Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending CPAC in Washington, DC. For those of you faithful readers who don’t know, CPAC, or the Conservative Political Action Conference, is a convention of the brightest young conservative minds in the nation, who convene to listen to an assortment of politicians and general panels discuss pertinent American issues from a conservative perspective. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will outline the most important events of the weekend (these are in no particular order):
1. Friday saw a dynamic duo, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, speak back to back on the issues of conservatism today. First, Congressman Paul spoke to a wild crowd about (you guessed it) Washington’s discarding the laws upheld by the Constitution, which was met with righteous applause. He then spoke with more aggressive than usual rhetoric against the Federal Reserve, including telling us of a bill he introduced which would give Congress the power to audit the Reserve and see just where the funds are going. Mr. Romney, however, painted a slightly brighter picture. Essentially, he agreed that many conservatives have lost their way; however, his focus was on how to inspire the Republican Party to win again, and to remind them and the world that the party is far from dead. His speech was nothing short of inspirational for suffering Republicans, and certainly helped set the tone of contagious excitement from there on out.
2. Speaking of Congressman Paul, later in the evening his “Campaign for Liberty” movement convened, with him and Judge Andrew Napolitano as the key speakers. The movement is one which calls on Americans to remind stray politicians of the values outlined in the Constitution, and encourages its believers to uphold the values of traditional conservatism. The movement itself has attracted a decent sized and fervent following, and I would highly recommend the website, as it tells more than I could in one post: www.campaignforliberty.com
3. On Saturday, Cornell’s own goddess of conservatism Ann Coulter spoke to the wildly supportive crowd, though her speech was less political information than political satire. The jokes were as always sharp witty and spot-on, tearing into both parties for their errors. The speech did what it was meant to do, make the audience feel good about the movement and laugh
4. After Ann was an assortment of surprisingly engaging panels. One such panel was the energy panel, with one particular speaker discussing how the Obama’s energy policy is in fact discriminatory towards the poor (more about that one in another post). Also, an Irish couple came to speak on their movie, “Not Evil, Just Wrong”, about the overblown global warming hysteria in the United States (another one to check out).
5. At long last, the moment everyone was waiting for. Rush Limbaugh, controversial radio talk show host, gave a speech that was both inspirational and, dare I say, presidential. He took it upon himself to remind conservatives of the principles that defined them as Congressman Paul did; like Gov. Romney, he mentioned the chief objective now should be not for the party to dwell on its mistakes but to learn from them and win again. He reminded us of the threats to freedom the Obama administration poses; and finally, called us to arms, saying it is up to us, the people of America, to do what is right for this country, not the government. With that, the excellent conference came to a close.
I received many web addresses from the conference which I will be posting in the future. For now, besides the fascinating Campaign for Liberty site, I would encourage everyone concerned about national security to promplty see 33minutes.com. The site sponsored by the Heritage Foundation explains the scientific and political dynamics of America’s missile defense system, and is a must read. I warn you though, there is a lot on the site, so devote at least an hour. More to come soon.
