Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity and . . .

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. . . me! Yes, folks, I’m about to hit the road to New Orleans to cover the four-day Southern Republican Leadership Conference, which will feature not only the above-named superstars, but also RNC Chairman Michael Steele, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Rep. Mike Pence and many, many more.

No word yet on whether Louisiana Republican Stormy Daniels will attend the conference, but Dave “Not a Total Douchebag” Weigel has the lowdown on the SRLC 2012 presidential straw-poll. So if there’s a write-in vote for Stormy . . .

Well, business before pleasure, eh? And that means it’s time to rattle the tip-jar for the Shoe Leather Fund. Just picked up a rental car ($364.09) and it’s 1,075 miles to New Orleans. That’s 18 hours one-way, so if I sleep four hours in the car on the side of the road along the way, I might have an hour or two to get a quick shower before the Blogger Bash starts at 5 p.m. Thursday. Gonna need a lot of coffee ($2 a cup) and cigarettes ($5 a pack) to do this kind of driving, to say nothing of the gas money (2,150 miles at 20 miles per gallon at $3 per gallon = $322.50).

Mrs. Other McCain thinks I’m crazy, and she’s probably right, but I think y’all are good for $700 or so between now and Monday, and you haven’t let me down so far.

UPDATE 12:15 p.m. CDT: I’m in Meridian, Miss., poaching the lobby computer at a Hampton Inn. Slept three hours in the car this morning at the Alabama welcome center on I-59 just south of the Tennessee border.

Now about 200 miles from New Orleans. I could drive that in less than two hours, if the Mississippi State Police would stay out of my way, but . . . . Well, that could be a hassle. So I’m figuring I’ll be in the Quarter by 3 p.m.

Thanks to Michael, Sharon, Jeff, Barry, Carlos, Gregory and Jennifer for hitting the tip jar already. Excuse me if this update is kind of brief. The desk clerk is giving me the evil eye, like maybe I’m not a registered guest or something. Gotta run.

UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: LIVE FROM ORLEANS PARISH!

Vernon Parker: Trained by the Best

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What you see in this photo is me checking my recently-purchased digital mini-recorder prior to my March 29 interview with Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker, who is running for Congress in AZ-3. The interview was arranged by our friend Barbara Espinosa of American Freedom blog. However, transcribing audio is for me the journalistic equivalent of a root canal, which partly explains why it took me more than a week to write up the feature about Mayor Parker for The American Spectator:

Vernon Parker was trained by one of the most legendary campaign strategists in American history.
“The first time I met him, he said, ‘Hey, you got a job?’ — with that South Carolina accent — I said, ‘No, not yet.’ He said, ‘Well, come on over here and let me introduce ya to some folks.'”
The man with the Carolina drawl was none other than the late Lee Atwater, who ran the campaign that elected George H.W. Bush president in 1988 and who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee before his death in 1991.
“He gave me my first start in politics,” said Parker, a Texas native who is 50 but looks much younger. Nearly 25 years after beginning his political career, he still speaks of the lessons he learned from his first mentor. “It is a fight… It is a war. And I will take all the tools that my friend Lee Atwater taught me and we’ll deploy with my team and fight to take this country back.” . . .

Please read the rest of that article.

Vernon Parker’s Web site is here, and you can also follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Irony And The Streisand Effect

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by Smitty

Much ‘Hey!’ has been made about the topless march in Portland. This is a variation on the theme of the Streisand Effect:

a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to censor or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of causing the information to be publicized widely and to a greater extent than would have occurred if no censorship had been attempted.

One mitigation would have been to invite the participation of Barbara herself, which would have crushed interest in the event like a brace of wrecking balls swinging. . .let’s just permit that imagery to die right there.

I Would Not Accuse Sen. Coburn Of Kool-Aid Quaffing

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by Smitty

Bluegrass Pundit wants to know if Senator Coburn is drinking the Kool-Aid, just because he’s attempting to neutralize some of the bile aimed at the Speaker of the House.

Pay attention, people: it is never wrong to be gracious to the foe:

If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
Pro 25:21,22

Furthermore, as a doctor, Senator Coburn knows that there is a vas deferens between being gracious towards the foe personally, and agreeing with the economically infeasible, un-Constitutional insults to the American people they are peddling.

A. Because He Blogrolled Me

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Q. Why is David Weigel not a total douchebag?

Hits is hits, my friends. So when Weigel writes something that infuriates you (as he most certainly will) please try to keep in mind that a guy who gets a job at a big MSM operation and still blogrolls me cannot be a total douchebag . . . 99.44% maybe, but not total.

UPDATE: John Tabin assesses the WaPo’s hiring of Weigel and our friend Lene Johansen adds in the comments:

Dave is a reporter. In a city full of opiners, it is very valuable to have someone who goes places, talks to people, and write about what he learned, rather than sitting behind a desk thinking he knows what is going on.

Amen to that. As a matter of fact, I’ll be hanging out with Weigel in New Orleans at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference starting tomorrow.

Stormy Daniels, GOP Porn Star

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OK, I’m on deadline on another project tonight and trying hard to resist the temptation to blog about several things, but this was simply irresistible:

Former adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels released the following statement Tuesday, declaring her affiliation with the Republican Party. This statement is believed to be setting up Daniels’ bid for U.S. Senate, running against Senator David Vitter.
“After months of careful deliberation and consult as to the true nature of my political affiliation I am ready today to declare that should I seek the office of US Senator from the great state of Louisiana that I will do so as a Republican.
“While this decision has not been an easy one, recent events regarding Republican National Committee fundraising at Voyeur, an LA based lesbian bondage themed nightclub finally tipped the scales.
“As I have said for well over a year, it is time that our government and our tax policy begin rewarding entrepreneurship and creativity again. It is time again to inspire positive risks and out-of-the-box thinking in the interest of growing a strong economy and a strong America.
“For me, this spirit can be summed up in the RNC’s investment of donor funds at Voyeur.
“As someone who has worked extensively in both the club and film side of the Adult Entertainment Industry, I know from experience that a mere $1900 outlay at a club with the reputation of Voyeur is a clear indication of a frugal investment with a keen eye toward maximum return. . . .”

“Frugal investment.” Heh. You might get the RNC to buy that excuse, guys, but don’t try it with your wife.

And speaking of “Heh” and wives . . .