The Conservative Revolution

I haven’t heard from Ryan yet, but the lefty blogosphere is abuzz with reports of a rowdy protest by homosexualists banging pots and chanting silly slogans. Typical left-wing nonsense in response to an actual argument against their frail ideology. The students of Smith College should at least have had a chance to hear what Ryan had to say, whether or not they agreed with his conclusions. But the left showed its ignorance and hypocrisy once again. Below are links to lefty bloggers bragging about their attempt to silence a dissenting voice.

The Political Spectrum

josephine14

I’m a Stranger Here Myself

Kleos Aphthiton

The last blogger is a Smith alumnus who writes that free speech should be squelched for the “common good.” I hope she remembers that the next time she wants to say something that most Americans disagree with. Perhaps she can explain to the thought police that she wants free speech to apply to her but not to others with whom she disagrees.

VIDEO UPDATE

Here is the third and final excerpt of the piece I wrote about Ryan Sorba and his campaign to expose “the born gay hoax.”

When I ask Sorba what his next venue will be, he smiles and says, “I want to take my message to a university in Washington, D.C. George Washington University seems like it might be a good place to give the talk. What do you think?” I reply, “It does seem like a good campus if you want to reach the inside-the-beltway crowd and some very politically active students.”

A few days later, we both attend the Washington premiere of Indoctrinate U, a film by Evan Maloney about the lack of free speech on many college campuses. In the crowd are a couple of dozen students from George Washington University who identify themselves by asking Maloney a question of the after the screening. As I walk out of the Kennedy Center and head to the after-party, I catch a glimpse of a conversation just outside the door. I see Sorba and the GWU students exchanging business cards and chatting about what kind of events the students are planning for the fall and spring semesters. As I leave, I can’t help but wonder, “Is there even a chance that the ‘born gay hoax’ lecture wasn’t discussed?” Based on the energy and determination of Ryan Sorba, and the number of college students that are beginning to hear about his message, I can say with all confidence, “Not a chance.”

Brendan Steinhauser is the author of The Conservative Revolution: How to Win the Battle for College Campuses. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and writes about campus politics on his blog TheConservativeRevolution.com

There is some debate over whether or not Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s comments matter when considering the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. For a few key reasons, I believe that this relationship does matter.

Yesterday’s speech at the National Press Club was a big mistake on Wright’s part. He kept his name in the news and refused to back down from his ludicrous claim that the government created AIDS to kill black folks. He made the outrageous statement that criticism of him is “an attack on the black church.” And he praised the racist and kooky leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan.

Barack Obama is running a campaign based on being a post-partisan and post-racial candidate who will change America. And he argues that his judgment trumps the experience of John McCain and Hillary Clinton. If we are to assess Obama’s ability to lead based on his “judgment” then we must conclude that he doesn’t have very good judgment at all. Would someone with good judgment stay in a black supremacist church that promotes black liberation theology? Would someone with good judgment maintain friendships with Tony Rezko and William Ayers? I think not. This is not guilt by association, but guilt by volition. Obama knew what kind of characters he was dealing with, and still made bad decisions by continuing these relationships and associations. His judgment is lacking, and without that, what is his rationale for being president?

There is another reason why the Rev. Wright controversy matters. His blame-America first ideology is part of mainstream leftist thought. The arguments he makes against America’s history and social organization fit right in with arguments made by leftist icons Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Che Guevara. There is nothing new here, just the same tired rhetoric meant to deconstruct America and, by extension, the West. This analysis is best exemplified by Dan Flynn’s book Why the Left Hates America. It makes sense for someone with a Marxist view of the world to vilify the country that best proves the Marxist paradigm to be unworkable and a nightmarish system for human beings. Rev. Wright, along with the other plethora of leftist academics and politicians, hurl attacks at this nation and its representative government because they cannot allow it to prove their leftist worldview to be the miserable failure that is is.

When you consider that Obama has made an issue over wearing the American flag on his lapel, and his wife has repeatedly bashed this country, it makes you wonder whether they agree with Rev. Wright’s comments. This is why Rev. Wright’s comments matter to the broader debate about who should, or should not, be president.

UPDATE: Obama denounces Wright

Obama just gave a press conference where he disavowed Wright’s statements at the National Press Club. Clearly the pressure from bloggers and the media convinced him he had to throw the pastor under the bus. I really don’t know whether Obama agrees with Wright and is just trying to save his political career, or disagrees with Wright but has not wanted to disown him. Either way, this won’t put the issue to bed. But I am glad that he at least addressed Wright’s statements more directly.

This is the second of a series of posts about Ryan Sorba, who has been lecturing on college campuses about “the born gay hoax.”

Fast forward a year or so to the fall of 2007. Sorba has refined his work, updated his lecture, added chapters to his book and gained confidence from countless hours spent reading C.S. Lewis, Bruce Thornton, Robert George and other conservative intellectuals. He also is no longer just a college student, but has a nice perch for a campus revolutionary working for a prestigious nonprofit group on the East Coast.

Between his work as a membership director and an activist for multiple other organizations, Sorba continues to work on his book and meet students who become interested in his ideas. One student he meets, Kyle Bristow, is a Michigan State University campus leader with Young Americans for Freedom, which was founded by William F. Buckley in the 1960’s. Kyle invites Sorba to lecture at MSU, the university where Russell Kirk, an Intercollegiate Studies Institute icon, once taught, before becoming completely disgusted with the academy and retreating into independent scholarship. Sorba gladly accepts the offer to speak and Bristow begins posting flyers around campus and sending out invitations to his group and the broader campus community. But this time around, he will face an onslaught of criticism, protests and a fundraising campaign aimed at countering his message.

The campus GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) groups have heard about the speech that YAF is planning. They are upset and take this as a direct assault at their way of life. In fact, they state publicly that YAF is a “hate group” and that Sorba is spreading hatred and bigotry. The GLBT groups join forces with the Young Democratic Socialists and other left-wing groups to organize a viewing of Sorba’s lecture from Cal-State and a rebuttal session where they can argue against his point of view. They also decide to attend the event at MSU and speak out against Sorba’s ideas.

Given the academy’s record on allowing controversial events to take place, it is surprising that MSU doesn’t do anything to prevent the speech from happening. Eventually, the evening has come and Sorba walks across the campus, notes in hand and key themes on his mind. He isn’t sure what to expect when he arrives, but the room seems to be only somewhat more rowdy than the auditorium at Cal-State. Many in the audience hold signs of protest throughout the speech, or wear t-shirts that identify them as GLBT supporters. He delivers his lecture, slightly modified to present another part of his book, and faces a few jeers and outbursts, but gets through the talk without major incident. At the end, one student in particular keeps asking him questions, challenging him as he leaves the event. The two continue their heated discussion until Sorba leaves the campus.

Clearly the emotional and intellectual fires have been stoked in East Lansing, just as they were in California. Perhaps some students changed their minds, maybe some became more hardened in their position, but it is clear that the speech has made an impact on the students in one way or another. It has elicited a response from supporters and opponents alike, and has given the crowd plenty to think and talk about for weeks to come.

Here is the video of FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey’s recent appearance on CNBC’s show Kudlow and Company. In an earlier post I quoted Armey’s statement about Barack Obama. Now you can watch the video and hear Armey address Obama and liberals in general.

I finally got around to watching Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s interview with liberal hack Bill Moyers today. First, I want to congratulate Rev. Wright for his new $1 mansion in a white suburb of Chicago. Pointing out liberal hypocrisy is like shooting fish in a barrel. Should we even take seriously the views of people who don’t practice what they preach?

Putting that aside for now, let’s look at the interview with Moyers. Here are my thoughts.

1. Rev. Wright replaces so-called Eurocentrism with Afrocentrism. Why is one better than the other? And he is a proponent of black liberation theology, which takes this Afrocentrism even further.

2. Rev. Wright states as fact that the U.S. government gives drugs to African Americans. Conspiracy much?

3. Rev. Wright argues that “governments fail people.. they lie.” Well, why does he and his follower Barack Obama want to substantially increase government power in health care, energy, regulations and other things. If governments fail people, why not work to promote freedom and limit government?

4. Corporate owned media? You mean like the now “green friendly” MSNBC with Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews and David Gregory? I haven’t heard anything about how these liberal hosts have been prevented from espousing liberal views by their corporate masters. Besides, DailyKos and the Huffington Post are becoming as influential as corporate media outlets.

5. Those friendly “native americans” that Rev. Wright refers to were enslaving, killing, torturing and eating people on this continent before any European arrived. Man’s treatment of his fellow man has been good at times, but most often bad. The history of this continent, or any other continent bears that out. Wright says that “we” committed acts of terror to wipe out the “natives” and therefore we somehow deserved 911. I refuse to be blamed for acts that I had nothing to do with.

6. Wright has his own lies. Consider that he lies about the number of dead in Iraq and the number killed in the retaliatory strike on the empty facility in Sudan. He just makes numbers up to push his moral equivalence agenda on us.

7. Wright apparently opposed the retaliatory strike on the Libyan dictator Qadafi, which killed one of his sons. But did he condemn the Libyan acts of terrorism on innocent civilians that brought about that strike? Of course not.

When you constantly point out the bad in our culture and history, and refuse to see good, you are either delusional, angry, miserable or just a liberal. Or maybe all of the above. I’m simply not impressed with anything Wright has said. I’ve already read most of Noam Chomsky’s books on why we should hate Amerikkka.

Many readers of this blog are familiar with Ryan Sorba’s campus campaign to educate the public about what he calls the “born gay hoax.” Some of seen the video of his campus lectures and read excerpts of his speeches on facebook or on blogs. But for those of you who have not heard about his book project and concurrent lecture series, I’ve written a kind of feature story for this space.

In a series of posts this week, timed with Ryan’s upcoming lecture at Smith College in Massachusetts, I will highlight the work Ryan is doing to promote his upcoming book and its theme, the “born gay hoax.”

The article is entitled, “Crusading for Truth, a lone voice takes on an uncomfortable subject.” The subtitle reads, “The battle of ideas on college campuses heats up with The Born Gay Hoax.”

Here is the first in a series of posts from this article.

The crowd stands outside in the desert air, chatting quietly and waiting for the sign to enter the campus building. They are not that used to political events on their campus, especially those of a decidedly conservative nature. But this evening, one of their fellow students at California State University in San Bernardino, has aroused their interest in a topic that sets off emotional reactions of anticipation, discomfort, and for some, anger. Ryan Sorba, a psychology student and campus leader, is here to make the case against homosexuality and the political movement that buttresses it.

He is writing a book, the name of which is also the topic of his speech, “The Born Gay Hoax.” Sorba has spent countless hours researching, reading, scribbling notes and writing passages on his laptop computer. He is determined to put an end to the idea that human beings are “born gay” and to convince people that the entire gay movement is a farce, a massive public relations campaign which seeks to gain acceptance into the culture through chicanery and lies. When you talk to him there is no doubt in his mind, and no doubt that he has read more studies on the topic than almost anyone. He traces the history of the movement from its beginning to the present day. He points out that the political agitators who created the movement admit that there is no such thing as being ‘born gay”, and quotes them at length from their journals and academic papers. “These people don’t hide what their goals are,” he says. “They are quite open about their methodology and strategy, and I am speaking out to end this hoax that they have perpetrated.”

In the age of the Internet, communication has been revolutionized and has allowed almost anyone to gain an audience of thousands for their ideas. With email, Facebook, YouTube, Google and Blogger, an individual can post his thoughts, articles, videos and other content to the net, which can be viewed by both those he knows, and strangers he has never met. The video of Sorba’s lecture at Cal-State on the “born gay hoax” has been viewed over 3000 times and a quick Google search brings up dozens of blog posts, press releases or comments that mention Sorba or his lecture. It is his intention to “create a situation where the phrase ‘the born gay hoax’ enters the political lexicon and is popularized by opinion leaders.” He says that if he can get the phrase out there, and reach the right people with his message, he can frame the debate his way by creating vivid pictures in people’s minds that influence how they view the gay movement. “My initial speeches and the book are the first shots across the bow. Then, I am going to make sure that hundreds of campus leaders across the country get copies of the book and begin to educate other students about the ‘born gay hoax.’ I am being very strategic with my target audience.”

As Sorba continues his lecture at Cal-State, he delves into everything from ancient philosophy, to natural law to modern academic scholarship. In nearly an hour, he covers everything from the nature of truth and objective morality, to the physical and spiritual destruction caused by the gay lifestyle. As he completes his speech, which has gone on without any major interruptions, he looks up and offers to answer questions. One student in particular is interested in debunking the presentation by offering up competing studies. He makes a grand show by stepping up onto the stage with Sorba. The speaker takes it in stride and proceeds to answer the critic by citing the fact that the student is referring to a study that has been discredited.

By the end of the evening, after the questions and comments, a crowd is still swarming around Sorba, trying to poke holes in his argument, and offering personal experiences and perspectives. He maintains his calm demeanor, and tries to answer each of the students before finally leaving as the university building closes. All in all, a decent round one for the crusader whose goal is to thwart a massive political movement.

This weekend I attended the 20th annual Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Harrisburg. I have to say that compared to many other conferences I attend each year, this one was one of the best.

The panelists and speakers were high quality, delivered important and useful messages and were accessible after their speeches to discuss how attendees could work with them to move their ideas forward.

FreedomWorks was able to recruit new chapter leaders, sign up new members and talk about our federal and state priorities. We made some great local contacts that will be great to work with on both local and federal issues. And our field coordinator, Joe Hilliard, is proving to be a good leader and a great representative of our organization. I left the conference excited and optimisitic about our ability to make a difference in a state that is somewhat hostile to our ideas. The Republican Party in PA has been working against conservatives in many instances, and we hope that we can help put an end to this disgraceful behavior by working with groups like The Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania, PA Club for Growth and the Commonwealth Foundation.

Keep an eye out on these groups and FreedomWorks Pennsylvania in the months to come. It’s going to be fun to watch, and hopefully we will be able to tap into the anger among conservatives in the state and channel that anger into moving our ideas forward in Harrisburg.

My friend and fellow blogger Francisco Gonzalez says that Barack Obama can’t win the White House. I tend to believe that he is the favorite, despite the weaknesses Cisco cites. But I hope he is right and I am wrong!

Here is an excerpt from his blog Enjoying Freedom Every Day.

Think about it. He got trounced in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. Trounced. If a Democrat is going to take the White House, they need BOTH of those states. Ohio is a key battleground state, while Pennsylvania is a state that demographically represents the United States with its diverse populations, large cities and small towns.

If Obama has so much momentum WITHIN the Democrat party, if he is the front-runner, why aren’t the Democrats of Pennsylvania getting behind him to end this thing and move on to the general election?

Good questions. But I think the Democrats will be solidly behind Obama once he gets the nomination. Those hundreds of thousands of Hillary voters will fall in line and pull the lever for Obama. If she were to win, on the other hand, I think Obama supporters would not come out for her. Time will tell.

Blogger Michelle Malkin linked to FreedomWorks’ website AngryRenter.com this morning. Check out here post here about the mortgage bailout scheme.

This is for all of you who have followed my SuckItUp subprime blogging the past eight months and wondered “What can I do?” There’s now a new site dedicated to the anti-bailout movement. Check out AngryRenter.com and sign the petition. It’s about time!