So, I had my first "brush with greatness" at AFT Convention, got to meet David Sirota of Sirotablog, who gave the Jim McGarvey lecture at the AFT Public Employee Breakfast this morning.  (He politiely said, "I think I've seen your blog.")  Sirota is also the author of Hostile Takeover, his book on political corruption in Washington, and kicks butt as a debater--checkout his smackdown of John Stossel over the minimum wage on CNBC.

Sirota gave a populist stump speech--no, I don't think he's running for office--that, not surprisingly, went over well with the crowd.  he talked about how we need to fight the "hostile takeover" of corporate interests by "harnessing the public's outrage" and organizing and educating ordinary citizens.  Sirota convincingly argued that unions are subject to vicious attacks because they are "one of the last frontlines fighting this hostile takeover."

Fun Fact: Despite what you might think after reading today's USA Today piece, the ratio of corporate to union contributions made to lawmakers--15:1

Fun Metaphors: Dick Cheney railing against lawsuits is like Wilt Chamberlain talking about abstinence. (Haliburton filed over 150 civil lawsuits under Cheney's reign.)