i love campy 80s movies and i think just one of the guys is the most 80s campy movie i couldve possibly watched

Chapter 2: 12 Days till Christmas

Vada:

Michael and I touched down into Atlanta and picked up our rental car. “Im excited to see where my lady was raised” Michael said smiling while driving. I lightly smile. “So am I” I lied. My heart was racing, and I was aggravated as fuck. We pulled into my parents drive way and I instantly became nervous. I hadn’t been here in years. “Wow this your house? Baby I don’t know why you never said you lived in a Mansion” He said looking at the house. We got out the car and Michael grabbed my hand as we headed towards the door. I rung the doorbell and the door quickly flew open revealing my mother Sharice. “Vada!” She screamed breaking my hold on Michaels hand. “My oldest daughter has arrived, OMG after 10 years, God is soooo good” She screamed. I rolled my eyes as she was hugging me last time, I saw my mom I screamed to her I was never coming back. She took a step back and looked at me. “Soo beautiful, your skin is glowing, you look amazing” She hugged me some more. “Okay mom it’s cold can we head inside” I said. She grabbed my hand and brought me inside, I turned and looked at Michael who was entertained by this. “Malcom! Damien! Vada is here!” She screamed. I looked at Michael “Mom this is my boyfriend Michael” I said. She smiled at him, as he extended his hand, “Oh boy please give me a hug, I’m so happy you brought Vada home” She said hugging him. “It’s an honor to meet you Mrs. Richards I see where she gets her beauty, you must have had her really young cause you look amazing” Michael told my mom, I rolled my eyes at what he said. My mom was up in the clouds with Michael, you would think she was trying to steal my damn man. “Michael stop it, your soo charming, Im happy my Vada has an amazing man, bout time” She said. I was about to snap on my mom when I seen a handsome young man run downstairs, I gasped. “Damien?” I asked. His smile would light up a room, looking like Dad in his teenage years. “Hey V” He said, leaning in for a hug. Last time I seen him, he was sent to his room after an intense argument filled the room, when I was moving out, he was my shadow. Mom and Dad were always gone being that she was a lawyer and him a professor, I spent most of my time watching the little ones while MJ was over on the westside and Janessa was busy being a cheerleader. “I remember you like knee high following me around calling me ViVi, look at you” I said playfully pinching his cheeks. “Man stop gassing me you already know the ladies love cool D” My mom sighed and laughed. “Don’t get him started”. “There she is my Vada Beta” A deep voice filled the room, My dad came up to me and pulled me into a hug. “It’s been too long Vada” He said sternly.  I nodded, “I’ve been very busy Daddy” I said smiling. He nodded. He looked over at Michael. “Who is this young man?” Michael smiled. “Hello sir, Im Michael Thompson, Sky’s Boyfriend” Michael held out his hand, and my dad shook it sternly. “Nice to meet you Michael, I hope your treating my daughter well” He said looking at him. “Yes sir, Vada is a Queen” He said. My dad looked at me. “Charming, I like it” He said. “Well, Damien go help your sister and Michael get their bags” My mom said. I shook my head. “No, Mom it’s fine we actually made reservations for a hotel” I said looking at Michael. “We can always cancel Sky” He said. My mom laughed at little. “Sky?” She said. I sighed, “Yes, Mom that’s my name I go by now” I told her. She sucked her teeth at me and waved me off. “I named you, Vada Breanna Richards, if you don’t like me calling you Vada, I will call you ViVi or Vay like I always do, I don’t know who the hell is Sky, Sky my ass, and you are staying here with family, sooo Damien and Michael grab the bags and put it an Vada’s old room”. She stated before shaking her head and walking off. My dad came up to Michael “You can put your bags in the guest house” He said forcing a smile. Michael nodded, “Of course, Mr. Richards”. I rolled my eyes annoyed. Michael caught me and mouthed. “Sorry”. Damien kissed my cheek, “Happy you home big Sis”. He said before following Michael out. I walked around the house and looked at the pictures, that once held familiar faces now hold more unfamiliar faces. I picked up a picture of MJ and his family. I hadn’t seen him in years, and it’s crazy to see he has his own family. I was also shocked to see the twins all grown up in their senior pics, as much as I didn’t want to be here; my heart ached at the fact I missed out on my baby siblings’ big moments over some bullshit. I was leaning into look at a picture of MJ’s kids when a voice startled me. “That’s Christian and Leiana, he’s 5 and she’s 9” My mom said. “MJ has a beautiful family” I told her. “Yeah, he wanted you to be there for the birth and his wedding, but we couldn’t get a hold of you, and your addressed changed so much”. She said. I nodded. “Yeah, like I told Dad. I just been really busy, you know” She softly smiled. “Well I know you used to love cooking with me, you want to help me prepare dinner?” She asked. Although I wanted to say no, I followed her into the kitchen.

An hour had flown by and we were laughing in the kitchen, reminiscing on the past. Michael was playing Call of Duty with Damien in the living room, I felt a little at peace like this couldn’t be so bad after all. “Mother, Daddy?” I heard a familiar voice say, I instantly cringed. I spoke to soon. In walked the spawn of Satan, my sister Janessa.

 Janessa:

 Dylan, Chase and I had touched down at Hartsfield Jackson, and rented us a car. I had Dylan drop me off, before he drove to his family’s house in Alpharetta. “Im going to miss you guys soo much, but it will only be like 2 days, Im going to get the check and cash it and introduce my family to you guys okay?” I said. He laughed. “Whatever is fine with me baby, My family been dying to see Chase so we will just chill there for a little minute, I love you” He said. I leaned in and kissed my sleeping toddler in the backseat. “Uh he’s going to wake up wanting his mother and I’m not going to be there” I stressed. Dylan rubbed my cheek. “Ness, we are fine. I will call you tonight”. I nodded and kissed his lips. I grabbed my bags and headed towards the door. I rang the doorbell and nobody came to the door. I looked around for the plat with the hidden key. “Gotcha” I used the key to unlock the door. “Mother, Daddy?” I called out. I heard the tv blasting in the living room. I walked into the living room and seen Damien on the couch with a unfamiliar attractive black man. “Hey D, you didn’t here me knock?” I asked. He looked at me and smiled. “Nessa! Mann what’s up?” He said leaning into hug me. I hugged him tightly, my little brother had grown tall in the 3years I had been away. “Gosh please stop growing” I said. He smiled brightly. “Man, this crazy, you and Vada are both here” He said. I was taking back by him saying my older sisters name, who I hadn’t seen or could care less about in 10 years. “Come again? You said Vada is here?” I asked. He laughed and nodded. “This her boyfriend Michael” He said pointing to the handsome man now standing up. He smiled at me and extended his hand, “Hi, I’m Michael Thompson, Sky…I mean Vada’s boyfriend”. He said. I lightly smiled. “Hi, I’m her little sister Janessa” I told him. My mother walked into the living room and hugged me. “Janessa, I’m so happy your home”. I smiled at her and seen Vada looking awkward by the couch. The tension was so thick, I could cut it with a knife. “Vada, it’s been so long, how are you?” I said faking every bit of the smile on my face. It had seen like she rolled her eyes at me through her fake ass smile. “I’m good, you?” She said. I nodded and turned to My mother. “Where’s daddy?” I asked her. She shrugged her shoulders, “Check the study” She said. Damien and Vada’s little boy toy continued their game, Vada and Mother went back into the kitchen. I grabbed my bags and brought them into my old room. “Still the same” I said to myself. I went to Daddy’s study and seen it was cracked. I could hear him laughing and whispering. “Daddy?” I asked. “Yes?” He called out. I walked in and a big smile it his face. “Hey Nessa” He said. I smiled at him. “Hey Daddy”. “Hold on Kris, Ima call you right back”. He got up and hugged me. “I missed you so much, I happy you’re here” He said. I smiled me too daddy. He pulled out his check book out his drawer, I instantly got happy cause maybe this would be quicker than I thought. “Dad, Mom needs you to fix the Christmas tree lights, they went out again” Damien said. Dad groaned. “Damn women keep getting them cheap ass lights” Daddy said. I sighed because I was so close. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. “Hey, um you need help?” I asked Vada. She purposely ignored me. Mom was over near the tree helping Dad with the lights. “Vada?” I asked. She turned around. “What?” She said. I titled my head to the side. “I’m being nice and asking you if you need help” I snapped at her. She put down the celery she was cutting and held on to the knife. “Obviously, I don’t but thanks…. Sis” She said. I walked up to the island in the kitchen that was separating us. “Vada, I have not seen you in 10 years whatever beef we had was over a decade ago, so can we please act like grown adults here” I said. She laughed. “I’m being an adult right now and restraining myself from popping you, it’s been 10years to long and you still need your ass whooped from what happened I haven’t forgotten and will never” She said smiling before turning away. “So childish, get over it! Uhhhhhhhhhhhh” I groaned and walked into the living room and sat next to Damien. He looked over at me. “So, it begins” He says smiling. I rolled my eyes. God give me strength.

 Nori:

I was in my dorm packing up for the semester and getting ready to head to back home to the Northside of Atlanta. “Bruh I don’t know why you got hella shit in this bitch” Narkim said before laying himself on my bed. “This the same shit I been had since freshman year Nar”. I rolled my eyes annoyed. I started lifting my crates, Narkim quickly got up and grabbed it. “Aye yo, you can’t be lifting no heavy shit Nori”. I groaned. “I’m not handy capped Narkim”. He moved the crate from me. “I don’t know how you going to act like you still in school, when you got a whole lease, and you coming to live with mommy and daddy”. I told him. He smirked. “Nori I got this, worry about yourself”. I shoved him a little. We loaded all my shit into his car and headed to our parents.

When we arrived, I seen Daddy in the window fixing the lights on the Christmas tree. Narkim but his around my shoulder. “Let’s get through this Christmas sis” He said. We went to door, I grabbed my key and unlocked it and walked in. “Ayyye the twins are in the house!” Narkim yelled. Damien jumped of the couch, ran and dapped up Narkim. “My nigga, my nigga!” Damien said. “HEY! You will not do that in my house!” Mama yelled. She smiled at us and leaned to give me a hug, I leaned back a little. “Aye mommy watch out I got a cold” I told her, she made a stank face and kissed my cheek. She hugged Narkim and he kissed her on the cheek. “My babies” Janessa got up and ran over to us. She hugged Narkim first, then came over and hugged me. She leaned back and looked at me for a second. “You that cold? you got like on a lot of layers Nori” She said. I shrugged. “I have a cold” I lied. She looked at me suspiciously. “Your face has got chunkier, you been eating a lot at school” She said. I rolled my eyes. “You been starving a lot I guess” I snapped at her. I heard a laugh, I turned around and seen my big sister Vada. “ViVi!” I yelled, I ran over to her about to hug her, but I leaned back. “Sorry, I’m sick” I fake coughed. She smiled. “You have grown to be a beautiful woman, I’m shook, OMG look at Narkimmy” She said. He smiled hard as hell. “What up ViVi” He said hugging her, rocking to the side. I went and grabbed some of my stuff and went to my room. I was folding my clothes and putting them in drawers when I heard a little knock. Janessa came and sat on the edge of my bed. “What was that downstairs? We never have issues, were like ‘” She stated. I sighed and continued with folding. “I’m sorry, I been just stressed lately” I said. I looked at her. She nodded. “You know you can talk to me about anything right?” She said. I nodded. “Yeah” I said. She got up and was almost out the door. “Nori, you can’t hide it for long, eventually all those hoodies won’t hide it for long” She said. My stomach dropped, and we just looked at each other before she walked back downstairs. I went over to my fully body mirror and was fixing my hoodie and jean jacket along with my puffer jacket. “I cut the heat on for you baby girl, your mama said you had a cold?” My daddy said making me jump. “Hey, um Daddy you scared me” I said slightly smiling. He laughed a little. “I’m sorry baby, how’s school, your mother said you made deans list again last semester” He stated. I nodded. “Yeah, always striving to be nothing but the best daddy” I said. He smiled. “That’s my girl, dinner will be ready in a minute we trying to wait till MJ gets here” He said before leaving. I nodded. I finished unpacking, and went back downstairs, I seen a a fine dark skin man looking around lost. “Um hey?” I said. He jumped. “Hey, I’m sorry. I’m Michael, Vada’s boyfriend” I smiled and nodded. “Hey, I’m her baby sister Norielle” He smiled. “Um bathroom?” He asked. I pointed down the hall. “It’s one down the hall near the room on the left, I know it’s a big house” I said. He followed my direction down the hall. I was about to walk into the kitchen when my Iphone rang an unfamiliar number. “Hello?” I said. “You have a collect call from inmate “Dobbs” from Dekalb County Pentuary, do you except this call?” The operator said. I looked around and went into Mama’s study and closed the door. “Yes” I said. I heard the call go through. “Hello? Baby?” I heard Dre say. “Yes, I’m here” I said softly. He paused for a minute. “I don’t have much time, but I wanted to know if I could see you tomorrow please” He said, I could hear a sense of stress in his voice. “Dre, Ima try my best” I said. He sighed into the phone. “Nori please, I need you to hold me down while I’m in here, I feel like you are flaking out on me” He said. “Dre, I’m not it’s so much I want to tell you, but a lot to figure out as well, please be patient with me. I will come tomorrow baby I will try” I said. He exhaled in relief. “Okay, Nori, I love you”. I smiled. “I love you too Dre”. He hung up the phone. “Rawr!” I felt someone say as the grabbed my arm. I lightly pissed myself, I turned around to see Damien. He bust out laughing with Narkim right beside him. “Yall so motherfucking stupid, bruh I promise”. I said smacking both. “I love you too Dre” Damien mimicked. I act like I was about to back hand him. Narkim held me back. “Runn D Runnn” He said laughing. I was chasing him around the house like old times. “Hey! Hey! Hey! yall chill out!” My dad called out.

 Narkim:

We were all just chilling in the living room, Nori, Me and D. Janessa was on the phone upstairs, Mom was talking to Vada’s Boyfriend. Dad was talking with Vada, it was like old times except Vada and Janessa ain’t arguing and MJ is still on the way, I was waiting for my girl to get here. “Yo Nar, lets hit the porch really quick” D said. I nodded. We walked outside and went up to the drive way. I pulled out a blunt and lit it. I exhaled the blunt then passed it to D. “If mom catch us out here, I’m blaming yo ass” D said to me. I slapped him playfully upside the head. “Nigga yo ass begged me all week to bring the weed, nigga I got receipts” I said. He started laughing. “Yo how school been little nigga?” I said. He smirked. “Man, you not going to believe if I tell you this and you can’t say shit to NOBODY, not even Nori ass, Shit I ain’t even told Nylah yet but bro, Im fucking my English teacher” He said. I started chocking on the blunt as I inhaled it, I was caught of guard. “D you smashing an old lady? Is is Mrs. Finklebum, If you squint a little, she kind of of bad” I said feeling high asf. He started laughing. “Hell, nah nigga, it’s a new teacher named Kristen Madison, she fine as fuck bruh” He said. I looked at him like he was crazy. “You playing with me D or you for real cause If you serious, then I know its official that the Richards men got that Juice but you my little brother got ALL the juice, the whole container” I told him. He nodded and smirked. “You know I got that fire D, that Dope D” He said. I bust out laughing. “Yo you the man my G” I dapped him up. We were just talking and cracking jokes when my phone went off, I looked at it thinking it was Denisha, but It was Mack. “Yo D let me take this call by myself really quick” I said. He nodded and put the blunt out and passed it to me. I pressed the green button. “Yo boss what’s up?” I asked. “Yo young blood, I need you to get to the spot right quick” He said. “Yo Boss, I’m at my family’s house right now” I told him. “Nigga! I need you here now!” He yelled. I took the phone away from my ear. “Mack give me some time man” I said. He sighed. “Aight, you got till 11’o clock young blood”. He hung up. Man, how the fuck am I going to do this. I seen headlights flash at me, and seen the car come down the drive way. I notice the car as my Big Brother MJ’s car. He got out the car and laughed at me. I smiled and walked down the drive way to his car. “Yooo little bro” He said, dapping me up. “What’s up MJ”. I seen his wife Dani get out the car. “Hey Dani” I said walking up to her and hugged her. “Hey Nari”. “Uncle Nari!” Leiana my niece said hoping out the car and into my arms. “Aye it’s my princess” I said. She giggled with her pretty self. “Uncle Nari it’s me too!” Christian said. “Aye the kids love Uncle Nari” Dani said laughing. I shrugged. “Hey, the ladies and the kids just love me I don’t know what it is” I said. “Lil bro come here really quick” MJ smiled and pulled me to the side. “Hey, I here you been running around town with Mack, you good?” He asked. I nodded. “Yeah, we just cool with each other because you know yall was cool” I said lying. He smiled and nodded. “Good, don’t get caught up with that shit man”. I nodded. “Hey, help me get our bags” He told me.

 MJ:

Dani and the kids went into the house, and Narkim and I followed behind. “The whole squad is in the house!” Damien my baby brother yelled. I put the bags down and grabbed him into a bear hug. “What up knuckle head!” I said. He was giggling. “Man, Im a grown man, get off me” He said. I playfully shoved him. “Please, you still get tucked in” I said playfully. He sucked his teeth in. “Hey big bro” Janessa said hugging me. “Hey Nessi Ness” I said to her, it felt good being home. “Hey bro” I heard. I looked up and seen Vada. My mouth dropped. Janessa and Vada in the same house. “Heyyyy Vi, what’s going on little sis, you look good man what’s up?” I said hugging her tightly. “Danielle this is Vada my sister, I told you about” I said introducing them. They hugged, and Vada picked up Christian and hugged on Leiana. I seen my dad off to the side. “Hey pops” I said. He smiled and hugged me. “Hey first born” He said. He was mugging Danielle, for some reason Dad ain’t like Danielle mostly because he couldn’t stand women who made more money than men. “I see yall still together” He said. I sighed. “Yeah Dad, we are just like you and mom” I said. He bust out laughing and walked away. I shook my head. I seen Norielle come out of the kitchen. “Baby sis” I said. “Hey MJ, wait I’m a little sick” She said. I backed up. “Heyyy I don’t want no type of cold man” I said. I walked into the dining room and seen Mama setting up the dinner table with her good china. “Hey mama” I said walking up to her and kissing her cheek. She smiled. “Finally, all my babies in a house together” She said hugging me. “Yeah we made it, sorry we took so long driving down here, Danielle was still at the office, so we got a late start” I told her. She waved her hand. “It’s good, you’re here now”. I walked out and grabbed our bags and went upstairs. I seen Danielle already in the room texting. She looked up at me. “Hey” She said. I put the bags down. “Can you go one second without that got damn phone?” I asked. She looked at me sideways. “Excuse me?” She said. I snatched the phone from her and put it on the nightstand next to mine. “You been fucking texting the whole ride down here, it’s family time put that shit down” I said. She looked at me like she wanted to hit me. “Snatch something from my hand again Malcom and I will walk me and my kids up out of here, now I’m sorry I will try my best to not be on my phone but it’s 2018 Malcom, you going to snatch everyone’s phone” She said before taking her phone back and going downstairs. I sat on the bed irritated, my dad then walked in. “You good son?” He asked. I nodded. “Yeah, yeah just tired, I been driving for 8 hours” I said. He shook his head. “I was looking at Christian while I was down there, that boy is sooo damn light skin, Leiana got more melanin than him, I know you and Danielle separated in the past due to you not having a job at one point but you sure he is a Richards?” My dad asked. I hissed at him. “Dad, I know you don’t like that Danielle makes more money than me but we not about to deny that my son is mine, it’s too early, I’m hungry, I’m tired please not right now” I stressed to him. He nodded. “I’m sorry I brought it up, I been drinking a little” He said. I laughed on the bed and palmed my face. I heard a phone buzz and looked over at the nightstand. I looked at my phone and realized Danielle grabbed my phone, not hers. “You still coming to see?”- M. Danielle walked into the room, “Here I grabbed your phone” She said. She tried to grab her phone, and I moved my hand. “Who is M with a heart Danielle?” I asked. She rolled her eyes. “Give me my phone Malcom” She said. I moved my hand again shaking my head. “Who is M? is it Mark?” I asked. She started laughing. “Really?” She asked snatching her phone and throwing my phone.

Damien:

“I miss you” I texted Kristen. She replied. “Damien, please stop”. I smirked. “Wrong person sorry” I texted. She just read the message.

“Damien, Nylah’s here” My mom yelled. Nylah walked in the house with her suitcase; her mom travels a lot and I didn’t want her to spend Christmas alone. She hugged my mom and hugged the fam and walked over to me and kicked my feet. “What are you doing ugly?” She asked. I sucked my teeth at her. “Man shut yo Annie Warbucks looking ass up” I said messing with her curls. She playfully pushed me. I got up and grabbed her luggage and brought it up to my room. “Dang, I’m shocked. Vada and Janessa are both here?” She said. Nylah knows about the family drama. I nodded. “Man, I got me a worldstar account just in case shit go down” I told her. She hit me. “You so messy man, but ima snapchat it” She said laughing. “Shit to calm right now with” I said twirling around in my desk chair. She went and opened her suitcase, and pulled out wrapped gifts. “I got you some shit, so this year you wont say I forgot” She handed me one. “You can open one now”. I sat back acting like I had a hard decision. “D, just pick!” She giggled. “Aight! I’m get this big fat one” I said. I sat on the bed and held the big box and started taking the wrapping paper off. It was a karaoke machine. “Yoooo La” I said in shock. “Now we can finally have real karaoke instead of using remotes” She said smiling. “Truuuuueee, man thank you La, man I aint get you shit” I said to her. She groaned. “Damien! You better have got me something or I’m taking all this shit backkkk” She said grabbing her Kareoke Machine she got me. I laughed and went in my drawer and pulled out a box. “Here you go cry baby ass girl” I said. She smiled brightly and quickly unwrapped it. It was 2 lockets that said had best friends on it and a picture of one of us in it. She stood there speechless. “Damien OMG thank you, I love it” She kissed me on the cheek. “Hey love birds! Dinner is ready” Nori said smiling. I nodded. “Eww man she like my sister” I said. Nylah gave me a nasty look that I laughed at, but she wasn’t laughing. “What?” I said. She shrugged. “Nothing, umm Kristen texted you she said are you busy later” She handed me, my phone and went down stairs. I read the text. “Busy later?” I smiled. “Maybe”.I replied.

CPAC conservatives drink the Trump Kool-Aid, but who will pick up the tab?

A once-fringe presidential candidate has turned his doubters into cheerleaders. But the spiritual and financial cost of Trumpism has yet to be tallied

The writing is on the wall. God bless Trump, America first, Peace through strength!!!, Capitalism is beautiful, Drain the swamp, One nation under God, Make America gay again!, Adorable deplorable and Trump is star! are among the messages scrawled in the exhibition hall at this years Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington.

Look close and there is a thread of defiance too: CPAC abandoned principles to support a big government strongman.

This week America held its biggest gathering of conservative activists since Donald Trumps stunning election as president. The festival of political incorrectness was a moment of giddy vindication after eight years in the wilderness.

This is suddenly a wonderful, wonderful glorious morning in America, isnt it? Lou Dobbs, a host on the Fox Business Network, asked the crowd. But at what price? Observers said it also marked the death of the conservative movement of former president Ronald Reagan and a rush to embrace a new authoritarianism.

If Reaganism is to be succeeded by Trumpism, then White House chief strategist Steve Bannon gave the clearest outline yet of what that will look like: sovereignty and security, including the building of walls; economic nationalism to rewrite trade deals and bring jobs home; a radical deconstruction of the administrative state to tear down the system of taxes and regulations seen as choking economic growth.

When Trump addresses both houses of Congress on Tuesday, he is likely to put more flesh on those bones. He will seek to bring the Republican party to heel, just as he has the conservative grassroots. It is only a matter of time, however, before he will have to explain how he intends to pay for a populist, protectionist agenda that shreds fiscal conservative orthodoxy.

I would say this is a moment of existential crisis for the conservative movement because its being replaced by Trumpism, said Charlie Sykes, a conservative author and commentator who stayed away from CPAC this year. There is a very real capitulation among conservatives. The disturbing process of the last year was seeing conservatives convince themselves that Trump is their new saviour.

CPAC was established in the 1970s by the nascent conservative movement, in a successful bid to push the Republican party to the right. During Barack Obamas presidency, it could feel in danger of irrelevance: the further its voices were from power, it seemed, the louder they shouted. Among the speakers in 2011 was a businessman, TV celebrity and former Democrat from New York: Donald Trump.

Many of the themes he hit that day America needs to win, we dont have free trade, China is manipulating the currency were the same as in 2017, but their time had not yet come.

Trump at CPAC: I oppose fake news, not the media

Even a year ago, CPAC appeared peripheral to the national conversation and Trump appeared peripheral to CPAC. With the Republican primary in full swing, Ted Cruz, a hardliner by most measures, seemed a natural choice for this constituency. But Trump beat Cruz and in November he shocked the world by beating Hillary Clinton too. Many in a once sceptical Republican party have since rallied around him, brushing off charges that they are spineless and seduced by power.

CPAC, suddenly thrust from the sidelines to centre stage, likewise surrendered to Trump. In a raucous atmosphere reminiscent of a campaign rally, his speech, full of populist fire and bilious attacks on the media, was clapped and cheered and met with chants of USA! USA, Build the wall and in reference to Clinton Lock her up. Make America great again baseball caps, scarce a year ago, were worn with pride. Republican establishment figures, including senators, congressmen and governors, were thin on the ground. Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage was treated like a rock star.

Attendee Deborah Aldrich, 60, from Salt Lake City, Utah, said: Last year Trump didnt even come and he was booed during a debate on TV. It was a real pro-Cruz group. To see all the conservatives who were booing him last year applauding him this year feels like a real victory.

These are grassroots, these are activists

At first glance, the exhibition hall at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, a vast complex on the Potomac river, appeared to be a celebration of a movement emboldened and on the march. Organisations included Tea Party Patriots, VotingCatholic.com and, less expectedly, Gays for Guns.

The National Rifle Association was running a gun giveaway, a chance to win a free weapon, while the anti-abortion group Save the Storks had set up a van offering free pregnancy tests. Merchandise ranged from Trump and Clinton bobbleheads (the latter wearing prison stripes) to T-shirts with slogans such as God is great, beer is good & liberals are crazy, Girls just want to have guns and Free speech is burning, and even babygrows that said Capitalist or carried a gun silhouette.

Richard Spencer talks to the media during CPAC. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft Images

Among the books on sale were Marriage Done Right: One Man, One Woman, The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the Worlds Most Intolerant Religion, Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female, The Problem with Socialism, and The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama (Contains 200 reasons). Shoppers could buy USA baseball caps and Trump T-shirts, then pose for a photo against an image of the White House.

Bridgett Wagner, vice-president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank which had a prominent location in the hall, said Trump was popular here: These are grassroots, these are activists, not the beltway community. They want change.

Our real friends in the world speak English, Nigel Farage tells CPAC

They are ready for somebody to go in and stop the growth of government, stop Obamacare. Washington and the establishment pays attention to [the controversies around Trump] but I honestly think the average American is looking at results.

Yet beneath the show of unity, there were cracks. Asked for their views on Trump, some organisers manning stalls smiled uneasily and said they could not comment. Attendance was widely said to be down on past years.

Bradley Matthews, editorial manager of the Conservative Book Club, said many had chosen to stay away: This year seems a lot more low key. There is more of a Trump crowd. A lot of establishment people are not here, a lot of traditional actors are not here. Well see if that holds in 2018 but for now its Trump, Trump, Trump.

One man who did return was Richard Spencer, a white nationalist and leading ideologue of the alt-right, a far-right group that senses a historic opportunity. He was asked directly by a Dutch TV journalist: Are you a fascist? It was the kind of question that many felt belonged to a bygone era but suddenly, in 2017, seems serious and urgent again. Spencer insisted not and denied any contact with the Ku Klux Klan. He also tried to explain away his infamous Hail Trump! salute last November as a moment of exuberance.

Spencer, 38, did not claim Trump for the alt-right but said his arrow points in our direction.

Donald Trump came like a miracle, he said, in many ways. No one predicted him, no one predicted that at the very beginning of his campaign he would define himself on the immigration issue, which is fundamentally a racial issue, and so I couldnt believe it.

But the fact is when the world changed, you have to change too, and so I do think there are amazing new opportunities now because hes bringing nationalism to the fore, hes bringing it into the mainstream, hes asking these existential questions like: are we a nation? And those questions werent being asked by Republicans before him.

If you ask George W Bush what is America, he would be like, a universalistic, eternal force of democracy and capitalism for all times. Donald Trump doesnt think like that. Donald Trump thinks No, we have an organic nation, there is an American people that has a history, they have a particular experience and Im going to stick up with them.

Donald Trump is not a fiscal conservative

The alt-right was denounced from the CPAC stage as a hateful, leftwing fascist group trying to worm its way into conservative ranks. Spencer was expelled from the event soon after. But some fear it is too late to slam the Pandoras box shut and that Trump and Bannon have given an electric shock to long-dormant extremists, stirring them to life. CPAC also controversially invited and then disinvited rightwing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos to give a speech.

Bannon scorns media in rare public appearance at CPAC

The awkward marriage of convenience between factions was vividly displayed on Thursday when Bannon sat on stage alongside Reince Priebus, former chairman of the Republican national committee, now White House chief of staff. Bannon was casual with open-collared shirt, Priebus more staid in suit and tie. At one point Bannon attempted to put his left hand on Priebuss knee, only for Priebus to curtly brush him off.

The pugnacious Bannon, a former head of the rightwing Bretibart News who has been dubbed Trumps Rasputin, spoke as if on permanent war footing. He said the president was maniacally focused on fulfilling his campaign promises and predicted a daily fight against the media, airing grievances against what he called the opposition party. Cancelling trade deals, Bannon argued, was part of a broader push toward the deconstruction of the administrative state.

He explained: Every business leader weve had in is saying not just taxes, but it is also the regulation. I think the consistent, if you look at these cabinet appointees, they were selected for a reason and that is the deconstruction. The way the progressive left runs is if they cant get it passed, theyre just gonna put in some sort of regulation in an agency. Thats all gonna be deconstructed and I think that thats why this regulatory thing is so important.

One such Trump appointee is Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) despite his ties to the fossil fuel industry and fierce opposition from environmental groups. Pruitt is an opponent of what he regards as federal overreach. It will be little surprise if the White House now begins to dismantle the EPAs Clean Power Plan, which set the first carbon pollution standards for power plants, and other components of Obamas Climate Action Plan.

But despite the talk of aggressively moving forward, the administration faces a moment of reckoning in Congress. The border wall will cost billions. Trumps daughter Ivanka seemed poised to launch an expensive childcare programme to help working mothers. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter last November, Bannon vowed to push a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, boasting: The conservatives are going to go crazy. The Trump White House has promised to make wide-ranging tax cuts yet also slash the national deficit.

Sykes said: I keep trying to figure out how Trump and Bannon are going to pay for all these things. I remember when conservatives used to care about this stuff. I dont see how theyre going to square that circle. Donald Trump is not a fiscal conservative. He likes to spend money, borrow money and build things. It should not be a shock hes not going to be a deficit hawk.

Trump has no intention of shrinking the federal government, Sykes added, and his praise of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, would have been unthinkable to cold warrior Reagan.

This CPAC marks a definite end to the Reagan era. If you define conservatism or Reaganism as small government constitutionalism, that does not describe the isolationist, protectionist, authoritarian themes Trump delivered. Conservatism has become less about ideas than a cult of personality: if a leader tells them to reject a principle they have held for 50 years, they are willing to do that.

More powerful than they have been for a decade, many conservatives are grateful for what Trump is not Clinton but remain wary of what he is. Pragmatism is all.

Reagans son, Michael, said: I dont think Donald Trump is a true conservative at all. I think Donald Trump is a great salesman and hes sold the conservatives on swallowing their tongues and saying follow me, and conservatives said, Listen, were gonna go with this guy, a businessman, because were $20tn in debt. Were gonna go with him because we know what would happen if we in fact elected Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States of America.

Reagan, 71, head of the Reagan Legacy Foundation, nonetheless urged conservatives to move with the times and support the new president. This is the time for Trump; my father had his time in the sun In the world we live in today, Donald Trump would have beaten Ronald Reagan for the nomination of the Republican party. But Ronald Reagan would have beaten Donald Trump in 1980 for the nomination of the Republican party.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/03/cpac-conservatives-drink-the-trump-kool-aid-but-who-will-pick-up-the-tab/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/11/03/cpac-conservatives-drink-the-trump-kool-aid-but-who-will-pick-up-the-tab/