(image via CNN)
The lack of celebrities this year has given, it seems -- admittedly from the distance of NYC -- a more somber and serious patina. Then again, considering the times, perhaps this is for the best. From Jim Wallis of HuffPo:
"But most of the questions and discussion in the seminar for these world business and social leaders were about American foreign policy--especially Iraq, Iran, and the Middle East. It reminded me again of just how badly the United States is now perceived, almost universally, around the world. And Bush was implacable on Iraq, vigorously defending his plan to escalate (he still says "win") a failed and disastrous war. Jay Nordlinger, the Managing Editor of the conservative National Review, rather sheepishly pointed out that Bush was doing what he believed in, despite its unpopularity, and that was a kind of leadership. Others weren't so kind, calling U.S. policy that pits "triumphalism" against "realism" as nothing short of "delusional."
And there was even more concern about the potential of an American (or Israeli) military air strike against Iran. One of the panelists was New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who I met this morning for the first time. I have been deeply moved by many of his columns on Darfur, the modern slavery of sex trafficking, human rights, and foreign policy from a deeply moral perspective. I told him he was "doing the Lord's work," which got me a big smile. Kristof spoke very seriously about North Korea's and Iran's progress toward nuclear weapons, but that an American military strike aimed at Iran's nuclear facilities in various cities would be "the height of irresponsibility,"
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