If you don’t listen to Bill Bennett’s Morning in America, and you are a conservative, you are missing out. None of the screaming and hollering about Obama and the Democrats, just solid political analysis that can only come from a learned person with a high level of achievement in life. It is a daily lesson in Reagan conservatism, the type of conservatism that is inclusive rather than exclusive. A model of reaching across the aisle without sacrificing conservative principles. Okay, enough gushing.
I didn’t bother to take a lot of notes or to approach the event with a blog post in mind because I was there to enjoy the show. Mr. Bennett gave a brief introductory speech in which he reviewed his formative years, discussed his time in Texas at U.T., talked about his family and then sat down to answer questions from the evening’s moderator, Dr. Chris Hammons,
Mr. Bennett answer questions ranging from the current controversy surrounding the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to where he was going to eat while in Houston (he’s going to try Otto’s BTW). He noted, correctly, I think, that the real reason Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama administration chose to hold terrorists trial in New York was to get back to the business of bashing former President George W. Bush and try to boost President Obama’s sagging poll numbers.
One of the questions was about the Tea Parties, here is his answer.
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Another question was about Sarah Palin. He really nailed this one, although he was clearly uncomfortable answering it. She is such a hot commodity right now in conservative circles that high profile conservatives have to be very careful in their observations about her political future. He made the point that she is already having an impact, she doesn’t have to be President to do so. He also noted that she needs a seriousness of purpose and perhaps a mastery of the issues if she does run in 2012. The end of this clip is spot on, in which he can’t figure out which of her redeeming qualities that liberals hate the most.
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Afterwards, he held another book signing session in the lobby. It took about forty five minutes for the line to clear, the people that attended are clearly his fans. So much so that many of them brought him gifts.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening with friends.
