The set is complete.

So, obviously, I went to the Bill Clinton event last night in downtown Halifax. it was very interesting and informative. There was first a 20-minute speech by former Canadian Ambassador to the US Frank McKenna, followed by about an hour and a half speech by President Clinton. That was followed by about an hour of Q&A from Frank to Bill. I learned a good deal about the current and historical states of economic, trade, and political relations between the two countries. For example, I learned that the US does more trade with Canada across one bridge (the Windsor/Detroit bridge) than with the entire country of Japan throughout the course of a year. I also learned that Halifax has been visited 5 times by a sitting US President. And Clinton is 2 of them. Dubya, Gerald Ford and John Quincy Adams are the others.

Frank asked some tough questions and Bill gave heart-felt, direct answers. Much of both the speech and the Q&A centered on various war activities that the two countries are engaged in at the moment. But, there were some diversions, too. At one point, Frank asked Bill what he thought of Sunday shopping in Nova Scotia. Bill seemed a little surprised that Nova Scotia is the last state/province in North America to ban shopping on Sundays. He said that it would just prevent him from doing his best to add to the economy because he likes to shop when he goes places. He does it for Hillary (or so he says. Hee.) He also asked if Hillary would run for president and if she did, would she win. Clinton remarked that the most important thing he'd learned in all his time in politics is to never look past the current election or there won't be a next election. And since she's in the midst of running for re-election as a Senator from New York, she hasn't decided if she will run for president or not. He then said that when he was in office, the Right Wing Conservatives demonized only one person more than Bill himself, and that was Hillary (which he pointed out was a good thing because it showed that they are afraid of her. As well they should be.) Add that to the fact that we have never had a woman president, he said it would be a tough battle to win. BUT, if she did win, he's confident that she would make an excellent president because she has the perfect blend of brains and heart.

I couldn't agree more.

Anyway, the most interesting thing that happened the entire night happened long before Clinton even came out on stage: There was ZERO security to get into the building. No metal detectors. No frisking. Not even one Secret Service guy posted at any entrance. I found that odd, to be sure.

Well anyway, I had a great time. And now I've seen both Bill and Hillary speak, so that makes me happy.