Conservative Political Action Conference

The Conflict Among Conservatives And Within The Conservative Movement

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Conservatives argue that they are for smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation, freedom and liberty.

They don’t like any type of economic regulation or redistribution of wealth.

And yet when push comes to shove, they are very willing to raise taxes on the average person and redistribute wealth to the top two percent, and destroy the middle class by their policies! 🙁

They are for freedom and liberty, and yet believe in a security state which can bug and wiretap everyone through the Patriot Act, and deny people privacy as to their library borrowing and bookstore purchases! 🙁

They are very willing to interfere in people’s social lives, including denying gays the basic freedom to serve in the military and marry the person they love; deny a woman the right to control her own body, even if a pregnancy is dangerous to her health; and impose religion on the population through promotion of a sectarian Christian prayer in public schools! 🙁

Even libertarian conservatives such as Rand Paul claim to want smaller government, and yet want to outlaw abortions from conception of the fetus, which is certainly government intrusion in private lives! 🙁

Conservatism claims to believe in individual rights, and yet constantly interferes with such rights in so many ways.

Conservatives wish to destroy the social safety net which has been with us since the New Deal of the 1930s, and this would create more poverty and deprivation and redistribute wealth further to the elite rich, and they have no conscience at all in doing this!

The Conservative Political Action Conference this Thursday to Saturday will showcase many of the potential GOP Presidential candidates, many of which conflict with each other about these different, competing and contradictory strands of the conservative movement.

With one year to go to the Iowa caucuses next February 6, most of the Republican aspirants for the White House shall appear and make speeches at CPAC, including Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, John Thune, Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour and Ron Paul.

But because of supposed scheduling conflicts, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin are not attending, which is very odd, as if they really wanted to attend this event in Washington, DC, they would find a way!

The competition among the attendees to win the straw poll vote and to appeal to the conflicting wings of the conservative movement should be very fascinating to watch this weekend! 🙂

The Conflict On Gay Rights Among Conservatives: Creating Splits That Will Damage The Right Wing!

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This coming week will see the gathering of the largest conservative advocacy group–CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference–in Washington, DC.

A long list of co-sponsors of the conference include the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the National Rifle Association, and Americans For Tax Reform, along with over a hundred more organizations and movements.

But several major conservative organizations tied to the Religious Right are boycotting the gathering over the issue of same sex marriage, including the Liberty Counsel and the Family Research Council.

The villain in their minds is the grouo GOProud, a movement of gay conservatives, the second major gay Republican group, along with the Log Cabin Republicans.

GOProud beieves in limited government, individual liberty, free market economic principles, and a strong national defense, all strongly conservative beliefs, but the gay aspect of their group simply is unacceptable to social conservatives.

There will be about ten thousand participants in the CPAC gathering, and several potential GOP presidential candidates will be speaking, but the fact that a gay organization is a co-sponsor of the gathering is causing a split which can affect the whole conservative movement and the Republican Party in 2012 and beyond.

If the split lasts, that can only help the Democrats and Barack Obama, and only add to the GOP being the party which rejects gays, as well as Hispanics, not a winning vision for the long term future!

Glenn Beck Rewrites American History: The Big Lie Technique!

Ronald 10 Comments

Conservative Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck gave the keynote address last evening at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC, and in so doing, he rewrote American history, creating his own distorted, warped view of the past.

Anyone who teaches or is a scholar of American history needs to condemn what he has done, as the use of lies and deception and false statistics to mislead the American people!

What did Glenn Beck have to say? Well, according to him, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt were villains, while Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Ronald Reagan were heroes! The recession of 1920 was worse than the Great Depression of 1929 in the sense of economic statistics, but Harding and Coolidge saved the day, while Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt destroyed the economy and made things worse!

US involvement in World War I and World War II was wrong, as international involvement was not necessary, as we could retreat from the world and stop caring what other nations think and do!

The real culprit is Progressivism and Liberalism according to Beck. It all began with Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, who decided that “big government” and “international cooperation” were essential. It continued under Herbert Hoover, who was a Progressive according to Hoover, and made worse by the ultimate Progressive and Liberal, Franklin D. Roosevelt!

Under Warren G. Harding and particularly Calvin Coolidge, the middle class became the largest in history it has ever been, according to Beck. Ronald Reagan knew his history, Beck declares, when he said Coolidge was his favorite President in the sense of economic success!

All of the above is totally whacko! The vast number of historians and scholars accept, of course, that ALL presidents have their definite shortcomings, blunders, and weaknesses, and a true historical assessment always balances pro and con. Certainly, this author accepts that one must understand the complexity of Presidential personalities and deeds and statements.

But, it is a fact that Theodore Roosevelt is rated in most polls Number 4 among Presidents; Woodrow Wilson is rated a little lower down in the top ten of Presidents; Franklin D. Roosevelt is rated Number 2 or 3 among all Presidents; and Herbert Hoover is rated as being a Conservative, not a Progressive, and as either a failure, or certainly below average in his time in the Presidency.

Warren G. Harding is rated a failure in the White House, in the bottom five; Calvin Coolidge is rated at best as below average, sometimes below Hoover and sometimes just above Hoover, as he is blamed for the economic policies that caused the Great Depression, while Hoover is primarily blamed for slow reaction to the reality of the Depression.

Wilson and FDR had to take us into World Wars I and II, as Germany in both wars and Japan in the Second World War were real threats to our national security. Certainly, however, neither one rushed to take us to war, but events forced the issue.

To say that the Recession of 1920 was worse in many ways than the early days of the Great Depression is a mind boggling statement that has never been enunciated by any serious economist or historian!

Ronald Reagan is rated as above average by historians, usually the bottom of the top ten or just below that. But one must remember that his economic policies harmed the middle class, made for a new growth of poverty, and his tripling of the national debt was the beginning of the debt crisis we now face. Remember, our national debt was one trillion dollars when he came in, and three trillion when he left, and a good part of our present problem is due to him and another “conservative” President named George W. Bush!

Also, realize that the national debt grew far less under Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, than under Ronald Reagan and both Presidents Bush!

So Glenn Beck is promoting what was once called the Big Lie technique. If you are creative enough in lying, and know how to deliver a speech and impress your listeners, as Glenn Beck has the talent to do, you are indeed dangerous!

Oh, by the way, in conclusion, who is famous for utilizing the Big Lie? A man named ADOLF HITLER! 🙁

The CPAC Straw Poll Results: Totally Preposterous! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

The Conservative Political Action Conference finished its convention yesterday evening with the announcement of the results of its straw poll on who should be the GOP Presidential nominee in the Presidential Election of 2012.

Eleven people were on the ballot, including: Governors Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Haley Barbour, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitch Daniels; Senators John Thune and Rick Santorum; and House members Newt Gingrich, Mike Pence, and Ron Paul.

I wish to point out that Romney, Huckabee, Palin, Santorum, and Gingrich are all out of office. Also, realize that the odds of a member of the House of Representatives becoming President are next to nil, as only one, James Garfield, was ever elected, and unfortunately he was assassinated, dying within six months of his taking the oath.

Only about 25 percent of the people who attended the conference participated in the straw poll, which was won for the past three years by Mitt Romney. Romney certainly is a legitimate contender and has the qualities needed to be a serious Presidential candidate, but this year he did not win the straw poll.

Instead, Romney ended up in second place, behind, of all people, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas! This is a shocking and preposterous result, and is totally lacking in reality within Republican ranks!

Paul winning is more the reaction of young conservatives, including college students, who find him appealing because he is against overseas involvement and is a major advocate of small government and low taxes.

But Ron Paul’s chances of being the GOP nominee are less than zero in reality. The Republican party is not going to nominate the only possible candidate who wants to withdraw from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a man who was basically ridiculed in GOP debates in the 2008 primary campaign by John McCain, Rudy Guiliani, and basically, all the other GOP candidates.

Also, and not meant to be a statement of age discrimination, but face the facts: Ron Paul will be 77 in 2012, and therefore would be 81 to 85 at the end of a first and second term in the White House! Are we likely to elect someone who would be almost the age of Ronald Reagan at the end of his second term when he first takes the oath? Let’s get real!

Also, while there are those who enthuse about Ron Paul, he does not come across well in debate or on television, so it is safe to say that he may have beaten out his ten rivals in this silly CPAC poll, but any of the others are more likely to be nominated than the Texas Congressman, including the controversial Sarah Palin.

My impression is that while there may be lots of discontent toward President Obama, the Republicans cannot win an election for President based on that alone. They have to have a LEGITIMATE candidate as the alternative to the President, and that is going to be very hard to do.

Facing this reality, if the GOP was smart, they would nominate Mitt Romney as easily the best qualified to run, but with the religious influence of evangelical Christians and the basic distaste of Republicans for the Northeast, will they be willing to nominate a former Massachusetts governor who happens to be a Mormon, a group which most evangelicals think of as a cult? Stay tuned! 🙂

CPAC And The Two Dicks (Cheney And Armey)

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CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) is meeting in Washington, DC this weekend, and is demonstrating the ability to issue personal insults against President Obama, and to show the American people that they do not wish to work with the President to find solutions, but rather continue the obstructionism that they have been engaged in for the past 14 months.

They are very good at talking about smaller government, lower taxes, and a stronger defense, failing to realize that much of the national debt problem we face is due to our extended involvement overseas and the fighting of two wars, and the overexpanded and wasteful defense budget.

Apparently, we can do what we are doing overseas without raising taxes, and should in fact lower taxes. So if that means cutting off all domestic programs or privatizing social security and medicare, so be it!

It is hard to imagine the intelligent, sensible part of our population in this country accepting this jargon and propaganda. But certainly, the two Dicks, Cheney and Armey, are spreading the word with preposterous assertions.

Former Vice President Cheney said he foresees conservatives taking over the Congress in 2010, and predicts that Barack Obama is a one term President. Former House Majority Leader Armey (Texas), who has formed Freedom Works and flirted with the Tea Party Movement, said that Barack Obama has demonstrated that he is the most incompetent President in his lifetime!

Now let’s see: Cheney is the person who said the Iraqi people would greet us with flowers when we invaded in 2003. Did that work out? 🙂 He also said that deficits do not matter, and yet now he and his party and conservative activists are making the national debt the number one issue. Is Dick Cheney good at his predictions and assessments? I don’t think the evidence shows that! 🙂

Armey thinks that Obama is worse than his past favorite for being the worst President in his lifetime (that is, Jimmy Carter).  I am sure that former President Carter must be thrilled to hear that!  :)   But somehow, isn’t Armey forgetting Richard Nixon and George W. Bush, or is he trying to rewrite history, therefore promoting more lies and deception, as he did as a leader of Congress under the leadership of Newt Gingrich?

Is CPAC or these and other Republicans and conservative leaders interested in solving problems, or just pointing the finger and sowing division? I think the answer is VERY clear! 🙁

Conservative And Tea Party Advocacy Of Violence Against Democrats

Ronald 2 Comments

A return to promotion of violence, even if symbolic in nature, is showing up at the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend, and in campaign rallies by Republican candidates for office, as well as Tea Party gatherings.

In Indiana, a GOP Senate candidate said that if there are not new faces in Congress next year, he was going to clean his guns and “put on a show”. In Washington State, at a Tea Party rally, a woman speaker suggested that she wanted to hang Senator Patty Murray.

At the CPAC meeting, a pinata of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi can be stabbed by women delegates, and a punching bag with the depiction of Senator Harry Reid, the Majority Leader, can be used by male delegates.

One could say that this is all silly stuff, and that one should not be upset, but this set of symbolic gestures of violence still represents a dangerous trend, which began last summer when gun toting citizens started to show up at the site of speeches by President Obama. The Republican party tried to shrug it off, but this is not a light matter.

Are the Republicans, in their attempt to gain the backing of Tea Party advocates and hardline conservatives, really willing to advocate, by statements and deeds, armed violence on the US government and elected officials?

If these dangerous trends continue, the Republican party could very well self destruct as the party that represents dangerous extremists. They had better step back from the brink, before we suffer violence in reality that will condemn them to the historical garbage bin! 🙁

Michele Bachmann Assesses Barack Obama: Again Wrong!

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Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota gave a speech today at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and as usual, her comments were off the mark.

Bachmann claimed that President Obama is leading America into decline. She cited conservative author Charles Krauthammer complaining that the President has undermined America because of his stands against continued use of Guantanamo Naval Base, against unilateralism in foreign policy, criticism of lack of respect for the Muslim world, condemnation of the refusal to respect views of European allies under President Bush, and advocacy of torture and a tone of arrogance under Bush.

The problem with what Bachmann said is that these policies of the Bush administration totally undermined America’s world position, and made this country the most unpopular world wide it has ever been. And since we must somehow coexist with the Muslim world, it is essential to have basic respect for their cultural differences with the Christian world, and work to build bridges to moderate Muslims, because, just like in the Cold War years, learning to coexist is mandatory or mankind will be destroyed!

Marco Rubio Criticizes Barack Obama For Use Of Teleprompter While Using Teleprompter! :)

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The Conservative Political Action Conference began in Washington, DC today, and a lot of attention was paid to the speech by Marco Rubio, who is challenging Florida Governor Charlie Crist for nomination to the US Senate.

Rubio, the favorite of conservatives and Tea Party followers, launched an attack on President Obama. One of his points was to criticize Obama for using a teleprompter for his speeches.

This is a very petty thing to attack the President for, certainly very insignificant. But there is also an element of hypocrisy, as Marco Rubio used a teleprompter himself to deliver his speech!

Now, isn’t that highly hypocritical, and doesn’t it make Marco Rubio look ridiculous? In other words, he is entitled to use a teleprompter but the President is not! Now is that fair, Marco? Can’t you come up with something more substantial than that if you are trying to make an impression that you deserve to be a Senator? Or maybe the truth is that Charlie Crist is far better qualified to be a Senator, and you are grasping at straws to gain notice of your so called qualifications?

Revival Of The John Birch Society At The Upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference

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The upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference in February will be co-sponsored by an organization thought to be dormant, if not extinct–the infamous John Birch Society formed in 1958 to fight the “ongoing Communist conspiracy”.

This despicable organization opposed flouridation of the water supply and the desegregation of public schools as “Communist conspiracies”. They accused all government agencies of being filled with Communists.

Also, the John Birch Society called for the impeachment of Chief Justice Earl Warren, and called President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Senators John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey part of the “great Communist conspiracy”!

Can one possibly imagine that such an organization with Joseph McCarthy type rhetoric and tactics AFTER the fall of McCarthy would be permitted to co-sponsor CPAC, where most Republican politicians planning to run for President regularly appear and speak?

How will such Republican luminaries as Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and others explain their appearances before a conference backed and supported by such a disreputable organization?

It will certainly be an interesting time to see who agrees to appear and whether they will go along with the propaganda that this disgraceful organization has been promoting for the past fifty years.

Is a new Joseph McCarthy in the offing, as a result of this upcoming CPAC? We shall see! 🙁