Washington bloggers meet with Gov. Bill Richardson

On Sunday, citizensteve and I had a great opportunity to meet Gov. Bill Richardson. For the better part of an hour he met with some Washington state bloggers. He spoke briefly and then took questions and discussion.

Some of the things he said that i really liked were:

• - we should have a timetable for redeployment in Iraq. we should bring in the nations in the region (including Europe) and NATO and we should begin Peace Talks.
• - we should have real diplomacy (including direct talks with Iran and North Korea).
• - he thinks Mexico should work better for Mexican citizens. we should have a comprehensive immigration policy (he gave details on it).
• - renewable energy should be a high priority (including a new Appollo Project). we should have a real energy policy.
• - he thinks the blogs are important and bringing alot of people into the process who, in the past, weren't involved.
• - he deals with the DLC, but thinks of himself as a new progressive.

education is a high priority (demonstrated by valuing teachers in New Mexico by raising their salaries)

some things we ran out of time before getting to: peak oil, trade, women's issues, healthcare.

some things mentioned that i would have liked to explore more:
- fuel cells, and something i didn't understand that was compared to nascar in space.

oh and another thing i really liked about Gov. Richardson was when he said his intellectual curiousity was awakened at an early age and credited people who had a positive influence in his life. we could sure use some intellectual curiousity!!!
from his state of the state speech
oh and another thing i like about him is he was born in 1947 and....

Notoriety as UN Ambassador and International Diplomat: Richardson is a gifted and respected diplomat who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2001. He has personal charm, grace, wit and a "knack for finding a warm spot in even the surliest of despots," per Time magazine in 1996. And he is an excellent listener.
article

it was a great time and i thank all the bloggers involved and Gov.Richardson for sharing the time.

audio of the meeting can be heard here....
Washington for Richardson