Reaping the Whirlwind

Two weeks ago, I mentioned the problems with CPAC. The head of CPAC, Matt Schlapp, has been accused multiple times of inappropriate sexual behavior towards other men. Undeterred from running the Conservative Political Action Conference, Schlapp has invited Steve Bannon on stage. Bannon was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s friends and attempted to rehabilitate Epstein’s image.

Now CPAC is announcing Todd Chrisley will be at CPAC. If you don’t know who that guy is, he got sentenced to twelve years in prison for tax evasion and then got pardoned by Donald Trump. Before all that, he was a reality TV star.

The “C” in CPAC is now best represented by the world “clown” than as any semblace of a conservative institution.

CPAC pioneered the grift in the conservative movement, but, Turning Point USA long ago took it to a new level.

I have been unsparing in my criticisms over the years, but have said very little after the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk.

But my criticisms go back years, and, beyond seemingly a revenue operation that did not put many points on the board, I had deep and open concerns about the people TPUSA has platformed over the years.

Instead of chasing principles, TPUSA chased clout. TPUSA, over the years, elevated and employed a variety of influencers who could generate crowds but seemed to have no core convictions. Young Americans For Freedom has college events all around the country and overwhelmingly feature principled conservatives who talk about the fight for the right and principles. YAF was my gateway into conservative politics. But Young Americans For Freedom got overshadowed by the concert-like atmosphere of TPUSA conferences. To a degree, even CPAC has been overshadowed by TPUSA.

But many of those who stood on stage and worked behind the scenes were chasing clout and cashing in. They worked in a symbiotic relationship that is now crashing down in the absence of a strong leader at TPUSA.

I’ve previously written about the variety of people tied to TPUSA who, after October 7, 2023, showed themselves to be virulently antisemitic. It took time and pressure for the TPUSA management to push them aside. But they kept platforming others and having people, like Steven Bannon and Candace Owens, at their conferences.

They also helped elevate Joe Kent.

Now, Joe Kent is announcing he is willing to testify at Tyler Robinson’s murder trial for the defense.

Robinson confessed to his parents and police that he killed Charlie Kirk because of Kirk’s anti-trans views. But Candace Owens helped fester a conspiracy theory that Israel killed Charlie Kirk, and she is now engaged in a malicious character assassination of Kirk’s wife.

It appears increasingly likely that Candace Owens and Joe Kent are connected in the smear, and Kent is under the delusion that Israel might have played a role in Kirk’s assassination and is willing to testify in court to that effect.

The whole thing is crazy. That it comes from those who purported to be Charlie Kirk’s friends is even crazier. But then, for years, TPUSA seemed to have little guiding principle in who it elevated beyond those who were chasing clout without any measure of conviction as long as they could generate a crowd or buzz.

Now, the whole thing is turning on itself.

There is a lesson there for CPAC, which is probably too far gone to be redeemed. There is a lesson there for MAGA as it slowly evolves from Donald Trump into whatever might come after him. There is a lesson there for the GOP and for the conservative movement.

Who you platform and why you platform them matters. Standing for timeless principles does not mean you’ll avoid cranks. But you sure do lessen the risk of bat crap crazy people who may draw a crowd, but then finger paint a conspiracy.

Discernment and judgment and character and principle all really do matter. Too much of the right, having abandoned those things, now reaps the whirlwind of the clout-chasing conspiracists.

Political Malpractice

Tom Homan is a genius. He’s put unmasked ICE agents in airports to help passengers and TSA agents. ICE is getting airports back to normal. On Monday, in Atlanta, the wait for TSA was over 4 hours. It was less than an hour at the same time Tuesday. Precheck was down to minutes by Tuesday at noon. Granted, Monday is a travel rush day, but ICE focused on securing lines, and TSA could focus on scanners.

It makes ICE personable, relatable, and helpful.

Meanwhile, Democrats continue to demand that ICE be defunded in exchange for funding TSA.

Concurrently, 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman has been murdered by an illegal alien in the sanctuary city of Chicago. The illegal alien, also infected with tuberculosis, came across the border in the Biden Administration and has been protected by the laws of Chicago and Illinois.

How the hell the GOP is not going wall to wall on this is nuts to me. Jon Ossoff, in the state where Laken Riley was killed by an illegal alien, is on the ballot this year. And Ossoff wants passengers at the world’s busiest airport inconvenienced if he cannot gut the agency that Athens, Georgia blocked from deporting Laken Riley’s murderer. Riley would be alive if ICE had been able to deport that guy.

Likewise, Gorman would be alive if Chicago had cooperated with ICE during the first arrest of that illegal alien.

Democrats want you to suffer at airports so illegal aliens do not have to suffer deportation and more Americans are dying.

Where the hell is the GOP on this issue? Here’s the soundbite they can use:

“The people we care about the most — the undocumented Americans that are in this country.”

Like the ones who keep murdering American citizens.