A Time for Happy Warriors

March 1 marked a sad anniversary: two years since Andrew Breitbart passed away at the far-too-young age of 43. This morning, as we launch this year's CPAC, I look back on Andrew’s legacy, what it meant, and what it can continue to mean for Texas and America.

Andrew was the quintessential “Happy Warrior,” a phrase immortalized in William Wordsworth's poem, which defines the Happy Warrior as a “generous Spirit:”

Weatherford raises national profile as distance grows between Gov. Scott and conservative grassroots

After a number of articles late last year describing Florida Speaker of the House Will Weatherford as a "rising star" who was following in Marco Rubio's footsteps, he officially took the reins as one of Florida's youngest Speakers with the beginning of the 2013 legislative session and has embarked on an ambitious agenda, including campaign finance and education reform.

This week included two important moments for Weatherford as he continues to raise his national profile.

The blind squirrels at the FCC found an acorn!

Credit where credit is due...just as a blind squirrel find an acorn once in awhile, sometimes a government agency gets something right...

Awww. Good job, buddy. You did it.

Earlier this week, Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the FCC would be increasing the amount of unlicensed spectrum available for Wi-Fi internet networks.

Without getting too bogged down in all the scientific details, this means that next time you're at the airport or at a conference, the wireless internet (hopefully!) will be faster.

Fedoras, miniskirts, seagulls, and racecars!

I still have a lot of posts I want to finish from CPAC (in the meantime, you can check out some of my video interviews on my newly updated YouTube channel here), but I thought I'd put up a quick post about some of my latest shenanigans:

They hate, Breitbart laughs

Last week at CPAC, we were shown a trailer for a new documentary about Andrew Breitbart called "Hating Breitbart," which the filmmakers describe as "the story of how one man with a website upended the traditional press and repeatedly found himself the target of a media feeding frenzy."

The film includes footage dating back to 2009, when Breitbart was attending some of the early tea party events, and of course lots of great coverage of his involvement in the crusades against ACORN and the takedown of Anthony "That's 5:45 in Seattle I think" Weiner.

Here's the "safe for work" version of the trailer:

Most accurate portrayal of Ché I've ever seen

From my friends over at Babalú Blog, here is probably the most accurate portrayal of that murderous lunatic Ché Guevara I've seen:

CPAC 2012: defective internet, defective hippies, but the straw poll finally made sense

Sigh. So...I'm here at the last day of CPAC, and the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel has been a great location again, except for one very glaring issue: slow and unreliable internet connection.

CPAC!

Hello friends...I'm blogging from our nation's capital today, from the Conservativestravaganza (that really should be a word) that is known as CPAC.

Florida Bloggers in the News

Lots of exciting developments for some of your conservative Floridian bloggers...

Get excited! CPAC 2012!

The American Conservative Union sponsors the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. every year and last month held their first ever regional CPAC here in Orlando.

This week, they added a lot of new information about next year's CPAC to their website, including the new official CPAC 2012 video:

CPAC FL - All The Cool Kids Are Doing It

Wow. Oh wow.

The American Conservative Union released the agenda for CPAC Florida today, and it is definitely going to be a don't-miss event.

Check it out here:

CPAC FL | Schedule of Events (pdf)

I am so excited about having CPAC come to my hometown. Can't wait to see all of you here in Orlando, and this is going to be a truly memorable week, with Presidency 5, the FoxNews debate, and now this epic-levels-of-awesomeness CPAC FL schedule.

More information about the speakers, programs, and registration after the jump:

One Year Later...

Happy 1st Birthday to my Blog :)

One year ago today, I published my very first blog post, appropriately titled, "Some thoughts on the First Amendment."

It's appropriate that I started this blog with a discussion of the First Amendment, because I've had to rely on my constitutional right to free speech a few times to defend myself (here, here, and here).

I draw inspiration from the motto of RedState's Erick Erickson to "fight the left and clean up the right."  Anyone who thinks that harassing or threatening me will shut me up is sorely mistaken, and the attacks have only furthered my resolve to continue criticizing those who deserve it.

It's hasn't been all fights and challenges. There's been a lot of fun in the past year. Some highlights:

• Having a front row seat to the amazing journey that was the Marco Rubio campaign (and having a good laugh at Charlie Crist's expense along the way) 

 

• Attending my first ever Conservative Political Action Conference as an Official CPAC Blogger and getting to meet in person so many of my favorite conservative bloggers.

• Meeting the hosts of one of my favorite shows, RedEye on Fox News, as well as frequent RedEye guest Stephen Kruiser, at CPAC...and then seeing some of my photos from CPAC end up on RedEye a week later:

• Being invited to be a guest on Flashpoint, local talk radio, conservative podcasts, and other media appearances. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little (OK, very) opinionated and getting to share my thoughts and debate political topics is always a lot of fun.

• Becoming a semi-quasi-almost celebrity on Twitter. I signed up for Twitter in March 2009 as "@rumpfshaker" as a bit of a joke on my last name and this epic song, but didn't really participate in the twitterverse much until about a year ago. Now I'm followed by more than 2,200 people and consistently ranking near the top of the "Top Political Tweeters in Florida" lists that Saint Petersblog publishes each month. Twitter has been a great resource for me too, as I've crowdsourced everything from restaurant recommendations to a frightening (but fortunately quickly resolved) computer virus attack last week.

• Getting to meet so many conservative leaders and politicians over the past year, too many to list. There's really no substitute for getting to hear a candidate speak in person, unabridged and uncensored. A few minute clip of a TV interview is not the same, never mind an over-produced 30 second ad. That's why I won't ever endorse a candidate unless I've met him or her in person.

• My "12 seconds of fame" - discovering Charlie Crist's debut TV ad for his new gig at Morgan and Morgan, posting it on YouTube, and watching it go viral the next day (43,000 views and counting).

• What I've enjoyed most of all is hearing from all of you. It's been fun getting feedback from friends or meeting new people who read the blog or follow me on twitter. I really do appreciate all your support and encouragement, and thank you for your continued interest in my little corner of the internet.

A few semi-interesting statistics about this blog...

Most viewed posts:

• It was only a matter of time
• Just in case you aren't sick of post-election commentary yet
• What's the deal with the tan?
• My thoughts on this year's amendments 

Top traffic sources/referring sites:

• Google
• Facebook (both from my Facebook page and other's pages)
• Twitter
• Linkiest (Thank you John Hawkins for listing me on your sites!)
• Conurls (an excellent listing of conservative blogs, news, videos and more)
• Right Wing News (Again, thanks John Hawkins)
• Sayfie Review (from the Sayfie Review Twitter Ticker)
• Rick Scott for Florida (the original campaign site is down now, but I was listed on the Bloggers for Scott Blogroll)
• The Other McCain (Stacy has only linked me a few times, but each time, the Fedora has brought me a huge spike in traffic)

Visitors - Top Countries:

• United States (94% of traffic is from the U.S., all other countries are <1%)
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• India
• France
• Germany
• Australia
• Israel

Visitors - Top States

• Florida (60%)
• New York (6%)
• District of Columbia (4%)
• California
• Georgia
• Texas
• Virginia
• Illinois
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina

Browsers used to access this site:

• Internet explorer - 46%
• Firefox - 28%
• Safari - 9%
• Chrome - 8%
• Mobile - 4%

Operating Systems:

• Windows - 77%
• Macintosh - 12%
• iPhone - 3%
• BlackBerry - 1%
• Other Unix - 1%
• Linux - 1%
• Android - 1%

To all of you who have been there for the entire year, those of you who found me along the way, or those of you who are new readers, THANK YOU. I'm looking forward to sharing the years to come with you.

FYI - you can join the Sunshine State Sarah Facebook page, follow me on Twitter @rumpfshaker, and sign up for "A Daily Dose of Sunshine," a free email subscription to this blog.

Allen West = Awesome

I just felt like giving y'all a nice generous helping of Allen West videos today. No specific reason, other than the fact the man is just plain awesome. What other reason do you need?

This is what awesome looks like

(To help website load quickly, the videos are after the jump...click "Read more" to view)

Meet Ted Cruz a.k.a. The Marco Rubio of Texas

Earlier this month at CPAC, I had the privilege of meeting Ted Cruz, a 2012 Republican candidate for Senate in Texas. He attended several of the events, including the Blogger Bash on Thursday night, where I had the opportunity to talk at length with him about his background and why he's running for Senate.

Cruz has been getting a lot of favorable comparisons to Florida's own Marco Rubio, and for good reason. Beyond their shared Cuban heritage, Cruz is also dedicated to fiscal conservatism and respect for our Constitution. He's an attorney (just like Rubio and yours truly) and actually worked on Bush v. Gore. As an election law attorney, it was a real thrill to hear some first-hand stories from him about that famous (or infamous, depending on your opinion of the ruling, ha!) case.

I found Cruz to be sincere and thoughtful. This is a candidate who is a Republican not because he checked a box at some point, but because he has seriously and carefully considered the issues and truly believes that the conservative position is the best solution for preserving what makes America great. He carries his conservatism deep in his heart and discusses the issues with a calm intelligence. In my opinion, he would be an asset for our party in the U.S. Senate, and a true advocate for conservative principles.

I'm not the only one to make the comparison between Rubio and Cruz. From The Shark Tank:

The Shark Tank | Texas Senate Candidate Ted Cruz, the Next Rubio-esque Senator?

Cruz’s background is similar to another young Cuban-American Senator, one Marco Rubio, recently elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, Marco Rubio. Cruz’s father escaped Cuba at the age of 18 and came to the U.S. where he like many other immigrants struggled but was able to provide for his family and successfully assimilate into the American society. Cruz’s father instilled in him the value of education and hard work, and he stressed the importance of an environment that allows every American the opportunity to achieve the American dream. Cruz clearly appreciates and understands the true meaning of Conservative principles and values, and he could very well be the next Rubio-esque candidate elected to the U.S. Senate.

Shark Tank blogger Javier Manjarres conducted a great interview with Cruz at CPAC. Here's the video:

YouTube | TheSharkTank1 | U.S. Senate Candidate Ted Cruz

RedState has also taken notice of Cruz. Moe Lane put up a post about Cruz yesterday, along with this video:

YouTube | MoeLaneIII | CPAC 2011: Ted Cruz

You can find out more about Cruz at these links:

Ted Cruz campaign website
Ted Cruz on Facebook
@tedcruz on Twitter
Ted Cruz for Senate YouTube channel

Atlas Shrugged Movie! OMG OMG OMG

One of my favorite experiences of CPAC was attending the "BlogBash" on Thursday night and seeing the world premiere of the trailer for the new Atlas Shrugged movie.

Official movie poster. The movie premieres on April 15th, an appropriate date!

I've loved Ayn Rand's book for a long time, and often said that it should be required reading for elected officials. (Apparently FreedomWorks agrees with me, but Congressman Keith Ellison does not.) It has puzzled me that no one had adapted this great book to film before now, but I can see how it might be challenging, especially today.

In 1949, Hollywood managed to get Ayn Rand right, with the film version of The Fountainhead. However, Rand herself wrote the screenplay, King Vidor was the director, and Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal excelled in the starring roles. I highly recommend adding it to your Netflix queue or catching it the next time it's shown on Turner Classic Movies.

Atlas Shrugged is admittedly a denser and more complicated book than The Fountainhead.  It's Rand's longest book and the last one she published, with, let's face it, a theme that is a bit more complicated than the standard "boy meets girl" schlock that Hollywood is accustomed to producing now. Without Rand to guide the screenwriting and production, I honestly did not have very high expectations for this new movie.

Well, my pessimism was misplaced. The people responsible for bringing this film to the big screen have created a wonderful, amazing, and powerful work. This is a top-quality, lush, visually-stunning production. Judge for yourself, and view the trailer here:


YouTube| AtlasShruggedPart1 | Atlas Shrugged Trailer

We were also shown a few selected scenes from the movie. The actors appear very well suited for their roles, even the minor characters...I was a huge fan of the TV show Friends and the casting of Christina Pickles (she played Ross and Rachel's mother) as Mother Rearden, was spot-on. I have to admit getting slight chills upon hearing certain lines brought to life ("Who is John Galt?") and seeing Dagny Taggart wearing a bracelet of Rearden metal.

The movie is currently planned to be a trilogy. Part 1 premieres on April 15th, 2011.

For more information about the Atlas Shrugged Movie:

Official Movie Website

Atlas Shrugged Movie on Facebook

@_AtlasShrugged on Twitter

Atlas Shrugged Part 1 YouTube Channel

About CPAC last week...yes, I have some thoughts

Last week I had an absolute blast attending CPAC, met a lot of dedicated and passionate conservatives, learned a lot, and had a whole lotta fun.  Believe me, I have some opinions on what happened at CPAC (as well as some fun pictures), and I'm working on getting notes together. 

While I was in Washington, I was working on a hand-me-down netbook that unfortunately has the processing power of a stapler.  Blogging from that computer quickly became an exercise in frustration, so I just put my notes into a little notebook, took photos and posted on my Twitter account throughout the CPAC experience. Would anyone like to sponsor an iPad for me to take to CPAC next year? Yeah, well, I'll keep my fingers crossed...

Anyway, I'm breaking my thoughts into smaller posts by topic and will be uploading them over the next few days. I've also got some interesting information about a free speech battle I won last week that I'll publish after that.

Stay tuned...updates coming today and the rest of the week...

Meghan McCain sticks her foot in her mouth for the millionth time

Oh, Meghan McCain...just when we are starting to forget about you, you do something so brilliantly obnoxious and boneheaded, you guarantee that dear sweet Meggie Mac will never fade from our minds...

As you should know, CPAC is going on in Washington, D.C. this week.  All day long, there are conservative activists, organizations, elected officials, and candidates to meet and listen to their presentations, in dozens of ballrooms, conference rooms, and convention halls at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.  There are over 12,000 (!) people attending CPAC this year, the largest ever attendance. If you have conservative political beliefs on even one issue, there is someone here that you would enjoy meeting.

Well, apparently dear sweet Meggie felt left out of all the CPAC festivities and she posted this little gem on her twitter account late last night:

@McCainBlogette: I'm not at CPAC - girls like me only get invited to things like that if we are or have been impregnated. #imarepublicannotaconservative

As you'd expect, the reaction from the twitterverse was swift and severe.  Sweet Meggie deleted the original tweet just a few minutes later, but I had already taken a screenshot:

I hardly know where to begin here...

This is my first CPAC, and I am in amazement at the wonderful, smart, feisty conservative women I've met in only two days. Not sure what lil' Meggie means by "girls like me," but she clearly cannot mean the awesome ladies who I've met at CPAC. 

Actually, her whole statement is just beyond silly.  Anyone, anyone, can go to CPAC.  You just have to get a credentialed pass - either by buying one, which she could have easily done, or by pre-registering as media or a blogger (like I did).  Heck, Maureen Dowd was at CPAC yesterday (and trying unsuccessfully to crash the Bloggers' Lounge, haha!) so Meggie certainly could have gotten in.

But, wait, Meggie wanted to be "invited." Ah. I think  see the real issue now. She wanted to be "invited." She wanted to feel special. Well, tough cookies, sweetheart. To get to be an "invited" guest or speaker at CPAC, you have to have actually accomplished something that benefits the conservative movement. 

And what has Meghan McCain done for conservative politics? Well, she's related to someone who lost a Presidential race and she pops up on the news every now and then to toss insults at Republicans. It almost seems like the left wing media keeps Meggie in a cage and then every few months, trots her out, shows her a picture of a currently popular Republican, and then demands that she say the most creatively nasty and petty thing she can about that person.

Personally, I plan on encouraging my fellow CPAC Ladies to post their own responses to dear Meggie.  My suggestion is tweeting or blogging photos of us blowing kisses at her. It's at least nicer than flipping her off. No need to be nasty about it, just give a big grin and blow her a nice kiss. If you'd like to be in my tweets to Meggie, come track me down at CPAC today.

...Actually, if you're reading this, just try and say hi to me anyway. I'm having a blast meeting so many kick-*** conservatives.  I want to meet as many of you as possible in the next few days. Meghan McCain really is missing out on meeting some phenomenal people. It's pretty sad.

CPAC! (Wednesday daytime notes)

I’m in Washington this week for the Conservative Political Action Conference (http://www.cpac.org/). It’s my first time at CPAC and so far I’m really enjoying my time here.

I received Official Blogger Credentials for CPAC, and I’m very excited about that. Met some really great people already.

The wireless internet connection is a little spotty in the “Blogger’s Lounge” but seems to be working now, so hopefully this will post ok.  I'm a little behind in getting this updated but will try to post as much as I can this afternoon.  Having trouble uploading pictures so I'm just posting links to my twitter pictures for now.  For more up-to-date info, check my twitter feed @rumpfshaker.

FYI, anyone interested in CPAC can watch live at Live.CPAC.org

Some notes on my adventures from yesterday…

Yesterday, I spent some time on Capitol Hill with some other friends from Florida (Jason Hoyt and Kelly Kraiss). We visited the House and Senate office buildings and had the opportunity to speak with some great people.

Stopped by Daniel Webster's office in the Longworth Building to get House Gallery passes.  Got there in time to see Florida Congressional Members Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,Connie Mack, and David Rivera speak in favor of HR 519, a bill related to funding for the United Nations.  It's a somewhat complicated issue, but apparently we overpaid about $179 million in dues to the UN (huh? how does this happen?) and this was a bill to demand that back but it would have somehow affected funding dedicated to NYPD and Homeland Security efforts around the UN building.  The bill failed to pass.

It was very interesting to have a bird's eye view when the full House came in for the vote.  (The gallery seats are in a balcony that rings the room.) It's a sea of black and grey suits, so the women really stand out.  It was very easy to pick out Sandy Adams with her blond hair and red jacket.  If I were in Congress, I would definitely wear bright colors every day. The part in Paul Ryan's hair is easily visible from the gallery...maybe from space.  I don't know what products he uses in his hair, but it's pretty awesome.  Nancy Pelosi seems to be doing a little better at looking like a human being (better haircut) but she still looks like a Muppet to me (apologies to Jim Henson).  Webster was easy to pick out of the crowd too because he's so tall.  (Have I mentioned lately how happy I am to have a human being as a Congressman again?)

We then went back to the Congressional offices again and met with some of Marco Rubio's staffers in the Dirksen Senate building.  Rubio has really hired some sharp, top-notch people and they are clearly proud to be working for him.  They are stuck in a cramped little basement office for now until Rubio's official Senate office is finished. 

I asked about Rubio's plans for higher office, and his staffers confirmed, Rubio wants to finish out this Senate term and does not intend to run for the White House in 2012 (as either President or Vice President).

I was glad to hear that.  I've been a supporter of Marco's for a very long time and I'd love to see him in the White House...one day.  Not yet. Remember he will be in his early 40s in 2012.  He has plenty of time. Let's not let the Democrats throw the experience issue back at us. Yes, I know Rubio was Speaker of the House and his resume far outweighs Obama's when he ran in 2008, but when was the Left ever honest in their attacks on Republican candidates?

We saw Allen West in the elevator in the Rayburn building.  There is so much excitement around him.  Everyone perks up when they see him.  If you didn't see the news already, he's been selected to give the keynote address at CPAC this year.  Rubio did it last year and was extremely well-received.  I'm glad to see Florida continuing to have a prominent place in the conservative political scene.  The Sunshine State has really produced some top-notch politicians lately, haven't we?

We also ran into Steve King (R-Iowa) in the hallway in Longworth on the way to meet with Webster.  He is very, very, very, very, very, very, VERY enthusiastic about his budget proposals, specifically an amendment that defunds Obamacare.  We told him we were meeting with Webster later and he asked us to encourage Webster to support his amendment. 

Photo at Steve King's office: he has a "Don't Tread on Me" flag along with the United States and Iowa flags. I heard he's the only Member of Congress with the Gadsen flag outside his office (haven't walked through to verify this).

Congressman King didn't need to worry about Webster.  He's definitely on board with King's amendment.  Webster also expressed frustration with the budget issues.  The Republican House - especially the freshmen - is committed to using the continuing resolution (needed because the goofball Democrats failed to pass a budget last year) and the debt ceiling issue as bargaining chips.  Their goal is to use these votes as leverage to either get a repeal of ObamaCare, a balanced budget amendment, major spending cuts, etc. The Republicans promised $100 billion in non-defense budget cuts and the current proposal is only about $58 billion in cuts.  Webster repeatedly stated his commitment to cutting the promised $100 billion, pointing out that there is clearly still a lot of waste so there are plenty of things to cut!

Photo at Daniel Webster's office with Jason Hoyt, Kelly Kraiss, and his Executive Assistant, Elizabeth Tyrell

OK, I'll post more updates later...I've been meeting so many great conservative leaders and activists, it's been a little overwhelming.  Remember to follow me on twitter! :)