The Great Gathering of the Wingnuts is over. You can get some sense of the proceedings here. But of course one did not need to attend the festivities in person to appreciate just how exciting it all was. Remember, the Right is the side that has all the Ideas. Let's look through the Red State Dot Com commentary and examine closely the hot, frothy intellectual wisdom that spews from the Conservative Movement. Remember also that these people are the Standard Bearers of Civil Discourse.
some people are so bleeping wistful about Newt Gingrich at this place.
And some people want Damn Yankees to get back together. But if you want to see embarrassing, here's how Red State discusses Hannity:
"Hillary says it takes a village to satisfy her man." That's just one of the great lines from Sean Hannity at CPAC. His electrifying speech this morning rallied the crowd -- some of whom were rather hung over. The fan boy screaming and applause had to have been hard on some of them, but Sean is a rock star. I half expected lace undergarments to be hurled at the stage....
To be fair, they got the verb right: "hurling"...
This is fun! It's an actual line from Mitt Romney's speech, a "joke" of sorts:
I'm happy to learn that after I speak you're going to hear from Ann Coulter. That's a good thing. I think it's important to get the views of moderates.
Hilarious! But this is even more fun -- the initial Red State reaction to Coulter's glorious appearance:
Mitt was followed by Ann Coulter who put the red meat conservative seal of approval on him.
That's one way of putting it.
Here's the incisive Red State commentary on Saint Rudy of the Towers:
Rudy is telling them he won't impose his social view on them, but he'll keep them safe. After all, abortion is not an issue when a terrorist has killed you.
You gotta love a politician who knows he's addressing an audience eager to allow their pathetic cowardice to overcome their sacred principles, I suppose. Rudy concluded his speech by warning the conventioneers of the wickedness of pool-playing -- oh, they had trouble, right there in the hotel -- and then he sold them an expensive shipment of musical instruments.
On the subject of deeply-held conservative principles, this also had it's charm:
Before America's Mayor came on NRA President Wayne LaPierre warmed up the crowd to such a degree the room was scorching.
For the former mayor of a city with among the strictest gun laws in the nation? Hmmm. LaPierre was later spotted with a brand new trombone.
It's the diaries on Coulter, though, that provide the most entertainment:
Coulter did not imply that Edwards was gay. But suppose she had. What harm is that?
Political Correctness is a pernicious evil, far more evil that making an offensive joke. Coulter is not in trouble because she committed a crime, she is in trouble because she used a bad word and described the penalty for using it.
Yes, run with that, why don't you? The anti-Couterites are if anything even better:
You know, the conservative movement features a lot of brilliant men and women. Erick Erickson, Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, Ann Althouse, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham - these are names all of us know, and there are so many more. Ann Coulter used to be one of those brilliant conservatives. But now all she does is come out on the national stage once every few months, say a few outrageous and indefensible things, and proceed to make the conservative movement look like the horrible ogre that liberals say that it is.
I agree fully. Nudge Hannity and Beck more into the spotlight, please. More prominence for Malkin! Let's hear it for Ingraham! Let Althouse's light shine forth on the latest American Idol controversies!
I can honestly say that I would like the Conservative Movement to vigorously pursue this strategy to the fullest possible extent.