OK – Kiss My Gumbo is a lighthearted blog, a bunch of fun, eclectic and upbeat. Hey, I’m the freaking Princess of Positive…right? I spew my politics elsewhere, yes I do have some strong opinions, but am very fair and play politics nicely and you’d have to go find that stuff (not too hard if you Google me). Just because I have a blog on NOLA.com and a fairly popular Louisiana blog, people are starting to take notice of the Princess (yay for me – it ain’t like I don’t bust my butt to write every day). I am extremely grateful to anyone who reads my blog because my audience is my inspiration. Blablablablablabla…get on with the point of this post Greta.

So…a few weeks ago, yours truly, was contacted by the media department for Policy Link , a group that was hosting the Regional Equity Summit of 08 taking place in New Orleans. They asked me if I would like to blog about it and maybe contribute to their site. We agreed I would Liveblog (you can read the transcripts here) the big luncheon with Danny Glover and the panel who were promoting and discussing the film Trouble the Water. Sounds great. I know I probably would not be in like-minded political company, but who doesn’t agree that poverty and equality are important issues. I’ll show up with my laptop and an open mind. And yes, NOLA.com gave me lots of love today (thanks). The people from Policy Link were very welcoming to me and had to pay $250 so I could get wired during the talk. Hey, they were getting front page NOLA.com billing and that ain’t too bad for that kind of money (PR is PR right?).

Judith Bell, the President of Policy Link, opened up the luncheon and introduced the panel to include: Danny Glover (executive producer), Tia Lesson & Carl Deal (directed & produced the film and they also worked on some Michael Moore movies – so you know where the agenda with this is going now), Kimberly Rivers Roberts (the star of the movie and recording artist of some sort) & her husband Scott Roberts.

They all talked about the movie and their role in it and then we watched about a 10 minute segment of the movie. Well, the nice salad I had sort-of digested, quickly became a vomit taste in my mouth as I watched the far left propaganda spewed in this film. The military were portrayed in a very negative light and many jabs were taken at the President. The crowd applauded at many of these clips (even more disturbing). I was liveblogging away and trying to be real kind, but honestly, it got too much for this camper. I was extremely insulted and pissed off by the time the movie was over and almost walked out. But, I’ll tough it out and hang for the discussion. Then time for more panel discussion and comments and questions from the audience. Phew I made it and left as fast as I could! Exit stage left (but not before I got a few ears to chew on).

My observations:
* this movie will be used and pushed as a catalyst to open discussion in all communities, schools (not my kids school that you can bet on) and places of worship across the US
* this movie has a far-left wing agenda and was not just a pure Blair Witch style movie about 2 folks after the storm (though many would disagree)
* for some reason (not known to me), the stars of this movie chose not to evacuate
* Kimberly, the star from the Lower 9th Ward who did not have a High School diploma, went to Memphis after the storm and realized she couldn’t get a good paying job without a diploma and came back here with her husband
* the release of the timing of this film will be late Summer or Early Fall to coincide with the elections
* the gist of the panel was that NOLA should not outsource their help, but hire people from here (like there aren’t a million Help Wanted signs up)
* Kimberly feels that with good education and training the Latinos would not take many of the service industry jobs from locals, even though she is thankful they have helped rebuild her city
* Danny Glover believes in Unions for service workers
* Kim and her husband are just 2 regular folks who went through 2 weeks after the storm with a camera and will benefit from this film (they have a new beautiful baby daughter – congrats)
* though a non-partisan group, Policy Link who gave the movie a forum, is keeping some company I think would not help their cause

I spoke to Judith Bell, The President of Policy Link after the film. She apologized that I was so offended and took my card. Here is what I told her:
* as a wife of a soldier who just returned from Iraq and left for 3 months of Rita, I was appalled with the gist of the movie
* I was insulted
* there are better ways to promote your cause, than to latch onto a movie that insults the President and the military (and I only saw 10 minutes of this film)
* I would protest if this film was going to be shown in my child’s school – it was an insult to their dad’s service

I’ll end this by saying, that when I discuss politics, I do not attack groups of people with whom I disagree (that sets me apart from many political bloggers), never have, never will. I may poke fun at an occasional public figure, but all in fun and not in a hateful manner. You get more flies with honey than vinegar, is my motto. If you are promoting a cause, it is best to be very careful of the company you keep. Recently I was contacted by another far-left organization who sent me an e-mail attacking the “right” but wanted me to help promote their cause. I e-mailed the very prominent author of the e-mail back that I did not think it was in the best interest of his cause to insult people while trying to gain new members. He ended up agreeing with me. I will not fault any grass-roots organization or people for trying to make their Country better, we are Americans, that is what we do. I just have a huge problem with insulting others along the way. I can’t even stand the mud-slinging that goes on during campaigns…but does anybody really like that stuff?

Tomorrow I’ll be back to fun and entertaining Kiss My Gumbo – promise! As always, you can read this post on my personal blog with lots of Lagniappe or NOLA.com. Kiss My Gumbo Readers rock!