I was driving to pick up my kids last Thursday when I first heard that the Values Voter Summit would kick off in DC the very next day. When I got home, I went to the site, and... whoa...
No. Way. (!!!)
Remember when Olbermann awarded the Worser Person In The World to me for going to BillO's house? He told me to leave him alone at his home. But with an arched eyebrow, he added, "In public...?"
So yeah... my favorite villain ever - the guy that threatened to lead a posse to my home, Bill O'Reilly - would host the main event on Friday night.
It's like he thought the whole world had forgotten about Andrea Mackris! Of all the places to turn up, Value Voters Summit!?
This was too good.
Quickly, I concocted my plan. I'd purchase a megaphone, a ticket, print out the Mackris filings and stir the pot.
(rest of the story after the flip - with video...)
First of all, you have no idea how hard it is to find a megaphone. I spent four hours Friday driving around the greater DC metropolis. I finally found one at "As Seen on TV".
I purchased my ticket with no problem.
I got into the event with no problem.
Then I made my first mistake.
I sat in a seat at the end of a row. I thought I'd want room to move around. The problem was, it made it very easy for security to get to me. I should have sat in the middle of the room so security would have to crawl through the masses to get to me. Ugh. That tactical error limited my time, as you can tell in the video below.
Another unfortunate circumstance... O'Reilly is thin-skinned and tired of seeing himself exposed for the hypocritical orangutan that he is. So he banned all press (and "unauthorized recording") from his event. Folks that could normally be counted upon to have a presence - folks like TPM or Think Progress or Huffington Post) were banned at the door. I only got in because I attended as a "civilian" - I did not request press credentials. The upshot is that I got no coverage and very little video.
Here is my recording:
Here's the view from an attendee:
So yeah, things coulda gone better.
Hopefully I made up for that mediocre performance with this, a video I made on the streets outside the event a little while after I was thrown out. I ask if people have seen Ensign, Craig, Vitter, Sanford or Foley. If they vote on the basis of values, what do the rest of us consider when we vote? And of course, (Tim Pawlenty gets this question), do they think it's appropriate for BillO to have been invited...