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Diversity at CPAC, Oh My

Commentary by Joe Messina

Joe Messina | Monday, Mar 10, 2014

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Can you believe the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference – held by a group of white, elitist, stuffy old men – was infiltrated by blacks, homosexuals, Hispanics, Asians and atheists? Oh, my. What is this world coming to?

What’s really crazy is that so many on the left wrote lies about this. No, not mistruths, not misspeaks, just lies, period.

The left would have you believe that CPAC equals KKK. That conservatives and conservative Republicans are nothing more than the KKK rebranded. How desperate is that?

The first story I read talked about how CPAC threw out a bunch of atheists and wouldn’t allow “them” at the event. CPAC made the right call. It wasn’t all atheists. Just one particular group.

CPAC officials who originally approved the atheist group’s booth and accepted a check for their sponsorship and entry cancelled it after they received validated information that the group was going to try to disrupt the event. An event where more than 3,000 people were going to be in a relatively small area. Good call. The left spins it as “Atheist Kept from CPAC.” Isn’t that what they always do? No real argument. The full truth won’t work for them, so they spin it a little to aggravate their base. It’s the equivalent to: If you’re losing the game, flip the board.

I also heard gays and lesbians were not welcome. Really? One of my interns and helpers is a lesbian. (Shh. Don’t tell anyone. I might get thrown out of the conservative playground.) Did I know before they started? No. Why? Because, contrary to popular belief, our applications don’t ask if you are gay, lesbian, transgender, black, Asian or anything other than a white heterosexual. Oh, and, we don’t care. As long as you can do the job.

Once again, the left starts to lose the argument. Time to flip the board.

In years gone by, the left had infiltrated the group by lying. In 2012, a large group of far-left progressives bought into premium seats as being part of a “conservative magazine group.” The whole goal was to disrupt the keynote speaker. When the speaker started, about 50 of these liars got up to protest. In response, more than 400 people in the room started shouting USA and the liars were drowned out. Desperation really makes for fools, doesn’t it?

Many of the left can’t accept anything someone like me has to say. At all. Ever. They are so opposed to any conservative idea that without even checking the facts and their ability to control their tongues, they come out and try to invalidate any and all conservative points. Doesn’t that really help us come together as a country and a people? No, not really.

Their argument is losing steam. Americans are starting to do their own homework.

By the way, as a point of fact, it was the left, the progressive Democrats, the “big tent” party that started, supported, and funded the KKK. I guess the easiest way to get out of an uncomfortable situation – or history – is to deflect and blame someone else. They are very good at it.

In my three days at CPAC, I found out that more than 50 percent of those in attendance were students. Not old white guys. About half of “Radio Row” were “other than white” (did I just create a new classification, “OTW?”) As I looked around the room when Sarah Palin was speaking, was it a majority “white?” Yes. Was there a sea of OTW’s? Yes.

When Ben Carson, Al Cardenas, Ted Cruz, John Barraso, Bobby Jindal, Tim Scott and the many panels that had OTW’s on them, the same sea of people was there. That really confused me. For a group supposedly made up of old, white, bigoted, homophobic racists who exclude anyone who isn’t like them, there sure were a lot of OTW’s there to address the crowd. And they were well-received.

Shocked? I wasn’t.

The reality is that we don’t care. We don’t care what color you are, whom you sleep with or where you came from. When I got on the plane, I didn’t check to see if the pilot was black, homosexual, gay, straight or even a Christian. I only cared that he could fly the plane.

Conservatives care that you can do the job and that you are adhering to our laws. We want you to have been given the same opportunities that everyone else has, and we expect you to respect our freedom as much as you want us to respect yours. We also expect that you will take responsibility for your own errors and missteps, and work to make them right.

Be a good American. Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, gay, straight, short, tall, large, small … we don’t care. Just do the right thing.

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also a member of the Hart School Board. His commentary publishes Mondays.

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15 Comments

George Pantelidis says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Nothing about Benghazi?

Reply
George Pantelidis says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Nothing about Benghazi?

Reply
Julie Keim Hannant says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Hillary 2016!!!

Reply
David C. Landress says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Best CPAC Tweet.

Reply
Susan Wachter says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Had a good giggle about Joe bemoaning misinformation and a lack of fact checking. Mexican Independence Day, Obama-flags-Whitney Houston, girls being harassed in a school bathroom…

Reply
Susan Wachter says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Here is the thing with the “gays” and CPAC. GOProud (conservative LGBT group) co- sponsored CPAC in 2010-11- which caused other groups like Heritage Foundation, Family Research Council and Concerned Women of America to boycott the event. In 2012 CPAC caved to pressure and shut out GOProud.

This year GOProud didn’t ask to co-sponsor or present or set up a booth or participate officially in any way. They were granted the privilege of attending. Wow! Mingling around just like the straight people! Chris Barron- GOProud co-founder resigned over this. Jimmy LaSalvia- co founder- not only left GOProud- but left the Republican party.

Reply
- Susan Wachter says:
  
  Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at
  
  http://www.edgeboston.com/news/politics/News/156276/log_cabin_republican_sets_record_straight_on_not_being_invited_to_cpac
  
  Reply
Jared Gardner says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Wait, Joe is right. Forget everything I’ve seen, heard, learned, and experienced about right wing extremism. They really ARE all inclusive! All the ideas, hate speech, lies, thinly veiled homophobic and racist statements, the entire uber long laundry list of smiling while the facts say otherwise…..it was all just imagined! What a relief! Thanks, Joey!

Reply
Christian Lanz says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Here’s the irony regarding the author’s accusations of a disregard for proper fact-checking from the other side: It is now a week later and still no retraction or correction from him or SCVTV addressing the blatant misinformation and lack of fact-checking exhibited in his last published commentary piece, where he incorrectly and repeatedly identifies “Cinco de Mayo” as “Mexican Independence Day.”

Everyone makes mistakes, but normally when a reputable journalist or news commentator does so, irrespective of their political leanings, they issue a retraction. It’s simply the professional thing to do.
If you’re going to bemoan a lack of fact-checking and a disregard for the truth from the other side, valid as your concerns may be, it would behoove you to first practice what you preach.

As an independent voter who leans fiscally conservative, I’d love to see the GOP finally leave behind the prejudicial and obsolete social platform that made me leave the party in the first place, but I think we’re still a ways off from that.

Reply
- SCVTV Santa Clarita says:
  
  Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at
  
  If the former president and current member of the school board wants to correct himself, he is free to do so.
  
  Reply
- Christian Lanz says:
  
  Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at
  
  SCVTV, indeed, that’s what perplexes me the most. I assume basic world history is part of the curriculum at the Hart school district, which makes this sort of mistake from a board member all the more troubling when it remains uncorrected. Failing to correct or even aknowledge the error also conveys a lack of respect for the history and heritage of our school district’s Latino students.. which only reinforces the unfortunate GOP stereotype of racial insensitivity that this article attempts to dispel.
  
  Reply
Robin Heinz says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

How nice to know that CPAC welcomes the LGBT community. Of course they do! They just don’t believe these people deserve equal rights. It’s so very nice of them to invite those whom they consider second-class citizens to their convention of hate speakers. Even funnier: Last year, Chris Christie cooperated with the President, and Christie was unwelcome at CPAC. This year, Christie’s abject political corruption is revealed and he is welcomed with open arms. Nice.

Reply
Greg Thrasher says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Last Year I invited myself to CPAC under the premise Black folks need to be where our interests are in play and at risk..

http://www.dailykos.com/…

Dr. Carson, Woodson and others as GOP cheerleaders have been dismal and have failed the GOP/CPAC in their efforts to recruit Black voters.

I was hoping to get an invite to CPAC this year and offer a presentation on how to recruit Black Americans to CPAC, clearly they did not have an interest in my presentation.

That is not good news….

Reply
Erin Kotecki Vest says:

Monday, Mar 10, 2014 at

Joe, not only are you once again being less than truthful, you are name calling and accusing the other side of the aisle of things that are simply falsehoods.

Let’s start with your assertion that the atheist group was not allowed to have a booth due to possible disruption. That’s not the story CPAC organizers, the org itself, or those who oppose the conservative atheist group’s presence are telling. Here is a CNN article with quotes from every side of the matter: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/…/cpac-reverses-decision…/

As for your assertion that the Left is attempting to change history and deflect from it’s KKK roots..I do hope you understand Dixiecrats, American history, and what happened post civil war with the Democrat and Republican party. This is history 101, after all. The Southern Dems who still supported slavery split off from the party and formed….come on….look it up….I’ll give you time to go Google it…

Moving on, your assertion that gays, minorities were welcomed and well received at CPAC – I guess that would explain the distribution of this flyer http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/goproud-cpac-beaver (which, ironically could be distributed but the atheist flyer calling on the religious conservatives to change wasn’t allowed…hmmmm) Or the VERY anti-gay organizations such as CitizenLink and the Liberty Alliance were TOP SPONSORS at CPAC. Yes, welcoming indeed.

And then there’s the panel on minority outreach that was empty at CPAC … just to throw some fun in there I will you a RIGHT WING link on the matter http://www.newsmax.com/…/minoritie…/2014/03/07/id/556688

Which brings me to the biggest question of them all for you Joe, which you failed to reveal in your article…why were you there when White Nationalists were allowed booths and atheists and conservative gays were not? Why was a member of the Hart school board present at a conference that had no issue with the inclusion of WHITE NATIONALISTS?

Do you think all of the students and teachers of color would be comfortable knowing you spent the past few days with White Nationalists? Are YOU comfortable with it? I’m not. I certainly wouldn’t attend a conference that openly welcomed them, even though you claimed it wasn’t a Klan gathering, yet….well, there they were. Here’s the link for those who’d like to verify their presence: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/…/cpac-once-again-shuts…

Unlike Joe, I actually source my accusations.

Reply
Peter Castle says:

Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 at

Ann Coulter’s continuing escapades at CPAC bring dishonor to conservatives. She abhors “the browning of America” and equates immigration with rape. See Vanity: Ann Coulter’s Quest for Glory for more details, available at http://www.coulterwatch.com/vanity.pdf.

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