I had the opportunity today to spend 30 minutes shooting questions at Congressman Keith Ellison, who was back in his district office after touring the Middle East with Speaker Pelosi.

Since I was doing the interview on behalf of an Israeli magazine, we talked a lot about Middle East peace, the situation in Iraq, inter-religious dialogue, etc.

Some off-the-cuff observations way in advance of the actual story:

1) He’s a pretty anti-authoritarian guy to be in a post of such authority. His pro-impeachment (i.e. investigation prior to removal) and anti-Iraq War stances bristle with an interest in challenging the status quo.

2) He’s not much of a glad-hander. He’s very focused and to the point.

3) He’s one of the most skilled advocates of inter-religious understanding and discussion that I’ve bumped into. We could certainly use a little more of that out on the international stage.

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