the most serious insurance crisis in history and replaced the capacity quickly with the most rapid capital raising ever. In fact, Ace and XL - Bermuda's two flagship companies, quickly paid their share of the World Trade Center claims, in full, while other reinsurers are yet to pay - pending the outcome of litigation.
- Again, post-September 11, the US economy was on the verge of a crisis due to a lack of terrorism insurance. Who responded? Bermudian companies provided billions of dollars of protection to many industries including the airline, real estate and life insurance sectors among others. Without this cover many American businesses could not have continued to operate due to the terrorist threat. When the Terrorism Reinsurance and Insurance Act (TRIA) expires in a year (or potentially two) it will likely be Bermudian companies who again will provide the creative solutions to the problem of terrorism insurance.
In fact, the “corporate inversion” issue that garners the most attention is a side bar to the success of Bermuda as a financial centre, though you wouldn’t know that through the media hype. Relatively few companies have in fact re-domesticated to Bermuda, although the pace has increased in the past few years due to a struggling US economy. The real bread and butter of our international business economy comes from Bermuda companies who have never existed in the US, and can’t be subject to US taxation whether the Bermuda loophole is closed or not.
So while US politicians, both Democratic and Republican, continue to use Bermuda as the whipping boy to drum up votes, what does our Premier have to say? "Remember now, he's campaigning".
That’s what should worry us all!
Yes John Kerry is campaigning, but these 4 words are quite revealing. While the PLP and Premier Scott in particular may not mean one word they say when they are campaigning, many other politicians do. The threat to Bermuda (and other jurisdictions) is real - and building. Unless we want our insurance industry to go the way of the tourism industry (whose success we took for granted as guaranteed), the PLP Government better get moving on this threat now.
Who would you rather have representing your case in the US? Alex Scott, who dismissed this as just politics, or someone like Dr. Gibbons who in the same article provided a solid, thoughtful and persuasive argument in Bermuda’s defense? I know who I'd want in front of American legislators on our behalf?
The threat to our industry and economy is real. Our Government had better figure this our sooner rather than later.
Premier Scott would do well to pay attention to one of the most threatening issue facing the livelihoods of all Bermudians, and he’d better get moving on it now before it’s too late.
If you're following the US Presidential Campaign then you'll want to check in here regularly.
The winners of MoveOn.org's Bush in 30 Seconds contest were announced yesterday.
The overall best ad was Child's Play, probably the ad with the best production and a good message.
If you've been following MoveOn.org's Bush in 30 Seconds Competition you might be interested in the 15 finalists.
Make sure you've got a little time on your hands for the downloads as they can be quite large.
Anything intended to move Bush back to Texas gets my support!
I came across this great quote by Bill Clinton in accepting the Democratic Nomination at the 1992 Democratic Convention (from an article in Slate). Our local polilticians would do well to take heed of these words as we head into 2004:
"For too long, politicians have told the most of us that are doing all right that what's really wrong with America is the rest of us: them. … We've nearly them'd ourselves to death. Them, and them, and them. But this is America. There is no them; there is only us."
Perhaps the PLP model their financial controls after the European Parliament.
Enquiring minds want to know (maybe):
We all knew politicians can say absolutely nothing with a lot of words but this quote from Donald Rumsfeld is truly amazing:
Well, it isn't Bermudian and it isn't politics - but if you didn't watch the World Cup Rugby Final on Saturday you missed a nail biter.
I'm still smiling about the result, and I've forgotten about the 5AM wake-up call!
My traveling for 2003 is now over!
While I was away I had the pleasure of seeing three great political speakers:
JC Watts, former US Congressman spoke and was followed by Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala of CNN's Crossfire who tag-teamed for 1 1/2 hours.
JC Watts is very articulate and passionate. He's very conservative on economic issues but speaks passionately about empowering minorities and legislating with a social conscience. Unfortunately I only caught the first 30 minutes of his presentation.
The Crossfire gang were actually very entertaining. Tucker Carlson, proudly hangs out on the far right while Paul Begala is much more of a moderate liberal than I had imagined. His criticisms of Bush are much more reasoned and effective than the hate Bush left. Their presentations were very light-hearted at times. These guys are as much entertainers as they are analysts, although yheir analysis of the pending US Presidential elections were very astute.
The big news from Paul Begala was that he's heard from a confidant of Ralph Nader that Nader will run again - which is certainly bad news for the Democrats. Without Nader, Al Gore would have won several additional states and taken the presidency without any Supreme Court shenanigans.
