The 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held in Washington, D.C. this past weekend. Nearly 12,000 people attended, and roughly half of them were students. The exhibitors were stationed all over the Marriott, but most were concentrated in the two huge halls in the lower level. They represented a broad range of issues, organizations and movements within the “conservative” movement. If one roamed the halls of the convention (as I did), one would find it difficult to identify or define just what the conservative agenda is. Strong international military presence versus interventionist war making, preservation of all life versus “choices” in life decisions, gay marriage opposed by “family values all represented some of the dichotomies that were glaringly present.
For the sake of brevity and clarity, I will begin with the requisite name dropping. The following list represents those people with whom I had short conversations (I had NO lengthy conversations because I didn’t go to any bars):
Brian Wilson, WSPD Radio (Toledo); Stephen Moore, Wall Street Journal; Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky; Jonathon Alder, Newsweek columnist; Congressman Steve King, R-Iowa; James Bovard, thinker, writer and commentator; various exhibitors and organizational representatives.
This is the “howdy” group: Congressman Dana Rohrbacher, R-California; John Fund, Wall Street Journal and Town Hall; Bob Tyrell, The American Spectator, publisher and columnist; George Will, syndicated columnist; David Horowitz, author and speaker; Jacob Hornberger, Future of Freedom Foundation; Bruce Fein, author and analyst; Tim Pawlenty, former Governor from Minnesota; Jack Hunter, radio host from South Carolina; and Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico.
These are the presenters whose programs that I attended: Ron Paul; Gary Johnson; Haley Barbour; Bruce Fein; Jacob Hornberger; Jim Bovard; Mike Church; Jack Hunter; Dan McCarthy; Pat Caudell; Tom Woods; and Dr. Joseph Salerno.
The variety of topics that were available for the attendees was massive. Clearly, as a Libertarian, I tended to drift towards the programs that addressed issues that I found personally compelling. Two of the most informative discussions for me involved an analysis of the Patriot Act and an in-depth look at the Federal Reserve Bank. Jacob Hornberger, Jim Bovard and Ivan Eland presented a lively condemnation of the Patriot Act and its abuse of our Fourth Amendment rights. They must be brilliant men because they agreed with my assessment that Section 215 (see “www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com , Please State) of the Act is particularly noxious because of its broad and potentially oppressive nature.
Dr. Salerno’s seminar on the Fed was enlightening and comprehensive. I may seem to be a conspiracy theorist here, but many of our country’s problems, foreign and domestic, have the slimy grimy fingerprints of the Federal Reserve Bank visible somewhere. He discussed the likelihood of hyperinflation for our national economy and placed it within the historical context of the Feds development. One particularly telling statement from Dr. Salerno was the monopolistic nature of the Fed…a private consortium of mega banks with the unchallenged right to regulate the money supply. In my view, there are two glaring errors with this scenario: 1.) Congress has shifted an enumerated power to an unaccountable private entity; and 2.) the monopolistic and secretive attributes of the Fed are exempt from anti-trust review. To illustrate: don’t hand over your firearm to a stranger whom you’ve invited in to your home.
Ron Paul won the Straw Poll of attendees with roughly 30% of the vote. His Friday speech commanded the largest audience (nearly 7,000), and my limited powers of observation detected about a 98% favorable response to his comments. Of all the “potential” GOP candidates for President in 2012, Dr. Paul and Gary Johnson had the most coherent and straightforward speeches. Some of the others gave good speeches, but were short on significant policy initiatives that would address the overspending, the over taxing, and the hyper growth of government. Platitudes are not policy. I fear, however as the 2012 election draws nearer, platitudes and pretty faces will trump serious attempts to get the monster under control. I saw it at the CPAC convention. Young registrants and older ones who were star struck by the appearance of a candidate despite his or her unwillingness to straightforwardly address any of our vexing issues. In a word…the final word….the roughly twelve thousand (12,000) people who attended CPAC should be better read and more informed than the general populace, but they seem to fall for the same slick shtick that their fellow citizens embrace.
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It is without amazement that attendees would still fall victim to the quick talking and quick points of some speeches, failing to press on for more information and details for new policies from possible candidates and leaders.
ReplyDeleteThe cycle will continue for most of those attendees. They get their hopes up for a up and coming candidate, believe the promises, and then is let down even shortly after the person is sworn into office.