Fear and Loathing at CPAC 2010
Adam Miller
We Are Change Minnesota
February 22nd, 2010
I was terrified. So consumed by fear was I while roaming the halls of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel during the CPAC meeting that I mentioned to my colleagues that we may indeed fail to make it out alive as surely we must represent a wing of conservative values despised by the vast majority of neocon attendees. Of course I’m being facetious but the truth is, the ravenous hoards of GOP cretins were quite skeptical towards my criticism of the FED, Bush policy and challenging the official account of 9/11, if not down right hostile! This was, after all, Washington D.C. We were surrounded by evil and cut off from the decency of the outside world. We were consumed, it seemed, within a pit of vipers.
Speakers at the event read like the roster of a Hitler youth rally and included noteworthy gut maggots like; John Ashcroft, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty and Dick Cheney with tiles such as “The Honorable” preceding their names. Scores of men and women pounding the drums of war and berating the name of Obama roamed the halls of this historic hotel. Complaints about the Obama administration covered excessive taxation and spending, even the perceived appeasement of Al Qaeda and Iran. That was it. Beyond that, there seemed to be no other complaints. No mention of disastrous FED policy or fiat currency. There was blatant disregard for the millions of innocent lives consumed by the war on terror, little or no curiosity about when it would end and zero interest in comparing and contrasting the few differences between Obama policy and Bush era policy.
Former Assistant Attorney General (and Patriot Act author) Viet Dinh extolled the virtues of a Patriot Act that supposedly protected Americans from further terror attacks. It was then that a very curious thing happened. Boos could be heard from the crowd. Surely this must be some kind of mistake I thought quietly to myself. As he continued, more and more boos could be heard!
The Campaign for Liberty was making its presence felt. I would come to understand that they had been all event long. When Ryan Sorba of California Young Americans for Freedom was invited to the stage to speak about Acorn, he departed from this topic in dramatic fashion, condemning CPAC for inviting a gay organization to the event. One could cut the tension with a knife. This act of meteoric stupidity morphed the CPAC from a forum for intelligent debate into something that more closely resembled a professional wrestling match as this clod responded to boos from the crowd by shouting, “Bring it! I love it!” It reminded me of a UFC match I had seen a short time ago where fighter Brock Lesnar taunted a booing audience in much the same manner.
Organizations like Campaign for Liberty, Ladies of Liberty and other true conservatives could be seen by booths courageously articulating their collective concern that the GOP had been infiltrated by a gaggle of Fabian representatives of the CFR who seek none other than the destruction of our republic and the liberties that attend to it in an end run at the total destruction of individual and national sovereignty.
The people we strove so hard to educate and inform not only resisted the truth but they fought viciously to defend the lie! For some of them, letting go of the left/right paradigm would be such a blow to their worldview that their psyche couldn’t handle the stress. Never the less these young, passionate individuals took it upon themselves (many on their own dime) to journey via train, plane and automobile to Washington D.C. in a gallant effort to spread a message of truth and compassion that ultimately left me feeling hopeful about our future, however bleak it may look at times.
Regardless, when it was time for Texas Congressman Ron Paul to take the stage, nobody’s delicate psyche was to be spared. His introduction was received by raucous applause as this powerful persona took the stage. He spoke with the same conviction we have all come to know and love. He mentioned the tremendous costs of the war and how it is bankrupting both our treasury and our moral values. He forced the audience to confront the fallacy of sacrificing essential Liberties for perceived security. He lambasted the FED and its policies again calling for its immediate abolition. He said of the Income Tax, “What’s wrong with getting rid of the Income Tax and the 16th Amendment? I think it’d be a great idea!” He even went so far as to propose that these were all traditional conservative values! Paradigms were shattering everywhere! Many had never heard of such a concept! His ideas were met by some with jeers and hisses, only to be overwhelmed by the applause he received throughout his speech. Several times the words, “End the FED” could be heard in synchronicity as Congressman Paul paused during portions of his speech.
The event culminated in the announcement via Fox News that Texas congressman Ron Paul won the straw poll convincingly with 31% of the vote! The announcement came suddenly as my colleagues and I enjoyed a soda in the Hotel’s bar & restaurant. A female voice exclaimed with joy, “Ron Paul!” followed by her triumphant parade throughout the facility receiving hi fives from patrons as the establishment erupted in celebration! I wrote in the first paragraph of this article that the neocons made up a “vast majority” of the attendees. If Ron Paul’s victory was any indication of the truth, perhaps I was wrong. Time will tell.
Related: Operation Glenn Beck
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I was terrified. So consumed by fear was I while roaming the halls of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel during the CPAC meeting that I mentioned to my colleagues that we may indeed fail to make it out alive as surely we must represent a wing of conservative values despised by the vast majority of neocon attendees.
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