A few weeks ago, I went to see Joe Klein speak at the Bob Michael Student Center at Bradley University. You can read the write-up here by my buddy, Where's the Frank dot com.
He gave a fantastic lecture which was called: Politics Lost: Searching for Sanity in an Era of Political Consultants, Talk Radio, Cable News and the Blogosphere.
This lecture looked particularly appealing to me because I've been avoiding all the political hoopla this year. I didn't really watch either of the conventions andI haven't been following the Daily Show or the Colbert Report.
He gave a great talk on the media and how it affects politics, his experience with the military and how they will make great leaders, being embedded in Iraq and Afghanistan, how a woman would be president soon because he thinks we are the "grown-ups" in society these days.
He ended with a reminder on how we are so lucky to be Americans and how we don't see how fortunate we are as citizens and how we should be more involved in our government. How it will make us more informed as citizens.
It was a great lecture.
I bought his book and was excited to tell him the parts of his talk that really resonated with me.
I told him my name and thanked him for speaking so earnestly and that I had just moved back from South Korea and had a chance to meet all kinds of people, military, expats, etc. and agree that America is an awesome country.
And he said "where are your parents from?"
"India"
"Where in India?"
"Bangalore," I replied, feeling kind of awkward because he wasn't really receptive to what I had to say.
"Your people have done a lot of good for this country."
"Thanks...?"
"A lot of good."
"Yeah," and I quickly walked away because I was embarrassed because he didn't listen to anything I said or was trying to say. He made me feel like an "other." Like he's the patriarchal establishment of America and on behalf of his ancestry, he thanks "my kind" for our contribution.
Which, he's not WRONG.
You're not WRONG, Walter, _________.
Free dinner if you can fill in the blank.
He gave a fantastic lecture which was called: Politics Lost: Searching for Sanity in an Era of Political Consultants, Talk Radio, Cable News and the Blogosphere.
This lecture looked particularly appealing to me because I've been avoiding all the political hoopla this year. I didn't really watch either of the conventions andI haven't been following the Daily Show or the Colbert Report.
He gave a great talk on the media and how it affects politics, his experience with the military and how they will make great leaders, being embedded in Iraq and Afghanistan, how a woman would be president soon because he thinks we are the "grown-ups" in society these days.
He ended with a reminder on how we are so lucky to be Americans and how we don't see how fortunate we are as citizens and how we should be more involved in our government. How it will make us more informed as citizens.
It was a great lecture.
I bought his book and was excited to tell him the parts of his talk that really resonated with me.
I told him my name and thanked him for speaking so earnestly and that I had just moved back from South Korea and had a chance to meet all kinds of people, military, expats, etc. and agree that America is an awesome country.
And he said "where are your parents from?"
"India"
"Where in India?"
"Bangalore," I replied, feeling kind of awkward because he wasn't really receptive to what I had to say.
"Your people have done a lot of good for this country."
"Thanks...?"
"A lot of good."
"Yeah," and I quickly walked away because I was embarrassed because he didn't listen to anything I said or was trying to say. He made me feel like an "other." Like he's the patriarchal establishment of America and on behalf of his ancestry, he thanks "my kind" for our contribution.
Which, he's not WRONG.
You're not WRONG, Walter, _________.
Free dinner if you can fill in the blank.
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