CPAC: Thursday a.m. blogging

UPDATE: Pam of Atlas Shrugs last night in the Omni Shoreham lobby:

She's so shy and retiring. We're trying to get her to come out her shell a little more ...

On my way into the lobby this morning, I was greeted by Shane Greer of the Young Britons Foundation. Came down to breakfast at Robert's Restaurant in the Omni Shoreham. Then had a brief interview with David Keene of the American Conservative Union. Then said "hi" to Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Associated as he arrived. Great event.

Just hanging out with College Republican activists Dan Lipian and Rachel Coolidge when who should show up but Marcus Epstein of the Robert Taft Club. Next, we saw Ruth Malhotra with Orit Sklar. Everybody is here. Estimated attendance: 6,800.

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Woke up at 5 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. Tried reading Jonah Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism" a while, but kept thinking about what I have to write for TheConservativeVoice.com today.

I'm crashing on the sofa at Matthew Vadum's place on Connecticut Avenue, two blocks from the Omni Shoreham. Matthew's asleep -- snoring slightly -- and his cat, "Dr. Gonzo," is prowling around. Of course, the name "Dr. Gonzo" reminds me to check in at Anita Thompson's Owl Farm Blog, where Anita (a Hillary supporter) is mocking Obama:

As I've said before, I love the sound of Obama's gorgeous voice, even it consists mainly of vacuous rhetoric.

Heh. Last night was fun, convening in the lobby bar of the Omni Shoreham -- me, Matthew, Matt Keller (who did a "Draft Newt" site last year), Pamela Geller, Kirby Wilbur, Kirby's producer Matt (lots of Matts around) and some friends I knew from last year's YAF West Coast Leadership Conference. Just about closing time, we finally convinced blues legend Ian Walters to favor us with some tunes on the piano. It was nice.

The press coverage of the Republican presidential campaign is almost uniformly atrocious. Here's a headline from Time's Web site:

McCain: Frail with the Far Right

Ask yourself a couple of questions:

• Would Time magazine even admit the existence of a "Far Left," much less suggest that they were dissatisfied with a leading Democratic candidate?
• In what sense are the 60-70% of Republicans who have voted against John McCain "far right"? Does this term refer to the supporters of Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee? Are the 28,000 Georgians who voted for Ron Paul "far right"?

No, apparently, Time has in mind three people in particular:

McCain spent the run-up to the nearly-national primary responding to blistering attacks from iconic conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh, James Dobson and Sean Hannity. While all three talk for a living — and their antipathy for McCain is an old saw — the impact of their comments was undeniable; even in his home state of Arizona, McCain lost self-described conservatives to Mitt Romney 47%-36%.

Two popular talk-show hosts and the founder of Focus on the Family (here's Dobson's explanation of why he can't vote for McCain) -- these people are "the far right" in America, according to Time.

What the term "far right" thus denotes, apparently, is that Limbaugh, Hannity and Dobson are dangerous extremists, whereas John McCain is merely "right-wing." That's the big-time journalism for which the publishers of Time are paying. Here's more:

But the real test of the gulf between McCain and conservatives — and his ability to bridge it — comes Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference in Washington. CPAC is the Lollapalooza of the Republican right, and its founder, David Keene, has been an outspoken critic of McCain's perceived anti-conservative transgressions on issues ranging from campaign finance reform (McCain's for it) to gun control (for it, in certain instances) to global warming (against it). As a result, McCain has routinely skipped the event; last year, he was booed in absentia.

Notice how this is all framed as "ooh, those wacky conservatives": Keene is "outspoken"! And why? Because of "perceived ... transgressions," an artful phrase, with overtones of the Inquisition.

Never once does Time give its readers a clear understanding that it is McCain who has attacked conservatives ("agents of intolerance," he called them) and not the other way around. According to Jay Carney's narrative, John McCain is the victim of "far right" intolerance.

Well ... the dawn is breaking out on Connecticut Avenue. Got to shower and get over to breakfast. Busy, busy.

Here's the CPAC schedule, here's NZ Bear's feeder (which doesn't include me), and here's a nice analysis by (far-right?) Ace of Spades of the basic problem between conservatives and Crazy Cousin John. Expect updates ....

CPAC, Coulter & YAF, redux

Dec. 10, I reported that the Young America's Foundation had made special arrangements for Ann Coulter to give a speech during CPAC.

Now, nearly two months later, the leftoids at ThinkProgress and Crooks & Liars have finally noticed -- big news! (If the Left claims to be "progressive," how come they're always so far behind?)

For the benefit of any lefties who might have missed it, here's another Coulter update: Not only will Miss Coulter speak during CPAC at a special 3:30 p.m. Friday event -- sponsored by YAF, Human Events, Townhall.com, Citizens United, and Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute-- but she will also speak Saturday night at George Washington University.

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Twice the Ann, twice the outrage -- what a bargain!

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UPDATE: Speaking of hot right-wing chicks at CPAC, Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs will be introducing Mark Steyn.

Here's Pamela with with an entire bevy of her young proteges. ("Aunt Pam, how can we be cool like you?")

PREVIOUSLY:

• CPAC Fever: Pandemic!
• CPAC Fever!

It. Is. Wednesday.

A friend of mine just replied to my previous question:

OK, we've got Rush, Levin, Ingraham, Malkin, surely we've got Michael Savage. Who else?

With ... this answer:

John McCain is Bob Dole minus the charm, conservatism and youth. Like McCain, pollsters assured us that Dole was the most "electable" Republican. Unlike McCain, Dole didn't lie all the time while claiming to engage in Straight Talk.

Read it all.

OK, let's see Crazy Cousin John withstand that -- Coulter blasting away 24/7 on Fox News all the way to the convention.

I remind everyone that Crazy Cousin John didn't even attend CPAC last year. He hates the conservative base.

UPDATE: Sorry, Stanley. No "reconciliation" is possible. Or desired. What is desired is his defeat, one way or the other. The man must be made a watchword for the ages, an enduring symbol of what happens to backstabbers.

Olympic flip-flop finals

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin really doesn't like Crazy Cousin John:

I spy with my little eye something that rhymes with schmypocrite.

* * * PREVIOUSLY * * *

Considering the Olympic-caliber double-reverse backflip that Crazy Cousin John performed on the issue of "shamnesty" -- a coalition-killing scam he twice attempted to ram through the Senate -- it ill-behooves him to call Mitt Romney a flip-flopper.

At risk of being accused of "objective opinion," I will praise Romney for this swift response:



(Hat-tip: Bryan at Hot Air.) Speaking of Hugh Hewitt, I remind you that he's executive producer of a new documentary, "Article VI," which explains why anyone who votes against Romney is (objectively) un-American and un-Christian.

Meanwhile, it looks like Mittens is gaining in Florida (objective good news) and let me complete this shameless sellout by reminding everyone that CPAC is Feb. 7-9. (Only $125 for a three-day pass.)

Crazy Cousin John skipped CPAC last year, a profound diss to the conservative movement when even arch-liberal Rudy Giuliani was not ashamed to plead his case to the GOP base. Of course, St. Mitt of Romney was there. (Sorry about the jokes, Mitt, but if I don't throw in a good shot now and then, someone might accuse me of being "objective.")

Coulter-mania continues

Excuse the long hiatus, dear friends, but after three hectic days at CPAC, I found myself Monday afternoon assigned to cover the furor over Ann Coulter's use of the word "faggot" in her address:

Miss Coulter said that she did not use the word to demean homosexuals, nor to suggest that Mr. Edwards -- a 53-year-old married father of four -- is homosexual. Describing her remark as "a schoolyard taunt," she said on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" program that she meant to describe Mr. Edwards as "lame" and a "sissy."

"In that way, it is a sophomoric word, not a bad word," said Miss Coulter, longtime legal-affairs correspondent for the conservative weekly Human Events.

This story brings up several important issues (including "intelligent design") I hope soon to be able to address at great length, but for now I will sing the praises of my friend and direct supervisor, deputy national editor Victor Morton, who but rarely accepts a byline (or any other public credit) for his tireless work at The Washington Times.

Our schedule Monday, however, meant that we had to produce the final edition of the Coulter story -- including quotes from Miss Coulter's appearance on "Hannity & Colmes" -- on a very short deadline. Therefore, because Victor (who has a master's degree from Notre Dame, FYI) is much better than I am at note-taking, he agreed to take notes of the Fox TV broadcast while I worked to smooth out the bumps in the first edition version, and then incorporate the new material into the the second edition version.

Such was the importance of Victor's contribution to the story that he agreed to accept a joint byline on the final version, which was meant to be a comprehensive round-up. The 1,400-word result of this team effort has now prompted David Weigel of Reason magazine to say we reported the story "to a bloody pulp."

He meant that in good way, I think.

By the way, Victor is also a movie critic who attends the Toronto Film Festival every year, and who blogs as Cinecon: The Right Wing Film Geek.