What a cool night tonight (Clark meetup)

[jumptheshadow]

You know sometimes when you go to a party, meet amazing people and get lost in fascinating conversation? That happened to me tonight at a Clark meetup. The group was small, it was a nice, clean bar, and the location was in Park Slope, Brooklyn, one of the most wonderful neighborhoods in the world.

Some of us started talking. Pretty soon we had a group of five people broken off at one table and, after trading stories, we realized what had drawn us to Clark in the first place. In a way, it's mixed news for the Clark campaign.

All of us were initially attracted to Clark's candidacy because we admired his international experience. All of us are globally oriented -- we work in the international community, have spouses who are from overseas, and/or travel a lot. We are in constant contact with people from other countries. We see first-hand the damage that Bush & Co. is doing to this and other nations. We have heard the complaints in person and have seen the erosion of respect for the U.S. We have had direct negative experiences in international situations that are part of the fallout from Bush's arrogant unilateral policies.

The good news for Clark is that once we found him our admiration for him grew. We started discussing the community projects that he encourages his supporters to do and how cool we think they are. I think we may have started to sow the seeds to organize some Clark community work in New York.

The mixed news for the campaign is that so few middle Americans care about anything that happens outside this country. The commitment that we, as internationalists, feel to a man with Clark's global sophistication just won't sell in a nation devoted to pop culture, sports and political sound bites. Yet it is so critical at the juncture in history we are in to pay attention to international voices.

Oh -- and something else we all liked about the man. He seems open-minded. We discussed the fact that his religious views have evolved over the years.

One other story about this meetup. I met a couple who had been in Kosovo when Clark was the commander there. The man used to be with a humanitarian organization. He said that Clark did a very deft job in holding together a reluctant international coalition. I asked this gentleman about the media building that had been bombed. He told me that there had been clear warning given before the bombing. He also said that the station had been a poisonous propaganda machine that had spewed vitriol inciting those who were committing ethnic crimes.

I told this man that some people on an Internet site I frequent question whether such crimes took place at all. His face dropped and he replied passionately, yes, there were ethnic crimes.

My impression is that he was shocked at the assertion.

[WillyBrandt]

1. I have seen so many deny the reality of mass murder

In one particularly hateful example, a DUer, speaking of Kosovo et al, actually placed the word genocide in quotation marks.

Needless to say, the person was a Clark hater. But to think that someone would pooh-pooh mass murder in order to spite a politician they disliked--it's almost unbelievable

[Jerseycoa]

6. Let them eat this

"He saved a lot of lives" of ethnic Albanians, said Gani Ahmetaj, who was born in Kosovo and came to the United States 10 years ago as a refugee. "To Milosevic, he held out peace in one hand and bombs in the other. I like people like this. They can use force effectively as a last resort."

Capital Times (WI)

[KittyWampus]

16. I Met A Woman Doctor From Kosovo

Who was here speaking out. Her English wasn't all that good but she communicated well enough.

The atrocities were happening and things would have deteriorated even further.

[jumptheshadow]

21. Genocide

The gentleman who had been with the humanitarian organization did use the word "genocide" to describe what had happened over there. I'd love to sit him down at the same table with some of the Google propagandists on this forum.

[bicentennial_baby]

2. Great report!

Sounds like an excellent night! :hi:

[MoonRiver]

3. Thanks

It's great to hear about these meet-ups. All I can do right now is post on the internet and contribute money. Soon things will change, and my husband and I can start attending. We really love General Clark :loveya:

[jumptheshadow]

4. I didn't care for my first meetup

We were packed like sardines in a Manhattan bar that smelled like stale beer. It reminded me of Friday nights during my college days.

But this one -- it just rocked. (In a quiet way.)

[MoonRiver]

11. Maybe the group is picking better meet-up sites?

I know it can make a big difference.

[carpediem]

5. thank you for posting this

I had to miss our meetup tonight because of my son's fever and crankiness. I am happy to hear about yours.

I agree with you about Clark - i believe in him and trust him. i hope he can win the nom.

[Ivote]

8. First Meetup

Attended my first Meetup for Clark in Melbourne fl. We have a lively commited group. I told them about DU. Guess what? I think we are going to get more members here also.

[MoonRiver]

13. Yes!!

Bring 'em on! :D

[Jerseycoa]

7. I used to live in Park Slope

Union and Eighth Avenue in the 1980s. Thanks for your report. I'm sitting with a seriously ill friend and couldn't get to my meetup. I was hoping to hear from people who had made it. I really enjoyed reading this.

[Clark Can WIN]

9. There are also ass jacks that deny the Halocaust

There's just some people out there that are so completely disconnected from reality they will not believe anything that blows an ill wind at their house of cards.

We had a GREAT meetup here too. LOTS of new faces, some new elderly brought in by the medicare debacle, some Dean defectors who don't want to lose the general election. We were enthralled and entertained by a native Scott who had some very colorful stories that kept us all laughing. All in all it was a very informative and productive night full of great conversation and company.

Cheers to all the Clarkies home from meetup!

:toast:

[Clark Can WIN]

10. People who had newbies.............. where were they from?

Elderly? (great because they take voting VERY seriously and have the time to do it)

Students? great for their energy

Union? Always good

Working Families? " "

Veterans? Great because of the respect and dignity they bring, and knowledge

[jumptheshadow]

19. Yes, those people are propagandists

They are disconnected from reality, I think, and they truly don't see the diservice they are doing. It really made an impression on me that this gentleman was with a humanitarian organization in Kosovo (and since then apparently has dedicated himself to social service)and he had good things to say about what Clark had done over there. Very much unlike the propagandists who spam us with out-of-context googlelized spin.

By the way, these folks are in touch with people in Afghanistan. They say it's really horrible over there now and that the media isn't reporting the depth of the problems in that country. They also believe that quite a few civilians are innocently finding themselves in the crosshairs.

On edit: This man's wife and I have decided to petition in front of the local grocery store. She's brilliant, so it should be fun!

[wndycty]

12. 4 Chicago meet-ups. . .

About 70 total. Have not heard back from the burbs or downstate.

[webkev]

14. missed it, damn

bah.. I couldn't go today because I was in work..
I will definitely be going to the next one

[Forkboy]

15. Sounds like it was a good time

thanks for the report on it.

[webkev]

17. ha ha

Bush Supporters Worldwide. So far, 1,944 have signed up
Clark in 2004 Supporters Worldwide. So far, 48,434 have signed up

[Forkboy]

18. wow!!!

that's damn funny!

[robbedvoter]

20. Manhattan meet-up - great too - lots of newbies!

We wrote letters, the energy was unbelievable. I got lost in conversations with old buddies -people I canvassed/collected signatures together. It gets to be like a family - a very large one at that.

[jumptheshadow]

23. Let's get word out to other New Yorkers

After the petition drive ends let's do a big community project. Or several smaller ones. I think we'll have quite a few volunteers.

I've been to two meetups now. The environments were very different. As an older, coupled person I loved the opportunity to sit down in a quiet place and discuss politics with deep, bright, like-minded people. If I were younger and unmarried, however, I probably would have stuck with the very crowded meetings, where the energy was high and the feremones were flying.

[robbedvoter]

22. Here's a genocide testimony from the authors - for Taibbi, and their ilk:

http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/kosovo/burning_evidence/story2.html
The last page includes this quote:
"It is the uncertain fate of many of Kosovo's missing that helps keep the conflict alive and swells the desire for revenge. Several of the Serbian fighters who took part in burning Albanian bodies--including Dusko--expressed no remorse. In fact, Dusko only wishes he could have done more."
"Had it not been for the NATO bombing," he said, "I guarantee you we would have driven out all 2 million Albanians from Kosovo. ... You gotta know, Albanians are stupid. They're a dirty people. And this hatred has been around for 600 years. It will never go away. In 30 years, or whenever these NATO troops and these human rights monitors leave, we'll start fighting again."

I am sure the good folks at FAIR.org, IAC, the Nation will appreciate what their good friends (framed bu the imperialist US) had to say in the matter. Spread it!

[Lefta Dissenter]

24. I'm replying to the Meetup part of this thread (Madison, WI)

but the Kosovo discussion is fascinating. I feel like Paris Hilton at a funeral. People are starting to extol the virtues of the person they're honoring, and I'm saying, "yeah, but what a cool party!"

ANYWAY, our meetup in Madison, WI, was great. We meet at Luther's Blues - spacious, clean and welcoming. It's a great venue for this, and I appreciate their offering the space.

We finally have full-time staffers here, so things feel like they're pulling together. We have such a diverse group of people - lots of students, of course, but, as my son put it, lots of old Democrats, as well. I talked with a couple of people who were there for their first meetup, though they had been interested in Clark from the first time they saw him on CNN.

I'm looking forward to getting going on some of the nuts and bolts of campaigning - our primary is Feb 17, so we don't have a lot of time. But our group is certainly enthusiastic, so I know we'll be able to get out the vote for Clark.