Paradise50 (aka mrcreek) and I got up at 4:00 AM Wednesday to drive to the Sacramento airport for our second Netroots Nation conference. I must say Minneapolis is a much more beautiful and welcoming city than Las Vegas! Our hotel, the Hilton, is the brown building on the right.
If your picture doesn't show up here it's not because I didn't take it-- it's probably because, like about half the picture I took, it's too blurry!
Our room wasn't ready when we arrived shortly after noon, so we took a short walk and found a British pub and our first kossacks, Lynn (Velovixen) and Tony (TexDem). Tex Dem was covering how much he was hurting with a kidney stone and ended up hospitalized for surgery on Sunday, though all is well now.
When we did get the keys to our room, they were a harbinger of the days to come.
But first there were reunions at the Hilton Hotel bar to be had:
Julie Gulden was the first to welcome us to the Hilton
Sandy on Signal, Land of Enchantment, and Paradise50 (mrcreek)
And then a mass o' kossacks took to the streets to go straight to Hell-- Hell's Kitchen, that is, for the Cheers and Jeers dinner.
Mary and side pocket
Safely ensconced in Hell I finally met the infamous Trashablanca, who had gotten his T-shirt right on time:
It's OK to be Trashy
Oke and rfall, newlyweds who met on Daily Kos, sharing a moment before the mayhem.
aha aha and jotter
Honestly, I had lots more photos of the C&J dinner but things quickly started getting blurry, including my photography...
The next morning we were up (a bit late, but up) and off to the panels. We were there when Lt. Dan Choi had his little dust-up with an OFA organizer. This was a great example for me of how different eyewitnesses can experience the same event. We were nearly in the front row, and I saw a spontaneous reaction from Choi, not a set-up or a stunt as some thought. The point Choi made in the panel was about being radical and standing up for yourself; being, yes, a Drama Queen when it's called for. So when the OFA guy blundered into saying that he didn't support marriage equality, Choi tore up the flyer he'd been handed and threw it back in his face.
After the panel Choi held up the quilt he had just received in the mail and told us how much it meant to feel such support from kossacks after his breakdown.
Dan Choi with quilt, flanked by Felipe and Jane Hamscher.
While there was free swag everywhere I was the most thrilled by winning a pair of underwear from the Sierra Club for Paradise50, which he promptly and tastefully modeled.
This photo is yfrog safe.
Thursday morning we were a bit less fuzzy and hung out in the Daily Kos lounge area, where we found the Morning News Dump with Lizz Winstead and Friends, a group of comedians easing us into the day with their comedic take on the news. I'd been following Dave Weigel's tweets with interest as he was also attending the Right Online conference, and spotted him slumming in the lounge. While he looked unaware of his surroundings, he was actually tweeting the comedian's punchlines, including the "Burn your AARP card" joke that caused the comedians some grief when it got out.
Dave Weigel slumming in the Daily Kos lounge area.
We walked through the Right Online conference area daily, and most of their seminars were about basic things like how to tweet and post on Facebook, but I liked the unintended irony of this offering:
RightOnline teaches how to alter Wikipedia to conform to Fantasy
Of all the speakers on the main stage, these two muslim women were the most beautiful and compelling:
One of my goals at Netroots Nation was to finally meet my two Single Payer advocate heroes,nyceve, blogger extraordinaire and Board member and Andrew McGuire, the Executive Director of California OneCare. When mrcreek and I hopped on the bus to attend the Rally for Jobs at the Stone Arch Bridge we were sitting right next to them, and we had a great time chatting with Andrew, who used to swim in the same Feather River areas we hike into every summer.
nyceve and Andrew McGuire of California OneCare with smileycreek at Jobs rally.
Four years ago the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge collapsed during the evening rush hour on August 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The rally used the backdrop of the rebuilt bridge to emphasize the need for putting our labor force back to work on infrastructure.
Van Jones speaking at the LiUNA-sponsored jobs rally with rebuilt I-35 Bridge in the background.
Now, if you want to hear what a Democratic leader should sound like:
Take a few minutes to listen to this speech by union LiUNA President Terence O'Sullivan. You will not be disappointed as he calls out
"These asshole teabagger extremists in Washington" (1:44) and
"That jerkoff in Wisconsin, Scott Walker" (5:29).
He was on fire! I was applauding so wildly that the young union member next to me (on the left in the pink cap) smiled and said, "I guess people on the left aren't used to hearing talk like this from politicians." We hugged and were all on the same side today!
LiUNA union members cheering on their firebrand President, Terence O'Sullivan
That evening after the panels (and before a string of parties) we were catching one of many free drinks in the foyer when this silent demonstration dramatizing the cost of our wars filed in. The T-shirts read Make Schools, Not War, Make Clean Energy, Not War, and Make Student Loans, Not War.
The Costs of Our Wars
We met a couple more kossacks before my camera got too blurry at the many parties that followed.
Lefty Coaster
boran2
The next day featured yet another generous free lunch while we listened to keynote speaker Van Jones. Since I have trouble even tweeting and listening at the same time I'm always impressed by people who can live blog an event while simultaneously eating lunch without missing a thing.
Meteor Blades live-blogs lunch session while Navajo plans the after-party with Shockwave.
Don't miss Eclectablog's outstanding Netroots for the Troops diary
Dan Choi signing a T-Shirt for Oke at Netroots For the Troops
Transactivist and Common Sense Mainer packing boxes for NFTT
maggiejean manned the quilt booth during NFTT. Any kossack could come by and sign a square for the next quilt.
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maggiejean at the quilt booth
It was a great time, and I am in awe of all the hard work that went into it. Thank you, every single one of you who made this happen, and we will see you next year in Providence!