Bloggers - Congressman John Conyers made an unscheduled drop by at Democratic News Service offices this afternoon. We couldn't find anyone who could make it down from Blogger Boulevard in time to join the conversation, so we cobbled together a few questions on our own. Below is the transcript of our conversation. You are invited to quote, comment or whatever else you like on your blogs, if desired. We will forward along pictures as soon as they are downloaded. Thanks. CHAT WITH CONGRESSMAN JOHN CONYERS Q: A lot of people have commented that this Convention is more unified than any in recent memory, and that there is little or no criticism of the President. What do you think? Congressman John Conyers: When we have a convention that is absent of very sharp focused controversy, we mistakenly term that unified Ð that is not necessarily the case. It is kind of a love-in. There have been no walk outs. Nobody is threatening anybody. The reason for this: it is clearly perceived, with all of the literature and observations that have been collected over the last year that the president is taking us down a very dangerous path, and one that will diminish our constitutional securities. Arguably, the more you diminish our rights fighting terrorism, the more you are playing into terrorism's hands. So what we are really seeing is that a lot of diverse people with different views and different backgrounds and different heritages are coming together to take out a President. I think the bumper sticker said it best: We have to re-defeat George Bush. Q: The theme of this convention is largely based around foreign policy. Are there clear differences between John Kerry and the President on Foreign Policy. Congressman John Conyers: Well, I think you will see there are when John Kerry's foreign policy is articulated in about six hours. Kerry is battle tested. The most we can say about George Bush's National Guard service is that he picked up his paycheck and he went to the dentist twice. Whether he was even there is debatable. As a military veteran myself, it is hard to image you could be participating meaningfully in a group military endeavor and there is nobody around that even knows you were there. To tell me that his service is un-documentable is a real stretch. So we are dealing with a person who has been in battle, who is decorated all over the place, who has saved lives, who has people who are right here to tell their stories Ð that's the Kerry they need to see tonight, not a cautious Kerry, a bold Kerry that can make the decisions to defend this country much better than the current President. It is very clear we went into Iraq with bad information. I think the average high school student could have figured that out. Did they want to take Saddam Hussein out? I think that's pretty clear. They weren't waiting for 9/11. And besides, 9/11 hasn't ever been connected to Iraq. Q: Rudy Guiliani criticized Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards for their absence from the national security task force meetings. Congressman John Conyers: You have to see them to explain what they were doing that they figured was more important than being at the meetings. This is something Members of Congress have to decide every day Ð I have no more control over things than any other human being on the planet, I can only be in one place at one time. Where I am depends on what I have to do, how much I value being somewhere else. Would Mr. Guiliani have anything nicer to say about our candidates if they had attended all the meetings? He'd be criticizing Kerry's hair-do, or something. That's the give and take in politics. We have to knock the other team. But telling me that their attendance, which I don't know the value of, affected their ability to be strong leaders is incomplete. I don't not attend meetings because I am trying to snub the meeting, its just because I had something that I thought was more important at the time. So I don't think it will impact the way people view them, or their credibility. The way we can tell is to look at their statements and their platform, not to look at how many meetings they attend. Q: In Fahrenheit 911, you offered some very frank comments about Congress and the legislative process. What do you think about what the public learns/understands about how the process works, and how a movie like Fahrenheit 911 can impact that? Congressman John Conyers: This is the most successful documentary ever. Will it impact the presidential elections? Of course it will. I've heard of people seeing it three or four times. I have been at theaters where the whole audience stood up and applauded. My 8-year old son, who is a super jock, cried when he saw the movie. I knew then it would be powerful, and important.