More than two dozen conservative activists left Wisconsin mostly by charter bus in the early morning hours of Thursday, November 2nd en route to the fifth annual Americans for Prosperity Defending the American Dream summit in Washington DC. These folks came from all over Wisconsin, from Oconto and Oregon, Madison, Neenah, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Mayville, Sheboygan, Oostburg, New Berlin, Caledonia, Menomonee Falls, Racine and Lake Geneva.
The 13-hour bus ride was made short by the warm friendliness of all on board and the endless swapping of stories and articles. The competent bus drivers also shared their humor and good nature which was much appreciated by all. We arrived too late Thursday night to see "The Cartel" and "Free of Equal" that were part of the film screenings of the conference.
The conference began Friday morning with a number of breakout sessions as well as some rather interesting and informative exhibits. After lunch, the Kick-off session began, with AFP president Tim Phillips getting the show started and introducing Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. While Romney gave a well-prepared, comprehensive and somewhat detailed speech on his priorities as President, and received correspondingly warm applause, the house came down when Herman Cain took the stage. Cain articulated his bold vision for the new direction he plans to lead America and his three-pronged approach to getting it started. Defense policy centered on honoring and cultivating our alliance with Israel and not sending money to our enemies.
His famous 9-9-9 plan throws out the debacle of a tax code currently in place and replaces it with an easy, non-tyrannical one not requiring the services of the IRS. He finished with his vision of how energy policy changes will unleash the vast resource wealth and prosperity currently locked up by the EPA. Cain also reiterated his other famous theme -- "The Founding Fathers did their job, now we must do our job. We are the Defending Fathers!" His standing ovation lasted forever!
Rudi Giuliani spoke about how liberal policies lead directly to the destruction of institutions and personal freedoms and gave many specific examples which he has personally dealt with as well as many that we are now facing with the policies of the Obama administration. He was really great.
Jonah Goldberg commented about how the TEA Party movement is a real American movement, rooted in the philosophy and principles of the Founders and the historical traditions and values of our country. The Occupy whatever movement has absolutely nothing to do with any of these things.
John Fund evangelized the importance of restoring fair elections and eliminating voter fraud.
And lastly, one of my favorite speakers, Irish lass Ann McElhinney, gave another enthusiastic, impassioned and extremely humorous talk about what the liberal vision of the world truly is that they are trying to force upon us and what it actually looks like in reality.
After afternoon breakout sessions on taxation, property rights, government spending, grassroots communication and media and many others, the "Tribute to Ronald Reagan" dinner began at 7 p.m.
Judge Andrew Napolitano engaged us in probably the most powerful bombardment of facts, anecdotes and implications of how our Constitution has been ignored and perverted to allow America to come into the enfeebled state we find ourselves in right now.
Dinesh D'Souza took us on a journey through Barack Obama's entire lifetime to demonstrate how his behavior and decision-making as President has everything to do with the anti-colonial sentiments and embedded hatred held closely by his Father. Dinesh presented an ironclad case which I am sure no one in that room had any dispute. Phil Kerpen, Vice President of policy at AFP, gave a thunderous presentation of how important our efforts are to stay engaged and complete our mission as activists to get us back to the original intent of America.
During dinner a crowd of ruffians had gathered outside of the convention center, apparently concerned about us evil AFP people and our affiliation with those doubly evil Koch Brothers. Saint David was with us I am proud to say. While being warned of the impending and inescapable clash with these criminals trying to eliminate our right to free movement and personal body space, our Wisconsin contingent didn't get too concerned, considering we have been living continually with these fool's antics since last February.
When it came time to leave, the event personnel were telling people that they MUST remove their lanyards with their name tags. Needless to say, we didn't comply. We wanted the Occupiers to know who we were and that we weren't intimidated by them. The D.C. cops did a nice job of trying to enforce the wishes of the criminals to entrap us in the building. The cops were telling us we couldn't leave instead of trying to help us get out. You see, these "nice" and "non-violent" people as characterized by the mainsteam media were physically blocking all exits with their bodies and THE BODIES OF THEIR CHILDREN! The cops did nothing except aid and abet the criminals. Several of our AFP people, some elderly, got injured trying to leave the facility. See for yourself at http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/05/chaos-video/ and at \http//www.youtube.com/watch? v=-lOFh7-yALw
Needless to say, we Wisconsinites were not going to let a bunch of hooligans determine what rights we could and could not have. So we ignored the cops and left the building, physically clearing the ruffians out of our way as necessary to get out and go on our way. They didn't like that but were truly stunned that some of us were not capitulating to their threats. They wilted way like the cowards they are.
After parting the Marginot Line we actually engaged some peripheral occupier supporters, all grad students that supported the message but not the violence. After several minutes of (believe it or not) constructive engagement, I learned that they know what they have learned and been told in their education does not match up with the real world. They freely admitted that they have no idea what to do about it. They have no answers to the problems they see, for instance, that money governs the political process. I actually got two of them to understand that smaller government, i.e. less money in the hands of the politicians is the real solution to this primary grievance of theirs.
The most astounding thing of all is that these young people have NEVER EVER even heard of these arguments and positions we were presenting to them on these issues. Unbelievable! No wonder they're lost!
When we returned to the hotel most of our contingent stayed up late to swap the insane experiences of the convention center exit over a few well-earned cocktails.
Friday began with a networking breakfast where we made lots of new friends from Michigan followed by the Cut Spending Now rally. Andrew Breitbart gave his usual mix of humor, intellectually honest perspective and fiery, have-no-fear, in-your-face activist rhetoric, offering to be a conduit of communication and exposure for all members of the cause.
Roger Hedgecock, National Radio host from San Diego, provided some uplifting encouragement from the belly of liberalism, California. Former Hewlett Packard CEO and California Senatorial candidate Carly Fiorina recalled her journey from secretary to top boss in the corporate world and why this journey of opportunity is being snuffed out by progressive policies.
But the whole rally culminated in a cataclysmic fireball of passion from "The Great One," Mark Levin. His wellreasoned and expertly worked logic trail about how the Federal government and it fiscal irresponsibility have decimated the constitutional intent of our government, destroying our individual liberties in the process. He was outstanding! It was a live version of his radio show only much better in person.
Following the rally AFP President Tim Phillips presented some awards. Five activists from different states around the country were honored for their outstanding commitment and service to the cause of freedom. The first of these awards was presented by Matt Seaholm, Wisconsin AFP director to our very own Oriannah Paul of the Sheboygan Liberty Coalition. What a great and well-deserved honor for this tireless individual who never balked at any challenge in the long and sordid trail we have all been a part of in taking back Wisconsin. Congratulations, Ori! You deserve it!
Saturday afternoon included three separate breakout sessions with six separate tracks to choose from in each. I attended sessions on tax policy, teaching economic freedom and unionization. Mark Mix, famous for his crusade to see right-towork become reality in all states, was one of the presenters in this session. The tactics of unions are innovative and ever-evolving, so you have to think like they do if you want a chance to beat them.
At 5 p.m. we gathered our things and took final group pictures in front of the hotel, then boarded our bus for the long ride through the night back to Wisconsin. Our pilgrimage turned out to be the exciting, educational and informative experience we had all expected, with a whole lot of new friends and activist contacts to boot.