NIGHTLIGHT: Peachy Deegan and the Intellectuals of Whom You Know Attend Another Hit by The Common Good - But We Are Still Calling them The Uncommon Excellent!!! The Common Good Town Hall Forum on "Election Insurrection-Midterm Elections 2010", moderated by Dan Abrams

When we were contacted by The Common Good during Fashion Week, an undoubtedly busy time for us, we were delighted.  It is always Fashionable to know what is going on in the world:

http://www.whomyouknow.com/2010/09/daylight-common-good-hosts.html

and besides, we met Mayor Ed Koch who was a Total Peach, and is now even a Mover and Shaker:

http://www.whomyouknow.com/2010/09/movers-and-shakers-mayor-ed-koch-mayor.html

Since when has Peachy Deegan ever liked anything common?  This is a girl with Champagne taste and the intellect of this second discussion of The Common Good reflected a fine vintage.  A variance in opinions was realized in discussion, and at Whom You Know we really do try to stay out of sharing our political opinions but you can only guess which side of the fence Peachy stands on...

Carl Bernstein said that there is a failure to recognize that the system is broken, and infrastructure, education and health care all need help.  

When the question was posed "Do Republicans articulate better?" Ed Rollins said: "[A large segment of the population thinks of themselves as independent....the country is not as partisan as the Congress....People want to spend their own money.]"  

Yes, hopefully on Shop with Peachy!  http://www.whomyouknow.com/p/shop-with-peachy.html

Do you know where your Star Vodka is?  It is nearly happy hour...

Bernstein stated: "[The government wastes money.  The unwillingness to pay for services by the public is a problem.]"

Some said facts cannot be negotiable.  More said that people don't take the proper time to dig deeper and really digest policy.  Some said the current Tea Party movement is a bit like the tail wagging the dog...and it was brought forth that the outpouring of anger in America right now is so widespread.  Carl Bernstein said that this political and cultural breakdown was 30-35 years in the making. Peachy chatted with him briefly at the end and asked what the generation that is the age 30-35 should know about the time previous to this and how they can fix it; he said the power is in the hands of the baby boomers still so it's not yet our turn...he did not sound optimistic.  However, her next question to him was "What is your favorite thing to eat at Swifty's?" as she's seen him there near her dinner table and he enthusiastically replied: "Crabcakes."  No matter what side of the political spectrum you are on you cannot ever argue with Swifty's crabcakes!

Surely popular opinion is that the Republicans will take the House in a landslide victory, as President Obama clearly has not delivered. 

Perhaps some of the Panelists will also be Movers and Shakers.

Co-sponsored with Hunter College and its President Jennifer Raab



Dan Abrams - television host, legal commentator, and web entrepreneur. He is the Chief Legal Analyst for NBC News, and formerly served as General Manager of MSNBC and  as an anchor for that network.

Panelists include:

Carl Bernstein – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author.

Jonathan Capehart – Editorial writer for The Washington Post on national politics.

Matthew Dowd -  Political Contributor ABC News, former chief strategist for the Bush Cheney ’04 Presidential campaign

Jane Hamsher - One of the nation’s top progressive bloggers and legislative activists on firedoglake.com. Ranked 11th or 13th of both liberal and conservative blogs.

Steve Hildebrand –Democratic political strategist; former deputy national campaign director for Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign.

Ed Rollins – Top Republican strategist for Presidential candidates Reagan, Perot and many other campaigns. Author, commentator.

Doug Schoen – Pollster and top strategist for Clinton-Gore Presidential campaign, Bloomberg campaign and many other domestic and international campaigns.

Katrina vanden Heuvel – Editor in Chief, the Nation.

As far as we are concerned, this organization is not common and they are not good.  We suggest they start calling themselves The Uncommon Excellent because that is what they are.  Peachy Deegan has always been interested in politics and her first job ever was in the House of Representatives in Washington DC.  You may have seen her mention that she hung out with the football team in college, but even one of them worked for Rep. Kennedy.  Everyone is smart on the Whom You Know panel, and the smartest attended this and said:

Last night, we attended a panel discussion on the upcoming mid-term elections co-hosted by Common Ground, a non-partisan, non-profit organization and Hunter College, where the event was held. The panel was lead by Dan Abrams, a political commentator from NBC and included 7 others--political commentators, political strategists/operatives, media luminaries authors and publishers/editors from magazines such as the Washington Post and The Nation. The panel headlined Ed Rollins, President Reagan’s former chief strategist and Carl Bernstein, Pulitzer prize winning journalist, famous for his work exposing the Watergate Scandal.  


We found the discussion and the debate to be quite lively, stimulating, fascinating and illuminating, especially the prognostications on the mid-term elections this November.   
After the panel finished discussing various problems with the U.S. political system, the media’s complicity in reporting selective events and increasing the partisanship in politics and other topics, the audience was allowed to ask a few questions.  


The event was well attended and no extra seats in the audience were available for latecomers.  
Overall, we were very impressed with the panelists, the range of topics covered during the discussion and Common Ground and Hunter College for sponsoring and planning the event.  

http://www.thecommongood.net/