Watch Matt Welch on MSNBC Talk About CPAC, Gays, and Gender Roles at 4 pm ET

Beginning at 4 pm ET, I will be on various MSNBC panels talking about the Conservative Political Action Conference, shifts in the political winds on gay marriage, and this big ol' study comparing marriage roles from 1965 to 2011. Should last for most of the hour.

Comments

[Caleb Turberville]

You know, now that people are sorta cool with gay marriage, what's the next hot-button culture war issue? Gay abortions?

[Archduke Pantsfan]

soda drinkers

[JeremyR]

Polygamy

[C. Anacreon]

public nudity

[jesse.in.mb]

San Francisco is way ahead of you on this

[jdgalt]

Mr. Welch, I hope you will at least say something about the differences between this CPAC and the previous one (which had a lot more libertarians); which organizations pushed to kick us out (Heritage Foundation for one) and which did not; and how much hope there is for CPAC to once again become a "big tent" gathering open to libertarians.

[darius404]

OT: This seems to have been missed in the Cruz/Feinstein stuff. Dianne Feinstein compares ownership of assault weapons to child pornography.

He [Cruz] then asked if, in her opinion, Congress is allowed to "specify which books are permitted and which books are not."

Feinstein answered by saying "no."

That answer prompted Sens. Leahy and Durbin to mention child pornography.

"It's obvious that there are different tests on different amendments, and I think that what the Senator is going to point out that didn't occur to me at the moment, is that there are certain kind of pornographic materials that [would] not be covered by the First Amendment," she said.

[Caleb Turberville]

Seriously?! The dishonesty in that comparison makes me sick and angry. There is no depths which these people are willing to stoop are unfathomable.

[darius404]

The lesson that most pro-gun pols won't get is that unconstitutional restrictions on things they dislike will be used to justify unconstitutional restrictions on things they DO like. The obvious "power to give = power to take away" lesson. It won't be learned here because of the thing guns are being compared to, which is a shame.

[Irish]

After we finally legalize pot, I'm really looking forward to a decade later when progressives try to ban it again for health reasons.

[SIV]

Why would they wait a decade? Patrick Kennedy has a progressive anti-marijuana group right now.

[juris imprudent]

This is perhaps the most amazing disconnect of the progressive mind - that shit will never come back to haunt them. Expand the federal govt, check. What happens when the other team gets hold of that power? Duh! They really seem to think that they will never ever lose power to the other guys.

[Tony]

Nothing is going to stop Dick Cheney from doing what he legally can to grab power, least of all a liberal example of taking a soft touch. Your construction presumes a detectable level of shame on the part of Republicans.

Doing what you can to get your agenda passed is pretty much the job of a legislator. There are plenty of checks on the majority power--so many that we only get policy that faintly resembles what the majority wants.

[Jeff]

Oh, so you crazy libertarians think everyone ought to just be able to run around with a bazooka in one hand and kiddie porn in the other? Because Diane Feinstein is the only thing standing between us and that.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I have not yet seen kiddie porn defended here although I have seen pedophiles (Catholics and Rush Limbaugh) often defended.

[Jeff]

Shut up, Obama's Butthole.

[Audrey the Liberal]

Are you trolling?

[Virginian]

There are more child molesters in education then any other field. Children are far more likely to be molested by a teacher, coach, or administrator then they are by a priest. And of course, the vast majority of victims are assaulted by family or close friends of the family.

But you knew that, being such an uber rational secular capitalist.

[Irish]

I was unaware that all Catholics were pedophiles, or that Rush Limbaugh was a pedophile. I'm sure you've got some citations for that wild claim.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Not "all" Catholics.

[Irish]

Astonishingly 'few' Catholics.

[sgs]

"Not "all" Catholics."

Then you bringing them up was for what?

Are you so stupid that you can't cite the individuals? That seems to be the only reason to lump a bunch of people together and accuse them of something that you later admit you know they didn't do.

It's like you want us to make fun of you and your posts.

[BakedPenguin]

Please stop talking to the troll.

[sgs]

"although I have seen pedophiles (Catholics and Rush Limbaugh) often defended."

Then go where you saw that happen and troll them.

[A Serious Man]

TPM responds by praising her as someone who has absoltue moral authority on the gun issue because she was there when Milk and Moscone were shot by Dan White.

[John]

But remember, Rick Santorum is horrible for exploiting the death of his nephew. But it is totally okay for Feinstein to exploit the death of Milk and for Giffords to exploit her being a victim of a mass shooting.

[The Sherriff of Fistingham?]

TPM responds by praising her as someone who has absoltue moral authority on the gun issue because she was there when Milk and Moscone were shot by Dan White.

Feinstein walking in on the aftermath of a double homicide and inspecting the bodies is like a motorist pulling up on at the scene of a terrible auto accident, and getting out to look for any signs of life. Apparently then, by her logic that motorist would qualify as an expert on all things automotive, and have the moral authority to demagogue any subject regarding transportation. Likewise, any person near the twin towers on or about 9/11/01 is a moral authority on all things aeronautical or skyscraper.

[Audrey the Liberal]

Can't they both be awful?

[juris imprudent]

Welch, MSNBC, CPAC.

[shudder]

[The Late P Brooks]

Tough choice: Sebring, or MSNBC? And remember, "No, fuck you. Cut spending." is a universally applicable non-partisan admonition.

[BakedPenguin]

Yeah, I'm watching the KC - Chicago soccer game, but same idea. I just checked, and they're interviewing Kevin Mitnick about "cyberwar".

[A Serious Man]

Welch was at the top of the hour discussing parenting and now he's talking CPAC.

[BakedPenguin]

Yeah, I saw a bit where they talked about gay marriage.

[The Late P Brooks]

she was there when Milk and Moscone were shot by Dan White.

And people persist in denying the utility of large capacity magazines.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Milk's buddy Jim Jones killed his unarmed followers *en masse* - but at least there wasn't a risk that his victims would have shot back!

[John]

Yeah the 70s NOCAL Dem love affair with Jones has been sent down the memory hole.

[Eduard van Haalen]

...along with Jones' avowed communist beliefs. You're more likely to hear him described as a wacky religious fundamentalist than as a pinko nut/killer.

[John]

Yeah.

[The Sherriff of Fistingham?]

...along with Jones' avowed communist beliefs. You're more likely to hear him described as a wacky religious fundamentalist than as a pinko nut/killer.

With a fetish for disenfranchising impoverished and impressionable minorities with assault rifles, handguns, and cyanide..

[Palin's Buttplug]

I am a rationalist (atheist if you prefer) and I say Jim Jones did his flock a big favor. I just wish the Ralph Reed's and Pat Robertson's of this country would follow suit.

[The Sherriff of Fistingham?]

Sooo,? You're advocating mass murder on political and religious grounds? Very compassionate, your folks must be just beaming with pride...

[Jordan]

That's pretty much a hallmark of the belief system of progressives like Shriek.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I have NEVER claimed to be compassionate. I am a Darwinist.

Religion is suicide by ignorance.

[The Sherriff of Fistingham?]

I have NEVER claimed to be compassionate. I am a Darwinist

Well then....suck off a pistol, and swallow the load. Show us how it's done Mr. Darwinist, Religion the cult of Progressivism is suicide by ignorance.

[DK]

You're on a trolling roll, today, Shrike.

I agree, let's summarily execute that other flock of 66 million Americans who voted for and have been indoctrinated by Obama.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Fuck you. I don't want to execute anyone.

But if 900 idiots want to buy purple Nike sneakers and drink cyanide while singing Onward Christian Soldiers then I say GO FOR IT!

[The Sherriff of Fistingham?]

"Fuck you. I don't want to execute anyone."

No... You want someone to do it for you, whilst you look on with glee. You are the shit that sticks to ones shoe.

"But if 900 idiots want to buy purple Nike sneakers and drink cyanide while singing Onward Christian Soldiers then I say GO FOR IT!"

Spoken like a true sociopath, you are a true credit to humanity.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Fuck them. And you too.

If that is your "Heaven" then choke yourselves now. In The Name of Jeeby, of course.

[The Sherriff of Fistingham?]

Needz moar Boooooshhh!!!!!

[BakedPenguin]

Please stop talking to the troll.

[Irish]

I have to give Shrike credit. He's blatantly trolling in such a way that it should be obvious he's just fucking with people, and yet H&R posters are still incapable of ignoring him.

We are an easily trolled board.

[The Sherriff of Fistingham?]

It's richly rewarding......

[darius404]

Irish is right. And serious or not, anyone who can't write past the level of a 5-year-old ("Jeeby"), isn't worth the time.

[Mechafenris]

Indeed. I always thought it was Jeebus.

[Hollywood]

Shriek is the whetstone that keeps the blade of reason sharp and ready to cut through the stupidity I encounter by non-trolls in the real world.

[juris imprudent]

We are an easily trolled board.

The bored are easily trolled.

[Audrey the Liberal]

John, Milk could've been clean and pure as the driven snow and you would still try to find something wrong with him. I bet Mr. Shackford's continued presence on this board has you livid.

[John]

Yeah Audrey, I am sure you would be sooo forgiving of a figure who on the right who had once praised and befriended David Koresh. Really Audrey? Are you this stupid and incapable of applying consistent standards or do you think the readers of this board are?

[Audrey the Liberal]

Milk fucked up. So did Lew Rockwell. He, however, liked girls and hated niggers, so he was clearly morally superior.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Conservative groups run ads attacking Obama for planned Social Security cuts:

"I opposed the Obama/Democrat Party/Pelosi/Reid Social Security Cuts". -American CrossRoads is responsible for the content of this ad.

"We have to stop the Democrat Party Social Security Cuts...." -TeaPartyVictoryFund is responsible for the funding of this advertising.

"I fought the Obama Social Security Cuts, because what Obama and his Democrat Party cronies are doing is the wrong thing to do to America's seniors...." -FreedomWorks is responsible for the funding of this advertising.

"I opposed the Democrat Party on cruel and unnecessary Social Security Cuts...." -Citizen's United is responsible for the funding of this advertising.

[John]

Well, when you win by relying on the low information, low IQ free shit voters, you can't really complain when someone calls you out for not providing said free shit.

The entire Democratic party is based on stealing. There is only so much money to steal and the important people, Wall Street, green energy cronies, are going to get theirs. Old people living on fixed incomes? Who the fuck are they? Most of them are probably bitter clingers anyway.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You idiot. When the GOP comes back into power they won't even think about entitlement cuts. You are a fool for believing they will.

They will lard up the populace with shit like Part D and put off the serious business to the next Dem POTUS - just like Clinton had to deal with and how Obama is now (shutting down government).

Why in the fuck won't the GOP shut down government when a Republican is in power?

You fool.

[John]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuGtxt84wPQ

Sure the Dems are going to cut social security, so they can give it to wall street and the rest of their cronies. They are the party of theft. And they get elected by getting low information low IQ voters like you to believe you are going to get a cut of the loot.

[Heroic Mulatto]

John, you are way too charitable with that monkey vid. This is a much more accurate representation of Shriek/David Weigel.

[juris imprudent]

When the GOP comes back into power they won't even think about entitlement cuts.

Who said they believe that will happen? Let me guess, one of the voices in your head?

[John]

Sarah Palin welcomes media to CPAC there to write their yearly "Conservatives in Crisis story". That is funny

http://twitchy.com/2013/03/16/.....s-stories/

[Caleb Turberville]

I hate Palin's brand of lowest common denominator, populist conservativsm, but she does get points for giving liberals chronic apoplexy.

[John]

hate Palin's brand of lowest common denominator, populist conservativsm,

What does that even mean? What has the women ever done to warrant such a statement? Nothing that I can see.

[juris imprudent]

What don't you understand about LCD, populist conservatism John? Are you too busy looking at Palin's tits to listen to what she says?

[John]

She might also get points for being wickedly funny.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Oh yeah. Everyone was laughing with her in 2008 - not AT her.

Idiot.

[Eduard van Haalen]

A truly committed liberal is someone who looks at Palin and Biden and thinks Palin is the ridiculous one.

Palin didn't say she could see Russia from her house. Biden *did* give very bad (perhaps illegal) advice for defending your house from criminals. Imagine what progs would be saying if Palin had given such advice!

[Palin's Buttplug]

You stupid dickhead.

Biden can run off SCOTUS cases one after the other along with each sides votes and arguments.

Sarah Palin COULD NOT NAME A SCOTUS CASE when lightweight Katie Couric asked her to.

She is a fucking bimbo and you fools buy her babble. Unreal.

[darius404]

Biden thinks having a woman should use a shotgun over a rifle, and thinks emptying it into the air above her is a viable, and legal, self-defense strategy. The man is a grade-A moron who knows jack shit about anything. But you're obviously an even bigger retard if you think he has 2 brain cells to rub together.

[Brett L]

It is posts like this that makes me think this is actually Welch trolling the commentariat.

[darius404]

I thought we'd settled on Weigel.

[Brett L]

Oh, yeah. That makes more sense. I don't really see Welch investing quite that much time in a trolling persona.

[darius404]

Though every insane poster knows Tony is really Gillespie in disguise.

[juris imprudent]

Well played EvH, well played.

[sgs]

"Biden can run off SCOTUS cases one after the other along with each sides votes and arguments."

NO he can't actually.

[Mechafenris]

He can if he uses someone else's paper... the retarded plagiarist. 🙂

[Tony]

One gaffe by a Democrat weighs more than the continual incoherent idiocy of a Republican.

47 states! It's still got legs man.

[John]

As opposed to the geniuses like Pelosi and Feinstein. Since you have an IQ right around 60, it is understandable you think someone like Feinstein or Biden is smart. Little monkeys tend to like other little monkeys.

[Tony]

All you're doing is admitting that you are on Palin's intellectual level. Everyone else in the universe understands that she's an idiot.

[Audrey the Liberal]

"I hate Palin's brand of lowest common denominator, populist conservativsm, but she does get points for giving liberals chronic apoplexy."
Forgive me if that just isn't enough for me. Might as well elect Rick "Cum-Fart" Santorum if that's all you want.

[The Late P Brooks]

Genius

Speaking in front of a display of high-efficiency automobiles at the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, Obama said the U.S. risks falling behind countries such as China, Germany and Japan that are increasing spending to find ways to cut energy use and explore alternatives to fossil fuels.

"We can't afford to miss these opportunities while the rest of the world races forward," he said.

We should be spending billions on windup cars!

[SIV]

Sounds good. First we need to subsidize the winding station infrastructure.

[Brett L]

The best part of that: The argument that we have to take and additional $2B in taxes from the O&G sector and give it to gummint researchers -- because the private sector "can no longer afford" to do this research...

Seems to me that giving ExxonMobil (and all the other bigs in the O&G sector) a dollar for dollar tax credit on renewable energy research would probably result in well over $200M/year spending on renewables.

[juris imprudent]

Progtard: [blink],[blink],[blink],[click] "CORPORAYSHUNS EViiiiiiiIIILLLLLLL!1!!

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

He does realize that China has completely given up any plans to build useless "renewables", right? And that the only thing that they are building that is competing with their coal stations is nuclear power stations?

And Argonne is traditionally a nuclear research institute.

Did he even mention the "N" word?

[Irish]

I like that we're constantly in danger of 'falling behind China' in scientific research despite the fact that Americans utterly kill them in patents granted and are far more innovative.

This is something we do better than everyone else, and we do it better specifically because government has less of an involvement than in other countries.

[The Late P Brooks]

Obama said the trust would provide a public pipeline for research, because some ideas are too risky for private enterprise.

"The private sector on its own won't invest in this research because it's too expensive, it's too risky, they can't afford it," he said. "So we've got to support it, and we'll all benefit from it."

What a fucking retard.

[Brett L]

Whoops. Should read all the way through. But yeah.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Government in a nutshell

[darius404]

It's like the mental version of a finger trap.

[A Serious Man]

One Rand to Rule Them All!

[Brett L]

That's great. Now everyone who voted for Rand needs to spend the next three years taking over their local GOP machine, otherwise this means dick-all.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

From the comment board:
If the GOP nominates him, I, a Romney voter and fundraiser, will vote for and contribute to Hillary Clinton. The GOP cannot be commandeered by someone who believes America should slink away and abandon our leadership position on the international stage. Especially if that someone was spawned by a fringe lunatic.

It's Christie/Rubio or Rubio/Christie in 2016.

The Repubs need to nominate Christie! They can't risk losing their progressive base!

[Brett L]

Unfortunately, the follow up comments aren't, "go back to the party you belong to, statist."

[Virginian]

I actually know a guy like this. He's the "Republican" from NYC who is indistinguishable from a Democrat in any meaningful way, yet claims to represent the mainstream views of the GOP.

[darius404]

Considering the non-libertarian GOP's policy preferences, I'm not sure that's entirely wrong.

[Virginian]

Eh, that's not fair. From what I've seen from the rank and file GOP, they do want to cut government, usually down to core, constitutional functions. Of course, to them that means the military spending is untouchable, and anything to save them from "the terrorists" as well. But they'd certainly abolish the lefty Cabinet departments, destroy the environmentalist religious bodies, etc.

This guy, on the other hand, has a major boner for the Mayor of New York, the Honorable Michael Bloomberg. He thinks he is a great mayor, and a great man.

[General Butt Naked]

I think these GOP fux are gonna have a lot harder time marginalizing Rand than they did Ron. He seems to have a bit more political instinct and appears to be racking up allies. I think he knows what the fight will be and is preparing early.

I predict a downright nasty primary for the GOP in '16.

[Irish]

I also think Ron Paul was an incredibly bad judge of character. Ron got hurt sometimes because he surrounded himself with idiots like Dondero.

[General Butt Naked]

Yeah, I think Papa-Paul wanted to include as many people in his movement as possible, which sometimes meant that you have crazy, conspiracy minded, racists screaming for you.

Though Ron did admit that he didn't think that he'd actually win; he just wanted his ideas to get exposure.

[Stormy Dragon]

Notice Santorum came in third. But people keep telling me his career is dead.

[Francisco d Anconia]

An THAT scares the shit out of me!

[Brett L]

OT: Pics of the gf in front of an evil libertopian food trucks and the libertopian exploitation of one of Baked Penguin's relatives.

Also, Us posing at the site of a school shooting..

[General Butt Naked]

Well...

What'd y'all eat at the liber-truck?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

You folks in Austin for sxsw? Looks like you are having fun.

[Brett L]

Yup. We had fun, but it is bordering on more trouble than it's worth. Saturday night 6th street was an epic shitshow as the college kids' amateur Irish night collided with the final SXSW. I had a wee guy who claimed to be Russian try to fight me, so he almost certainly was part Irish, too. We just laughed at him while a stereotypical Asian tourist filmed him.

[The Late P Brooks]

If the GOP nominates him, I, a Romney voter and fundraiser, will vote for and contribute to Hillary Clinton.

Fucking principles- how do they work?

[General Butt Naked]

Dude, to a Romney supporter Hillary represents their principles much more closely than Rand.

[Gannicus]

This. In a just world Romney/Ryan would have been the Democratic ticket and on the other side we would have had actual small government folks.

[SumpTump]

The whole thing sounds pretty solid to me man. Wo.

http://www.Goto-Anon.tk

[nannasin28]

They really seem to think that they will never ever lose power to the other guys. ICL7107CPL