Meeting Mr. Ware
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Have just
gotten home from spending several days in Washington,
DC, where I was able to hear Michael speak at two
events (Wednesday at the Center for American Progress
and
Thursday at the Middle East
Institute; I
will be adding the clips and transcripts and etc
ASAP, but I just walked in the door and have to be
at work in a few painful hours!)
First of all, let me say that hearing Michael speak
in person is riveting. To say that he commands a room
is an understatement; his turn of phrase, the
sucker-punch-to-the-gut way he has of encapsulating
events and concepts, the dry humor and raw emotion,
the scope of his intelligence and awareness of
causation and consequence -- all of that is in play
far more than comes across through a television
camera. Even exhausted to the brink of collapse (as I
daresay he was at these events) he is a constant blur
of motion as he pulls the audience along the path of
understanding. He has often said that he feels an
obligation to bear witness to the events he has seen
in Iraq. I would go further and say he seems to feel
the need to make us understand what we have wrought
by starting this war (and whether we voted in favor
of it or not, we as a country must own it) and that
he possesses the rare gift of making people see what
they would prefer to avoid. The sheer force of his
personality and the rawness of his honesty demands
nothing less.
I was also fortunate enough to speak with him briefly
after the CAP event and found him to be gracious,
humble, charming, and blazingly intense. (I could go
on, and probably will when I have more time...) It
was a privilege to be able to thank him for his work.
It is why I started this website and why it continues
to this day -- because his work is so incredibly
vital. I could never do what he does, but I can
contribute this site in order to make sure that his
work is seen by as many people as possible.
(But if you ever have a chance to hear him speak, I
definitely urge you to go!)
Also... Monday, CNN International is showing a
30-minute special about the Surge, the creation of
which is the reason Michael was so exhausted this
past week. I will post it as soon as possible.