2005-05-03 - 10:40 p.m.
Bill Clinton spoke here at Brown on Friday. There was unbelievable anticipation before it. People lined up for tickets for hours the days before. A friend of mine asked for a ticket for me, since I�m really not good anymore at standing in line (or anywhere else), and they were very nice about accommodating me.
In fact, they were so nice that they reserved me a seat right up front. There was a special reserved section for people with disabilities. Rock star seating. My friend who�d waited on line for me accompanied me and got a seat there too. I felt like a VIP. I guess there are a few benefits to having a serious chronic illness.
It was a veritable celebrity-fest. Ruth Simmons, the president of Brown, came by to talk with a girl in front of me who�s in a wheelchair. She introduced �her friend Chris� who was with her. Only after they�d walked away did I realize that it was actor Chris Tucker. He was quickly mobbed by autograph-seekers.
Billy Zane was also there (he�s apparently a big Democratic activist) and all the local politicians. Providence Mayor (and Brown alum) David Ciciline, of course. Senator Jack Reed and Congressman Patrick Kennedy. I really wanted to meet our other Congressman, Jim Langevin, who�s paraplegic since an accident with a gun at age 16, but he came late and sat far away.
Of course I didn�t bring a camera. But I did shake many a hand, including Bubba himself who did a pass at the end. The disabled section had pole position for this. Clinton even leaned over to take a picture with my friend in the wheelchair. I�m afraid I�ve washed my hands since, so no lingering glory alas.
His speech was very inspiring. He used no notes, just spoke seemingly off the cuff for over an hour. He talked a lot about �interdependence� and how we simply can�t stick our heads in the sand and avoid each other anymore, either other nations or our neighbors right here. Domestic and foreign policy options need to keep this in mind.
The story he told that I was most moved by called for participation in NGOs. But really, it could be generalized to taking any individual action. He recounted how he was looking in the mirror shaving one morning and realized that, in his post-presidential life, he�d become a non-governmental organization (his William J. Clinton Foundation distributes a lot of funding to AIDS/HIV prevention across the globe and issues small business loans domestically).
He noted that you can always do something more to change things. Even if you liked the results of the last election. Even if you somehow agree with every single governmental representative � all 100 senators and all 435 congressmen. You still have to be part of something that will change life for others in a hands-on way. Although he said things more eloquently than I can, his thought can be rephrased as �do it your fucking self�.
You know �them�? �They� should do something about that. �They� really ought to change things. Well, guess what? �They� is you. They is me. They is anyone who has the balls to take action. I know I�ve said this before, but do it now. Don�t be complacent. Don�t wait for them to do something. Do it your fucking self. There�s always a way. Trust me, life is a royal pain in the ass for me. But every one of us can contribute.
Shared responsibilities and shared benefits based on shared values, said Bubba. Lets not split hairs about whether we have the exact same identical values. (He also noted that if two people are in complete agreement, somebody isn�t thinking.) We can worry about what the Truth is or feel certain that we have the Truth all figured out until the cows come home. But it doesn�t mean anything unless we roll up our sleeves and get involved in a hands-on way.
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