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September 15, 2007
Fred!
I visited with Fred this past week during his Grassroots Tour at the Versailles Restaurant in the Little Havana section of Miami. The complete video of Fred's talk with us is posted at Blogs for Fred Thomspon.
Of course, it was in little Havana, and I was one of the few non-hispanics in attendance that were not part of the “show,” and I was most certainly the only Jew. I had prepared a question for him, but decided not to ask it at that moment, in that place, for of course, my question concerned Israel, and I considered the audience.
Fred was very well received by the hispanic community, even while he spoke out against the immigration bill. Although really, that should come as no surprise, considering that the immigrants in the room immigrated the legal way, some of them caught in a decade of paperwork and red tape. They earned their citizenship and are deeply resentful of those who cheat the process.
I did have a moment with Fred, after he tasted some authentic Cuban pastries. When we spoke, I held in my hand a blue metal bracelet made in support of the three Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped over a year ago, and who remain in terrorist hands. It has their names, and the words "Free Our Soldiers" on it.
He looked directly into my eyes, as I said "I have a gift for you Senator Thompson, from South Florida's Jewish Community." and I showed him the bracelet. He looked down and I'm sure he could see clearly what it said. I expected him to take it from my hands, and instead, he held out his arm in invitation, and I placed the bracelet on his wrist with my own hands. He thanked me, and that was that.
It you look closely... since you know its there, you can just barely make out the bracelet on Senator Thompson's left wrist, next to his watch, while he's joking on the bus...
I was thrilled to be there, to stand face to face with Fred Thompson, to look into his eyes, and place that gift on his wrist. I came away with very positive feelings. It was a moment of class, dignity and friendship for the Jewish people, and one I will never, ever forget.
Since SondraK threw this out there, I guess I will too:
Yours truly, on the right, center. I'm the lady without the scowl. I had a front row seat! (Sorry we missed each other Vince!)
Posted by LindaSoG at September 15, 2007 07:44 PM
Comments
Hey Linda-
I was there too- the video(s) at Blogs for Thompson of the event at Versaille are the ones I uploaded! I didn't see an attractive Jewish lady on hand there, though- it's too bad I didn't see you and say hello- it was such as small crowd there.
Posted by: Vince at September 16, 2007 02:34 PM
Linda-
Check out the following video - you can see the back of my head- im the guy in the blue shirt in the middle of the room. Where were you in relation to me?
Posted by: Vince at September 16, 2007 02:44 PM
Vince, I was in the front row, one seat away from the wall. I updated the post with a picture. I'm so sorry we missed you. Great video you got there, thank you for doing it!
Posted by: LindaSoG at September 16, 2007 02:57 PM
Sheesh, i can't believe how close we were. I saw all those AARPers and their red shirts in front of me, and I didn't see you. Believe it or not, I actually was keeping an eye out for either you or Val Prieto from BabaluBlog! One of these days we gotta say hello somehwere. I am a regular contributor over at BlogsforThompson, and we have a real groundswell going here for Fred.
Posted by: Vince at September 16, 2007 03:16 PM
I saw Val, he was in the same row as I was, but on the opposite side of the room, near the door. We didn't speak to each other though.
Blogs for Thompson is doing a great job, I'm glad to know you're a part of that.
and yes, one of these days, we have to say hello.
Posted by: LindaSoG at September 16, 2007 03:22 PM