***Monday, February 13 — Scroll down for updates***
Looking for the “podcast?” Download the MP3 at Captain’s Quarters.
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Third and final day of CPAC. I asked Judge Charles Pickering (pictured) his opinion of blogs. (See Judicial battles stem from culture war)
Blogging is citizen participation, which is good, and blogging is a lot like pamphleteering during the American Revolution. I made the same comparison in Blogging Matt Drudge. Responsible bloggers make great contributions to democracy.
I attended a session this morning called “The Entitlement Crash.” Standard fare about social security reform, health care reform, and the success of welfare reform, but a couple of comments at the end caught my attention. Moderator Peter Ferrara of the Institute for Policy Innovation made a reference to the Lord. Hold the phone! An elderly woman who asked a question about raising the retirement age takes care of her elderly mother. Long lives! Before Ferrara answered the question, he said something like, “You’re doing the Lord’s work taking care of your mother, by the way…”
The Lord’s work. I was overjoyed to hear that. As much as people malign Christianity, there is a strong sense of family responsibility throughout the Bible. I’ve heard some Christians argue that putting your elderly parents in a nursing home is unbiblical. Part of honoring our mothers and fathers means that we take care of them in their old age. Back in the day, that’s what a lot of people did before the nanny state took over. The very idea that we sacrifice and take care of those who took care of us is so…
3:24 p.m.: I broke off mid-sentence. Got distracted! First, I had lunch with the man from the endangered species list I mentioned yesterday and missed the session on illegal immigration. I’m not complaining, though. 
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Update (2/11): Follow the link for today’s CPAC post.
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I’m coming to you live from CPAC. I met a member of an endangered species: a single, straight, black, socially conservative, Christian man (and he reads my blog - excellent). Did I mention that he was single?
I couldn’t resist uploading this boring vanity shot, snapped at the black Republicans booth. They want me to join. I don’t know.
Just took a couple of photos with Glenn Reynolds, who’s here hawking his wares. Met the Instawife and Instadaughter. Nice folks.
I’m on the row with Sean Hackbarth, Jeff Harrell, Tom Bridge, Cam Edwards, Wendy Sullivan, and Bryan Preston.
The only session I will likely attend is the one having to do with blogging: New Media v. Old Media: Bringing Balance or Bias? Michelle Malkin will be here later signing books. So will Wayne Perryman, author of Unfounded Loyalty. Ann Coulter and Star Parker this afternoon. Speaking of constellations, I ran into Star yesterday. Forgot to mention it. So exciting. I love Star Parker.
I’m off to the new media presentation. More photos later. By the way, Michael Barone (who’s very friendly), columnist and McLaughlin Group semi-regular, knows who I am. Unbelievable.
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Friday, February 10: See updated post.
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I am pumped up, let me tell you!
I’m a credentialed blogger at the Conservative Political Action Conference for the second year running. I didn’t announce it before today because I’ve spent the past week nervously preparing for a “Crash Course on Blogging” seminar co-presented at the conference this afternoon with fellow consultant Ken Yarmosh, our second. (See Money, Blogs, DC, and Money) It somehow made me feel less nervous to keep it to myself. If you understand why, good, because I don’t. 
Anyway, I’m pumped up because I’ve finally found a way to beat the jitters while speaking in front of a room full of people that works for me: preparation, practice, passion and…out-of-body attitude. I usually do the first, skip the second, don’t show enough of the third, and discovered the fourth only today. This time I prepared what I wanted to say, practiced the speech several times a day for several days until the information was in my head, and focused on my passion for blogging. I performed much better.
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At the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Christians weren’t the only conservatives in attendance. Contrary to what liberals think, not all conservatives are Christians, either. That should go without saying, but sometimes you have to be explicit.
In that same vein, not all bloggers at Bloggers Corner were Christians. In fact, I noticed a high libertarian quotient. After the conference, when all was calm, I realized why. Bloggers Corner was sponsored by Tech Central Station (TCS), a right-of-center, free market (read: libertarian) publication. I’m not implying they were playing favorites, but the presence of several libertarians among bloggers at a conservative conference is worth mentioning.
Ryan Sager, a libertarian and fellow CPAC blogger, wrote a piece for TCS about what he calls the “arrogance” of the Republican Party in general and CPAC in particular, titled The Right’s Right. The arrogance we social conservatives show toward liberals isn’t the problem, he says. It’s the arrogance we show toward libertarians like himself that will be our downfall. He mocks:
[T]he arrogance that will prove problematic, ultimately, was that directed at the libertarian-leaning conservatives by the social conservatives. The message in that regard was clear: We Christians can do this alone, y’all who ain’t down with J.C. best be running along.
I believe “J.C.” stands for Jesus Christ. Arrogance isn’t limited to conservatives, I see.
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Professor Mike S. Adams is a conservative crusader fighting against the tide of rampant liberalism in the University of North Carolina system. See his Townhall.com archives.
He played a huge role in bringing down Elyse Crystall, a liberal professor (and grown woman) at UNC-Chapel Hill who violated a student’s free speech rights. The student, a conservative Christian, called homosexuality “disgusting,” and Crystall ridiculed him and sent e-mails about him to other students! (This is where the “grown woman” part is relevant.)
The Department of Education said that what Crystall did was harassment and discrimination but chose not to fine the school because it satisfactorily rectified the situation.
Adams e-mailed me a few weeks ago after a Google search led him to posts I’d written about him. After I introduced myself, he said something like, “Oh, yeah!” That happened a lot at CPAC. Some of the folks I wanted to meet had either read my blog or heard of me. Even Michael Medved said, “Oh, yeah.”
An excerpt of Deroy Murdock’s latest column:
“Each February, Black History Month recalls Democrat Harry Truman’s 1948 desegregation of the armed forces and Democrat Lyndon Baines Johnson’s signature on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the greatest black legislative victory since Republican Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in 1863. This annual commemoration, however, largely overlooks the many milestones Republicans and blacks have achieved together by overcoming reactionary Democrats….
White supremacists worked club in hand with Democrats for decades…
- August 17, 1937: Republicans opposed Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Supreme Court nominee, U.S. Senator Hugo Black (D., Al.), a former Klansman who defended Klansmen against race-murder charges.
- February 2005: The Democrats’ Klan-coddling today is embodied by KKK alumnus Robert Byrd, West Virginia’s logorrheic U.S. senator and, having served since January 3, 1959, that body’s dean. Thirteen years earlier, Byrd wrote this to the KKK’s Imperial Wizard: “The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia.” Byrd led Senate Democrats as late as December 1988. On March 4, 2001, Byrd told Fox News’s Tony Snow: “There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time; I’m going to use that word.” National Democrats never have arranged a primary challenge against or otherwise pressed this one-time cross-burner to get lost…
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I finally met Rev. Jesse L. Peterson (see his WND archives). Known as “the other Jesse,” he is doing wonderful work with at-risk youth in California through his organization, Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND). Read some of the success stories.
BOND’s mission statement, “Rebuilding the Family by Rebuilding the Man,” is especially relevant to the black community, where fatherlessness has reached epidemic proportions. As you can guess, black liberals don’t like him, which means he’s one of my favorite people.
An outspoken critic of liberalism and godlessness in general and Jesse Jackson and the NAACP in particular, Peterson is a Christian and activist who wants to topple so-called black leaders from their perches of privilege. Like me, he believes that the collapse of the family and immorality are the biggest problems in the black community, not racism. Every year he hosts a “National Day of Repudiation of Jesse Jackson,” an idea that should be more widespread, and actively fights to protect marriage.
Peterson contacted me for a radio interview last year, my first, after reading my review of Scam: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America. Read Part I and Part II. Also see this post. Peterson is as plainspoken and to-the-point as I am.
Addendum: On February 24, I’ll see Jesse Peterson again, as well as meet other people I admire, such as actor Joseph C. Phillips and writer Peter Kirsanow. The Heritage Foundation is hosting a symposium.
by La Shawn on February 20, 2005
in CPAC
I saw him walking by, and I said, “John Fund!” He came over, said Hi and proceeded to check his e-mail on an open laptop beside me. I was thrilled and having fun, but now there’s a mini blog swarm going on. It turns out that Fund often checks his e-mail at these things on any available computer without asking.
There are public computer terminals in the lobby, but I wasn’t going to tell Wall Street Journal writer John Fund that he couldn’t use the laptop and to go back to the lobby and check his e-mail out there. Starstruck? I think not!
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I snapped this photo of the elegant Phyllis Schlafly after her book signing, and she was kind enough to answer a few questions. I will transcribe the interview and post. I asked her if she liked blogs (she likes them) and a little about her life. I knew she’d raised a family before going to law school, writing books and exploding onto the national scene.
She’s also an outspoken critic of radical feminism and almost singlehandedly crushed the Equal Rights Amendment back in the 1970s. She also founded Eagle Forum. Read her fascinating biography.
An excerpt of Schlafly’s latest column, Feminists On The Warpath Get Their Man :
The feminists, who have no sense of humor, have given Americans a big belly laugh, but it’s no laughing matter to the principals involved. The feminists lassoed the president of Harvard University, no less, and have dragged him groveling through the ivy until they wrung from him all they wanted and more.
The most intolerant feminists are on the faculties of elite colleges and universities. The Communists used to severely punish as “deviationists” all those who strayed from the Party line, but the feminists have taken adherence to orthodoxy to new heights.
It didn’t save President Lawrence Summers that he was Bill Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury. Summers thought he was chatting off the record with intellectuals who had the maturity to engage in a little light banter combined with a provocative suggestion for academic research or possibly a new Ph.D. dissertation.
He was wrong. To the liberals, some subjects are not only non-debatable, they are non-researchable because they think they already know the answers and they don’t want to be confused by the facts.
The cornerstone of the political correctness that dominates campus culture is radical feminism. And the first commandment of feminism is: I am woman; thou shalt not tolerate strange gods who assert that women have capabilities or often choose roles that are different from men’s.
Ann Coulter wrote at least two columns about Schlafly. Read Call Her Mrs.
Pictured are Kevin McCullough sitting alone on the left, and Bob Cox (involved in intense discussion) and New York Post writer and blogger Ryan Sager on the end.
This is the final day of CPAC. I’ve had a wonderful time here, and meeting the bloggers is the main reason I wanted to come. I’ve never been interested in attending before, mainly because I’m somewhat of a homebody and don’t like going to conferences that last several days. But meeting bloggers and networking with media types was enough to get me out of the house.
Zell Miller, John O’Neill and two other Swift Boat veterans spoke at last night’s banquet. Matt has the audio. Robin Burk took notes during the speeches. Read her post.
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This is Wizbang’s Kevin Aylward. He’s nice. He said he’d link to this post tonight.
Because most events are packed with college students, most bloggers decided to remain on bloggers row. I didn’t realize what a nerd I was until I came here. I met several DC-area bloggers a few months ago, but we didn’t have computers so I didn’t pick up on the nerd factor. But here…oh, man! Surrounded by a bunch of fanatical bloggers and techies for two days straight, all day, has had an effect on me. I’ll blog about that later.
I finally got my interview with Herman Cain. He gave me so much material. His how-I-became-a-conservative story is incredible. I’ll transcribe and post later. I took a picture with him, too. I also posed for photos with Jesse Peterson and Mona Charen. All around, it’s been a great day.
The blogger I’ve been hanging out with the most is Matt Margolis (also the brains behind Blogs for Bush). He wasn’t even born when Ronald Reagan was elected the first time. Can you believe it?
That’s it for me. I can leave right now and skip tonight’s banquet with Zell Miller. CPAC is done. I’ve accomplished all I’ve wanted to accomplish.
When Michelle Malkin first walked into the book signing area with her beautiful daughter, I walked up to her, and she said, “Hi, La Shawn!” And she hugged me.
Then I saw her little boy (adorable) and met her very nice husband, who also reads my blog. Anyway, so Michelle signed my book and…I don’t remember what happened after that.
Update (2/19): Read what Kevin has to say about Michelle.
by La Shawn on February 18, 2005
in CPAC
I’m semi-live blogging right now. Ann Coulter just finished speaking, her usual barbed-tongue self, and she introduced a surprise guest: Matt Drudge. Erick Erickson is live-blogging the whole thing. This is really good stuff.
Update (4:24 p.m.): The person who came up with the idea of comment/trackback spam should be hunted down, shot, tarred and feathered, and chopped up in a million pieces, and the pieces should be sent to other comment/trackback spammers.
This is Zell Miller signing books. Remember his fiery speech at the Republican National Convention? An excerpt:
It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.
No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn’t believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.
But don’t waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.
They don’t believe there is any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.
It is not their patriotism - it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking. They claimed Carter’s pacifism would lead to peace.
They were wrong.
