"I never thought I'd want Richard Nixon back in office..."
Quotable quotes from yesterday's rally for Nevada and the environment held at the Rainbow Library here in Las Vegas. There's two twists to this story, and they both involve my mom. I'll get to those first, then on to the political message after.
On Tuesday I received an e-mail from Moveon.org that this rally would be taking place and would feature Robert Redford. I immediately picked up the phone to tell mom he was going to be in town. Well, brag I didn't because she decided that night she'd be on a plane bound for Las Vegas to attend the event herself. Mom has been a lifelong Redford fan, and would do practically anything to see him. And she did. She boarded a flight to Vegas yesterday morning at 8:40 and arrived here at 9:50. We ran some errands, had lunch and headed to the library for the event. We arrived at noon, even though the event wasn't starting until two.
Front row seats, of course. My mother wouldn't have it any other way. The event, which gathered about two hundred people, was held in the library's amphitheatre. Mom came equipped with her super-duper paparazzi camera with the "I can count the wrinkles on your face" zoom lens. It didn't matter "Bob" was a mere 25 feet from us, it had to be the zoom lens. Hopefully she'll upload some of her pix to her website and I can link you there. The event lasted about an hour with several people speaking, Robert included.
Afterwards, we went back to my house, rested for a bit, then hit the road to the airport, again, as she had a flight out at 7:35 last night. It was a whirlwind day, especially for her, but she got to see Robert Redford up close and personal, and she got to here him speak about the environment and Nevada. Me to mom, "Was it worth coming?" "Yes and no." She was miffed he only signed three or four autographs then high-tailed it out of there for an interview with a local TV station. In the end, it was a fun, spur of the moment trip and I'm glad she came, even though she was here a short nine-and-a-half hours.
Now to the event itself. Recently the Conservation League of Nevada was formed as a bipartisan effort to support pro-environment legislation and act as a unified front for the state on environmental concerns. Yesterday was a kick-off event promoting it, and REP, Republicans for Evironmental Protections. The gathering was bipartisan and featured speakers from both parties, but there was a lot of Bush bashing anyway. Here's why: Since George W. Bush took office in January, 2000, he has rolled back, reduced funding for, eliminated and delayed over three hundred different policies, acts and pieces of legislation to protect the environment. Martha Marks, president of REP, said she never thought she'd want Nixon back in office. Although some in the crowd booed her for that, the point was taken. Even Nixon, as vile as he may be, has a better environmental track record than the Bush.
The event didn't have anything to do with campaigning for one candidate or another, it was all about the environment. Martha encouraged Republicans to remind Bush how important the environment is, and Redford reminded all the choice was there's to put the environment in the forefront. In the end, the information was useful and helped paint a real picture of the danger our environment is in under the current administration.
A friend of mine commented along the lines of, "Yeah, the environment is more important than the war." Well actually, it's equally important. That's what saddens me with the upcoming election. People are blinded by this war, when in reality, we are facing many dangers here at home that won't be helped or hurt by what happened in Iraq. Iraq is a real quagmire, but at the same time, our Commander in Chief needs to pay attention to what's happening at home, with issues like education, health care, jobs and the environment. You can't be President and ride out your term on one effort... you have an entire nation to run.
Quotable quotes from yesterday's rally for Nevada and the environment held at the Rainbow Library here in Las Vegas. There's two twists to this story, and they both involve my mom. I'll get to those first, then on to the political message after.
On Tuesday I received an e-mail from Moveon.org that this rally would be taking place and would feature Robert Redford. I immediately picked up the phone to tell mom he was going to be in town. Well, brag I didn't because she decided that night she'd be on a plane bound for Las Vegas to attend the event herself. Mom has been a lifelong Redford fan, and would do practically anything to see him. And she did. She boarded a flight to Vegas yesterday morning at 8:40 and arrived here at 9:50. We ran some errands, had lunch and headed to the library for the event. We arrived at noon, even though the event wasn't starting until two.
Front row seats, of course. My mother wouldn't have it any other way. The event, which gathered about two hundred people, was held in the library's amphitheatre. Mom came equipped with her super-duper paparazzi camera with the "I can count the wrinkles on your face" zoom lens. It didn't matter "Bob" was a mere 25 feet from us, it had to be the zoom lens. Hopefully she'll upload some of her pix to her website and I can link you there. The event lasted about an hour with several people speaking, Robert included.
Afterwards, we went back to my house, rested for a bit, then hit the road to the airport, again, as she had a flight out at 7:35 last night. It was a whirlwind day, especially for her, but she got to see Robert Redford up close and personal, and she got to here him speak about the environment and Nevada. Me to mom, "Was it worth coming?" "Yes and no." She was miffed he only signed three or four autographs then high-tailed it out of there for an interview with a local TV station. In the end, it was a fun, spur of the moment trip and I'm glad she came, even though she was here a short nine-and-a-half hours.
Now to the event itself. Recently the Conservation League of Nevada was formed as a bipartisan effort to support pro-environment legislation and act as a unified front for the state on environmental concerns. Yesterday was a kick-off event promoting it, and REP, Republicans for Evironmental Protections. The gathering was bipartisan and featured speakers from both parties, but there was a lot of Bush bashing anyway. Here's why: Since George W. Bush took office in January, 2000, he has rolled back, reduced funding for, eliminated and delayed over three hundred different policies, acts and pieces of legislation to protect the environment. Martha Marks, president of REP, said she never thought she'd want Nixon back in office. Although some in the crowd booed her for that, the point was taken. Even Nixon, as vile as he may be, has a better environmental track record than the Bush.
The event didn't have anything to do with campaigning for one candidate or another, it was all about the environment. Martha encouraged Republicans to remind Bush how important the environment is, and Redford reminded all the choice was there's to put the environment in the forefront. In the end, the information was useful and helped paint a real picture of the danger our environment is in under the current administration.
A friend of mine commented along the lines of, "Yeah, the environment is more important than the war." Well actually, it's equally important. That's what saddens me with the upcoming election. People are blinded by this war, when in reality, we are facing many dangers here at home that won't be helped or hurt by what happened in Iraq. Iraq is a real quagmire, but at the same time, our Commander in Chief needs to pay attention to what's happening at home, with issues like education, health care, jobs and the environment. You can't be President and ride out your term on one effort... you have an entire nation to run.
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