SUNSHINE FOR THE CONSERVATIVE SOUL IN SAN DIEGO

The TTP San Diego Rendezvous was our 8^th, and by general consensus, the best one yet. 

Yes, there are TTPers like Ken Glass, Don Parker, Mark Gilligan, and Dan Barak who have been to all 8.  There are several who come close, like the Dynamic Blonde Duo of sisters Eileen and Maureen or Joel Berman.  There were so many TTPers who have become good friends over the years, and a goodly number of first Rendezvousers.  We all had a wonderful time.

And for those of you who couldn’t make it – we had most every session recorded by professional videographer (and TTPer) Mike Maslow.  Mike did a fantastic job and we’ll have CDs available soon.

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher started things off Friday evening (5/14), who stressed the importance of Republicans proposing viable positive alternatives in addition to their necessary opposition to the Dem agenda.

This was followed by a tour de force by Skye D’Aureous, the Forum’s resident genius.  In response to my intro of him which mentioned his IQ of 240, he wanted us to understand what IQ doesn’t measure:  moral values, creativity, seeing the big picture rather than focusing on complex small problems.  Two of his thoughts:

He warned about a post-election lame-duck session in which the Dems, with nothing to lose, would ram through stuff like amnesty as the Pubs may not be able to filibuster everything.

And he advised that for the Defund strategy to succeed, these huge appropriation bills Congress passes must be disaggregated into a thousand different appropriation bills so as to "keep the Washington Monument, Social inSecurity, and Mediscam open while defunding Obamacare, 16,000 new IRS agents, bailouts, stimulii, and amnesty."

The evening closed with the embodiment of my motto – Be sure and marry a woman smarter than you are – Rebel telling us about her Reinventing Freedom project.

Saturday morning, we woke up to hear common sense conservatism made ROTFLMAO funny by radio talk show host Thayrone.  I can’t begin to describe Thayrone.  You’ve got to get the tape of his talk, or listen to him on From The Right radio. 

Then came something that touched us all – Joel Wade interviewing Nathaniel Branden, who reminisced about his days (and famous affair) with Ayn Rand.

It was hard to top that, but I gave it a shot with my Map of the Future talk, where Google Earth wizard Dan Barak zooms in on any place in the world and I discuss it. 

We zeroed in on China, which is the real challenge to America.  Other challenges, such as radical Islam or Mexican illegals, are such not because of their strengths but our weakness and cowardice in confronting them.  China is the real deal as a threat to us.

China is also the imperialist threat to India, and is busy surrounding it with naval bases in the Indian Ocean via military alliances with India’s neighbors – such as in Burma’s Cocos Islands, Hambantota in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), and Gwadar in Pakistan.

China has been running out of water in northern China for some time.  Now critical water shortages have come to the south, where the great Yangtze river is drying up in places.  China’s response is to build huge dams such as on the upper Mekong, which threaten the water supply on which 60 million people depend, living downstream in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

China is thus not just a threat to us but to virtually all of her neighbors – 17 countries border China.  A president devoted to protecting American national security would make containment of China through alliances with her threatened neighbors a priority.  But we have a president devoted to the opposite.

We discussed a lot more of the world but we don’t have a lot more space here, so you might want to get the tape.

Saturday afternoon, a number of us went fishing on TTPer Sal Danna’s boat The Dominator; others went to Sea World, the famous San Diego Zoo, had high tea at the Hotel Del in Coronado, or just had fun.

Reassembling for dinner, we were treated to a masterful explanation of the cultural and financial meltdown of Europe by legendary intelligence analyst Alex Alexiev.

For it’s not just Greece, or even the PIGS of "Club Med."  It’s Germany that now faces economic collapse.  Rumsfeld was right in his distinction between Old (Western) Europe and New (Eastern) Europe.  The former got fat and lazy under America’s protective blanket while the latter learned their lesson under Fascist Socialism (another name for Communism).

Thus the latter are Europe’s only bright spots, such as Poland where the Speaker of the Sejm (Parliament) has announced that his country would delay, maybe forever, joining the eurozone. 

Meanwhile, in at least two dozen major Western Europe metropolitan areas, the under-18 population is over 50% Moslem.  The outlook for Western Europe is grim.

It took TTP’s Jack Kelly to explain how it’s not as grim for us, for we can reinvent ourselves as Europe cannot.  His proposal for a Constitutional Convention is evidently gaining traction in certain GOP circles.  A "runaway" convention is impossible, as all proposed amendments to emerge from it need ratification of three-fourths (38 out of 50) of the state legislatures.

You’re not going to get 38 states to approve a wacko amendment.  But one that mandates terms limits of 12 years – six terms for Congressmen, two terms for Senators – for federal politicians and for all federal judges including those on the Supreme Court could be a winner.  Watch for Republicans to start supporting it next year.

Closing out the evening was Will Block, founder of Life Enhancement which produces the most cutting edge life-extending nutritional supplements on the planet.  In an evolutionary extravaganza, Will explained how nutrients such as Omega-3 fatty acids and choline enabled our early ancestors to grow bigger brains.

Yet as we age, our aging brains become less able to synthesize these critical brain nutrients.  With proper nutritional supplementation, we can correct this, and keep on improving our mental faculties into old age.

Sunday morning began with a TTPers Paul Rosenberg and Mark "Marco the Wizard" Gilligan discussing how protect ourselves and our security from the destruction of our privacy by the Electronic Police State.  One way I personally take advantage of is to subscribe to Paul’s Cryptohippie anonymous Internet access service.

Then we had fun with all the speakers sitting in front of the audience whose members fired questions at them on any subject they wanted to discuss.

What followed was something I’ll always remember as long as I live.  It was billed as a "Community Session," inserted surreptitiously by Rebel in the schedule.  When I asked her what it was, she said it was an opportunity for everyone to share their experience of the Rendezvous.  In a fit of innocent naïveté, I believed her – for I was soon to discover that everyone was going to share their experience of me.

She pushily insisted I sit not with the other speakers but facing them.  Then one after the other, starting with my son Brandon, followed by Skye, Jack Kelly, Alex, Joel, and Will, all of whom I have known as dear friends for decades.  They each told a personal story of what their friendship with me meant to them.  I couldn’t stop crying.

Then Thayrone came up and explained that since he had just met me, "I don’t know Jack."  We all needed to laugh.

After a parade of TTPers coming up and telling me what I and TTP meant to them, I was a basket case.  When it was over I looked into Rebel’s eyes and tried to thank her but I was in speechless gratitude.

I tried to tell everyone what this experience and what the TTP family meant to me.  I’m not sure I succeeded.

This was a Rendezvous I’ll never forget.  Many of those who were there won’t either.  One TTPer’s observation was that, as California was famous for sunshine, this was a Rendezvous of "sunshine for the conservative soul."

We’ll next gather in Washington DC the weekend (Nov. 5-7) following what we all hope and pray will be America’s Day of Salvation and Atonement, November 2^nd election day.

I believe that it will be – and that you’ll want to join us for a Rendezvous of glorious celebration.