Drinking Liberally 9/7

It is time once again for Liberals to attend that institute of higher citizenship we call Drinking Liberally. As usual we will be meeting on Thursday evening starting at 6pm at The Shanty in downtown Tucson at 4th Avenue and 9th Street at the underpass.

This week, we are hosting two special guests, Democratic candidates for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instuction, Slade Mead and Jason Williams. Both men are hoping to get the nod from Arizona Democrats to take on incumbent disaster area, Tom Horne.

If you are an educator, or have kids in our public schools, or concerned about public education, I strongly urge you to come. This may be the last opportunity you will have to see both men at the same time and have a chance to speak with them at length and leisure about your concerns before having to decide between these two fine candidates in the primary election.

Last week, we hosted Congressional candidate Jeff Latas and Sallete Latas filled in for her hubby until he arrived somewhere around 8:30. When Jeff arrived, he brought his campaign manager Ross Lampert along. Francine Shacter, another Congressional candidate and a regular at Drinking Liberally, and one of it main attractions, IMO, was in the house. Congressional candidate Alex Rodriguez and his campaign manager, also decided to drop in and have a beer with us. You never know who will show up to Drinking Liberally, and we encourage elected officials and candidates to drop in and chat with their constituents and voters.

But, of course, what’s most important is that citizens show up. Drinking Liberally is about active and informed citizenship, talking about what’s important to you with your fellow citizens, and having a good time – the elected officials are just frosting, you folks are the cake.

We are launching a new book club called Reading Liberally, of course, the inaugural meeting of which will be on Wednesday, October 4th at 7:30pm at Bookmans on Speedway and Wilmot. The first book we will discuss will be John W. Dean’s "Conservatives Without Conscience." It’s an excellent read, and you should get started on it soon. We have not set a schedule for regular meetings yet, but expect that we will have a Reading Liberally every 4-8 weeks.

If you wish to suggest a future book title for Reading Liberally, or make suggestions for special guests or topics of conversation at future Drinking Liberally meetings, please visit our bulletin board. To remain updated with the latest information at Drinking Liberally activities, and to allow us to track the size of our membership, please sign up for our low-volume, announcement only mailing list. You will generally only receive one email a week, so don’t worry about getting spammed.

Future weeks at Drinking Liberally will feature the following events and guests (subject to change):

• Sept. 14th – Free Beer Tasting (courtesy of the Shanty)
• Sept. 21st – City Councilperson Carol West
• Sept. 28th – Open (Nina Trasoff has been rescheduled)
• Oct. 5th – Screening of Robert Greenwald’s new film "Iraq for Sale" and discussion with former Tucson Mayor and Professor of International Affairs Tom Volgy
• Oct. 12th – City Councilperson Nina Trasoff

Now, one of my favorite people, Al Franken, brings you "Supply Side Jesus!":

Next, Franken talks about a topic of some importance to us at Drinking Liberally: what to do if you get drunk and have to drive (this is humor, folks, not real advice…):

Mabuhay!