Today was the best day by far, and I hope the upcoming ones will be just as awesome. This morning, once again, C-SPAN’s The Washington Journal Live aired from our session. Afterwards our speakers were the legendary Ted Koppel of Nightline, and columnist Clarence Page. After a short closing from Steve Bell, our group headed out to lunch at Ella’s, a fantastic Italian restaurant/ pizzeria. We then arrivedat the Algerian Embassy for a personal meeting with Ambassador Abdallah Baali.
The guest of today’s Washington Journal was White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino. Topics touched ranged from the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Darfur, to free trade agreements, and to teen drug use. She answered almost every question thoughtfully, with the exception of the motives for entering Iraq, and her distasteful comments about 9/11. Ted Koppel, while somewhat dry, provided us with so much insight into his coverage of overseas conflicts. His answers really reflected a more worldly view than those of our other speakers. The final speaker of the morning session was Clarence Page, a writer for the Chicago Tribune. His part of the program, combining facts and humor, focused on the transition from the Bush to the Obama administration, and the evolution of race relations within the United States.
My favorite part of the day was having the opportunity to meet with the Algerian ambassador. Mr. Baali was the Algerian representative to the United Nations before coming to D.C. Our meeting was set up similar to a board meeting, where we were all on an equal playing-field, not where one person was standing at the front of the room simply preaching. I found it almost inspiring to listen and understand what those who are not American-born feel about situations that our nation and other nations are involved in. The Ambassador openly discussed Algeria’s relations with the U.S. and on the evolving conflicts in both the African and Middle Eastern World.
Tomorrow we have a persentation from the Ambassador to the United States from Pakistan, whuch I am greatly anticipating, along with a visit to Congress in the afternoon.
