CPAC and XPAC 2010 - Day 1

This year's CPAC theme is "Saving Freedom". Speeches reflected that. Attendees felt it in the air. The people are energized. We are preparing for the most important battle of our lives. It is the battle for our Republic. And like General Washington, we will not retreat. We fight to win. We will settle for nothing less. We are American patriots.

Who is in this battle? Most notably, it is the number of students attending. It is comforting that the youth of today is going to go on the frontlines, taking on this battle headon. Their future depends on it and they know it.

I attended as many speeches as I could. Here is a summary of what I thought were some of the best points from today.

Marco Rubio:
-When was the last time you heard of a boatload of American refugees landing on other shores?
-Our rights are granted from God. Our rights are not granted from government.

Jim DeMint:
-You can't govern from a TelePrompTer.
-I didn't come to Washington to make friends, and so far I am not disappointed.

Jason Mattera:
-Hey jackass, get your government off my freedom.

Kevin McCullogh:
-A few days before 9/12, Obama talked about people like us spreading untruths about the healthcare bill and that he was going to call those people out. So a few days later, we showed up.

Stephen Baldwin:
-What we have now that is coming together is a perfect storm, a perfect conservative storm.

Dick Armey:
-(points to teleprompter) What are these things? I always thought if it came from the heart and you knew what you wanted to say, that you didn't need them.
-Horse sense. The horse is the people, the jockey is the govt. When the jockey is small, the horse can carry it. But the gov believes we should starve the horse and feed the jockey. When the jockey is fatter than the horse, we lose the race.
-Those who wrote the constitution knew what the meaning of "is" was. They wrote what they meant and they meant what they wrote.

Liz Cheney:
-The terrorists are such bad guys, their own countries don't want them back.
- (quoting her daughter) Is Presudent Obama really trying to bring terrorists INTO the US? (yes) It is totally stupid.

Erick Erickson:
-We took the teleprompters so Obama can't speak for a few days.
-The left is all about subsidization of bad things. But now that they won, they can't govern.

Mark Tapscott:
-Young people are just naturally liberals and we can just wait until they turn 30 and encounter real life.

Tucker Carlson:
-There is nothing mainstream about ignoring real news. They are not mainstream. The goal is to produce mainstream news and media that
reflects reality, not what is stupid.

John Boehner:
-(regarding tea parties) Respect them, listen to them, and walk amongst them. The other party will never do that.
-The buzzsaw that your (Obama) healthcare bill ran into wasn't lobbyists and special interests, it was millions of Americans who don't want it.

Wayne LaPierre:
-Politicians would do better in this country if they would stop the damn lying. My BS detector bounced off the wall.
-They don't prosecute against drug dealers, they just call for more laws. Blaming honest gun owners for crimes may not have consequences on criminals, but it does have consequences on politicians when they don't have the NRA support.
-When authorities can't protect you, they have no right or authority from denying you the right to protect yourselves. All Americans should have free and unfettered access to that right no matter where they live.

Mitt Romney:
-Obama's self grading of B+ will go down as the biggest exaggeration in history since Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet.
-Obama is to blame for the 10% unemployment. When it comes to pinning blame on someone, pin the tail on the donkeys.
-Isn't it funny that those who have contempt for the private sector will soon find themselves back in it.(Pelosi, Reid, Obama)
-Obama blames the republicans for being the party of no. But it is right to say no to things that are bad. But why do the dems say no to less spending?


In addition to CPAC, this year was the premiere launch for XPAC. The sponsors (Baldwin McCullough, American Future Fund, Parcbench, Fox News, and Riding Voice) wanted to bring younger CPAC attendees a unique experience just for them. So what is XPAC? It is Xtreme
Media, with Kevin McCullough and Stephen Baldwin from the bmxradio show. It is live broadcasts from Fox news. It is an innovative interactive lounge for young conservatives to network and connect with each other to exchange ideas. It is wifi, games, music, film, discussions, social receptions, comedy, and interviews with guest speakers in a coffee house style setting with EPIC nights. To sum it up, there may be extreme sports for athletes, but this is extreme politics for CPACers. It is energized. It is eclectic. It is XPAC.