It’s been a week since I attended my first CPAC 2010 event, and I’m just now getting to put up the many pictures I took at the conference. I decided to give them each their own page, rather than one long entry that would take forever to load. Enjoy!

Exclusive Photos: Ed Morrissey and Mary Katherine Ham Eating…Arugula!!! #CPAC10

While it’s not on the same level as the end of Soylent Green, I’d say it at least stacks up with Animal Farm. MK pointed out that she can enjoy arugula while still recognizing the political problem it poses. And I can do this.

#CPAC10 Photoblog

That’s Caleb Howe on the end, next to fellow Redstater Moe Lane. Unfortunately, Moe and I never got around to really talking movies, a subject in which we have considerable overlapping interest. Next to Moe is Dr. Melissa Clouthier, who was amused at the novelty of having me around. Don’t know who the next guy is. Finally, I love this shot of Ed Morrissey, looking like he just participated in a random 24 plot twist. He’s the CTU mole!

To his credit, it was McCullough who approached me at Harry’s Tavern in the Marriott Wardman, where I was eating lunch with about 8 friends. That takes some guts.We both agreed we could have handled that whole thing better.

Coincidentally, Big Hollywood linked to those old posts today just as I was updating them.It’s all part of their intrepid mission to prove I’m a liberal. Stop the presses!

I added updates, but I didn’t delete them because they’re my words, I wrote them, I own them. As I said in my updates, I hereby retract the name-calling. As I’m sure is true of Kevin, I stand by any substantive criticisms I’ve made since then. In short, we now disagree without being disagreeable.

Here’s a photo to commemorate the detente, taken by Caleb Howe’s brother, Ben, who surprisingly does wear shoes.

Caleb and I are going to try to get to YearlyKos this year, so we’ll see how our side stacks up.  I like our chances.

Ann Coulter on the Hot Babes of CPAC

I don’t mean that literally, of course.

The Daily Beast has Coulter telling Glenn Beck about how “the media” is ignoring all of the honeys at CPAC:

I really, really hate to do it, but I have to partially agree with Ann, there were loads of Republican hotties at CPAC, but I, at least, did not ignore that fact. I made repeated mention of this shocking phenomenon on Ed Morrissey’s show.

One of the conservatives on CPAC’s “Bloggers’ Row,” where I was embedded, told me, “Our women dress to breed.”

It’s tough to say how the ratio compared with such liberal-heavy events as the DNCC, the Election Night party, and the inauguration, but it was an eye-opener nonetheless. I encourage my fellows in the national media to uncover more of this trend.

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We here at The Political Machine have been reporting for months, in some depth, about filmmaker John Ziegler and his new project, “Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Sarah Palin Was Targeted.” While covering CPAC this past weekend, I caught a screening of the film (which cites fellow Political Machiner Denise Williams and I), and got to know Ziegler a little better through a series of interviews and “palling around,” as it were.

Before I get to the film review, however, I want to follow up briefly on the dustup between Ziegler and The Daily Beast’s Max Blumenthal, which I reported on Saturday.

Blumenthal has posted an edited version at The Daily Beast the full clip is forthcoming), and both men have agreed to debate the points of dispute between them. I’ll keep you updated as to when that will happen. Here’s Max’s video, followed by my review of “Media Malpractice.” You can see both of them explaining the altercation here.

Media Malpractice, I can say without qualification, is an entertaining film. It is a crowd-pleaser to the millions on the right who voted for Senator McCain, and a comedy for those on the left who have a sense of humor. Either way, it is a funny film. If Ziegler errs, it is by omission or conflation, but his film is well-documented and openly credits all of its sources.
Ziegler’s movie starts out with a laugh line, albeit unintentional. Onscreen text informs us that Barack Obama defeated Alan Keyes in 2004 because Keyes was underfunded and carpetbagging. I think Keyes might want to have that framed and hung in his office, as it is about the kindest assessment I’ve ever heard of that race.

Ziegler narrates the film in his trademark hyperkinetic style, and he weaves a humorously skewed narrative that posits Oprah Winfrey as Obama’s puppetmaster, and Saturday Night Live as a major lever in Obama’s early success. I don’t want to pick the film apart, but it is with leaps like these that the film advances its thesis.

The film also makes the most of gaffe-ish moments like State Senator Kirk Watson’s goose-egg when asked about Obama’s legislative accomplishments. Ziegler employs comical music and pacing to maximize the impact of clips like these.

It is a testament to John Ziegler’s skill at pulling these clips together, along with his narration, that the film is so entertaining. It really moves along.

The latter part of the film relies heavily on the exclusive Sarah Palin interview that Ziegler scored. (The full interview is available on the DVD.) I found these clips to be revelatory, showing a human side to Sarah Palin that many might have missed on the campaign trail. Her charm and folksiness really shine through in these sessions.

Unfortunately, Palin has a much harder time keeping her facts straight than Ziegler does. She tries to make it look like Obama called the dogs off of his own family, but sicced them on hers. The truth is, Barack Obama specifically and vociferously said Palin’s family was off limits. It is this kind of omission/conflation that robs Palin’s scenes of credibility.

I have to admit, too, I was surprised that a sharp operator like Ziegler would buy some of Palin’s excuses, like the claim that Katie Couric’s “newspapers” question was somehow inherently insulting to Alaskans.

He does subject her to some pretty harsh treatment, having her watch video of media reports that were pretty unkind, then having her react. It got a little uncomfortable to watch, but also elicited some of the best, most moving reactions.

The audience at the CPAC screening responded overwhelmingly to the film, laughing in all the right places. The film, and the audience, were lacking the nasty tone that a liberal might expect to see, that I expected to see. It really was a feel-good film.

I talked to John after the film, and I had a hard time convincing him I actually liked it, but like it, I did. I think this is a film that can be enjojyed on several levels, by different groups of people. I highly recommend it to conservatives and PUMAs, who will doubtless roar with approval. PUMA co-founder Will Bower told me he loved it.

I would also encourage liberals to check it out, and not just to laugh dismissively at it. Watching this film with a conservative audience gave me a new sense of perspective on the right’s sense of injury, right or wrong.

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Wow, what a dickbag this guy is, I hate to even give him a link. Well, maybe the extra traffic will help him pay for those Viagra he has on layaway.

Remember this from yesterday?  Yeah, the one where I stuck up for Kevin’s buddy.  Well, this dickbag is such a dickbag that he can’t stand it that Baldwin talked to me.  Sick jealousy.  Dude, I wasn’t trying to horn in on your action.

Here are the facts: I talked to the event staff at the book signing, and followed their instructions to the letter.  There was nobody waiting there for them.  Stephen Baldwin was cautious, but polite.  He hadn’t heard the quote, and observed that it was weird that nobody else had.  Exactly my thoughts.  His dickbag buddy made him all nervous, so he understandably didn’t want to say more.

And his claim about how people get quotes is a joke.  First of all, he’s bitching because they’re in an all-fired hurry, but he wants me to play Stephen a clip and let him ruminate for awhile.  Funny, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Joe the Plumber didn’t have any such objection.  In fact, this dickbag was the only person in all of CPAC to give me any static at all.

His post about me is hilariously scummy, as he homophobically asserts that I’m “homosexual,” which means, I suppose, that Captain Ed Morrissey is too, since he agrees with me about civil unions.  Or maybe McCullough was just fantasizing out loud, wishing he could get into my disheveled pants.  Nothing wrong with that, I’m a handsome guy with a lot of good qualities.

He also asserts that I “occasionally cross-post at AOL.”  Done laughing yet?  Yeah, I did 133 posts for them last month.  Idiot.  I actually posted the video at AOL, without the dickbag’s static, in a story about Steele.  Maybe he’s pissed that he didn’t make the cut.

He’s on my radar now, though, and good for him.  He’ll get to see what it’s like to actually get traffic to his blog.  Better start checking your facts, asshole.

Here’s that video again, in case you missed it.

Bonus: Click here to find out what Kevin looks for in a man.

First, here’s a really nice moment where Joe just gives a member of the hotel staff  a signed copy of his book because she tells him her husband loves him.

Here’s some video I shot of Joe shooting a PSA.  The guy asks him to ad-lib the whole thing.  All things considered, I think he did a good job.  Ad-libbing is tough.

Stephen Baldwin, star of the Best Movie Evah, was here signing books, so I thought I’d ask him about Steele’s attack on civil unions.  You know, like I’ve asked everyone else here.  His dickbag buddy, who Captain Ed tells me is Kevin McCullough, starts acting like he thinks he’s Prince’s bodyguard or something.  Look, I like Baldwin, but even if I tried and succeeded at getting him to say something crazy, it ain’t exactly gonna land me a job at Variety.

Baldwin was at least trying to be funny.  Too bad his SWF shut me down, because I really was curious about his position on civil unions.  A lot of Christians are in favor of them, especially as a way to head off gay marriage.

I’ve always liked Baldwin.  I don’t automatically make fun of someone just because they’re a celebrity, or a Christian, or even a little goofy.  He was quirky and funny on the reality show “The Mole,” and hell if I can’t relate to fucking your whole life up with “the urges,” and looking for some kind of salvation.  Plus, again, he’s in the Best Movie Evah!

The CPAC Chicken

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