Report From the Front Lines
Right Wing FlierStill mourning over missing the Value Voter Summit in Washington DC the weekend of 17,18,19, September? Grab a cup of coffee and on this lunch break get the news from an on-site reporter.
AHH, the Omni Shoreham Hotel. The quintessential meeting grounds for the power brokers, movers and shakers. Stroll past the front windows and you will be reminded that in the 1930s Rudy Vallee entertained the crowds here. FDR held his first Innaugural Ball here and in later years President Truman would enter a side door undetected to secretely meet with his old Senate buddies for a game of poker.
Where else would the Beatles stay for their DC tour in 1964 than the Omni Shoreham? Of course they had to rent an entire wing for their entourage. The wait staff at the Shorehamalways enjoyed dignitaries and rich ones at that. King Saud of Saudia Arabia once gave solid gold watches to the waiters in appreciation of their service.
A step inside the magnificent entrance and it is easy to see why Nancy Reagan was seranaded by Frank Sinatra here. And who can forget President Clinton's impromptu sax performance ( the sex performance would be later in the Oval Office) celebrating his first day as President of the United States?
Well, after obtaining the necessary ID for admittance, I made it to the opening ceremonies which were started by an opening prayer by Dr John Guest from Sewickly, Pa and then a rousing rendition of The Star Spangled Banner by the former Marine tea party attendee made famous by his you-tube appearance.
What followed for the next two days was an explosion of red meat conservatives rising in applause as speaker after speaker bellowed out the mantra "Reinforcements are coming, help is on the way!"
So as not to turn this lunch break into a dinner break too, I will post a few fragments of each speakers' presentation:
Mike Huckabee: The Wall Street break down was not a money problem , it was a moral crises...God never intended for the government to raise our kids... We must value human life from conception to natural death.
Senator Jim Inhofe: Iran can hit the Eastern US by 2015 and Obama cancelled missle defense in Poland!
Senator Jim DeMint: There is a correlation between Judeo-Christian values and freedom.....Immoral people need a big government to control them. A moral people need a lot less government.
Representative Michele Bachmann: The Tea Party is not a Red Party or a Blue Party, it is a Red, White, and Blue Party. ( After her vigorous defence of freedom I heard a lady behind me say to her seatmate-"She should run for President")
Representative Mike Pence: "I am a Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican- In that order" ...America stands with Israel. (With this, a Jewish lady who happened to have a shofar belted out a blast of approval. Memo to self- bring ear plugs next year) Mike also stated that a new Republican Congress would repeal Obamacare and end funding for abortions and Planned Parenthood.
Gov. Mitt Romney: "The Reid, Pelosi, Obama fortunes are going down faster than a JetBlue flight attendant"...This is the first time in history that the government has declared war on small businesses....Foreign threats are up what with Iran and North Korea, yet this administration's idea of a rogue state is (pregnant pause) Arizona.
Senator Rick Santorum:God has given us our rights. Rights don't come from government. "The size and scope of government is directly related to the virtue of the people".
Gary Bauer: This country is in shock about what is going on in the U.S. We have the most anti-Israel President the country has ever had...."We know who our friends are, even if the president doesn't"
Christine O'Donnell: " We're not trying to take back our country. We ARE our country."
Sean Hannity: If Mike Castle would have won in Delaware, we would have been asked to rally around him and support the Republican nominee. Well, now that Christine O'Donnell has won, we ask for the same thing.
Newt Gingrich: The scoreboard so far is Grass Roots 7, Establishment 0. O'Donnell's opponent is the candidate of food stamps, O'Donnell is the candidate of pay checks.
Gov. Bob McDonnell: We need to make the moral case for fiscal reform.
David Limbaugh: Buy my book "Crimes against Liberty"
We were also entertained in music by the Duggar Family( 19 and counting) and heard from Dale Peterson (He ran for Alabama Agriculture Commissioner and was made famous by his you-tube gun toting advertisement). Many other speakers had the crowd cheering and flag waving.
See you next year in DC!
Reader Comments (4)
Ugh. I am not an Obama/Pelosi supporter and am not in favor of the direction they are taking this country. BUT THIS IS MY ALTERNATIVE?????
This is the reason I have a spotty voting record. What is one to do when the only choices presented to you are ****?
I want to welcome you to the lunch break and your enthusiasm but if I would have been at that conference I think I would have exercised by second amendment right at blew my head off.
I agree with CJ here. This group of Tea Party advocates seem to be more about anarchy and breaking down society and our obligations to each other and our future than saving anything. I try to stay out of conversations because I think a third party for our country would be the greatest change in politics in my life. But I was hoping for more moderate group instead of conservative zealots. And even after months of press, I am still not sure how they differ from republicans, though they seem to be against everything other than their own selfish motives to acquire and keep as much wealth and power in America without having to pay for it. Good luck though, but you will have to pry that cold steel voting lever from my dead hand for me to push that TP lever.
But one point I thought was important and it remined me about this essay today. We were talking about the lower part of Italy and how the Mafiia down there control everything. The police can not gain control and all the citizens live in fear or work for the groups. We also brought up the danger and chaos of Mexico and how the drug lords just rule with violence and reckless actions against the government and citizens. I don't know if the second amendment would help these places, but I can see why that safeguard could produce a sense of control.
The Tea Party are motivated but this is America and we drink coffee. Thanks again for the spirited lunch.
Thanks for the post. It was quite revealing in more ways then may be intended.
First off, I didn't know most of that stuff about the Omni Shoreham hotel. Pretty important landmark, that I've never heard off. Goes to show you, there's always more stuff to learn.
Secondly, I'm more shocked at the harsh reactions of the above comments than anything any conservative said as reported in the blog post. What is so surprising or extremely objectionable about the quotes from conservative politicians at a convention filled with other conservatives? A large swath of the country's population identifies with these ideas. The view that the country's government has lost its way and that it's due to moral decline in society is far from being crazy, in fact, I think many people throughout history felt the same way about their time.
This is not to say I agree with everything said or would unequivocally vote for these people based on a few catchphrases. But the alternative has failed. We tried the historic change of the liberalism of Pelosi, Reid and Obama, and things are not better. The Democrats have to own the actions of Congress since 2006 and the President's agenda (almost all of which was passed) and stop blaming the other guys. However, it seems like instead of offering solutions or taking blame for failed policies (stimulus, TARP, Afghanistan, Iran Nuclear threat, etc.), the Left continues to demonize any alternative voices.
I think, Dugan, that you have bought into a perception of what you want the Tea Party to be, a group that you can love to hate on, rather than see it's other dimensions. Most Tea Party activists are middle class, middle Americans concerned about a lack of jobs, rising taxes, and increasing, but ineffective bureaucracy not a bunch of fat cats out to hide their money so they can go swimming in a pile of gold like Scrooge. It is true that the income divide in this country is as bad as its ever been, but I hardly think the blame can be placed on grassroots activists who support the Constitution (God forbid!) or a morality that places the burden of charity on the individual and volunteer organizations, rather than a massive, faceless government employee sitting behind a desk who will never see or have a personal connection to the average citizen in need.
The sad fact is that the rich, powerful Republican business leaders and the socialist leaning, career Democratic politicians are two sides of the same coin. They both tried to consolidate wealth and power at the expense of the average citizen's economic well-being. And even more sinister, they're probably still working together to maintain the status quo. Just look at who Obama has appointed to advise him on financial matters and you'll see that Washington and Wall Street aren't very far away from each other.
Although we'd like a third party that's fresh, new, and centrist, it just doesn't work in America. Third parties never win, only take votes away from other candidates, and therefore have to fit under the Democratic or Republican tents just to survive. But we can take solace in the fact that while both sides may sound like zealots for their respective hard core ideologues during election season, their tone will have to come down a few notches if they hope to accomplish any kind of real governing. Perhaps the most interesting part about politics in the Obama era has been the political reality that a candidate can't win without the independent and moderate voters. Whether you like it or not, those in the middle of the road are leaving Obama and will be up for grabs once again this November. Let's hope whoever gets their votes are saner and more down to earth than the last people we put in there.
Nick,
Some good points you make.
While I tend to side with Republicans on thier fiscal policies towards business and taxes, the fact that I am on most optimistic days an agnostic and the other days athiest...I have a hard time aligning myself fully to them once they bedded themselves with the Christian Conservatives. The Right seems to want government out of our wallets, but in our bedrooms instead. I am a fiscally conservative capitalist who is socially liberal...I have no voice in government. The Libertarians have not caught on to date.
You made a point that I agree with 100%. The Conservative Republicans and Liberal Democrats in office are two sides of the same coin: namely career politicians who first and foremost want to keep their jobs and power. Everything else is secondary. I do not foresee real change ever until the people of this nation take it upon themselves to enact their own form of Term Limits and vote out every incumbent after 2 terms. The founding fathers NEVER envisioned the idea of a careerwhich is what has now happened and polluted our government.