Freedom Heartland

I spent the weekend in St. Louis at a conference jointly hosted by the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles and Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit, who has some photos up on his site. The lineup can be found here. Missing from the list is Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was added last minute. Headliner Candace Owens was absent. Apparently she has something big in the works.  James O'Keefe, who did make it, unveiled that he has an expose on deep-state operatives in the government coming out this week.

I'll provide a quick review for anyone interested.

For me the biggest draw was Stefan Molyneux. I have criticized him at least a couple times on this blog for behaving like a narcissist when challenged. Also, I had started to write a review of his book Art of the Argument, and a critique of his Preferred Ethics theory, but found both to be so terrible that I couldn't compel myself to finish either effort. He is brilliant nevertheless, and a compelling performer to boot. A rare combination of intellectual horsepower and communicative talent. He did a lecture on how the three temptations of Christ are a metaphor for our current political crisis. It's interesting, because Stefan used to be one of the foremost atheists on the internet. Gradually he's become more accepting of Christianity and has toyed with the idea that Christianity is inseparable from western society. Now he's broken lose and given a sermon more compelling than you're likely to find on any given Sunday. He really delivered on a speech that was very appropriate for the audience.

Charlie Kirk was also very impressive. He's only 24 and has built a substantial network across American campuses - really taking the fight into the belly of the beast. He's knowledgeable, clear-headed, and very likable. He might be the most valuable guy in the whole freedom movement, because he goes right onto campus and tries to nip the indoctrination in the bud. He notes that when students are brainwashed by the prog cult, we're not likely to deprogram them until they're in their 30s, but often enough they're lost forever. If you're looking for someone to support, your dollars won't be wasted on Charlie Kirk.

Stephen Moore is an affable economist who has served as an aide to Trump. Quite likeable and compelling, he has a slideshow I'd like to get my hands on to share here. Representative Steve King from Iowa gave a talk. He's the one who committed absolute heresy when he tweeted that "We can't restore our civilization with out peoples' babies." He was very intelligent and lucid, and is certainly not just pandering to the anti-immigration crowd. Pamela Geller is an absolute firecracker and warrior. You leave feeling like you don't want to disappoint Pamela. (Apparently Phyllis Schlafly had a similar effect on people.) Ed Martin was the event MC and did a fantastic job. Gregarious might be his middle name. Polish PM Dominik Tarczynski was extraordinary. He is a warrior and 100% set on saving not just Poland, but western civilization. He's the kind of guy you would want to share a foxhole with. Duke Pesta, a frequent guest of Stefan Molyneux, gives testimony to the Marxist takeover of American education and frames it as our core critical issue. He notes that there has been no reform whatsoever in education, and he and Dr. Mary Byrne made the case that Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss is our enemy in this fight.

There were many other excellent speakers. Those I've mentioned were the ones that particularly stood out to me. Honorable mention should go to to Gregory Whitestone, whose 20-minute session Inconvenient Facts: How rising temperatures and increasing CO2 are benefiting the Earth and humanity was so lib-triggering that one member of Antifa (who were outside protesting) infiltrated the speech to shout "Scientists lie, people die" until he could be escorted out. The display of nonsense really helped highlight the serious discussions going on throughout the conference.

The primary theme of the whole weekend is that we are effectively fighting marxist insurrection, and that if we don't fight, no one is going to do the job for us. There was a lot of criticism of Republicans, and people noting that we have to fight them almost as much as the Democrats. This group is the real deal. It is so energizing to attend a conference like this and be surrounded by like-minded people, and to see the new and old guards in tight unison on this matter. (The Eagles conference is in it's 47th year, although the collaboration with GatewayPundit is new.) It's a movement, frankly, and it's one with a lot of energy, a lot of moral and intellectual support, and a lot of talent. This event was not merely for entertainment, education, or networking. It's a call to arms. They're looking for leaders and doers. As Ralph Reed noted, it doesn't matter how theoretically correct we are if we don't pragmatically win. They also note a leadership vacuum. There is no one on the left, besides wild-eyed socialists, and they're saying the establishment conservatives don't have anyone in the pipeline either. The window is open for the freedom movement to fill the void, and there is a lot of talent potential.

I had mentioned a while back that this blog will be getting re-branded soon, and moved off the Google platform. I suppose now is as good a time an any to unveil the new domain. eternalvigilance.com There is nothing there yet, but work has begun on it. I can't be sure of a timeline, because I will also be volunteering some time to help get the Senate seat flipped here in Missouri. The blog migration will coincide with a new focus towards action. There is nothing wrong with analysis. It's an essential activity. But, as long as it's a democracy, and if we don't have the votes, it's just pointless academics.