Kyle Mantyla's blog

• Miranda @ PFAW Blog: Michael Keegan Speaks with Al Sharpton about White Nationalists at CPAC.
• Patrick Caldwell @ Tapped: Catholic Men at CPAC Oppose Birth Control.
• Mediaite: Did Brent Bozell Storm Out Of CPAC Because Of A Speaking Downgrade?
• David @ Crooks and Liars: McConnell at CPAC: Obama Stop Picking on Fox News.
• Huffington Post: Rachel Maddow Responds To Cal Thomas Calling Her A Good Argument For Contraception.
• Tim Murphy @ Mother Jones: Grand George Soros—Fox News Alliance Exposed at CPAC.

Newt Gingrich was the last of the remaining Republican presidential candidates to address the audience at CPAC  this year and during his speech, he brought them to their feet by declaring that 99 weeks of unemployment benefits to those who have lost their jobs violates the Declaration of Independence:

Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association uncovered a "massive Obama conspiracy" during his remarks at CPAC, explaining that the administration hasn't done anything on gun rights in the first term intentionally in order to lull gun owners in a false sense of security and keep them from voting so that he can win a second term and finally "destroy the Second Amendment":

There is something truly remarkable about watching Mitt Romney address the audience at CPAC and lecture them about what it means to be a conservative as he tries to convince them that he has been a champion of conservative values throughout his political career ... leading to situations such as this where he takes credit for preventing Massachusetts "from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage":

This year's CPAC has been an extremely disjointed event as conservatives keep trying to come to grips with the fact that they dislike their Republican choices for president only slightly less than they dislike President Obama.

Nothing better exemplifies this fundamental tension than the fact that perennial CPAC favorite Ann Coulter could barely even muster tepid applause from the crowd as she half-heartedly tried to make the case for Mitt Romney. But she did still manage to throw out some vintage Coulter-esque red meat to the audience, like when she compared President Obama to Flavor Flav:

Addressing the crowd at CPAC, Rick Santorum attacked the idea that there is any sort of right to health care, saying that the passage of healthcare reform legislation is a form of enslavement and the ultimate loss of freedom:

While introducing Rick Santorum at CPAC, Foster Friess said Republicans had to take a page out of the Democrats' play book and start nominating fresh-faced candidates ... like O'Back Obama.  Freiss then complained that it is unfair that rich people such as himself are discriminated against, before claiming that Santorum can bring people together because he never says anything divisive:

During a panel at CPAC on "The Role of Faith, Life, & Family in Our Culture & the 2012 Elections," the panelists claimed that the slippery slope toward gay marriage all began when people started accepting the idea of recognizing the legitimacy pf gay relationships by granting civil unions, and Andy Blom, Executive Director of the American Principles Project, blamed it on the fact that Christians just don't want to be mean and called on Christians to be aggressive in defending their values and refuse to compromise:

Mike Huckabee kicked off day two of the annual CPAC conference by voicing his outrage that President Obama thinks he's a theologian for daring to cite Scripture and proceeded to lecture Obama on what it means to be a real Christian:

• Faiz Shakir @ Think Progress LGBT: Fox Pundit Tells CPAC Crowd That Rachel Maddow Is ‘The Best Argument In Favor Of Her Parents Using Contraception.’
• David Corn @ Mother Jones: DeMint at CPAC: Compromise Is the Enemy.
• Rosie Gray @ BuzzFeed: Rep. Steve King Defends White Nationalist On Conservative Panel.
• David @ Crooks and Liars: McConnell: Obama Unleashing 'Liberal Thugs' on Conservatives.
• Benjy Sarlin @ TPM: CPAC Wants To Help You Get A Hot Conservative Date.

Conservative comedian Brad Stein closed out day one of CPAC with a fifteen minute set that consisted primarily of him railing against "the Wussification of America" and screaming at a seventeen year-old kid in the front row because kids today are, in Stein's view, representative of the very "wussification" he detests ... like requiring cars to have airbags or drivers to use seat belts and child safety seats:

We often get asked why we pay attention to Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association and the relentless string of bigotry he produces on a daily basis; the assumption being that by highlighting his statements we are just giving him the attention he desires and that if we ignored him, he'd probably just go away.

Obviously, we disagree and try to explain that we pay attention to Fischer because he is an influential leader within the Religious Right movement who is taken seriously by leading Republicans in Congress.

And today's program provided a perfect example of this, as Fischer spent ten minutes once again going after JC Penney for hiring a known sexual deviant like Ellen DeGeneres immediately before conducting an interview with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

First, Fischer dedicated a segment to blasting JC Penney for promoting sexually aberrant behavior while lamenting that behavior that was, just a generation ago, not only shameful but illegal is now being rewarded:

Immediately after Fischer returned from a commercial break following that segment, he then welcomed Sen. Mitch McConnell on to the program as a guest:

Michele Bachmann kicked off her speech to CPAC by relating the three things she learned while running for president: where John Wayne was born; the day Elvis Presley was born, and the importance of remembering the third thing in your list

The first panel discussion of the day at CPAC was entitled "Do 'We Still Hold These Truths?': The Future of the Conservative Movement" and featured remarks by Jeffrey Bell, the Policy Director at the American Principles Project who explained that the ultimate goal of "the Left" is not socialism or equality but rather the destruction of religion and the family ... and it has been ever since the movement was formed during the French Revolution:

• PFAW: GOP Presidential Candidates Should Denounce Bigotry of White Nationalist Featured at CPAC.
• Michelle Goldbergt @ The Daily Beast: Catholics’ Enraged Response to Obama Birth-Control Policy Is Misplaced.
• Eric Kleefeld @ TPM: Sue Myrick Retires: So Long, And Thanks For All The Muslim-Baiting.
• Steve Benen @ Maddow Blog: The return of Culture Warrior Mitt.
• Mark Oppenheimer @ Salon: How Maggie Gallagher's college pregnancy made her a single mom, and a traditional marriage zealot.
• Alvin McEwen: Religious right spokesman tells deliberate lie on Obama appointee.