What did we learn today class ?
It was like a graduate school lecture on geo politics. I left a little smarter than I went in, and I'm sure most people felt the same. It was a half hour sit down conversation between former President Bill Clinton and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, (future president?) Both Rhodes Scholars.
It was part of the mission of the "Clinton Global Initiative'' which promotes financial, environmental, and societal innovation around the world. Between the two of them, they could tell you how many kilowatts of solar energy the country of Germany produces in one quarter, and compare it to all of California's production in a year (Not a favorable comparison) . They could talk about electricity rates in the Caribbean and how they can be reduced. They talk about the philosophy of Chinese entrepreneurs who ask ''has this been done before and if the answer is yes they don't do it'', versus the American way of thinking which is often to ask has this been done before and if they answer is yes they do it."
There was a lot of discussion about reducing carbon emissions and increasing recycling and public private partnerships. It was all very ambitious. I couldn't help wondering, in my special cynical way if Mr. Clinton had any hard feelings about the fact that back in 2007 Eric Garcetti was one of the earliest and loudest supporters of a certain Senator from Illinois in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination against a certain spouse of the former President. Add to that of course that Bill Clinton campaigned for, and endorsed, Eric's competition in the Mayor's race, Wendy Greuel.
Well, as they say , ''bygones'', in the meantime, the City Council is readying a half cent sales tax proposal for November to pay for fixing broken streets and sidewalks. When you're in government, you have to think globally and act locally. Not always easy. President Clinton and Eric Garcetti certainly understand that and have tried to do that. Meantime, I ran over a huge pothole today on the way to the meeting so where does that leave us ? Oh... and Hillary will be here later this month to raise money and make speeches so another Clinton can be in the White House.... and then there's Chelsea, so young, such a bright future. Good political genes. Get used to hearing the Clinton name going forward indefinitely.
