>> thank you. let's hear it for the band. [applause] >> thank you. let's hear it for the band. [applause] welcome, everybody. once again, i have the honor of being your master of ceremonies for the annual lighting of the

snowflakes on market street. great event. i love being part of it. good to have you with us. i should point out that we just saw a spectacular light show under the dome over west field center. you probably have not seen it because we are the first to see it. you should get over there and see it during your holiday shopping. tonight, we have the dancing snowflakes from the san francisco ballet school. they are currently preparing for the annual performances of the "nutcracker" at the san francisco opera house. here's something you may or may not know -- san francisco was the first city in the country to premiere the "nutcracker" in 1944. the san francisco ballet is america's first professional ballet company. how about that? [applause] in a few minutes, we will have the snowflake lighting, but first, i want to bring up to say a few words someone who has been instrumental in putting this event together.

he is the director of the department of public works here in san francisco. [applause] >> thank you all for coming out. we are very happy to join all the businesses along with all the other city agencies to continue to improve and improve the quality of market street. four years in a row, we have been adding a few blocks in a time, and step-by-step, we will get all the way to the castro. i am very happy for this event, and i look forward to all the lights coming on. happy holidays. >> don't you love short speeches? i did the best? another instrumental person in putting this together is the public facilities commissioner. >> thank you. this will be short also. we do the street lights in san francisco. it is wonderful to join downtown and like the street up and be part of the community.

it is great. hetch hetchy green power lighting up the street. have a wonderful holiday. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. now, joining us i think for the first time for this event is mayor ed lee. mayor lee: thank you. i will be short, too, because i am. happy holidays, everybody. i want to especially thank these beautiful snowflakes. aren't they wonderful? i wanted to be on time because i know i have a lot more closing than they do. i wanted that iqbal dpw and our puc director -- i wanted to thank our dpw and puc directors. we have increased this netflix by an additional 20. there's a total of 162 snowflakes on our wonderful

market street. we have some 81 leptos that are covered. we're going to continue expanding this every year we get more participation. i want to especially thank market street as well. we also want to signal that we are seeing changes along our market street happened. this is a commitment that i have made. not only the campaign, well before running for this mayor ship, i was proud to participate in all the changes the former mayor did to signal that we want our businesses here on market street as well. you are going to see in the next few months twitter. you're going to see zendesk. you are going to see burning man come aboard. the companies we have asked not only to start here but to stay and grow. all these wonderful companies creating fantastic jobs will join the events we have all along our great market street. you will see united nations

plaza with its wonderful market parts -- arts festival starting out through mid december and there will be joined by so many events. i want to thank everyone for coming tonight. spencer, with that, are we ready? are we ready for a count of? >> i think we are ready. we want all of you for joining us. i want to thank the participants once more because once we do the countdown, you may not be able to see them. thank you very much. we are going to start the countdown. are you ready to join us? >> 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 >> like the snowflakes -- light these netflix. >> here we go. [applause] >> happy holidays, everybody.

-- light the snowflakes. >> good evening. welcome to tonight's meeting of the commonwealth club of california.

i am your moderator for today's program. it is my distinct pleasure to introduce today's special guest. rush limbaugh. [laughter] hang on. i agree with rush that katrina is a force of nature oherself. none of the destructive capabilities, but a great deal of power. she brings a driving passion into her work. the flame has gotten brighter of late. we will talk about the progress of perspective -- progressive perspective. little seems to have become toxic and passe -- liberal seems to have become toxic and passe

at the same time. a few years ago, the proposition we have to defend was "good riddance to mainstream media." we each had an interest in this. katrina made our case forcefully. she did it without a hint of an edge or snarky humor or even questionable taste. twe won and were not shy about celebrating. we were exuberant celebrators. the sense of grace combined with her intensity and style.

in a world of kardashians and other circus acts in the media, she is a giant gusts of intelligence and class. it makes me feel old to say this, but i know her mom, and equally fascinating woman, a great writer. her grandfather founded the music corporation of america that defined culture and music today. having said that about her mother, i feel i should balance that by saying i cannot count on my fingers and toes together all of the otherwise party intellectuals and regular people who have confided [unintelligible] [laughter] i am wondering. she is the editor and publisher of "the nation."

she is summa cum laude from princeton. she is here with her first collection, "fighting for progress in the age of obama." i do not always agree with her personally when it comes to politics. we are here to find out from katrina how we're going to save the world with barack obama. let's start there. [laughter] >> i do not know how you learned by worked at national lampoon. saving the world. let me begin by saying how low they must be to go that low in

new orleans. i would not put in the same sentence president obama and saving the world. it is very much about movements and the power in our history to bring about a fundamental change. you do need people inside, political leaders inside. it captures the imagination of the nation. through the turbulent history, it has been movement and the power of movements. franklin roosevelt was moved by later movements.

lyndon johnson had the civil rights movement. i think we begin with that. this book comes out at a moment when the country sees the power and possibility of occupy, 99%, and how that has shifted. it is still evolving. it has shifted the center of political gravity of our dialogue. the issue has been off the radar for so long. >> roosevelt surfed and harnessed those movements. he used them to get legislation passed to initiate programs. obama is still getting on his wet suit. to read the essay she wrote in 2008, there was a sense of exhibits -- exuberance.

you say that hope is not optimism that expects things to turn out well. it seems like he confused those two things. >> i will come back to what i write about in the book. the expectations were so great and high. go back to 2008. the back to the election and year when we are fortunate region were fortunate enough to be living with debates that were not cruel reality shows. every week, there were debates among the democratic candidates. barack obama embodied change. it seemed he brought into politics a generation of young people and minorities who never thought of the electoral system as a vehicle for change. so many people saw in him the possibility of change that would

come quickly. my sense is that it is so corroded that we need to take back a government that has been rigged against working people, ordinary people, the poor. we need to understand it will take more than one election cycle to bring about fundamental change in this country. it will take wind at the back of the president and political system to bring about change. president obama -- this is not a political time when roosevelt lived in. the labor movements are not as strong. today there was a story about the tea party move -- losing its

mojo. we're seeing overreach that has led people to this tipping point moment where millions of people have said enough. the obscene inequality in this country colliding with downward mobility that people feel in their gut, they see it among their family and friends. that has led to this moment where there is the possibility of space. organizers can move into it. we could see some real change. it will not come about through just one leader. >> it helps to have a leader who is effective. >> in traveling with the book, i am reminded about what candidate obamas said when he said i am a

were shocked -- rorshack. people bring to him their views of the country, their anger and pain. feel he has done what he could in a system where you have a republican party that was determined to take him down. they did not want to govern with him. my sense is that he wanted to bring a different kind of politics to the country because of the nature of who he is. you come into washington and want to play kumba ya politics. you look in the eyes of mitch mcconnell, jim demenint, and realize they are out to take you down. you need a plan be.

there was no plan b. there was not a. it. -- there was not a pivot. he had extraordinary skills as a speaker during the campaign. he moved this country, millions of people. he angered millions and made them think he was a socialist and other matters. but he has not used those skills in a consistent, powerful way to tell a narrative about the challenges, what the country is going through, and where he is taking the country. by playing on the republican field of deficits and debts instead of joblessness or say we're all trying to compromise, you make people feel everyone is equally involved in a gridlock that has led to a point where congress has a lower popularity

rating than the banks. that is a feat. 9%. it is dropping even though there are good people inside the congress. there is a progressive congress. they put out a people's budget. bernie sanders has exposed the fed giving out trillions of dollars in addition to the tarp bailout. >> barney frank has taken a hike. >> that is worth talking about. you see in this congress michele bachmann and michele bachmann one of these -- wannabe's. there are fights about redistricting. >> use of the one strength the president obama, his rhetorical skill, is not sufficient. >> it has not been used at the scale necessary in this time of

crisis. america is in a crossroads. this is a moment comparable to coming out of the great depression. this was a moment coming out of the financial crisis when tectonic shifts are under way in this country. hope is not a policy. policy is a wonky word. hope needs a story, a narrative. here is what is going on in this country. president obama now is speaking more forcefully about what he wants to do it and against smoking out those who are obstructing. this is really wonky. anyway, i think one of the most exciting things