Just got home from hearing Glenn Greenwald speak at a Drinking Liberally event, nicely organized by my friend Ryan Roat. (Snacks! Sandwiches! NO SMOKE! Yes!!!)

First of all, Glenn told me he read what I wrote about meeting him, and that I thought he didn’t know who I was. “I’m not like that at all, I wouldn’t pretend,” he said. “I read you; I read Suburban Guerrilla before I even started blogging.” So that was nice to hear. (I’m always so torn between wanting everyone to read me - and hoping no one reads me.)

He communicates a real sense of urgency about our constitutional crisis, pointing out that this administration essentially claims the right to all power itself, something he says is “unprecedented.”

Someone in the audience was complaining that the Democrats have done the same things, and criticized the liberal blogosphere for acting as if electing the Democrats would fix the problem.

Glenn said while it was certainly true that this is not the first president who abused the Constitution, Bush was the first one to attack the principles on which the country was founded, and the first to use it so frequently to claim virtually unlimited power for himself.

He also talked about Democratic defeatism: Oh, it’s so awful, there’s nothing I can do. He said it was time to get active.

Anyway, great event. Kudos to Ryan - here’s hoping we have many more informative discussions like this. And here’s a link to a recent interview with Glenn.

[Oh, on a personal note: I was sitting next to Mrs. Atrios, who was talking about the construction work being done on their apartment when her eyes got wide. She said, "Oh! Oh! These construction guys - they're POLISH! And they're really CUTE! You need to come over and meet them."

"But it's not a dance," I said. "My grandmother said it would be a dance. With costumes."

"I bet you they would know where you would find that dance," she said. (Mrs. Atrios is very wise.)

Well, you never know.]