What a Bash!(Editor's Note) (Editorial)

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew

Subscribers came all the way from Hawaii. They came from California, Oregon, and Washington, too. They came from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Montana. And from Georgia and North Carolina and Virginia and Tennessee. They came from almost every state in the Northeast and Midwest.

All to attend our 100th anniversary conference and celebration in Madison, "The Progressive Movement, Then and Now."

It was a thrilling weekend, kicked off by a benefit concert with Dar Williams, the Indigo Girls, and Ani DiFranco, among other rollicking performers. For the encore, DiFranco led the ensemble in an updated version of "Which Side Are You On?" The sold-out audience of 1,500 people was on its feet.

The conference itself featured one amazing speaker after another.

Naomi Klein spoke about the current economic system not as "boom and bust" but "boom and bail."

Jim Hightower got the crowd to laugh about the distinction between being "naked" and "nekked" (you're having more fun in the latter condition, he assured us). Then he made a serious point about the need for a genuine populist revolt against the plutocrats, a point that Barbara Ehrenreich echoed.

Luis Rodríguez talked about the indoctrination we've got to overcome on issues of race and immigration. "You know the odd thing about the cowboys and Indians story? The original cowboys," he said, "were Indians."

Cindy Sheehan spoke from the heart about the evil that is war, urging us not to let any other sons or daughters be sacrificed on the altar of militarism.

Katha Pollitt demonstrated how much progress the progressive movement has made over the years, especially on women's rights. (She also deftly handled a question from someone from Feminists for Life.)

Representatives Dennis Kucinich and Marcy Kaptur denounced unfair trade and the bank bailouts, and they stressed the need to...