With the thoughts I'd be thinkin'
I could be another Lincoln
If I only had a brain...
Posted on 07/27/2003 8:51:00 AM PDT by mountaineer
ASPEN - Former President Clinton will join Gov. Bill Owens and luminaries from around the world this week in an annual conference that attracts an eclectic mix of leaders to think through thorny global problems. A regular attendee since the conference began two years ago, Clinton will address Fortune magazine's "Brainstorm 2003," a gathering of thinkers and leaders.
Among those attending: former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, heads of state from the Czech Republic and Rwanda, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards and Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins.
The event takes place Monday through Wednesday at the Aspen Institute and the St. Regis hotel.
The conference is closed to all but the invitees. To find out what happened, you'll have to read about it in a special Fortune edition this fall. Participants are handpicked by Fortune's editors to create lively discussions on pressing issues, said Fortune spokeswoman Carrie Welch.
Like the name suggests, the conference is about brainstorming, not about setting policy, Welch said, although sometimes that happens. And sometimes, she said, the discussions turn out to be eerily prescient. In 2001, talk of global terrorism dominated the conference. That was just five weeks before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Participants have been asked to respond to some heady questions. Is the world getting better or worse? What country will dominate by 2013? How they answer will jump-start discussions on a range of topics, from peacemaking to global epidemics.
They'll tackle those issues in a series of seminars and roundtables. Clinton will again give a presentation, then have an open give-and-take with participants. In another annual mainstay, he'll sit with Fortune's editor and a world leader - this year it's Rwandan President Paul Kagame - to hash out world affairs in a late-night chat over drinks.
This is the first year the magazine is holding the conference jointly with the Aspen Institute, a think tank based in Aspen and Washington, D.C., that specializes in pondering similar questions.
The joint conference was the idea of the institute's new president, Walter Isaacson, said Aspen Institute spokesman James Spiegelman. Isaacson came to the institute after being chairman and chief executive of the CNN News Group, an AOL Time Warner company. He previously had served as editorial director of Time Inc., which also publishes Fortune.
"It's an opportunity for us to advance a dialogue on a very high level on issues of global concern, which is what we're all about," Spiegelman said.
Can you imagine what's being said in this playschool star chamber? I would give anything to be able to tape it and mail it to Rush.
The last person you might expect to host a Washington dinner for Gov. Bill Owens would be a member of former President Bill Clinton's Cabinet. But that's what's on the agenda for 7 p.m. Thursday at Washington's tony Willard Hotel.
Granted, Owens' benefactor was the lone Republican in that Cabinet, former Defense Secretary Bill Cohen. Cohen now runs a Washington firm that lobbies for defense and homeland security contractors, including Raydon Corp. and Oracle.
It would appear to be a way for Owens, whose presidential ambitions are widely discussed but never admitted, to reach out to the Republican middle. It comes after a trip last month in which Owens reached out to the party's more ideologically conservative intelligentsia. Cohen's invitation dubs Owens "a rising star in American politics."
Cohen assistant Heather Smith rejected The Denver Post's requests to attend the high-level dinner. Perhaps that explains why Owens' press secretary, Dan Hopkins, omitted the Cohen schmooze-fest when he was asked what Owens would be doing in Washington this week.
When asked specifically about the Cohen dinner, Owens' communications director, Sean Duffy, called back to explain that it was one of several "small, informal" and private gatherings Owens has planned for his Wednesday-night-through-Friday trip. But he wasn't divulging details on any of the other private gatherings.
"That's why they're private," Duffy said.
The ostensible purpose of Owens' visit is to give a speech to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council about "governing on principle." Denver Post, July 27, 2003
Sounds just like an Altoast2000 classroom - eh?
These goofballs are going to solve all of the world's problems - and we're supposed to wait for some magazine to print it?
With the thoughts I'd be thinkin'
I could be another Lincoln
If I only had a brain...
SUGGESTED HEADY QUESTIONS:
Ms. Albright, given the dicovery of thousands upon thousands of Saddam's murdered victims, do you now think it was wise to "keep him in his box"?
And a follow up if I might, are you PROUD of your "Agreed Framework" with your pals in North Korea as they built nuclear weapons behind your broad backside?.
MR. CLINTOON, ARE YOU NOW SOMEWHAT REGRETTING YOUR DECISION TO TURN DOWN SUDAN'S OFFER TO TURN OVER BIN LADEN?
It doesn't take much imagination to predict how Clintoon will answer that question, especially with this being a "private" affair with no press coverage.
HUH???? Rwandan President Paul Kagame? A world leader?
I guess they couldn’t get the Mayor of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Bill Clinton is ELVIS without the stretchy white, silver-studded jumpsuit.
Ain't it wonderful that Our Rulers have closed door sessions in fancy resorts to establish how the rest of us will live?
Yeah, but just for one week out of the year.
We do that in near-real-time everyday here on Free Republic!
Among those attending: former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, heads of state from the Czech Republic and Rwanda, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards and Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins.
LOL! Some "thinkers" and "leaders!"
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