The RightOnline conference, currently going on in Minneapolis, was well worth the price of admission, and then some. Getting to literally rub elbows with such luminaries as Andrew Breitbart, John Fund, James O’Keefe, Ed Morrissey, and others is nothing less than candy for any conservative political junkie worth his or her salt. I have to go now, but I’ll be putting up a post later with more details.
UPDATE
Well, I just got back home (I’ll be going back tomorrow) and what a day it was. The chance to network with the rockstars of conservative thought and activism, as well as so many myriad everyday rank and file conservative activists was a mind-blowing experience. An interesting factor that in the same hotel, at the same time, the Netroots convention (the Soros-sponsored convention) was being held. The two groups didn’t interact much; however, there was one Netroots protester trying to disrupt RightOnline activities who was summarily escorted off the premises.
Aside from networking, I went to two outstanding breakout sessions. The first one was headlined by WSJ’s John Fund (also Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Tom Larsen of MediaCom Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Basically, what Net Neutrality amounts to is an attempted takeover by the FCC using the same outdated and antiquated framework that they used during the 1920s and 1930s to parcel out radio broadcast licenses. John Fund stated that he is opposed to corporate welfare of any kind, and that the WSJ (and much of conservative Republican thought) has shifted from pro-business to a more pro- free market orientation, and so much as stated that what is good for corporate America (many corporations support net neutrality) is not necessarily conducive to the free market system. Rep. Marsha Blackburn reiterated that it was the goal of the current House of Representatives to de-fund any effort by the FCC to impose Net Neutrality, as well as to de-fund the implementation of a government-controlled “kills switch. ”
The point was made that net neutrality laws didn’t seem to be on the front-burner of the Obama agenda anymore. To that, Fund and the other panelists warned that far from being relegated to the ash heap of history, where it belongs, much of the now unpopular, unworkable Obama agenda, including net neutrality, is on hiatus and is waiting to be fully implemented pending Obama’s anticipated re-election in 2012.
One aspect in which I was thoroughly disappointed by Fund was when the notion was brought up about giving bloggers equal protection as is given mainstream journalists in terms of protection of sources and overall shielding by the First Amendment. Fund declined to comment on it, saying that it wasn’t ‘(his) area of interest.’ Not that I want to put words in Fund’s mouth, but it would seem that although Fund is decidedly conservative, his hesitance to support equal rights for citizen journalists bespeaks of a high allegiance to the protection of his profession to the exclusion of ‘dabblers’ in the art of journalism.
The second session I attended was by far the most interesting, that being James O’Keefe; the same James O’Keefe who with the promotional assistance of Andrew Breitbart nearly singlehandedly brought down ACORN, Planned Parenthood, and NPR. The session featured videos of his work, as well as a running commentary of mainstream journalists attempts to not only mischaracterize and lie about his efforts, but to also suppress the news. O’Keefe stated that with regard to his teacher’s union expose, he was interviewed seven times by local news media outlets, with only one of those interview’s airing, that being a live interview, in which the news anchor was literally having coniptions, accusing O’Keefe of lying and doctoring the videos, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Through exposing the corruption of the left, O’Keefe has made a lot of enemies, who are constantly trying to take him out via a flood of frivolous lawsuits. O’Keefe stated that this aspect is the most difficult consequence of his work, as he is only funded through small donations, and doesn’t have a conservative version of George Soros funding his cause.
While the breakout sessions were phenomenal, no doubt the highlight of my day was receiving an invitation to the VIP reception following the sessions. In the intimate gathering of around 30 people, I was able to speak casually to luminaries such as Breitbart, Fund, O’Keefe and others. It was truly an honor I shall not soon, if ever, forget.
Well, that’s the news today from the RightOnline conference– I hope to be reporting back tomorrow.
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