It has taken me forever to get to this CPAC roundup…

Posted: February 21, 2011 by datechguy in special events
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…because things have been so busy so lets just throw out the thoughts.

Considering how big the Boycott news was before the conference it wasn’t that big a deal inside.

If I go next year I’ve got to find a closer hotel (or maybe Smitty be home and have space).

Considering the voting patterns of the last 80 years how significant is the fact that two of the most popular speakers at CPAC were black conservatives (Cain and West).

However it must be noted that unlike last year when the entire hotel was glued to their sets during Beck’s Speech, outside the hall plenty of people where ignoring West’s.

Anyone who touts the straw poll results from CPAC has an agenda.

There is no subject so boring nor advocate so disliked that they can’t draw a crowd by offering free food and booze.

I can’t see why a person will pay $15 dollars for a few chicken fingers when there is a McDonalds at the bottom of the hill.

Nor do I think it is wise to imbibe an excessive amount when in the company of a large group of people who write for a living or as a hobby.

CPAC always provides an abundance of rather incredible looking women dressed(?) to be noticed.

The security guys at the conference are very under-appreciated.

As is the staff.

One of the things that confused me the most was the undercurrent of pessimism in the place concerning 2012. In Jan 2010 we won a single senate seat in Massachusetts and all were energized, just three months before we won the house with historic margins and yet everyone seemed down. It makes no sense to me.

I highly recommend sitting next to Midnight Blue while blogging for days. It’s good for your karma.

6 months ago I talked to a young lady who was unhappy over a personal situation. I was very pleased to see her with a young man I know and approve of. It was one of the highlights of CPAC for me.

I seemed to encounter an inordinate number of inebriates this year,

I also spent more on Taxi’s that week than I have in my lifetime.

Steve of No Runny Eggs is a great person to have around.

I was disappointed that Captain Ed’s wife didn’t make it this year, she is a treasure.

I was pleased to see Susanna Fleetwood and her fine husband again…

and Katy with hers

and Dana Loesch with hers.

Nice Deb has an excuse with 6 kids in the house somebody has to be home.

Am I the only man in the conservative movement who doesn’t find Ann Coulter the least bit attractive?

Of course that doesn’t make her any less brilliant.

Tim Pawlenty bores me.

Herman Cain does not.

Nor does Dale Peterson….

Or Haley Barbour.

Ron Paul is the MSNBC of CPAC, he shows that you can make a good living off of a niche market.

He’s still right on domestic spending…

…and abortion.

And he is a more serious candidate than Donald Trump, of course that’s not saying much.

Donald Trump’s speech at CPAC was not as good as everyone is painting it, he just said aloud what every sane person already knew about Ron Paul.

I’ve never seen a person so giving of his time to his fans as Andrew Breitbart.

I think I spent less time with Stacy McCain at this event than I ever have at any such event.

I miss Smitty.

Didn’t get a chance to meet Wombat although saw him briefly.

It was very funny and ironic to have the makers of the film Atlas Shrugs suggest that they were looking for free promotion rather than paid (ie ad for my show). After all a free lunch is what the book is all about isn’t it.

And no I haven’t read it, will likely miss the movie too.

If there is anything more pleasant at CPAC than sitting for an hour talking to Little Miss Attila I’m not aware of it.

It was also fun to see the sheer joy of meeting people who were at CPAC for the first time.

The room that the MSM gets at CPAC really stinks, particularly compared to us bloggers.

But CPAC could give them the Platinum treatment and they still would not treat us conservatives nice

CPAC is much more manageable the 2nd time around.

I’m still pissed at the DJ at the freedom works party for not playing the songs I wanted to dance to.

I bet they would have played them at Breitbart’s party.

I only saw Cynthia Yockey for a moment, that’s a shame.

The lack of Val Prieto and Cheryl Prater was CPAC loss.

The Cannoli went over VERY well this year.

I think a lot of people at CPAC are there to try to cover a “gotcha” moment.

And Chris Barron’s decision to call Cleta Mitchell a bigot was one of them.

Speaking of which I had only three unpleasant experiences at CPAC, one was a fellow who had similar words for me for my opposition to Gay marriage. It was interesting to see my words twisted in that fashion.

In contrast a very pleasant experience was seeing Corinna Conn again

I think that CPAC should just sanction Pam Geller’s events and be done with it. The idea that they are “unofficial” is simply nonsense.

The Swag bags were pretty thin compared to last year.

I think Roxeanne would enjoy CPAC, I also think she would slap an awful lot of faces there.

I don’t see Sarah Palin coming to CPAC next year either.

You can learn more about a pol in an hour of smoozing than in a week of speeches.

Last year I focused on the attendees, this year I focused on the vendors, Maybe next year I’ll spend my time among the authors…

…If I can afford it that is.

CPAC’s come and go but the google group is forever.

Update: the Loud Talker puts up his list too.

Hey you know that revolution that the Wisconsin folk are cheering…

Posted: February 21, 2011 by datechguy in middle east
Tags: , , , ,

…here are a few related stories:

A second female reporter on being luckier than Lara Logan

It comes down to luck. Sheer luck. And when it runs dry, that’s it. I don’t know the details of what happened to Lara Logan at the square. I can imagine it all too well, though. And when I heard the news on Tuesday I was heartsick: My God. That could’ve been me.

I’d rather be lucky than smart. And unfortunately there is a third not so lucky:

Now I can say what I have only told a few friends since my return: That I too was subjected to several sexual harassment attacks at the scene.

Although they cannot be compared to the trauma Lara suffered, they were deeply upsetting.

Meanwhile more details have come out about the Logan story and they are not pretty as Howard Kurtz explains:

“We were detained by the Egyptian army,” Logan told Esquire. “Arrested, detained, and interrogated. Blindfolded, handcuffed, taken at gunpoint, our driver beaten. It’s the regime that arrested us. They arrested [our producer] just outside of his hotel, and they took him off the road at gunpoint, threw him against the wall, handcuffed him, blindfolded him. Took him into custody like that.”

There was more: “They blindfolded me, but they said if I didn’t take it off they wouldn’t tie my hands. They kept us in stress positions—they wouldn’t let me put my head down. It was all through the night. We were pretty exhausted… We were accused of being Israeli spies. We were accused of being agents. We were accused of everything.” In the process, Logan said, she became “violently, violently ill.” The army eventually released Logan and the crew.

Kurtz also underscores something that has been said by others:

the sexual assault and beating that Logan endured underscores that the Middle East remains a particularly dangerous place for women.

I await the denunciation of Kurtz as a right wing misogynist.

Democracy means choices:

Well, no political action has been taken. But even some Egyptian secular liberals are eager to do away with the historic 1978 treaty, which was the foundation for peace between Egypt and Israel — hence the U.S.’s alliance with Egypt — and which was the pretext for Anwar El Sadat’s assassination by Egyptian Islamists. As HotAir notes, Ayman Nour, a liberal Egyptian leader, was recently quoted as saying, “In practice, the Camp David accords have come to an end.”

Part of that deal was the return of the Sinai to Egypt, I’m sure the Israeli will be happy to take it back off their hands. And there are some bad signs for the future:

Now that Mubarek is gone, the western media mostly has moved on to the next revolution, secure in the perception that Egypt is moving in the right direction.

But that is a false comfort. As I posted yesterday, over a million Egyptians turned out in Tahrir Square last Friday to cheer the vile anti-Semitic Sunni cleric Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who had been exiled by Mubarek, and who espouses the fundamentalist Islamic view that Jews must live as Dhimmis under Islamic control.

And guess what faces are being hidden and which ones are coming out in the open:

Ironically, reports indicate that some of that happened on the very stage from which Qaradawi spoke. Wael Ghonim, the young Google executive credited with helping ignite the popular uprising, was blocked from getting on stage by Qaradawi’s guards. According to a news report, “Ghonim left the square with his face hidden by an Egyptian flag.”

As the IPT reported Thursday, there are increasing signs that the Muslim Brotherhood, which deliberately maintained a low profile during the three-week street protests, is flexing its muscles as Egypt tries to build a new government. It is well represented on a committee charged with recommending changes the country’s constitution and has announced plans to form a political party to run for parliamentary seats.

Meanwhile the Egyptian military has been…active:

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the minister of defense and military production who now leads the council of officers ruling Egypt, has been a strong advocate of government control of prices and production. He has consistently opposed steps to open up the economy, according to diplomatic cables made public by WikiLeaks.

And already there are signs that the military is purging from the cabinet and ruling party advocates of market-oriented economic changes, like selling off state-owned companies and reducing barriers to trade.

Ah socialism, no wonder Wisconsin demonstrators and democrats are waving Egyptian flags.

Let the record show BTW that every single American Egyptian I’ve talked to this month backs the military in Egypt and trusts them more than any other Egyptian institution.

That isn’t surprising as they have been a big contrast to the actions of the military in places like Libya

Brutal totalitarianism on full display as the citizens of Libya rise up to protest against the 41 year reign of Muammar Qaddafi. 25 people were reportedly killed today during protests.

and those 25 were just a start.

And Bahrain:

This video shows a group of Bahrainian protesters marching in the street when all of a sudden you hear gun fire coming from what sounds like multiple people opening fire on the crowd.

and Iran:

Iranian protesters called for the execution of opposition leaders today after Friday prayers.

But not to worry he is under house arrest so I’m sure they can’t get to him, can they?

And in China:

Several top Chinese rights activists have disappeared into police custody as a web campaign urged angry citizens to mark the Middle East’s “Jasmine Revolution” with protests, campaigners said Sunday.

Up to 15 leading Chinese rights lawyers and activists have disappeared since Saturday amid a nationwide police mobilisation, according to activists, while the government appeared to censor Internet postings calling for the demonstrations.

Anybody who thinks non cancer ridden dictator types are going to give up their wealth and privileges without a fight are deluding themselves. Also note that it’s not a coincidence that the US trained and supplied Egyptian army alone did not fire on their own people.

Angry Millionares do a smart thing

Posted: February 20, 2011 by datechguy in Sports
Tags: ,

Being that football isn’t baseball I have very little interest or coinage involved if they bother to play a season or not next year, but I was rather surprised to read this story:

The NFL and its players’ union agreed to federal mediation Thursday in an effort to help settle the labor dispute that is threatening to lead to a lockout of players in as little as two weeks.

This is such a wise and sensible move that I’m totally shocked that the players and owners managed to do it. The amount of revenue generated by football is incredible and there is no reason why these two sides can agree to an acceptable split that keeps them both rich.

I assumed the NFL would do something stupid to threaten the money pot, it might still happen but for now they just might have figured out that quibbling over millions while people are hurting is bad PR.

My Andrew Breitbart Interview

Posted: February 20, 2011 by datechguy in internet/free speech, opinion/news, short films/interviews
Tags: , , , ,

This morning I talked to Andrew Breitbart about his trip to Madison and what he saw:

DaTechGuy:
Why did you decide to go to Wisconsin?

Andrew Breitbart: The Democratic Party has used public sector unions as a weapon to intimidate. It’s a formula used state by state (Such as in searchlight) I’ve sensed that any time when Obama’s Organizing for America gets involved they are up to no good. So when I see them go up against the people I try to be there.

DTG:
How “managed” were the union crowds?

Breitbart: OFA was on their best behavior this time, in the past we’ve seen things such as the egging in Searchlight, the assault on Ken Gladney and more, but this time they are now noticing us with the camera and like Wile E. Coyote they are heading back to the Acme factory to find a new way to do things.

The vulgarity was present for all to see but they tried to be their best for the cameras which were everywhere. At yesterday’s rally there was a sea of double soy-latte Caucasian rage against fox news, “tea baggers”, and “Koch suckers” (referring to the Koch brothers). So were the signs comparing Scott Walker to Hitler and Mubarak.

DTG:
I see you mingled with the crowd on the left, I found it odd that you weren’t recognized

Breitbart: I wore a hat and glasses, walked about 300 yards with the crowd to where I was going as they chanted: Hey hey ho ho; Scott Walker has got to go!” This was actually after my speech; I was on the way to where I was going that when I ran into the doctors giving out the notes.

DTG:
Were you surprised at how open the docs were about writing those sick notes?

    Breitbart: First I want to give a Hat tip to the MacIiver institute that did the initial videos, but my mind is no longer blowable. I don’t think they understand how disturbing their letters were. They really believe that If their hearts are in the proper place they can do what they want. Remember we are coming off Lyla Rose’s Planned Parenthood videos. When you start looking at ACRON and Planned Parenthood and the rest they are considered and painted as the crown jewels of the left, but every office except for 1 you had employees turning a blind eye to immorality.

DTG:
What was your reaction to the left’s attempt to call your video “fake”?

Breitbart: The idea that our independent efforts to expose the left for what they are a sign that there is a market for people for it. I’m conspiring with any American truth teller or videographer who wants to expose the left, if they call it a conspiracy so be it.

DTG:
The unions and the left are going “all in “in Wisconsin why do you think that is the case?

Breitbart: It was a good place for them to do this, because of the template that can be replicated elsewhere because of the existing progressive organizations in the state. That’s why it was so important for the tea party and new media to show up to help show things for what they are

DTG:
I’ve suggested that the events in Wisconsin are a living breathing GOP/or tea party ad for 2012 do you agree.

Breitbart: I agree I think that the visuals, the Hitler stuff, going after the democratic process the way they do, when they call (Gov Scott) Walker a dictator when he was democratically elected, when they do this the protesters are trying to say their minority status trumps the majority. The visuals alone for the ad campaigns are a strong message against this.

DTG:
That being so how long can the MSM cover it up?

Breitbart: The acorn videos never played on ABC, NBC etc yet the America people where able to find out about it and Acorn is done. The more they deny the stories like the doctors slowly but surely the average American recognizes that they are not getting the truth. The MSM’s entire edifice is imploding. We’ve shaken the cage and the American People will see there is another way. There is a check and balance against them and it’s the new media

Update: Thanks to the Lonely Conservative for the link. The fair Miss Attila link also links and comments on the phony doctor notes and more. American Glob includes us in headlines and asks some questions.

BTW not to sound greedy but if you like the work, As I mentioned this morning I’m a couple of hundred short this month if you have an interest in kicking in I’d much appreciate it.

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