By all accounts, America entered a new age on January 20, 2021 when Joseph R. Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the nation, an event marked by little genuine fanfare, few attending onlookers, and a large force of activated National Guardsmen from several states charged with “protecting” the proceedings from a supposed clear and present threat from right-wing oppositionists to Biden’s election in November. Unsurprisingly, no insurrection, uprising, or riot ever materialized, and Biden became the nation’s new president without incident, accompanied by a greater throng of stationary U.S. flags than celebrating citizens, an ironic historical “first.”
Matching the changing times, a month later the American Conservative Union (ACU) convened its annual Conservative Political Action Conference from February 25-28th at a hotel venue in Orlando, Florida, the first time ever the conclave has been held outside of the environs of the District of Columbia. Driven by the refusal of D.C. area hotels to allow the usually large numbers of conservative activists, politicians, pundits, aligned media, and other concerned citizens to gather in person at the confab, the ACU chose to relocate the event to more freedom-friendly Florida, even as the chosen venue’s capacity was more limited. No matter, spirits were high and as zesty for all who attended in the summerlike climate, eager to hear from conservative leaders in the aftermath of November’s electoral debacle and the shadow of illegitimacy that has beclouded it.
Platform speeches from prominent officeholders alternated with panel discussions among various experts and pundits over the three days on the gamut of political, security, economic, and social issues facing America. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis opened the conference by lauding his state’s first-in-line leadership in preserving Americans’ rights to operate their businesses, worship in their churches, and keep their kids in schools. Memorable speeches were delivered by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on the Left’s cancel culture that threatens fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights, by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) on the threat to national sovereignty and social stability posed by open borders and sanctuary cities, by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on the national and international ideologically based efforts to suppress “unwoke” free speech on campuses and throughout our civil society, and by James O’Keefe of Project Veritas on the encroaching totalitarian Trojan Horse menace posed by the self-entitled titans of Big Tech.
Important points on developing international crises in Europe and the declassification of revelatory memos from within the Deep State marked the address by former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, who also not-too-obliquely signaled his interest in replacing California’s ideologically perverse governor Gavin Newsom with a savvy, dedicated conservative. South Dakota’s governor Kristi Noem, catapulted to national fame in 2020 by her steadfast refusal to lock down her state in the face of the rising coronavirus epidemic and by her galvanizing speech in front of Mount Rushmore on Independence Day 2020, mesmerized conferees with her recitation of what it truly means to be American and live life in our nation. With her youthful good looks, sure smarts, earthy roots, and clear grit, she positioned herself as the leading female candidate for the Republican nomination for president or vice president in 2024. If election integrity across all the states can be re-established in the intervening three years – with all Americans feeling well and properly assured of that reality, then the coming GOP presidential primary contest will be exceptionally robust and promising with a compelling crop of real conservative contenders. And, even more vitally, given the near certainty that Biden/Harris & Company will embark on disastrous plans and policies on every issue during their term in office, the outcome of the 2024 general election should already be a foregone conclusion.
On the gathering’s last day, Donald Trump emerged onto the stage to the thunderous applause of the assembled conferees, reminding everyone across the land of just how popular – and even adored – this past president was during his just-finished term in office. His fiery spirit undimmed, his “yuge” panache unrestrained, and his dedication to his America First agenda undaunted by the preceding events of 2020 and early 2021 aimed at derailing it, Trump spoke to the defiant, unapologetic mien that animates all of his proud, Liberty-loving supporters — Americans who know what has truly made America a great and prosperous nation, the citadel of Western civilization through two centuries, and the envy of the world. In short order, he deftly burned off the dingy fog that still hangs dark and dirty over the conduct of the 2020 presidential election, recounting the myriad crude anomalies across several swing states that turned the final result into a caricature of democracy redolent of an East Bloc satellite or client state of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He skewered those who cynically sought to banalize and ridicule all the claims of fraud, malfeasance, corruption, and misplaced electoral authority and deny the legitimacy of the many lawsuits brought in state and federal courts seeking a fair hearing and an impartial review on the merits. It was a tour de force of “J’accuse.” The ultimate outcome is yet to be determined, perhaps placing the nation at some pivot point for an uncharted – and probably truly pivotal – new path.
Going forward, Trump admonished his audience to focus on the 2022 midterm federal elections, aiming to retake both the House and the Senate for the Republican Party — but not anyone’s Republican Party. In that vein, he emphasized the compelling necessity for conservatives to rid the party of officeholders who share the Democrats’ lust for big government, globalism, power grabs, and personal graft. Only if conservatives work to — and do — nominate and elect true conservatives, patriots, and constitutionalists will our nation and republic prosper, stay free, and be preserved. The consequences of failure in these efforts are readily foreseeable — and foreseeably catastrophic. He pledged to get and stay involved going forward towards realizing that goal, and in so doing, inspired his listening audience to do the same. The audience’s ovation in response was loud, lusty, and long. No doubt, American conservatives’ commitment to reclaim all of culture, core values, country, and Constitution was invigorated that day. If indeed so, the nation’s most glorious days may still be to come.