DCDL

the blog of DC Drinking Liberally

February 4, 2006

Dinner and a Movie

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As, DL’er Saba pointed out, there’s been a couple of great movies that have come out, that a few of us would like to see, but haven’t made it to for one reason or another.

For instance, Syriana (review here) and Good Night and Good Luck (review here).

There’s also some restaurants that we’ve been meaning to check out, for instance the Burma Restaurant in Chinatown (review here).

After considerable deliberation (okay, we emailed each other and it sounded like a good idea) we’ve come to the conclusion that Saturday, Feb 11 will be DCDL’s Dinner and a Movie Night.

We’ll put this out in the Tuesday email, but you, our readers (Keith, do we have readers?) can now go do the Democracy thing, and tell us your ideal pick of movie and restaurant.

February 1, 2006

Upcoming Events

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Here are some local events that you might be interested in. Also see the event calendar (linked from the sidebar), which may be changing drastically at some point. If you know of an event that should be included, let me know at keith@dcdl.org, or post a comment.

Wednesday, February 1

Thursday, February 2

Saturday, February 4

These announcements are not endorsements of the organizations mentioned.

January 9, 2006

Coming this Thursday to DCDL

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DCDL is pleased to host Ezra Klein this Thursday, January 12, 6:30-9.

Ezra, a recently transplanted Californian, is the writing fellow for The American Prospect. In the past, he’s freelanced for the Washington Monthly, the LA Weekly, The LA Times, The Jewish Journal, and the Gadflyer.

During the 2004 election Ezra was selected along with a handful of other bloggers to cover the Democratic Convention.

As per tradition on speaker night, we’ll have free appetizers, and the Happy Hour drink special ($1 off all drinks) will be good until 9.

Events This Week

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Here are some local events that you might be interested in. I’m still working on the event calendar (linked from the sidebar), which may be changing drastically before long. If you know of an event that should be included, let me know at keith@dcdl.org, or post a comment.

Monday, January 9

Tuesday, January 10

Wednesday, January 11

Thursday, January 12

Saturday, January 14

These announcements are not endorsements of the organizations mentioned.

December 30, 2005

Patrick Gavin on His DCDL Talk

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Over at the Huffington Post, Patrick Gavin discusses the talk he gave at Timberlake’s a couple of weeks ago.

The comments he’s receiving illustrate an important point: What you get from hearing a live presentation is often different from what is conveyed by the written word. So, let me start by conveying an overall impression: I believe Patrick is doing the hard task of looking at all sides of an argument, and conveying an impression he reached by walking a mile in his neighbors moccasins, or more likely in the Dupont Circle area, Mephistos. If you have the chance to meet him, he will likely strike you as someone who has a fundamental perceptiveness about him. A basic integrity. We could use more of that from this air-brushed sect we call ” journalists.”

Here, I should point out that when we ask people to speak at DCDL, we’re not looking to reinforce some kind of a lefty bubble. We look for people who have expertise in their field, and enjoy the opportunity to get feedback. And some of that feedback is often lively. It’s not a Knitting Club, after all. Then, we’d have to call it Knitting Liberally. And hold it at a yarn store. And the Happy Hour specials at yarn stores totally suck.

To outline Gavin’s concerns with the Plame case we have:

1.) It’s neither sexy or simple.
2.) The personalities involved are hard to sort out from the facts of the case.
3.) It’s the War, stupid.
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December 20, 2005

This Just In: Dick Cheney Possibly Sympathetic to Oil Interests

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According to the Washington Post, Dick “Dick” Cheney is about to cut short a trip to Iraq so he can vote for drilling in the Arctic Reserve.

And, I quote:

“Vice President Cheney cut short a trip to the Middle East and rushed back to Washington overnight, preparing to cast a tiebreaking vote on budget cuts in the Senate today, as Republicans also make a high-stakes bid to approve oil drilling in the Alaska wilderness.”

Let’s put this in context. On Sunday, President Bush made a speech about progress in the Middle East. Meanwhile, he’s also pointed out that you’ve got to spy on, well pretty much everyone, to make progress in the Middle East happen. So, Cheney made a surprise visit on Sunday so that people understood that success in Iraq was the most important thing to the American people.

Yet today, Cheney is cutting short his diplomatic mission in Iraq to support drilling the remainder of the Alaskan coast so that Exxon-Mobil can have a really good year. This, needless to say, has nothing to do with the Middle East, except that it makes us look ridiculous there.

December 9, 2005

Patrick Gavin Follow Up

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I wanted to thank Patrick Gavin for his talk last night at DCDL, and wanted to use the opportunity to follow up on one of his points. The point was that outside the beltway people don’t see the Plame scandal as a major issue. This may certainly be the case. I can certainly verify that this was a major topic of discussion in Massachusetts, which is certainly outside of 495, but perhaps not representative of the “outside the beltway” viewpoint.

What bothers me about the Plame incident is that a democratic government would use its power to smear a critic. To me, a government that acts in that manner is no different from a banana republic. (or a Gap, but that’s another story.)

As far as a bigger message goes, the Plame incident is a piece of a puzzle that includes the massive PR campaign before the Iraq War, the bogus Powell presentation to the UN, the fake news stories- both in Iraq and the US, the use of torture to extract bogus confessions that are then used as “evidence.” The “Freedom Walk” on September 11, the “Truth Tour” sponsored by the Pentagon, the staged “rescue” of Jessica Lynch. Profiteering by Halliburton, bombing Al Jazeera. It’s all part of the Big Lie.

Everything associated with Iraq has what Tennesee Williams called “the foul odor of mendacity” about it.

This is a point that needs to get hammered home. As more and more people realize they have been lied to, they will become increasingly angry. From Day 1 Iraq has been a betrayal of our trust. I wouldn’t underestimate the reaction that betrayal provokes.

December 5, 2005

Events This Week

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Here are some local events that you might be interested in. I’m putting together an event calendar (linked from the sidebar), which is currently rather ugly but will be evolving. If you know of an event that should be included, let me know at keith@dcdl.org.

Monday, December 5

Tuesday, December 6

Wednesday, December 7

Thursday, December 8

Saturday, December 10

These announcements are not endorsements of the organizations or candidates mentioned.

December 1, 2005

Patrick Gavin on Plame and the Media at DCDL Next Week

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Are you confused by the twists and turns of the CIA leak case? Fear not, Patrick Gavin has been following the Plame Affair obsessively from the beginning, and he’s generously agreed to explain it all to us next Thursday, December 8.

Gavin is the associate editorial-page editor for the Washington Examiner and a contributing editor for fishbowlDC, “a gossip blog about Washington, DC, media”. He’s also been known to blog at the Huffington Post.

He’ll be discussing all aspects of the Plame Affair but focusing on the problem of journalists reporting on a story they’re intimately involved in:

We’ll have free appetizers, and Timberlake’s is extending the happy hour discount on drinks.

Please join us at the usual time and place (6:30pm in the back room at Timberlake’s, 1726 Connecticut Ave) for a talk that’s sure to enlighten us and spark some interesting discussion.

November 30, 2005

Alternative Gift Fair Happy Hour

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Having trouble getting in the mood for holiday shopping? Is Christmas commercialism getting you down? Looking for gifts that aren’t just another sweater or gadget? Well, on Monday, December 5, DC Drinking Liberally is partnering with other organizations to lift your spirits and solve your gift-giving problems! Here’s the announcement from our friends at Capital Action:

Join Capital Action, DC Drinking Liberally, DC EcoWomen, SustainUS, Hands On DC, and other folks in the DC area for a night of buying meaningful gifts of charity for your friends and family to support a variety of nonprofit organizations. Meet some friends for happy hour, cross those items off your shopping list, and help people and communities in need all at the same time!

Drink and food specials from 6 to 7pm: $2.75 draft, rail, and wine and half-price appetizers. At 7pm enjoy some free chicken wings, chicken tenders, and cheese quesadillas.

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About

DCDL is a blog by Washington, DC-area members of Drinking Liberally. Opinions expressed are the writers’, not those of Drinking Liberally, which provides no funding or other support for this blog.

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