Arnold and Oprah

I was one of about 100 men at the Long Beach Convention Center today; nothing extraordinary about that, except that there were 10,400 women there, attending the Governor's Conference on Women and Families. Sad to think what the turnout might have been for the Governor's Conference on Men and Families.

I was there helping my wife, who had a booth for her film on the dangers of designer drugs.

Arnold was in fine form. Nurses were protesting state budget cuts and could be heard outside as he spoke. He just said, "Don't pay any attention to them, they're just a special interest group and they're mad at me because I kicked their butts." The crowd cheered, and the nurses went away. It's nice having a governor who can do things like that.

Oprah, I have to admit, surprised me. The speech itself was a basic "you go girl" pep talk, and was outstanding for what it was. But what really impressed me is that she drew quite a lot from her memories of church, quoted the Bible frequently, and spoke openly about how every morning she asks God (the word she used, not one of the many available New Age alternatives) to use her. It is nice to hear language like that from someone who obviously was so deeply respected by the thousands of women who were hanging on every word.