Bakersfield

The Iranian election of last week has captivated millions around the world - including many of us here in Kern county. What a great topic of discussion for our next Drinking Liberally, which just happens to be tomorrow night, 6PM at Cataldo's!

If you haven't been to a meeting before, or haven't come in a while, we'd love to have you join us for friendly conversation, good food and good beverages with like-minded individuals.

I'd like to also take a moment to address some concerns that have been brought to my attention in recent meetings. There has been some confusion as to how our local chapter of Drinking Liberally operates. This email should clarify things:

We market ourselves on being an all-inclusive group, and we want to welcome everyone who wishes to partake in discussion; however, we have an unwritten rule that said discussion should be respectful to others. We are not debate club. We gather together to exchange ideas in a respectful manner. We gather together to enjoy each others company.

A few meetings back, we had a few guests who did not fully understand how the group works, and I think that led to some ultimate confusion and even made some people uncomfortable. Discussion became more like a heated debate for the sake of argument, instead of friendly dialog. Please note that those individuals are not an example of who we are or what we do. While we encourage everyone to attend, our chapter of Drinking Liberally won't always fit with everyone.

With that being said, I still would like to welcome and encourage all who feel that our group is a good fit for them - we are here to make friends!

~Andrew