CPAC Day 2

Friday was Day 2 of CPAC. I wasn't feeling well so I only made it over there around 4pm - just enough time to stop by the job fair, take pics in the exhibition hall, and check out the happy hours!


The NRA had an interactive video game to help teach gun safety and skills. SWEET


I saw a big line of people in the middle of an exhibit aisle and I soon found out they were all there hoping to get books signed by Rep. Ron Paul. Yes, there are many constituencies in the conservative coalition.


My friend Dave gets a picture with the CFACT polar bear who is protesting the myth of global warming while inviting people in for a happy hour!


The guy on the right is leftist Max Blumenthal who crashes conservative conventions and events to antagonize participants, heavily edit it and put it on YouTube. Don't talk to him!

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) stops to talk with our group before he headlines a reception sponsored by Rebuild the Party featuring cigars and scotch.

Other scenes from the exhibit hall:


People gather round the monitors in the exhibition hall to see Mitt Romney who was speaking in the main ball room.

Radio Row - many conservative talk radio hosts set up shop to broadcast live at CPAC as well as interview the many interesting speakers and presenters.

A view of the entrance of the exhibit hall - with a nice charging station for iPhones right there in the front.


Bloggers Row, featuring Krystal of Crystal Clear Conservative updating her blog.

Tomorrow: Rush Limbaugh and Reaganpalooza!!!

Again, follow my twitter stream: @AlexaShrugged and you can watch the proceedings online at UStream sponsored by Townhall.


Other entries:

CPAC Day 1

CPAC Day 3

CPAC Day 1

The mood was upbeat despite the darkness that has taken over DC and the country at large. The panelists and speakers were great today and I enjoyed a quick run through of the exhibit hall which I hope to have more time to peruse later (although I did manage to pick up every free non-food items that wasn't nailed down). Here are some quick pics I took in the exhibition hall:

Joe the Plumber was there! He has a book - yay capitalism! He exposed Obama's socialism, but the American people either didn't care or didn't believe it. Now we all suffer, sigh...

This guy was walking around to advertise the movie U.N. Me. I got to see the movie at a special screening at the CVC last week. It's shaping up to be a great piece. The Right's answer to Michael Moore's "documentaries." It also shows how unconscionably corrupt and deadly (literally) the U.N. has been. I spoke to the director and star who said the final version should be released over the summer.

A lot of activism going on at CPAC! Here, FreedomWorks has a big petition for attendees to sign saying, "NO MORE BAILOUTS!" Friday is the tea party protest.

I also got a pic with Rep. Michele Bachmann but it came out really blurry so I'm not posting it. She rocks!

Tomorrow I will try to take more fun pictures to give an idea of the look and feel of #CPAC09. Also, follow my twitter stream: @AlexaShrugged

You can watch the proceedings online at UStream sponsored by Townhall.

Next entries:

CPAC Day 2

CPAC Day 3

Live Blogging from CPAC

Starting Thursday, I will be live blogging from the Conservative Political Action Conference!
Be sure to check back for frequent updates on the goings on at the conference!

UPDATE: The panels I am interested in going to on Thursday:

1:50
New Challenges in the Culture War
Regency Ballroom
Rep. Chris Smith (NJ)*
Dr. Janice Crouse, The Beverly LaHaye Institute
Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel and Liberty University School of Law
Moderator: Marjorie Dannenfelser, Susan B. Anthony List
My passion is social issues

2:00
Sarah Palin Unplugged on the Media Video Interview
Diplomat Ballroom
Sponsored by "Media Malpractice" Movie
Speaker: John Ziegler and special guest
Open to all CPAC attendees/Tickets enclosed in CPAC registration bags
EMCEE: Martha Zoller, WDUN
John Zielger is AWESOME at taking down liberals in the media when he's on their shows. Check out How Obama Got Elected to see his interviews and more info on the movie.

2:30
Al Franken and ACORN: How Liberals are Destroying the American Election System
Ambassador Ballroom
Hans von Spakovsky, The Heritage Foundation
Heather Heidelbaugh, Republican National Lawyers Association
Mark Braden, former RNC chief counsel
Moderator: Cleta Mitchell, American Conservative Union Foundation
This is a HUGE issue that needs to be addressed and corrected

3:45

Targets of the Fairness Doctrine
Regency Ballroom
Joe Scarborough
Roger Hedgecock
Tucker Carlson
Introductions: Seton Motley, Media Research Center
Big fan of all three panelists, will be interested to see what they have to say

5:00
Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award
Empire Ballroom
Sponsored by Accuracy in Media
Speaker: M. Stanton Evans
Refreshments Served
Open to All CPAC attendees
I love M. Stanton Evans' book The Theme is Freedom had a big impact in my development as a conservative, especially my interest in the Founding Fathers and the strict construction of the Bill of Rights and Constitution. Plus: REFRESHMENTS SERVED!

8:30
Youth for Western Civilization Inaugural Reception
Palladian Ballroom
Sponsored by Morgan Knull and The American Cause
Speakers: Rep.Tom Tancredo, Bay Buchanan, Pat Buchanan (invited)
Host Bar
Open to all CPAC attendees
Tancredo! The Buchanans! Open Bar!

We'll see what I actually end up going to ...

Obama Irony: So Far, Worse Than Bush

Great piece By Victor Davis Hanson:
The Audacity of Irony

Some choice excerpts:

But unlike the Bush administration, which took 15 months to prepare the country for a real war in Iraq, the Obama administration gave the public only a few hours to read the final draft of the legislation before it was made into law. Where the polarizing partisan George Bush managed to obtain the vote of majorities in both parties to remove Saddam Hussein, the healing bipartisan Barack Obama lacked the support of even a single Republican in the House and won over a mere three Republicans in the Senate.

Liberals who once screamed that congressional opponents of the Iraq war were being unfairly tagged as unpatriotic by the Bush administration now yelled louder that the opponents of the Obama debt program were, in fact, unpatriotic.

Bush was pilloried for supposedly hyping al-Qaeda in order to create a security state. Obama trumped that by proclaiming that the present recession is a catastrophe, a disaster, a Great Depression. He ceased his scare-mongering only when he had exhausted the vocabulary of doom. “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” bragged Rahm Emanuel, reminding us that the envisioned Obama socialism could take root only if a climate of fear was created.

...Obama can end his irony only when he accepts that he and his supporters were never saints, and his predecessor not a notable sinner, and then accepts that history will judge him on what he does rather than what he says he might do.

I also enjoy how Obama keeps saying that he inherited the economic crisis, deficit, and debt while proceeding to make the crisis worse, double the deficit, and skyrocket the debt.
.

The Valentine's Day Calf

Awwwwww - how cute!!!

Nineteen-day-old ox 'Heart,' born with a heart-shaped marking on his forehead, relaxes at Yamakun farm in Fujisawa, near Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009. Kazunori Yamazaki, 51-year-old farm owner, said, 'Good timing for Valentine's Day.

Limit Congressional Pay!

Pres. Obama recently announced he wants limits on executive pay, well, how about Congressional pay? Here's what I WISH he had said according to the article U.S. sets executive pay limits for bailout companies:

"What gets people upset, and rightfully so, is [Congressmen] being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers," he said. ...

"For [members of Congress] to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis is not only bad taste -- it's bad strategy -- and I will not tolerate it as president," he said.

Members of the House get an automatic pay raise every year through the passage of the Treasury bill UNLESS a majority votes to block the raise. As you can imagine, a direct vote on the pay raise rarely happens or passes.

There are few groups less deserving of pay raises than members of Congress. As I wish Obama had said, they are rewarding themselves for failure, in the midst of an economic crisis, with taxpayer money. Members got a pay raise of $4,700 at the beginning of the year, but it's not too late for them to vote to stop the pay increase for next year.

Obama set to lower our standing in the world

So, how's Obama doing in his quest to "improve our standing in the world?"

Well, let's take a look at 2 headlines today from the Financial Times:

EU issues warning over Buy America plan

The European Union has warned of possible trade litigation against the US if Washington presses ahead with a Buy American provision in its forthcoming economic stimulus bill.

EU officials have expressed concern that the requirement for companies to use US steel and manufacturing products in projects funded by the bill could encourage a wave of protectionist measures from other countries.

The European Commission says it will examine any legislation to determine whether it violates a World Trade Organisation treaty signed by the US, EU and Japan. Signatories of the Government Procurement Agreement must open government contracts to foreign companies.

Is Obama set to start a trade uproar with global implications?

India warns Obama over Kashmir

India has warned US President Barack Obama that he risks “barking up the wrong tree” if he seeks to broker a settlement between Pakistan and India over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

MK Narayanan, India’s national security advisor, said that the new US administration was in danger of dredging up out of date Clinton administration-era strategies in a bid to bring about improved ties between the two nuclear armed neighbours.

...“It’s possible that at this time there are elements, perhaps in the administration who are harking back to the pre-2000 era.”

Some countries DON'T want to go back to the pre-2000 era?! This must be shocking news to liberals!

Two things Bush never got credit for (among MANY) - our leadership in free trade and improved relations with India - that Obama is trying to reverse.

That's certainly change, but hope it ain't.

Related Posts:

Obama to abandon Israel?

Meet the new Great Satan, same as the old Great Satan