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READ PART I
READ PART II
READ RESPONSES TO PARTS I II & II (A Work in Progress - Check back for updates)
READ PAGE 1 of PART III
(Continued from PREVIOUS PAGE)
MEETING ELVIS
And now comes the hardest part of the story to tell, the part where I meet Vincent Bulgiosi.
I considered omitting this story from my report altogether, or omitting significant portions of it, because relaying some of Vincent's remarks might seem self-serving (to me).
After kicking it around for another day, I've decided to tell the story as I remember it, and let the chips (and Resistance Fighters' opinions of me) fall where they may...
Here goes...
While tabling with Rose, Kim, and Jamie (accompanied by Billie), I saw Vincent Bugliosi across the room from us, signing an autograph. I had brought his book to the Conference with me, along with Dershowitz' new book, to encourage others to buy and read them.
I also brought it because I wanted Vincent's autograph. I can't tell you how much...
I grabbed one of my many clipboards, a pen, and prepared to make my way to him. Before I could, he began to make his way toward our table. (In the interest of clarity, our table was by the stairs leading down to one of the building's exits.) I don't remember if he came to the table of his own accord, or if my holding his book and a pen in my hands was the same thing as my pulling him to our table, or if I said something to get him over there...
Once there (and I am not exactly certain of the sequence of events, or of exactly what was said, so I am paraphrasing), I asked for his autograph, trying not to gush unduly. He graciously took my book and pen, and asked me my name. I said, "Tammy" (it didn't even occur to me to say "The Diva!"), and he asked, "Is that T-A-M-I?" To which I replied, "No, T-A-M-M-Y... My parents were not very creative..." (See? Again with the babbling! You put me within arm's reach of a personal hero, and I get the reverse of tongue-tied! I swear, when I am nervous, I chatter like novelty store dentures!)
"Not at all," he said, "It's a pretty name for a pretty girl."
[DIVA NOTE: Vincent Bugliosi: Heroic AND charming! {{{SIGH}}}]
I said to him, "You know, you are Elvis to us -- to the movement. You don't know how much you mean to us. You are our hero."
"Don't say that," he admonished me. "I did what I did out of rage."
[DIVA NOTE: See? That is the passion I spoke of earlier... Such a down-to-earth, approachable man, but such FIRE!]
Speaking to us Resistance Chicks, he said, "You are the ones doing the heavy lifting, and I appreciate it. Really I do."
Jamie agreed with him, but I did not...
"I am no one, and nothing, so I have nothing to lose," I said. "But you... You've risked everything. You have a career, a lifetime of work, a reputation -- so much to lose..."
At this point, I believe, the other ladies joined our conversation. There was talk of the media blackout and the need for continuing action, of his online radio interview, of many things...
At some point (I don't remember exactly when), I gave him a SCOTUS Devil Button. He glanced at it quickly, then did a double-take to look at it more closely, and let out a surprised laugh with a big smile.
I felt like the sun was shining on my face! Vincent found my button amusing!
Could this day get any better?
ELVIS HAS REALLY LEFT THE BUILDING
The conversation ended, and I suddenly realized that we would be the last people Vincent spoke to at the Conference, because he was headed for the stairs and the exit... Did everyone know our hero was leaving? Were they paying attention?
I wanted to send him off in style, and with no doubts as to how we felt about him and what he was doing, so I started clapping as though he had just finished speaking. Immediately, the other Resistance Chicks joined in. (I got the impression that we all had the same idea spontaneously, and mere nanoseconds apart -- if that.)
The applause that we had begun spread through the floor of the hotel like a wave, growing in volume and intensity. Soon, we were shouting, "Run for President, Vincent!" and "We love you Vincent!"
He turned back and waved to our table, and then he was off, to his next stop on the Vincent Bugliosi Save the World Tour, 2001... The hottest ticket in town, if you ask me.
BYE, SIS...
When Maxine Waters made her exit, we didn't have nearly the warning that we had with Vincent, but at least we had practice.
Suddenly, and out of the blue, Maxine was passing by our table, smiling as she went...
We burst into applause again, and the floor of the hotel followed our example again... We sent Maxine off, to do her good and urgently needed work for The People, with shouts of "When you decide to run for President, send a shout-out, and we'll all come work for you!"
She and her assistant seemed tickled pink at our outpouring of affection, and our offer...
WINDING DOWN, AND LYING DOWN
As I mentioned in Part I of this report, I had stayed up the night before to prepare for the Conference. This, coupled with the emotional roller-coaster of the day's events, and the thrill of meeting such wonderful American heroes, really took it out of this Diva.
I was fading fast, let me tell you, and I had a 40-minute drive between me and my bed in the BBBR Bunker. The Conference, too, was winding down. The atmosphere was a lot more laid back than it had been, so... I laid back. Flat on my back. On the floor next to our table. I was exhausted, sleepy, and... dare I say it? PUNCHY. I called out, "Help! Our democracy's fallen and it can't get up!" (A situation that I don't find funny in the least... though I was giggling groggily.) In an e-mail to me yesterday, Kim of Votermarch mentioned that, while sprawled out in this undignified fashion, I still reached my hand out toward people pausing at the table, and said, "Hi! I'm Tammy, The Diva of coup2k.com, The Bush Brothers Banana Republic..."
[DIVA NOTE: ...And you can dress me up, but you can't take me anywhere!]
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