After Dinner Story - Trumbull to Westport

Its always great when the President visits your state or our community, he still is regarded in these challenging political times as the leader of the free world.  Its the greatness of the office he represents that we should respect if not the man. Westport for me has always been like a second home.

On the dark road parallel with the Connecticut shoreline, the Democrat candidate paid his respect to the golden coast, but the abreviated feast more resembles fast-food than Nero's Rome 

We had relatives just up the road, and I would frequently come here with my grandparents as a young child.  We are not mere numbers to placate, we all play a role in the health of our system of government, wealthy and middle class.  I've noticed in the competition for office, we have bred an entire generation of politicos and operatives whose motto is 'what have you done for me lately.' The president, in order to construct policy for all the people should make time to spend with the common people, not just isolated by privilege, either way, we should welcome his arrival. 

As I used to do advance work with the secret service years ago, it was nice to see their professionalism on display. Harvey Weinstein has always been an active democrat, advancing the virtues of the party and he hosted a few parties in manhattan a while back, which I was a part of, back when I did high level fundraising for the national democratic party and stood in support of some of the candidates such as Elliott Spitzer and Hillary Clinton.

 
As I spoke to the reporters, 20 vehicles and people pulled over to get a better view, near the Burying Hill Beach to see the official detail.  We did witness the arrival of two of the guests in blacked out windows of their grey SUV's bearing New York tags.  I spotted someone looked like Anne Hathaway!

We should always try and remind ourselves that these folks are just humans like we are, full of talent and flaws and quirks, eccentricities which others may find bizarre, but in the 10 or so parties I staffed or major soirees where I lent my reputation to, some have their ups and downs, but I will tell you the quality of exclusivity surely has declined.  Exclusive events, lusted after by the political up and comers and paparazzi alike, such as was in westport, the President barely spent two hours mingling with the VIP's.  To Weinstein's credit, he handles such poor class with tact and elegance even comparing his guest at one time to a legend of screen and stage.  

Truthfully, not very much to see, but my son Lucio and I did glimpse a giant crab near the bridge, probably a native to the scene, and the creature of the deep didn't appear very offended as he raced in the direction of the North Shore of Long Island.  

The event was held at 7pm, the president arrived by marine one helicopter, which landed at the local state beach.  The cost of the soiree was $35,800 per person and was held at the old barn on Harvey's property.  Featured attendees included Anne Hathaway and Paul Newman's wife Joanne Woodward.  I didn't stick around to see the president arrive, as for me, that is rather old hat.  I'll not be voting for the President this year, as I wasn't invited to the event.  The amount of politics which goes into such an event and its planning, almost entirely by the White House more resembles a fete in Byzantium than the American republic.

Almost as fast as the leader of the free world arrived, was he gone again, heading out west to the Rocky States, which have suddenly become up for grabs in the high level chess match.  But his people were there, the americans of all stripes and kinds, with great hope and optimism cheering on an ideal, something for us all to believe in.

I am proud of the courageous service Harvey Weinstein contributes to the democratic discourse.  As an artist, he is always there for Democrat candidates, and has produced such fantastic features as last year's French classic, The Artist, shot entirely without words and in Black and White.  Some wish our politicians were more like this, saying less and doing more.  

He also produced the movie Bobby a few years back, which I went to see at the Odeon in Leicester  Square London.  The movie about Bobby Kennedy as I mentioned to the media milling about, myself an avid fan of american democracy and politics, so much so that I'm a candidate for the 123rd Legislative seat in Trumbull, was made reality because he put the funding together.  Bobby is a campaign movie.  The movie about the campaign for the Democratic nomination for president in 1968 is focused on the California primary, Kennedy's victory of which was a certainty, which would have vaulted him to the Presidency as a sure thing.  Faith in our system was at an all time low, following the crisis in government prompted by the Vietnam war.  As Kennedy used to quote Aeschylus, his brother Jack spoke of Pericles and the great Athenian democracy.  They tried to place all things in an historical context, the world had been through these crisis before, we survived, we made it through.  Our democracy, our culture, he used to say, made us stronger.  His campaign ended at the Ambassador Hotel in LA, the very night of his victory as the good forces of democracy gave way to death and destruction, ending forever, for many, the idealism that was America.  I said to the reporter from the Washington Post, "It was a story which needed to be told, and will be considered a major lasting contribution both to american cinema and to the politics of our times.  We are all actors on this great stage, this moment is ours to make or undo."