The keynote speaker at the convention was former president Bill Clinton, who was mesmerizing. He also took the time to answer our questions, and even stayed afterward for 45 minutes to shake hands, sign autographs and chat. (For more on his speech, please visit the aforementioned blog.)
We also had an event at his new presidential library, which was also mesmerizing (even if, as one of my colleagues pointed out, it does look a little bit like a trailer).
Clinton's speech and the contents of his library actually led to a bit of a malaise on my part. I mean, compared to our current president ... well, there is no comparison. Clinton--his problems aside--led this country in a time of relative peace and prosperity. Bush has taken the budget surplus left to him and turned it into a record-breaking deficit. Clinton was open to the media, whereas George W. Bush has instituted a clamp on public information--heck, Bush's attorney general has even resorted to vague threats of arresting journalists.
I could go on and on, but I won't. The fact is, Clinton, in most ways, was a fantastic president. George W. Bush, in almost every way, is--so far--terrible. And the facts back that up.
· On another AAN note ... we won an award that's worth noting. Our Web site took home a third-place award in AAN's annual contest. Congrats to John Banks and the folks at DesertNet who maintain the site.
