Rest in Peace Jane Jamison My CPAC Buddy

For those who haven't noticed, the right hand column of this blog is an RSS reader showing the latest post of my favorite blogs.  Tonight as I was going to close down for the night this headline from The Other McCain leaped out at me Jane Jamison, R.I.P., Right Wing News had one too Jane Jamison From Uncoverage Has Passed Away

Jane passed away Saturday--a total shock to me.  Jane (not her real name) lived in suburban San Fransisco and needed to use the pseudonym because being a conservative pundit and a successful lawyer in "the people's republic of San Fransisco" were not compatible.
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I first met Jane at CPAC 2009. We were stuck on the line for people who "weren't on the list." We immediately struck up a friendship while the CPAC folks were trying to work out our blogger papers. We spent most of the next few days sitting together in the  bloggers lounge.

It was hard not to be friends with Jane she radiated a warmth that was unique, even at a setting like CPAC where people who have had internet contact with each other were anxious to put the faces with the emails. Jane was different she was the one who walked around the bloggers lounge asking everyone if they needed anything (she had no responsibility but really cared).

From my short time with Jane, she showed a passion for almost everything she did. I still remember how excited she was when she found out Donald Trump was coming to CPAC, she even wrangled a meeting with Trump. 

Now she is gone, apparently she had been ill but she never showed it

Goodbye Friend, you touched our lives and made us better. May you rest in peace. 

A Stupid, Stupid Decision By CPAC

The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor. -Ronald Reagan

 A "funny thing happened" while we were concentrating on the debt ceiling crisis at the end of last week, on Friday it told GOProud the organization for Gay Conservatives that its sponsorship dollars were no longer welcome.

"The American Conservative Union is preparing to open registration and announce sponsorship opportunities for our Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2012. As a courtesy to your organization, a previous co-sponsor of CPAC, this letter serves to inform you GOProud will not be invited to participate in a formal role for CPAC events scheduled during the 2012 election cycle."

The letter noted that GOProud "members" are welcomed and encouraged to attend "as individual registrants."

The John Birch Society received a similar letter but it is a different category as GOProud is an organization that will expand the reach of conservative politics, while just the name of the John Birch Society drives people away.

For those of you not familiar with GOProud one look at it's website shows that its priorities goals are the same as any other conservative group.

GOProud’s Conservative Agenda
The so-called “gay agenda” is defined by the left through a narrow prism of legislative goals. In contrast to the approach of the left, GOProud’s agenda emphasizes conservative and libertarian principles that will improve the daily lives of all Americans, but especially gay and lesbian Americans.
1 – TAX REFORM - We support replacing the current tax code with the Fair Tax.  Until then, we support death tax repeal; domestic partner tax equity; cuts in the capital gains and corporate tax rates to jump start our economy and create jobs; a fairer, flatter and substantially simpler tax code.
2 – HEALTHCARE REFORM – Free market healthcare reform. Allow for the purchase of insurance across state lines – expanding access to domestic partner benefits; emphasizing individual ownership of healthcare insurance – such a shift would prevent discriminatory practices by an employer or the government.
3 – SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM - The only way to permanent solvency in the Social Security system is through the creation of inheritable personal savings accounts.  Personal savings accounts would give gay and lesbian couples the same opportunity to leave their accounts to their spouses as their straight counterparts.
4 - RESPECTING THE PROPER ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY - We believe our Constitution should be respected and that judges appointed to the federal bench should recognize the proper and appropriate role of the judiciary as laid out by our Founding Fathers.
5 – HOLDING THE LINE ON SPENDING – Standing up for all tax payers against wasteful and unneccessary spending to protect future generations from the mounting federal debt.
6 – FIGHTING GLOBAL EXTREMISTS – Standing strong against radical regimes that refuse to recognize the basic human rights of gays and lesbians, women and religious minorities.
7 – DEFENDING OUR CONSTITUTION – Opposing any anti-gay federal marriage amendment.  Marriage should be a question for the states.  A federal constitutional amendment on marriage would be an unprecedented federal power grab from the states.
8 – ENCOURAGING COMMUNITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Package of free market reforms to encourage and support small businesses and entrepreneurship.  Such reforms would create jobs for all Americans – including gay Americans.
9 – REVITALIZING OUR COMMUNITIES – A package of urban related reforms; expanding historic tax preservation credits; support for school choice.
10 – DEFENDING OUR COMMUNITY – Protecting 2nd amendment rights.

In other words they are more conservative than most of the Republicans in office today. So someone please tell me the problem? Heck, the even the group's stance on Gay Marriage is a conservative one, that it is a state issue.

The Wall Street Journal reports on remarks about same sex marriage made by Governor Rick Perry (R – TX) to GOP donors in Aspen, Colorado yesterday -

Perry, who has been weighing a presidential run, said he opposes gay marriage — but that he’s also a firm believer of the 10th Amendment.
“Our friends in New York six weeks ago passed a statute that said marriage can be between two people of the same sex. And you know what? That’s New York, and that’s their business, and that’s fine with me,” he said to applause from several hundred GOP donors in Aspen, Colo. “That is their call. If you believe in the 10th Amendment, stay out of their business.”

Governor, you are absolutely right!  Thank you for staying true to your conservative principles by supporting states’ rights.

Whats behind the CPAC exclusion of GOProud, sadly its because some groups such as the Heritage Foundation, the Family Research Council and Concerned Women of America dropped out last year because GOProud was invited.

The next CPAC convention is a very important one, as it comes just nine months before what has the opportunity to be a turning point American election.  For the future of the country it is crucial that Conservatives become a real force in the Senate, Take over the White House and add to our number in the House.  Fighting the liberal/progressive machine of both parties will not be easy. The only way we can win is to grow the conservative base and to remain united in our purpose.

What the American Conservative Union did with CPAC has nothing to do with true conservative values, because GOProud supports those,  just reread the list above.  Sadly the ACU is trying to divide its ranks at a time when it should be uniting, it is trying to retract the conservative movement at a time it should be expanding.

Not allowing GOProud to sponsor CPAC again in 2012 was a stupid, stupid move. It made achieving our election 2012 goals that much more difficult.

My friend Doug Mataconis has the reaction from Andrew Breitbart and Roger Simon at his site....click here to read

Reporting of Truth Behind Andrew Breitbart's Weinergate Coverage Proves Liberal Reporter Tommy Christopher's a Mench

At times there is a natural mistrust between conservatives and liberals. I am not talking about the difference in policy, that is to be expected, its more like a mistrust of their motivations.  Each at times believes that everything the other side does is a lie. This especially applies to the people involved in blogging and other journalistic related-activities.

IMHO there is one exception to this, Tommy Christopher of Mediaite.

Tommy is the guy who once tweeted his own heart attack (no kidding). While being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance he tweeted:




I have only met him a few times, but I consider him one of my blogging buddies. Yes, Tommy is of those "crazy" liberals. True I disagree with much of his politics.  But when it comes to his reporting,  Tommy chases the truth and doesn't care who is involved.   Yes at times he is biased (to my eyes), but that bias comes out when he offers commentary, he does not twist the facts. 

Today, once again Tommy proved that he is a "mench."  In a published Mediaite report, he proved that Andrew Breitbart double checked the evidenced he received before he broke the Weinergate story.  And in fact he did not run Weinergate evidence which could not be proven. The evidence Breitbart didn't run turned out to be fake (no surprise to me as I have been writing for the Breitbart sites for over a year).

For those not familiar with the history of the two, at CPAC 2009 Tommy and Andrew had a very public feud:




Their previous feud did not prevent Tommy from reporting the truth about Breibart's Weinergate story.

But that is only part of the story. Tommy uses the story to take down the Daily Kos' powerful leader Markos Moulitsas for refusing to protect the identities of under-aged girls involved in the story. You see more than "liberal," and more than "reporter," the title Tommy values most in life is the title of Dad.  This is not the first time he has gone after other media figures for their treatment of kids (he was all over Wonkette for the sites parody of Sarah Palin's child Trig). And it is not the first time he has gone after liberal media. He lost his job at AOL for Objecting to Playboy's call for the rape of ten conservative  women.  His sense of what is morally right or wrong trumps his politics something too unusual in this business.

This is a rare kind of post for me as I try to promote stories and not waste your time talking about the people who write them. But this is a special case, and Tommy Christopher's write up of the reporting behind the Anthony Weiner scandal is a special article. Please  click on the link below and read Tommy's full story.  Andrew Breitbart Did Not Run ‘Weinergate’ Evidence Which Turned Out To Be Fake.

And while you are there tell him Great Job because he deserves it.

Chazak u'Baruch Tommy!    Strength and Blessing!