Although CPAC 2012 was predictably depressing (coverage HERE and HERE) and largely represented the worst that the elites who have taken control of the "conservative" movement have to offer, there was one development about which I had to smile...
Wow. You really have to hand it to the increasingly embattled Grover Norquist. He knew exactly what to say at CPAC 2012 to satisfy his own sociopathic needs.
"The left is made up… of competing parasites."
Too bad for him that a majority of registered Republicans think his tax philosophies are batshit crazy.
The Presidential contenders arrived and gave their speeches yesterday.
Newt Gingrich brought the crowd to their feet by attacking unemployment insurance, going so far as to call it a "violation of the Declaration of Independence." We're aren't making this up.
Rick Santorum continued his crusade against the evils of birth control and further ginned up the controversy over insuring women's health with an argument that should make every educated human being shake their head in disbelief:
"...here is what they are forcing them to do, in an insurance policy, they or forcing them to pay for something that costs just a few dollars. Is that what insurance is for?"
"In reality, oral contraceptives or “The Pill” range between $35 and $250 for the initial provider visit and the cost of a monthly supply of pills ranges between $15 and $50 a month, which amounts to between $180 and $600 a year depending on woman’s medical coverage. This means some women without insurance coverage for contraception may pay over $850 the first year of their prescription. Other forms of birth control are far more expensive. For instance, the cost for a monthly supply of birth control patches ranges from $15 to $80 dollars, or between $180 and $960 a year. Combined with the doctors visit, uninsured women could spend over $1,200 dollars in the first year."
Ron Paul, the unlikely star of CPACs past, was noticeably absent from his year's festivities. However, he sent his son in do some dirty work for him.
Which brings us to the "frontrunner."
Mitt Romney gave a speech that addressed the burning issue of our time; No, not the ongoing economic decline of the middle class. As everyone at CPAC knows, the real threat to America is "the gay." Bragging about having used an early 20th Century law originally intended to prevent interracial marriage in his fight against marriage equality today, he said:
"On my watch, we fought hard and prevented Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage. When I am president, I will defend the Defense of Marriage Act, and I will fight for an amendment to our Constitution that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman."
Although Ron Paul won the previous two CPAC presidential straw polls, the powers that be gave Mitt Romney the victory today with 38% of the vote. Santorum was a close second with 31%.
The annual Conservative Political Action Conference is always interesting to watch. In this election year, it's essential viewing. Coinciding with the ugliest primary battle the GOP has had in living memory as well as a rapidly widening disconnect between Republican elites and their own base, the 2012 gathering is predictably reactionary.
As TPM reports, there is a lot of gloom in the room. Reinforcing what we've seen over the last week, the elites who have hijacked the mantle of American conservatism are intent on using CPAC 2012 to reignite the American "culture wars" of the 1990s.
Andy went full on, batshit crazy today at CPAC. Apparently, the peaceful protests of Occupy DC members was too much for him to bear. It's worth pointing out that the police on the scene clearly regarded him as a bigger threat than the protesters themselves.
This raising more than a few eybrows. Google does seem out of place among the organizations on the CPAC sponsor list. Bloomberg reports:
"Google Inc., whose chairman has served as an adviser to President Barack Obama, is a sponsor of this month’s Conservative Political Action Conference, co-hosted by the Tea Party.
Google is one of nine main sponsors, alongside the National Rifle Association and the Heritage Foundation, according to the conference’s website. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are slated to speak at the three-day event, which starts in Washington on Feb. 9. Google is the only business listed among the primary sponsors."
"Google also said that CPAC is a perfect chance to promote Google Politics & Elections. Google Politics & Elections is a dashboard they unveiled in January that allows users to track primary results, on-the-ground reporting, as well as find the most current news about all the candidates and issues. Google also plans to incorporate Google+ Hangouts into CPAC."
This is a bad move. Although Google is insisting they will be sponsoring events on both sides of the aisle, that doesn't wash. There is no equal opposite to CPAC. There is no comparable, nationally covered, annual gathering of radical liberals promoting fringe theories of social experimentation that they might sponsor.
Any controversy (and there will be controversy) will be seen as having Google's imprimatur of approval.
When former Vice President and architect of the Iraq debacle Dick Cheney appeared at last year's CPAC, he was greeted with uniform adulation. Not so yesterday at the 2011 gathering. He got at least a little bit of what he deserves. There was a bit of a dust up caused by the Ron Paul wing in attendance. One member of the audience can be heard quite clearly yelling the words "war criminal."
Cheney's presence appears to have been intended as a crowd whipping surprise. He had been brought in to present former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with the confab's annual "Defender of the Constitution Award." Even the John Birch Society is appalled at Rumsfeld's receipt of the award.
