Daily Fiber

So I received an invitation about a week ago from a colleague at another organization for a town hall meeting with Katie Couric. It was a compliment that my colleague thought I would have valuable things to say in this event and I was even more flattered after yesterday’s meeting.  I was impressed by the quality of the conversation, which gave a great deal of thought to the quality of media coverage and the impact of fair news coverage upon American society.  I too often feel that Americans are hurting ourselves by our insularity, seeing the impact of actions taking in this nation’s name only as far as our borders.  I was surprised by what was on the minds of the attendees: only a few discussed the Iraq conflict, more discussed their families and communities, health issues, national politics, and the impact of the North Korean missile test.

The meeting gave me the opportunity to talk about poverty, the working poor, and gay marriage rights.  I do want to clarify the Star Tribune article’s statement that ”a gay couple who were against gay marriage” was at the meeting.  There was one man who, after talking about another issue, mentioned that even though he and his partner have been together for over a decade, he does not feel the need to work for gay marriage.  He never said he was against gay marriage.  Mine was only one of a number of hands that shot up to discuss the issue.  Judging solely by the people in the room who responded, there are more people who feel neutral to supportive than I had thought existed outside of my usual orbit.  It was a good morning.