CPAC Texas 2022
From a first-time attendee
If you haven’t been to a CPAC event, it’s quite an experience. Matt and Mercedes Schlapp do an incredible job of putting this event together - several times a year, in America and other countries. With thousands of conservatives gathered in one place, dozens of great speakers back-to-back, dozens of organizations with booths for services, products, political and family information, and live media, it’s impossible not to miss something.
Faith plays a part, the Judeo-Christian values America is founded on. The Constitution is the rule book. Patriots attend in droves, to meet friends and fellow conservatives, to celebrate America, and to learn. I think some come for the shopping too. :-)
Sadly, too many in America today consider ‘the other side’ to be bad guys. Divisiveness and cancel culture are eroding our best qualities. Speakers addressed this issue. Attendees were encouraged to do positive things, to problem-solve.
Others spoke of how to help in elections, how to participate. Practical options and solutions on training were provided. In Texas, you can start here.
Rule of law. This is so critical and, today, such a point of contention. Laws, by definition, require certain actions. Some critical laws are not being enforced currently, a big problem. Lots of harm comes from not enforcing criminal laws. We are seeing some of that harm from illegal immigration and some from the lack of criminals being held to any consequences for their actions. Legislators and those running for the legislature promised in their speeches to address this.
Conservatives have been vilified to a certain extent in recent times, but civic engagement means coming together to address issues, not feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys.
Speakers gave encouragement. America is - hope; people from all over the world come to America for hope. America is - great because she is good, giving because she is compassionate. America is - fighting for God-given rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We fight for these things not only for Americans. We fight for right - period. And fighting doesn’t necessarily mean violence. The founders first action wasn’t war. We can ‘fight’ climate change. We can ‘fight’ health issues. We can ‘fight’ for human rights. Conservatives are fighting cancel culture by starting their own alternatives to Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, etc. Options are nice, but censorship shouldn’t be the reason. Alternate realities would be completely defeating. It makes me think of those end-of-world movies where some live above ground, and some live below ground, and never the twain shall meet.
For a totally inadequate summary, what I heard over the 3 days is that conservatives want laws to be enforced, we don’t want Big Tech censorship of speech, and we want elections to be trustworthy. All Americans want to know our election system works for everyone. This is not a partisan issue.
America was founded on the principles in the Constitution. Personally, I believe in those principles.
There are many great quotes. I leave you with one you may not have heard before.
”Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.”
-Daniel Webster was one of the most eloquent and influential American political figures of the early 19th century. He practiced prominently as a lawyer before the U.S. Supreme Court and served in the U.S. House of Representatives, in the Senate, and in the Executive Branch.
Until next time…
Please share your thoughts in the comments. Or email me, and let’s have a problem-solving conversation. I welcome ‘letters to the editor’ type emails and may publish yours. I hope we can create a caucus with positive, back-to-the-founders’-dream-for-America results. Have a topic you want to know more about?
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Thanks again for reading! I’m glad you’re here!