RightOnline: Just the Facts, Ma'am

Neutral, objective journalism:

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Donna Scala was surprised to find she felt so at home among her fellow attendees at this weekend's RightOnline conference.
"I've never been in a room with this many conservatives before," Ms. Scala, a Democrat from Beaver Falls, Pa., said after attending the two-day conference sponsored by the Americans For Prosperity foundation.
During Saturday afternoon's final panel discussion, Ms. Scala drew applause when she stood up to ask a question, which she prefaced by introducing herself as "a Democrat who did not vote for Obama." . . .

Read the whole thing. And hit the tip jar. Oh, yeah, Erik Telford is here, too:

That's Peggy Venable, AFP Texas director, the surprisingly cheerful Telford, and Texas grassroots hottie activist Nina Sidoryanskaya.

It would probably be wrong to beat Telford into a coma in front of the ladies. But I haven't ruled it out.

UPDATE: I just helped my new blog buddy, Barbara Espinosa, install SiteMeter and Technorati on her blog. Please visit Barbara at American Freedom blog.

UPDATE II: Michelle Malkin had to catch a plane before I arrived, so I didn't get to see her, as I'd hoped. Maybe next year?

Whenever important bloggers gather . . .

. . . I'm not invited. Two weeks ago, I was not invited to the Red State Gathering in Atlanta. This week's big blog shindig to which I am not invited is Right Online in Pittsburgh.

Ed Morrissey is a featured speaker at Right Online and Twitters who he's hanging out with in Pittsburgh:

Having dinner with ... um .... everone. @ewerickson, @saorendayton, @boteleprompter, @E_lizabethCrum, @oetaxpayer, @johnhawkinsrwn

Also at dinner: @seanhackbarth, not eating.

Hey, @katiefavazza just showed up, kind of like my AIP columns ... just a wee bit late. ;-)

Right Online is organized by Americans For Prosperity, which assigned Eric Telford not to invite me.

Telford, who's every bit of 26 years old, probably thinks I was only joking about driving to Pittsburgh and whupping his impudent young ass. And probably I was.

On the other hand, I just did a Mapquest (184 mi – about 3 hours 11 mins) to the Pittsburgh Sheraton Station Square Hotel, and I've been known to do far crazier things than drive two hours -- hey, I drive fast -- for the pleasure of laying a long-overdue ass-whupping on an arrogant sumbitch who did me wrong.

If only I had enough gas money . . . but nobody loves me, because my blog sucks.

Michelle Malkin coming to Pittsburgh --and everybody important will be there!

Mark your calendar, folks: The author of the Best Book Evah! is going to be in Pittsburgh Aug. 14-15 for the RightOnline National Conference at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel.

Americans For Prosperity has invited everybody who's important in the conservative blogosphere: Erick Erickson of RedState.com, Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com, Matt Lewis of AOL’s Political Machine, and Ronald Kessler of Newsmax.com.

Most importantly, they've invited you! So go there and sign up now!

Y'all have fun. I wasn't invited. Like I said, "everybody who's important in the conservative blogosphere."

No, my feelings aren't hurt. I'm chopped liver, and chopped liver doesn't have feelings. But why does Americans For Prosperity hate me so much? What did I ever do to Erik Telford to deserve this purposeful snub?

Never mind. It's all my fault, I'm sure. Blame me.

UPDATE: Dave C wants me to remind you that, even though I'm chopped liver to Erik Telford and AFP, the Virginia Tea Party Patriots love me, and I'll be in Richmond on Saturday for their Liberty 101 Conference. Thanks, Dave. It's nice to know that not everybody hates me.

Al Gore vs. 'Hot Air' tour

Al Gore is trying to prevent Americans for Prosperity from launching their hot air balloon at a Nashville park:

Gore spokesperson Kalee Kreider said earlier this week they were looking into whether the group was violating any ordinances. I spoke with the group about that very point.
"I don't believe Al Gore controls the air space over Belle Meade," AFP Spokesperson Annie Patnaude told NIT. "Stan Hess is our FAA licensed balloonist, and the balloon is a federally licensed aircraft. We're permitted to launch from Percy Warner Park and have been told there are no other restrictions."

Now, via Insty, the update:

Sure enough, just a few hours before our event was scheduled to kick off, the Nashville Parks and Recreation Department has been in touch, claiming that the permit they approved doesn't allow us to launch our balloon from the city park where we're holding our event -- even though we told them repeatedly exactly what we planned to do. . . .
It seems pretty clear that Gore allies in Nashville / Davidson County Metro government are trying to spare their local Oscar winner more embarassment, following this week's revelation by our friends at the Tennessee Center for Policy Research that Gore's already-high personal energy use is up 10 percent over last year -- to the point that he uses about 19 times as much energy as the typical American family.

PREVIOUSLY:
6/19: AFP balloon visits Marietta today
6/11: Hot air over America

AFP balloon visits Marietta today

Americans for Prosperity is bringing its Hot Air Tour to Marietta, Ga., today. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jim Galloway reports:

The Georgia chapter of Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax group, is hosting a Thursday event featuring free a hot-air balloon ride, to underline what it says are the harsh economic consequences of fighting global warning.
AFP already had its “Hot Air Tour” up and floating elsewhere during the Washington debate over the now-stalled Lieberman-Warner climate bill, which calls for capping carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, transportation and industrial sources.
The AFP will have its balloon (and 70-foot tether) at Jim Miller Park in Marietta at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Word is that you don’t have to present yourself as a global warming skeptic to go up in the balloon. But they may ask for a different answer before they bring you down.

They'll be in Birmingham, Ala., and Nashville, Tenn., on Friday. Yesterday, they were in Savannah, Ga. , where Jamie Durden reports:

Tim Phillips, president of AFP, says if one particular piece of legislation called "cap-and-trade" passes, it could make our energy sources so expensive, it would cripple middle Amercians.
"Right now we rely on so much of the Middle East for our oil and that's not the answer," he said. "We have something like 21 billion barrels of oil right here off the continental shelf. We should go out and get that and look for new technologies and to have a prospersous economy is the best way to make sure we're finding new technologies."

The success of the balloon tour demonstrates that, even in the 21st-century "new media" age, nothing beats good old-fashioned ballyhoo in terms of generating public attention.

The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You!

Michelle Malkin observes that Ragnar of The Jawa Report is liveblogging the Texas Republican Convention, where he reports:

The long and short of it is that a coalition of conservative grassroots activists, fit to be tied with the state party, are seeking to replace the existing party leadership. Background here.
No fireworks yet, but it's just getting kicked off.

Fired-up Lone Star conservatives and online activists everywhere should take note of Ragnar's comment that Americans For Prosperity is making facilities available for bloggers at the TXGOPCon. AFP will sponsor the Right Online Summit July 18-19 in Austin, where the confirmed speakers will include Mrs. Malkin, Robert Novak, John Fund, Stephen Moore, Michael Steele, Red State's Erick Erickson, and Grover Norquist.

Yesterday, I spoke with an AFP official who told me that one of the key focuses of Right Online will be to encourage conservatives to become more engaged in Internet activism, including blogging.

Hot air across America

No, not that Hot Air (although I think Michelle Malkin will like this idea). I'm talking about Americans for Prosperity's Hot Air Balloon Tour of America:

Americans for Prosperity's seventy-foot-tall hot air balloon will visit six more states from June 17th through June 21st, making stops in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and Ohio. . . . Bring the family, co-workers, and friends out to experience the Hot Air Tour first-hand and learn about the $1.2 trillion energy tax hike Al Gore and global warming alarmists are pushing.

AFP is celebrating the defeat of the bipartisan "cap-and-trade" bill (Barack Obama supported it; John McCain was a co-sponsor). But the globaloney peddlers won't stop, so AFP is rallying Americans in seven cities next week:

Tuesday – June 17, 2008

• Spartanburg, SC – 5:00 PM
  Register online here

Wednesday – June 18, 2008

• Savannah, GA News Conference – 9:30 AM
  Register online here
• Jacksonville, FL – 5:30 PM
  Register online here

Thursday – June 19, 2008

• Marietta, GA – 11:00 AM
  Register online here

Friday - June 20, 2008

• Birmingham/Montgomery, AL – 8:30 AM
  Register online here
• Nashville, TN – 3:00 PM
  Register online here

Saturday - June 21, 2008

• Cincinnati, OH – 11:00 AM
  Register online here

By the way, who says global warming is bad, anyway? Washington, DC, is in the middle of a heat wave right now and it's a beautiful thing. Think sundresses, OK?