The next morning, I was able to meet and interview the New Zealand blogger, Trevor Loudon before the conference began. The conference's key note speaker was Herman Cain, whom I had the pleasure to meet. Herman Cain spoke about the state of our country and how we need to turn things around. Once the opening proceedings were finished, we were free to attend a selection of breakout panels.
I went to a debate over the Fair Tax versus the Flat Tax. According to the proponents of the Fair Tax, each family would receive about $400 for necessities like food, water, pharmaceuticals, etcetera. All the people would pay the same rate. As of now, I am leaning more for the flat tax because it taxes only consumed income. No income tax or corporate tax. The two debaters and the moderator maintained a very cordial and respectful atmosphere.
After that, I went to Bias in Media. There, I learned more about how an individual person's opinion can directly and indirectly affect how they present a topic. The truth is that media bias is everywhere. It's on TV, the radio, even in your conversations. My blog is filled with my personnel bias, and unless I put quotes in, everything else is my interpretation of the facts. It is not the job of the distributor to make sure that there is no bias, but rather the recipient of the message must decide for themselves what they choose to believe as fact.
We then had a short intermission during which I perused the booths of various organizations. For example, the Republic Monetary Exchange spoke to people about investing in gold. The Citizens Defense League, a organization in Arizona that offers training in gun ownership and safety for the citizens of Arizona, advocated gun ownership, held a raffle for a Glock pistol, and spread word of an opportunity to attend a safety training called Front Sight at a discount. As I walked through the booths, I had a rather engaging conversation with the people manning Sheriff Joe Arpiao's booth about the government, ROE (Rules Of Engagement), the Sheriff's Posse. Also I mined for good questions to ask Sheriff Joe when I interview him.
Realizing that I was short of time, I quickly excused myself to go to my next breakout panel. It was the gubernatorial "shootout" between four of Arizona's candidates for Governor. There the candidates, attorney Christine Jones, former U.S. Congressman Frank Riggs, Secretary of State Ken Bennett, and Senator Al Melvin, introduced themselves and discussed some of their campaign principles. The discussion was then opened up to a Q&A session from the audience. My main question for all the candidates was what their opinion was on water rights versus mineral rights, because in Arizona you own only the topsoil. All the minerals and water underneath are state owned. Private citizens have gone to blows with state governments over mineral rights in other states.
I choose the breakout panels based on how they would affect me. In a few short years, I will be paying taxes so to find out which system of taxation I liked better I went to the Fair Tax vs. Flat Tax. As a blogger I am a part of the media, so I went to Media Bias. And finally since I live in Arizona and since I personally know Ken Bennett, I went to the gubernatorial debate.
The conference then proceeded into the grand ballroom for the Second Amendment Luncheon. My Congressional Representative, Trent Franks, came to the podium and spoke about the erosion of the 2nd amendment. The issue of gun rights is one that I am very passionate about because without a means to defend ourselves, tyranny will destroy free speech and all those other rights that we hold dear.
After all the breakout panels were done, there was a VIP meet and greet with Sheriff Arpaio. When I walked in, I saw three tables of cheese, veggies, and crackers. A bartender supplied the adults drinks while I snaked my way through the crowd toward the line for pictures with Sheriff Joe. Some of the notable dignitaries included Attorney General Tom Horne, actor Steven Seagal, and blogger and speaker Trevor Loudon. In the midst of all this, I suddenly found myself with Steven Seagal and Sheriff Arpaio backstage for some reason. So when I found out that I wasn't needed anymore, I decided that rather go out of the ballroom and wait in line to get back in, I would talk to the two Sheriff's Posse members in the room. The two posse men whom I spoke with were Andrew Chymych, the Deputy Commander for the Community Services Posse, and Lieutenant Rayl Evans from the Enforcement Support Posse. After a pleasant conversation with them, the dinner began. As we sat down to eat I introduced myself to my dinning companions. We then had a conversation on various topics until while we waited for our diner. I choose to eat steak and potatoes and my mother dined on chicken. Once again, I found myself silently thanking my mother and grandmother for teaching me dinner table etiquette.
After the dinner, the main event began: the roast of Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The roasters of Sheriff Joe introduced themselves and the roast began. The handpicked panel of dignitaries grilled the Sheriff for the rest of the evening. Each person went through jokes and kind hearted ribbing. After the roast concluded, I gave a few parting words to the Sheriff and thanked the coordinator former Arizona State Senator Lori Klein for arranging my participation in the event. The conference was a great experience that I strongly recommend to anyone remotely interested in politics.
