Second 2016 Presidential Debate Tonight In St. Louis

The first 2016 presidential debate between Sec. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at Hofstra University broke a viewing record that had stood since the 1980 Carter-Reagan debate.

Over 84 million people watched Hillary Clinton win that one after Trump self destructed, and thanks to Trump's reprehensible 2005 remarks about groping women into a hot mic that was all over the news Friday, the one in St Louis later tonight may break that record.

The second presidential debate on the Washington University campus, and will be a town hall format moderated by ABC's Martha Raddatz and CNN's Anderson Cooper.

The questions will be asked by the debate audience.   And with Trump's poll numbers sinking, his campaign teetering on the brink of collapse, and the Republicans now calling for him to step down from the top of the ticket, in the wake of his latest self inflicted campaign wound,  this one could be 90 minutes of ugliness as trump tried to salvage his campaign.

Meanwhile Clinton was prepping for the debate tonight as the political firestorm engulfed the Trump campaign that threatens to immolate it with 29 days to go to Election Day and early voting already taking place in several states.

The debate will be simulcast across cable and network TV starting at 8 PM CDT, so you can pick your fave between ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, MSNBC, FOX Noise, FOX Business, Univision, Telemundo, or C-SPAN.

We'll see how this one turns out.  It'll also be interesting to see what questions get asked over the 90 minutes this debate is being televised.

#NN16 Opening Day

Today is the opening day for the 2016 edition of Netroots Nation, and because of the pre conference event I took part in yesterday, I already have my conference badge, Thursday panel discussion matrix and conference booklet..


Some of the interesting things on the agenda for today is a screening of `Free CeCe`starting at 10:30 AM.   There`s a 1 PM panel  discussing Religious Exemptions and the Bathroom Panic and how to defeat them, and the inagural keynote by the This Week In Blackness (TWIB)  radio team

And as always, if you peeps see me in the halls or different panel discusssions, don't be shy, say hi

#NN16 Pre-Conference Events

Already in bed getting my beauty sleep so that I can get my behind up and head across the street for the pre-conference event that will be starting at 9 AM   I'm part of a Netroots Connect leadership Meeting, and there are other preconference events happening before the conference kicks off tomorrow.

Please check out the #NN16 hashtag for the tweets of various conference attendees like myself.

The schedule of panels and seminars is jam packed with topics that are sure to interest everyone from budding activists trying to figure out what their activism platform is to the seasoned veteran honing their skills and updating their information base and networking contacts

Then there are people who will take advantage of this day before the conference starts to either connect with old friends, make new ones or see the tourist sights in the host city/  We're a few blocks for the Gateway Arch and the National Blues Museum just for starters.

But then again, nothing wrong with hanging out with your friends, either..

The Air Marshal Has Arrived In St Louis!

After a flight from Hobby to.St Louis via Dallas that found me delayed at Love Field because of the arrival of the POTUS and FLOTUS for a major speech and having a bumpier than I liked trip from Dallas to St Louis, I'm now settled into my downtown Show Me State hotel room, have my computer set up and I`m calling Mom to let her know her eldest child/ made it,.

I'm now getting ready after unwinding from that interesting to say the least travel day to attend my second Netroots Nation conference and my first since 2012.

Well, I wasn't too disappointed in the Love Field delay.  I got to see Air Force One make a wide sweeping turn into the Love Field landing pattern and majestically land, trailed by two Secret Service security vehicles while taxiing over to the private aviation area at that airport,

And because of the ground stop, I had time to head over to the airport Whataburger location and destroy one for lunch.  

I also discovered to my delight that St. Louis has a 46 mile two line (Red and Blue) Metrolink light rail line running from the airport to downtown and across the Mississippi River to the East St. Louis Illinois side of the St Louis metro area.

Hey hometown, how about we make the same thing happen that St Louis has done since 1993 and extend our MetroRail to IAH and Hobby?

I have been wanting to come back to Netroots since the 2012 NN event I attended in Providence, and the panel I participated in.  My schedule since 2012 hasn't allowed that to be possible until now.  It's also cool and ironic I'm  a mere 260 miles west of Louisville as I do so.

(Turning eastward and waving towards Da Ville)

I'm here in St Louis on Tuesday because at the St Louis America's Convention Center tomorrow there's a #NN16 pre-conference event happening in which the organizers of it wanted me in the room as part of it.  ,

Looking forward to seeing what transpires, and I'll find out if the stuff we discuss tomorrow starting at 9 AM CDT is on or off the record.

At any rate, will do my best to tweet, comment on my FB page and write about what's happening while I'm there at Netroots Nation repping my community, my hometown and the organizations whose boards I sit on.  

In the meantime, as you watch for my commentary, you can also check out the Netroots Nation website for webcasts, stories and blog posts, and follow the #NN16 hashtag on Twitter just for starters.

I also have a Saturday panel discussion I'll be participating in at 1:30 PM entitled #TalkingWhileBlack: Recognizing and Confronting Racism In The LGBTQ Community.  Should be a fun conversation with me Faith Cheltenham and Ashton Woods being just some of the peeps on that panel.

I'm also planning to pop my head into non-LGBTQ spaces and making my unapologetic Black trans voice heard, and may swing by the radio podcast area before I'm done and heading back to Texas

Perusing the schedule overview now and trying to figure out what seminars and panels I'm going to attend when the conference starts Thursday, and hope #NN16 is as positive an experience for me as the 2012 edition was.

We'll see how that plays out in a few hours.

Moni's Headed To Netroots Nation 2016!

Wasn't expecting to be able to go this year, but it worked out for me and I will now be part of the #NN16 crowd wandering the America's Center Convention Complex in downtown St Louis for this year's edition of Netroots Nation.

This will be my second one after a four year absence from my inaugural one in Providence in which I was part of the historic all-trans Blogging For Transgender Equality panel.  

It was an overall positive experience for me.  I ended up during my time at #NN12 doing two radio interviews on This Week In Blackness (TWIB) and Michaelangelo Signorile's show and meeting a lot of people in the national liberal-progressive movement that i still converse with to this day.

And just as I did during #NN12, I'm not just going to hang out in my LGBT community comfort zone.  I'm planning on hitting some panels geared toward the Black community and letting my unapologetic Black trans voice be heard in those spaces as well.

We'll see what happen next week, but I'm looking forward to going.