We the People …
Posted by: Blue Collar Muse in 2008 election season, America First, Blogroll, Conservative, Individual Responsibility, PoliticsLate last night, The Much Younger Trophy Wife and I drug ourselves in from our weekend at The Conservative Leadership Conference in Reno, NV. It was an incredible time both personally and professionally. We made new friends, experienced new things, learned new information and are already excited about next year!
Beyond the new and exciting, underlying it all, was that I came away with from the conference renewed in my conviction that what is most important of all is the people! It sounds hokey, I know, but so be it. Many of us start out our blogging careers because we want to say what we want to say. Hopefully, we move beyond that selfish place, sooner or later, to a place of service where we blog because those around us have a need for the things we write about.
Caught up in the demand and the tyranny of the urgent it’s easy to forget. Being with so many people this weekend, the vast majority of whom have spent years serving their fellow travelers, reminded me of that point. Allow me to say thank you to them for doing so.
(L to R) Ed Morrissey, Duncan Hunter, Andrea Shea-King, The Muse, The Much Younger Trophy Wife
And so - to Mitt Romney, Duncan Hunter, Wayne Allen Root and Alan Keyes …
To an incredible group of bloggers - Ed Morrissey, CLC’s Blogger of the Year, at Captain’s Quarters, Warner Todd Huston at Publius’ Forum, Andrea Shea-King at The Radio Patriot, Doug Bandow, Eric Odom, Chuck Muth at Muth’s Truths, Richard Disney, Joe Enge at EdWatch Nevada, Jenn Sierra at Ft. Hard Knox, Adam Graham at Adam’s Blog and Joe Eiben …
To an outstanding group of activists, some famous and others laboring behind the scenes - Grover Norquist at Americans for Tax Reform, Paul Jacob of Citizens in Charge, Gary Schneider of The New Media Alliance, Scott Cleland of Net Competition, all the great folks from The Sam Adams Alliance, Israel Teitelbaum of Parents for Free Choice in Education, Amanda Hydro of Reason Foundation, Richard Viguerie of ConservativeHQ, John McJunkin of Avalon Podcasting and Chris Simcox of Minutemen Civil Defense Corps …
To public servants past and present such as Congressman Dick Armey, Congressman John Shadegg, Governor Mark Sanford, Congressman Bob Barr, Congressman Dean Heller and Congressman J. D. Hayworth …
To the folks I met with and without websites - Charles, Mark, Sean, Rowan, Randi, Paul, Ken, Marlene, James, Rick and the staffers and volunteers for so many of these people and groups …
To all of these and more - thank you for your years of service, thank you for your thankless labor, thank you for your unwavering courage and integrity, thank you for your character and perserverance, thank you for taking time from your family and lives to enrich mine, thank you for your offers to teach, to befriend, to serve, to enlighten, to encourage, to welcome, to lead, to sacrifice, to support and, most importantly to never surrender.
Not only did you inspire us all these last few days, but you reminded me that it is not just this man or that - no one individual - that accomplishes the goal of protecting and defending our Constitution, our country, our values and our way of life. Rather it is all of us, rich and poor, famous and anonymous, young and old, veteran and rookie - men and women from all walks of life and across the entire spectrum of abilities, interests and experience - it is We The People - together - who make up this fantastic experiment in governance which we call The United States of America. I am honored and privileged beyond knowing to have walked with you and have come away refreshed and renewed.
Understanding, at last, how the whole really can be greater than the sum of its parts …
Blue Collar Muse
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October 15th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Great picture and sweet post!
Ugh! It’s the one place I can be a selfish brat and get away with it!
However, your advice is good and I will work on this brilliant concept of yours.
So glad to hear that you had a great time at the conference. Duncan Hunter is awesome, huh?
October 15th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Tammi -
Thanks for the encouragement. Next year we need you and your daughter to be there with us!
The idea of blogging as a servant role is, I think, not so much a new concept as an unsung one. It was the first point I made in my CLC workshop. Unless we approach our efforts rooted and grounded in service, while we may have a measure of success, it will be neither significant or long lived.
That having been said, I struggle with it as well. In preparing for the conference I’ve been deeply convicted that each of the mistakes I counseled others to avoid, I was personally guilty of at some level. I hope that the feel and tone of BCM will be a bit different in the days ahead as I address the beam in my own eye.
Thanks again, so very much, for your support and comments!
Blue
October 15th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Damn Blue…my head would explode in the company you keep.
Seriously, my profound appreciation of your blog may be a case of seeing the equal parts of reason, humor and compassion.
Never have I seen you and yours descend into “neighbor contempt.” While I’m not sure that the organizations you’ve listed above understand the dangerous realities of polarizing politics…I’m pretty sure you do and were we neighbors, your kids would no doubt be up on our horses, and allowed free range on the acreage.
Incidentally…MYTW should post from time to time.
October 15th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
What a fun post! Had a wonderful time, and hope to see you next year!.
October 15th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Welcome back! I can’t express how badly I wanted to attend CLC 07 (but it was financially impossible.) Hopefully CLC 08 will be a different story.
I am glad you got to meet and hear Duncan Hunter! I find him inspirational!
Also, can I blog with a spirit of service and still dig at the things and public figures that annoy me? If not, I am in trouble.
October 15th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Annie -
Glenn Beck recommends duct tape for the exploding head thing. It works … don’t ask me how I know.
I hope to never descend into that icky place you describe but I am more than intimately acquainted with my ability to do things that I know are or believe are wrong. It is my intention never to disappoint you in that way.
Besides, the kids would never forgive me if I ruined their chance at horseback riding at Aunt Annie’s one day! I am honored that you consider me a friend (although a slightly deranged one). The feeling is mutual (well, not the deranged part).
Keep encouraging TMYTW to blog. She’d be great! You do get some stuff from her regularly but you may not know it. I read her most of the posts before I put them up. If she winces or groans I know I have some editing to do to keep my reputation in Wolverine country!
Blessings,
Blue
October 15th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Jenn -
As a great time was had by all, we already have CLC ‘08 on the calendar, or will as soon as Eric and Chuck get off their lazy backsides and pick a date. There was some discussion of exactly that before we left Reno. At that time the discussion was of about the same time next year. We’ll see …
I’m sorry we didn’t get the chance to meet. I had heard you were coming but didn’t know you’d arrived. There were a couple of other “no shows” so I didn’t think much about it until it was too late. I know we have online but it isn’t the same.
To next year …
Blue
October 15th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Sam -
I believe the key is “moderation in all things”. That and civility but you have that one pretty well down. We can disagree agreeably and express outrage without being outrageous.
That was point #4 in Reno - Blog while being Polite. We’ll see how I do taking my own medicine. If I start to get a little ill, there are plenty of ‘Net doctors that will point it out and recommend removing the offending tissue (brain). That my head would have to go as well will be either a source of great sorrow or amusement as the case may be.
Blessings,
Blue
October 15th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Just a howdy from south of the border. I have a great internet connection down here in Mexico City (although pretty expensive at this hotel). I remember you saying you had a map of where hits to your site come from so I wanted to put one with an IP address in Mexico.
I really enjoyed hangin out with you and your wife at CLC07.
Keep kickin’ ass!
October 15th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Richard -
I know we Conservatives are a little off. But I don’t think the solution to the problem of illegals here in America is for Americans to head to Mexico!
Hopefully you won’t have too much trouble making it back across the border. If you do, just call Rich Nadler. I’m sure he’ll help you out!
The Much Younger Trophy Wife and I both commented that we also enjoyed spending time with you. Can’t wait until next year!
Thanks for coming by. Come back again. If you head east to Nashville ever, you’ve got a room waiting. We even have inexpensive internet connections. By the way, I’m pretty sure it’s not a good idea to eat the worm!
Blessings,
Ken
October 17th, 2007 at 12:25 am
Ken, it was great to meet with you and the “much younger trophy wife.” I sure hope we get a chance to do it again next year!
October 17th, 2007 at 5:52 am
WTH -
Same here! I had always pictured you in my head as more like William F. Buckley. Older, dour, a bit haughty and such. Probably because you use all of your names.
Imagine my delight when you turned out to be not only younger than me but better looking AND lots of fun, too!
TMYTW and I really enjoyed meeting you as well. We’re definitely all in for next year! But we’ll likely see you before then. Not only is Eric moving to your neck of the woods but my sister and her family still live up there. Next time we visit, I’m planning a ‘guys night out’ downtown.
Hrmmm - that sounds like a great idea on a quarterly frequency, y’know?
Blessings,
Blue