The Conservative Movement is ALIVE!

I do realize that I did promise that I would update you all every night of the CPAC. However, as you will learn while reading this, I was extremely exhausted by the end of the day and had no will-power to stay up any later than I did. Anyways, this is an update of the rest of the CPAC.

Day 2 at the CPAC:
I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. This day was basically set-up day for the entire day. We were supposed to be up and in one of the ballrooms by 9:30, not too bad considering what was to come in the next 3 days. In the ballroom we were told that we will be stuffing CPAC bags, 10,000 bags to be exact. With about 50 volunteers all spread out putting the contents in the bag one would think that it wouldn’t take too long. Well, your assumption is wrong. We were stuffing bags from 10 until 4pm with about a 30 minute lunch break. The contents of the bag varied from magazines to newspapers to flyers. I did manage to get one bag and the items are interesting.

The best part of bag-stuffing day was the two special guests that came and gave us a little talk. The first guest was Mit Romney! It was a complete surprise and I was glad that I had my camera with me to get some good pictures. His little speech was basically him thanking us for the hard work that we are and were about to do to make the CPAC happen. Mit even explained that volunteering on various campaigns and at political organizations is how he got started in politics. I think he actually got started in politics from his father, but that is a different topic. Well Romney was a complete surprise. I don’t think anyone was expecting the next guest either. About 2 hours after Mit came, maybe earlier, we were told another special guest would like to talk to us. In comes Wayne LaPierre, the chairman of the NRA. This was just as exciting and once again, I was lucky to have my camera handy because not only did I take a picture of him speaking but I got a picture with him. Both Romney and LaPierre seemed really nice and it was pretty cool that they took time out of their schedules to come talk to the volunteers.

We finally finished bag stuffing and all of us were exhausted. Around 7pm I found my roommate, who got stuck on pre-registration and asked what we wanted to do for dinner. We decided to go into the capitol itself, near the White House, out to dinner (I forgot the name of the restaurant but it was good!). After dinner, we did a little site seeing which is always an amazing thing to do. Yes, I did take a picture of my future house.

Day 3 at the CPAC: the real first day.
The mayhem started. As volunteers, we were supposed to be up and in the volunteer lounge by 7:30 so we can eat breakfast and start working by 8ish. I knew that there were some pretty awesome guest speakers today and I really wanted to hear some of the speeches. Some notable people that were scheduled to speak were: Marco Rubio, Senator. Jim DeMint, Liz Cheney, Mit Romney, and Minority Leader John Boehner. I really wanted to meet Boehner because I think he is one of the Republicans that we can count on in the near future but I do not believe he will run for President. As a volunteer, we were told that if we would like to meet anyone that is speaking we would be able to but we just had to let them know.

Well, I was scheduled to work the main entrance to the ballroom. Well just before we started to let people in, I was asked if I would go stand at the entrance to the back of the stage so people would not try to get behind stage. I was a little bummed because I thought that I wouldn’t be able to hear anyone speak. Well I was standing back there making sure that media personnel did not get back there. I had to fend off several people and attempt to be a tough guy. I believe I was successful. Just before noon I overheard one of the directors of CPAC talking on the phone saying this: “Did you hear who is making a surprise visit? Well, keep this a secret; Dick Cheney is coming to speak while after his daughter.” I couldn’t believe it. Liz Cheney was scheduled to speak at 12:30 and as soon as she took the stage I was told to follow someone to the backstage area because as the person put it: “I want him to be able to see this.” Someone covered for me and I followed them to the backstage area. Over in the corner, I see Dick Cheney sitting and waiting patiently to surprise everyone in the crowd. I got a few pictures of him while he was waiting to speak and when he finally took the stage, I was told that I would get to meet him after! Well when he finished speaking we got positioned to get a hand shake and a quick picture. The people from the CPAC have a picture of me shaking his hand! I thought that was one of the coolest things I have ever done.

I resume my position while being totally excited. Well next up to speak was Mit Romney and I was told he was going to enter through the way that I was guarding. So I got ready to fend off a huge crowd that followed him to the entrance. At first I didn’t realize that he also had a special guest with him. Romney brought Senator Scott Brown along with him and he walked right pass me and I didn’t recognize him at first! Well I finally realized it was him and I was determined to at least go shake his hand. So I got someone to cover for me real quick again and I went to the backstage area looking like I belonged there. Well I saw Scott Brown standing there and I took a quick picture of him. He saw me do that and said: “Want a picture with me?” I went over there and handed my camera to someone who took the picture. Let me say this, Scott Brown is a freaking rock star! He loves it and he is probably one of the nicest guys out there! My day could not have gotten any better.

Like I said earlier, I really wanted to meet John Boehner. He was scheduled to speak at 3:45. Just after he took the stage, someone came and got me and said “Let’s go, you wanted to meet Boehner, right?” So I followed him and we (there was a group of us) sat in the waiting room behind stage for him to finish. He came right into the room and we all lined up and he shook each and every one of our hands and thanked us for all of our hard work. So I also have a picture with him too. This was one of the best days ever!

Day 4 at the CPAC: officially day 2.
Friday I was scheduled to work the book signing down in exhibit hall. This is usually a pretty good job because you get too meet some important people. However, Friday’s book signers were not that important except Ann Coulter. However, there was also a speaker that day that I wanted to meet: Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. So when he took the stage someone came down and got me and I got to meet Pawlenty too! Again, he is one of the nicest guys too. Well I went back to book signing and had to wait until 4 when Ann Coulter was scheduled. It got crazy busy real fast and as she was signing books I was assigned to keep people moving from the signing area. I was literally 3 feet from Ann. Ann finished signing everyone’s books and I asked if I could get a quick picture with her. She was more than happy to do that too! Unfortunately, she isn’t as attractive in person as she looks in pictures.

After book signing I was told that I can get dinner up in the volunteer lounge. When I was in there, there was on 2 other people in there with me. All of a sudden, two body guards come in along with Ann Coulter and the door shuts. Ann was on a personal phone interview and they decided to come into that room. So we basically got a personal radio show and when she was done we asked if we could get a picture with her. She was once again, more than happy to do that even though her body guards wanted to get her out of there and moving on to the next event. So we got a quick picture. What a great day!




Day 5 at the CPAC: last day.
There were some pretty big speakers scheduled for the last day. Here is some: John Bolton, Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Bob McDonnell, and Glenn Beck as the keynote speaker. As the day was going on, I was at the exit of the main ballroom so I got to listen to the speeches. During one panel session, I heard someone announce that Amity Shlaes is about to speak. Well Amity Shlaes wrote The Forgotten Man which I had to read last semester for my independent study. I was pumped. I really wish I had my book with me because I would have loved if she signed it but I asked if I could go backstage to meet her and possibly get a quick picture with her. They let me go because she isn’t a big speaker. So I went back and got a quick picture with her and got to talk to her for a minute. While I was back there, I met John Bolton and shook his hand. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a picture with him but I did get a picture of him. He seemed like a nice guy too.

Obviously, Glenn Beck was the last speaker of the night and of the event. Well, I made a move to get into a good spot to hear his speech and get as close to the stage as I could, which is pretty easy to do when you are a volunteer. His speech gets going and he is all fired up, I personally liked his speech better than when I watch him on tv. 35 minutes into the speech, one of the volunteer organizers finds all of us and tells us that we have the chance to meet Glenn Beck but we could choose to stay and listen to the rest of the speech. Of course all of us wanted to meet him. So we go to the back where he was going to be taken to avoid the media and a huge crowd. All of us lined up the way that was convenient for a group picture. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to use all of our cameras so they used theirs and the picture will be sent to us very soon. However, I did get to shake his hand and he just seemed like a real nice guy and I truly believe now that he believes every word that he says.

Well that was my CPAC experience. I got to meet some pretty famous people and I made a lot of new friends. I do want to say this though; the conservative movement is NOT dead. In fact, it is the complete opposite, the conservative movement is ALIVE and well and we are fired up! I wish I had more space to talk about everything that I saw and got and did while I was there. I also wish I had time to talk more about the speeches some people gave but I can’t wait to re-listen to the speeches online. This was one of the most exciting experiences of my life and I really cannot wait until next year’s CPAC! 2010 elections are going to be fantastic!!!

If you want to know what I thought of any of the speeches or if you want to know anything specifically, let me know.

Day 1... CPAC!

As most of you know, I am now in our nation’s capitol for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). For the next couple of days, I will be updating all of you as frequently as possible about 1) my experiences 2) and about what is going on here. Enjoy.

Today was travel day. My flight out of Rochester was scheduled for 5 a.m. which means I had to get to the airport at 3:45 a.m. the latest. Not a big deal but let’s just say that I have been up since then. Security at the Greater Rochester International Airport was actually pretty good; well at least I did not have any problem. My flight from Rochester left and I connected in NYC at LGA (I don’t know how to spell that airport’s name and I am not about to look it up). When I got there I was scheduled to have a lay over until 9:59 a.m. Not a problem except the fact that I was exhausted! Around 9:30, they announcer says that the flight has been delayed until 10:20. No joke, 15 minutes later the announcer gets back on and says the flight to BWI is cancelled. Crap. I go up to the counter to get re-booked and she was saying that there was a later flight that would be leaving around 2:30ish or I can catch a flight at 11:30 that flies into Reagan National. I chose the Reagan National flight mainly because it was earlier and a whole lot more convenient to get to the hotel.

Anyways, I get to DC and I take the Metro to the hotel. Let me just say that this hotel is one of the biggest hotel’s I have ever stayed in and one of the nicest Marriot’s ever! To prove this statement, in the room there is a 40inch plasma flat screen television. Pumped!

Today’s basic itinerary was check-in, go to the volunteer dinner (which was fantastic), take a group tour of the hotel for the lay out, and discuss the schedule for the upcoming days. I found out that I will be manning the main guest entrance and on Thursday and Friday I will be manning the book signing station. At the book signing station I will be basically seeing people like Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, and various other people. I’m pissed that I left my Coulter books at home because I would have totally had her sign them! As the days continue I will share each day’s events.

I am really looking forward to the rest of the week! I also cannot wait to share my experiences either. Do not worry, I will try to take plenty of pictures which will be available to see on my facebook page.

A sense of pride watching team USA.

The Winter Olympics are upon us. The Olympics in general are a time of competition and a time that countries usually put aside their differences and come together. There has already been a tragic event at this year’s Olympic games; a Georgian Luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, only 21 years of age had a horrific accident during a practice run and passed away on Friday. This blog post will reflect on and question in the Winter Olympic “sports” are really sports and some other notable stories of this year’s games.

Apparently, Vancouver’s luge track is noted to be one of the fastest and most dangerous tracks in the world. The average speed of this luge track is around 15 miles per hour faster than other tracks (average speed ranges from 80-85 but Vancouver’s averages around 90-95mph). Now, if you are not familiar with luge I will explain a little bit about it. It is a “sport” that involves a sled going down a hill in a carved out path for the riders, which happens to be a sheet of ice. The riders have to be the fastest down the track (there are numerous competitors and they all go at different times). Some of the turns on the course are pretty sharp and are sloped so riders can use that to their advantage. Sometimes that advantage turns into a wipe out/crash. At Vancouver there were several accidents before Nodar took his final ride. Apparently the IOC and the officials did not think this track was too dangerous because they took no prior precautions. The day Nodar passed, the IOC and other officials decided to change the spot of the men’s starting point to where the original women’s starting point was supposed to be. This is so that the average speed will be reduced. They also “improved” the turn where the accident happened.

My main question is why were there precautions not taken care of beforehand? Granted, these precautions are a good thing. Unfortunately, this time the precautions had to come at the cost of someone’s life. My other question is this: is luge really a sport? Personally, I do not believe that it takes any athletic skill to compete in luge. Does it look fun? Of course, I would love to be on a sled that is going 80mph, but I do recognize there are serious risks. When someone explains to me that luge is really a sport, and no, stupidity does not count, I will continue to believe that luge is not a sport. However, my thoughts go out to the luge community.

There are a lot of “sports” in the Winter Olympics that people try to convince me are sports. For instance, the biathlon, skeleton, Nordic skiing, snowboarding half pipe, curling, and figure skating. I will give all of these “sports” some credit that it does take stamina to compete in them. However, I do not see any athletic ability in any of that. Last time I checked the only sports in the Winter Olympics would be speed skating, hockey, and cross country skiing. Blood, sweat, and tears should be a requirement of any Olympic games. Another thing that makes me real mad about the Olympics is they put on stupid figure skating more than hockey. Figure skating is a lot like watching golf on television: boring.

While I am on the subject with things that annoy me about the Winter Olympics I want to put all of you bandwagon fans of Apollo Ohno in your place. First off, I will give him kudos for tying the record for most American winter Olympic medals. However, Apollo Ohno is not a dominate speed skater! If he was so dominate, why does he not win a gold medal every single time? I will tell you why, because he gets lucky at best with coming anywhere near a medal! Yesterday, the Koreans had him beat but made a stupid mistake at the very end which gave him 2nd place. If you go back and look at all of his medal races, something crazy has happened in all but 1 race where he got a gold medal. He is not that dominate of an athlete. Get off the bandwagon.

I do think that the opening ceremony was pretty good but still not as good as Beijing’s opening ceremony in 2008. However, Beijing did not have the Great One lighting their caldron. Anyways, these Olympic games seem to be a very promising one for team USA. Currently, we are in the lead of the medal count with 6 (1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze). Personally, I am looking forward to hockey. I think we have a very good chance at winning gold. But, if I was putting money on this I would pick Canada, Sweden, or Finland. Any medal for the USA in hockey would be great.

Time to get back into this.

It is already February 2010. Obviously, you already know this unless you have somehow time-traveled. January absolutely flew by. I still have not started classes yet, but they start soon so don't be too jealous! Anyways, in this posting I figured that I would reflect on the past month and talk about what I have done in 2010 so far. Are you ready? Good.

As most of you know, I was lucky enough to intern at Congressman Christopher Lee’s (NY-26) office in Greece. It was a great opportunity for me and a real eye opener too. Though I did not get to meet the Congressman I will hopefully get a chance next fall when I try to intern in his D.C office. Congressman Lee and I have a lot in common (due to the fact that I interned in his office I will not put him in a bad position by saying too much). One thing that we have in common is that he is fiscally conservative. Though I have never owned my own business I have the same beliefs as the supply-siders which really gained ground during President Reagan’s administrations. Before taking office, Congressman Lee ran his own business which most Representatives cannot say. Because Mr. Lee has done this, he is on the House Committee of Finance. Another thing that I have in common with the Congressman is that we both love running. Congressman Lee has run in numerous 5k’s and 10k’s and he has completed one marathon. He is ok in my book and he definitely has my vote this coming year.

Overall, the internship was fantastic. At times there was not much to do (though I did read a few books which I will talk about shortly) but I did learn a lot. I have a few laughs and I met two great guys who work for the Congressman who really know the ins and outs of the House of Representatives. I strongly urge everyone to get more involved in politics and or call their representatives and ask a few questions.

Like I said before, I got a chance to read a few books while was interning (of course it was on the down time). Two books that I read were Glenn Beck’s Common Sense. I know a lot of you disagree with his politics, and my politics for that matter. However, what I will say about Beck’s book is that it is a really easy read and easy to understand. Personally, I do not think the book was “radical” in any way rather, it questioned the way our country is going and where the values have gone. It does remind me a lot of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense which is included in Beck’s book at the back. On a scale of 1 to 10 and 1 being do not read and 10 a recommended read I give this book a 7. The second book I read was Ann Coulter’s If Democrats had any Brains, they’d be Republicans. Now this book was more a fun read for me personally and something where I could laugh and agree with. I do not recommend this book for anyone that sees themselves as a left-leaning Democrat. However, I have read several of her other books and those ones I would recommend to anyone. And currently, I am reading another conservative book: In Defense of the Religious Right by Patrick Hynes. So far I am enjoying it and I think Hynes makes a pretty strong argument. The real reason I am reading this book is because I slightly disagree with one of his main arguing points: I do not believe that the religious right helps the Republican Party (but to a degree it sort of does). This is a debate that I will write about at a later time.

January was another big month for Republicans and another set-back for Obama and Pelosi. It was also a slap in the face to the Kennedy legacy. Senator-elect Scott Brown, a Republican, won in one of the most liberal states in the country: Massachusetts. One might wonder why this is such a big deal and why Obama has failed pretty hardcore. Well, Obama went to Massachusetts in a final push to campaign for Maratha Coakley who was supposed to win by a landslide. When the President went there, it was a complete and utter disaster for him because he lost his super majority in the Senate. The Democrats no longer hold the 60 vote-filibuster proof majority to pass anything they want. My advice to any Democrat, November is right around the corner, be careful of what you wish for. And my note to President Obama and Speaker Pelosi: you had a full year with a super majority and you couldn’t get anything passed except a $1.4 trillion deficit. Good job. The people have spoken, mainly the people that call themselves Independents.

Just a few days ago I received some more good news. I get to attend this year’s CPAC, also known as the Conservative Political Action Conference. This is biggest conference of all year for the nation’s biggest conservatives. This is a once in a life time opportunity to get to go to and I am. Crazy story of how this opportunity presented itself too! I was actually looking online for something to help my Republicans club at school and I stumbled upon the CPAC’s website. While there I saw a section where it said I could volunteer there. So I emailed the guy and asked for an application and he sent me one and I filled it out. He called me a few days later to interview me and I got the spot. Apparently only 55(ish) people get this spot because they provide room and board. Not a bad deal. So I get to rub elbows with some pretty important people in the conservative movement. Oh yeah, did I mention I might get to meet Glenn Beck since he will be there!? Totally pumped.

Before this is finished I would like to write a little eulogy for my grandfather who passed away exactly four years ago today. To spend the day today, I went out to eat with my grandma who really misses him and she was a mess. I just want to say that I miss you to grandpa and I wish you could be here. But, I know you are in a better place and I will get to see you someday. Love and miss you.