WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON

Two nights ago I had the unprecedented privilege of watching Bill mesmerize an entire audience at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion here in downtown Los Angeles. I think there is no better way to restart my blogging activities than to describe the experience here.

This is a man who is in full control of his faculties and of the impact he has on his surroundings. It is impressive to see how he conducts himself in front of a packed house, even though Angelenos are not that hard to please (let's face it: all you need to do in LaLa Land is to be some sort of celebrity for people to clap at every comment you make etc). And that is yet another discussion anyway - were the people there to hear what he has to say, or to just catch a glimpse of the honorable Bill?

In any case, Bill fulfilled my expectations and more. He truly has all the charisma people say he has. His oratory is impeccable. He never once lost himself in his thoughts, never once stumbled upon his words, and made sure to say nuclear as opposed to "nukelar" - a reminder of better days, I must say.

In terms of audience again, Bill had most of the work cut out for him - they love him unconditionally, cheering, clapping, laughing etc. There was a funny camaraderie among us listeners, as if we were all long lost friends who found the way back home and to each other through Bill. The woman sitting beside me tried very hard to engage in whispering conversation - conversation which could basically be summarized into her nodding in approval to every comment Bill made followed by remarks such as "that's right", "yes", "don't we miss him?".

It is true - as corny as it may sound, we all missed him terribly that night. Bill and El Presidente are certainly as different as two men can ever get, and this is all the more obvious when one hears them speak. Another world, another era, another galaxy.

Bill opened up by asking us to think throughout the night about our personal role in our community, city, state, country. He then went on to establish that one does not need to be a "political actor" (interesting term) in order to contribute in some level to the politics of his area. Because according to him, politics is what determines our lives as individuals who are part of a larger community, e.g. the world. And as examples of people who are not political actors but still find ways in which to contribute, he mentioned Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono.

His topics ranged from global warming to HIV/AIDS to obesity (as in the underlying cause for thousands of deaths in the United States through diabetes and heart disease) to global economy to a nuclear Iran to the war in Iraq to his wife's political campaign (and its impact on himself) and much more.

He carried himself with the utmost elegance and yet he was warm and personable; he was coherent and witty - in sum, delightful. And the mark of a perfect orator - he came across as absolutely sincere and passionate about every single topic he covered. He was extremely comfortable on that stage.

I wonder if his comfort level has to do with the fact that he is not president anymore. But on second thought, I don't think he was any less comfortable while president. Because Bill, unlike El Presidente, is no black-and-white type of man. It is the lack of rigidity that makes him so much more accessible and so much more believable than El Presidente will ever be. Bill's flexibility makes him a man before anything else, and El Presidente's lack of the same makes him the joke he unfortunately is.

Next week, I will be in the audience again, this time listening to what General Colin Powell has to say. You can get more info about the Music Center Speaker Series here.