I just met Jim Hightower

[primavera]

and what a cool guy he is! He showed up here in DC at one of our small independent booksellers, a place called Politics & Prose, for a booksigning of his new work, Thieves in High Places: They've Stolen our Country and it's Time to Take it Back! He spoke for a bit and answered questions before signing books and his comments were fabulous - totally unflinching, absolutely right on the money, yet mixed with good natured humor (when asked about Texas redistricting, he quipped that Tom Delay was Newt Gingrich on Viagra) and a sense of optimism about the potential for grassroots activism to turn things around. He reports that, based upon his travels around the country, he's very encouraged by the number of people he meets who share our outrage at the excesses of the BFEE, despite whatever trumped up push polls Faux News may be inclined to report on, and is very optimistic that the shrub will be a one term dictator only. He described a number of encouraging anecdotes about ordinary people who have managed to successfully fight back and insists that they are not as few and far between as the media might have us believe, which certainly sounds promising.

Having only just now picked up the book, I've only managed to read the intro so far, but I like what I've read and, assuming the rest of the book follows the tone of his remarks this evening, I think I can safely recommend it to DU readers. Evidently it just came out yesterday and is already number 3 at amazon.com. There was also a surpisingly good turnout at Politics & Prose for this evening's signing - it was absolutely packed, with at least 300-400 people in attendance and copies of his book sold out almost immediately. You all might want to check it out.