DEAR MILLENIALS: Here is Your Free, 3-Minute Guide to All of the Advantages of Socialism

By David Harsanyi

On the same day that Venezuela’s “democratically” elected socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, whose once-wealthy nation now has citizens foraging for food, announced he was lopping five zeros off the country’s currency to create a “stable financial and monetary system,” Meghan McCain of “The View” was the target of internet-wide condemnation for having stated some obvious truths about collectivism.

During the same week we learned that the democratic socialist president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, is accused of massacring hundreds of protesters whose economic futures have been decimated by his economic policies, Soledad O’Brien and writers at outlets ranging from GQ, to BuzzFeed, to the Daily Beast were telling McCain to cool her jets.

In truth, McCain was being far too calm.

Investigate Adam Schiff and John McCain

By Jen Kuznicki

In the Daily Mail today, “Now anonymous government officials accuse Trump aides of giving Russians the ‘thumbs up’ for election hacks: New claim in growing feud over Obama administration ‘snooping’ on Donald“

In it, Jennifer Rubin’s favorite Democrat, Adam Schiff claims the evidence he has that Trump’s aides colluded with the Russians in an attempt to hack the elections is, “more than circumstantial.”

GOOD NEWS: Marco Rubio Now Openly Campaigning in Favor of Obama-Schumer Amnesty Bill

By Julia Hahn

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is reaffirming his support for part of his 2013 Gang of Eight bill by touting its alleged security provisions.

“I continue to support and have supported and sponsored the largest border surge in American history,” Rubio told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos– referring to the security provisions crafted by him, Chuck Schumer, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) in the Gang of Eight bill. Rubio repeated the Gang of Eight’s talking points, declaring that his 2013 proposal would provide “20,000 new border agents, 700 miles of fencing and walls, a mandatory e-verify system, entry-exit tracking system to prevent visa overstays.”

What Rubio failed to mention about the Obama-backed proposal is that it provided an instantaneous amnesty for illegal immigrants, a fact he himself admitted at the time during a Spanish-language interview with Univision.

Marco Rubio Has Some Swampland He’d Like to Sell You

By Jen Kuznicki

To hear the Rubio supporters tell it — unsurprisingly the same people who supported Romney and McCain and Cochran and McConnell and (insert list of Republican white beards here) — Ted Cruz opposed the Gang of Eight bill because there just wasn’t enough liberal policy in it.

Yes, the likes of Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Michael Bennet (D-C), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John S. McCain III (R-AZ), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) just couldn’t insert enough liberal, “open border” policy into the Gang of Eight bill, they needed Ted Cruz R-TX to show them the way.

Every 12 Days Someone is Murdered by an Illegal Alien Criminal Obama Released From Custody

Spotted an important piece at, of all places, the Washington Post, where Marc A. Thiessen simply obliterates the President and his henchmen, who have gutted U.S. immigration law and needlessly endangered thousands of Americans.

It got little notice, but on May 28, Sarah Saldana, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, admitted in a letter to Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that between fiscal years 2010 and 2014, the Obama administration had released “121 unique criminal aliens who had an active [deportation] case at the time of release and were subsequently charged with homicide-related offenses.”

Think about that: 121 times over the past four years, the administration has released an illegal immigrant with prior criminal convictions who went on to be charged with murder. That is one every 12 days.

It gets worse.

Senile Arizona Senator forgets that Ted Cruz pressed committee to consider arming soldiers on bases in... 2014

The pathetic Establishment crackpot known as John McCain -- don't call him the Godfather of ISIS, he's just the step-uncle -- is screeching about Ted Cruz again. And, as usual, he has things almost completely wrong.

McCain, the Arizona senator who once called Cruz a "whacko bird," said the Texas senator running for president never pressed him to hold hearings about whether soldiers should be allowed to carry a personal firearm on military bases -- a claim Cruz made Sunday at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.

"You know, I was fascinated to hear that because I haven't heard a thing about it from him. Nor has my staff heard from his staff. Where did that come from? I have not a clue," McCain, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, told reporters Monday, according to The Hill.

He added that he would be "glad to discuss the issue" with Cruz to see if there should be a hearing.

But Cruz's assertion Sunday that he has been "pressing" McCain for a hearing came as a "complete surprise" to the Arizona senator and one-time GOP presidential nominee.

Thanks to a stunning new innovation called Google, we discover this Military.com article from 2014:

The issue of letting more troops carry concealed weapons came up during an April 8 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno about it.

“There’s some soldiers who feel quite strongly that concealed carry would be a sensible change in policies,” Cruz said. “There are others who may disagree. I guess my question would be, it has been a long time since this committee has held a hearing examining that question — examining the policy benefits and detriments of allowing concealed carry on military bases. In your view, would that be a productive topic for a hearing for this committee?”

In other words, Cruz lobbied the old chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, not the newly installed one, to consider revamping the rules for firearms on military bases.

Wow. Intense scoop, dude.

Now for CNN and the rest of the establishment media goons, this kerfuffle is a scandal but Hillary's felonious email deletions and her pay-for-play foreign donations aren't.

Which tells you pretty much everything about the current state of "journalism".


Hat tip: BadBlue News

STRIKE A BLOW FOR LIBERTY: Recall Senators McCain and Flake

By Lawrence Sellin

Republican Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake are liberals representing a conservative state. By their statements and actions, they have proven that they are no longer worthy to be the U.S. Senators from Arizona.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who once described the mainstream media as his political base, has declared war on conservatives and the people of Arizona; reportedly leading a purge of the state’s GOP apparatus to pave the way for an easier reelection bid should he decide to run again in 2016.

In January 2013, Tea Party members and other conservatives managed to get John McCain censured by the Arizona Republican Party, for what they characterized as a liberal record that has been “disastrous and harmful” to the state and nation. It was not even close; the Republican Party of Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous, passed a resolution to censure the senator on a 1,150-to-351 vote. The state GOP party’s censure didn’t even require a recorded vote, it passed by acclamation, meaning by a voice vote.

Now, according to the left-leaning outlet Politico, McCain is getting his revenge.

In Arizona, Republican precinct committeemen elect local party chairmen, who, in turn, determine how state and local GOP funds are spent, which candidates are promoted in an election year, and which political issues are highlighted — all matters of central concern for McCain heading into 2016, when the threat of a primary looms.

Prior to Aug. 26, 2014, when the races for the party offices were held, the vast majority of the 3,925 precinct slots were filled by people McCain’s team considered opponents. Now, after an influx of candidates were recruited by the senator’s allies, around 40 percent of those offices — 1,531 to be exact — will be held by people McCain’s team regards as friendly. They will have the power to vote down hostile Republican chairmen in each of their respective localities.

After securing the support of conservative Sarah Palin, running a campaign as a conservative and gaining reelection in 2010, McCain immediately swerved to the left again, denigrating conservatives and Tea Partiers as “hobbits” and “wacko birds” while championing the Gang of Eight’s comprehensive amnesty legislation in the Senate.

McCain’s junior colleague, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a member of the Gang of Eight, is also a strong supporter of comprehensive amnesty for illegal aliens.

JOHN McCAIN'S "ETHNIC CLEANSING": There's a Soviet-style Purge of Conservatives in Arizona

By Investor's Business Daily

Republicans: Political purges may work in totalitarian states, but in a democracy they can be self-defeating. The senator who called the Tea Party "wacko birds" should realize the GOP's real enemies are called Democrats.

It's been said that all politics is local, and normally a state party's internal squabbles would not be national news. But when they involve a former presidential candidate on an issue that will affect the selection of the GOP's 2016 presidential nominee and chances, we sit up and take notice.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who lost the 2008 election to Barack Obama and who is running for re-election in 2016, wants to pull the Arizona portion of the grass-roots movement known as the Tea Party out by the roots and purge the ranks of the Arizona GOP of precinct committeemen and local party chairmen aligned to the Tea Party.

Local McCain opponent A.J. LaFaro, who has announced that he will not seek re-election to the Maricopa County GOP chairmanship, has compared the McCain organization's attempted party purge of Tea Party supporters to "ethnic cleansing."

Why don't you ask him about torture?

The corrupt, conscious-less, traitorous Democrat Party released the one-sided Senate report on interrogation techniques this week for one reason and one reason alone: to shriek "BUSH" at the top of their lungs one last time before the reins of power are ripped from their greasy hands.

The Democrat cruds -- it was an entirely partisan enterprise -- did not interview CIA directors during the time in question; did not interview CIA personnel during the time in question; and whitewashed their own involvement and approval of the techniques.

I just got an email from Karl Rove!

Doug,

President Obama's approval ratings keep dropping, no reliable poll shows battleground Senate Democrats with over 50% support, and GOP voters are excited to cast their ballots in 37 days. The midterm environment is toxic for Democrats, yet there's a chance Republicans may not take the Senate. Why?

Could it be that you and the rest of the Republican ruling class are completely out of touch with the grass roots? That you went to war with your own base? That you decimated any unity between the conservative and establishment wings of the party? And for what: to keep your incumbent protection racket going for mouth-breathers like Thad Cochran and Pat Roberts?

The Democrats have a huge money advantage. Last month alone, Democrats outraised Republicans by $1.6 million dollars.

Gee, I wonder why.

Congrats to @KarlRove on blowing $400 million this cycle. Every race @CrossroadsGPS ran ads in, the Republicans lost. What a waste of money.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012

They intend to outspend Republicans between Labor Day and Election Day, having bought $109 MILLION in television ads already, compared to $85 million for GOP candidates and their allies so far. Democrats, Harry Reid's PAC, and liberal interest groups are launching hundreds of attack ads in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, and North Carolina - key states in the fight for the Senate.

So now you're worried that your strategy of attacking conservatives might be, eh, suicidal? A tad late, Dr. Whiteboard!

8 Insane Things Put in Place by John McCain's $100 Million Pro-Invasion Spending Bill

We always knew John McCain was a kook. His anti-First Amendment and incumbent protection bill -- McCain-Feingold -- was an outrage. His lies to the people of Arizona when he was up for reelection in 2010 ("Secure the dang border!") were pathetic. His feckless promotion of intervention in Syria culminated in his glamour shots with members of ISIS. And his serial abuse of the Constitution and Constitutional conservatives like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee deserve nothing but scorn.

So just when you thought McCain couldn't get any dumber or more malicious, we get word of his $100,000,000 bill that promote illegal immigration. Consider the eight key facets of this epic treason:

1) Spends $100,000,000.

2) Asserts acts that are already illegal are now illegal.

3) Makes it a federal crime to tell someone where a DHS, HHS or Border Patrol bus carrying illegal aliens is spotted, coming from or headed.

4) Makes it a federal crime to prohibit a DHS, HHS or Border Patrol bus from moving from point A to point B.

5) Does absolutely nothing to secure the border and stop the invasion in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. These southern borders will remain wide open and the bill doesn’t address this.

6) Creates a communication channel between HHS and states about newly recommended facilities for housing illegal aliens.

7) Opens up U.S. facilities in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador for the purpose of processing illegal aliens on foreign soil.

8) Calls for 15,000 “refugees” from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to be processed on foreign soil and transported into the U.S. this year alone.

This treasonous, reckless behavior must stop.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

19 Illegal Immigration Facts You'll Never Read in Legacy Media

By Michael Snyder

Should we roll out the red carpet and allow millions upon millions of thieves, rapists, gang members and drug dealers to come waltzing into this country any time they would like? Should we broadcast a message to the rest of the world that anyone that can find a way to enter this country and somehow get to a “sanctuary city” can sign up for a plethora of welfare benefits and live a life of leisure at the expense of hard working American citizens?

Yes, those questions sound absurd, but what I have just described will essentially be official U.S. government policy if the immigration bill going through Congress becomes law. And unfortunately, Democrats now say that they have the Republican votes that they need to get “immigration reform” through the House of Representatives. If this amnesty bill becomes law, it will encourage even more illegal immigration and it will be one more step toward making the U.S. border essentially meaningless.

Right now, we desperately need the American people to contact their representatives in Congress and demand that they vote against this bill. Sadly, this is not likely to happen because most Americans have absolutely no idea how negatively illegal immigration is affecting this nation.

The following are 19 very disturbing facts about illegal immigration that every American should know…

BILL WHITTLE: I want to know where you live, Mark Zuckerberg

Another riveting must-watch Firewall by Bill Whittle.


Today I want to make three points regarding the current, artificially created emergency on the southern border, as children are used as innocent pawns to force an issue in order to gain political power.

First.

President Obama has said that if congress does not act, he will, through executive order, simply dictate a solution.

Godwin’s Law states that the longer an internet discussion goes on, the likelier it is that someone will invoke the Nazis. Invoking the Nazis is considered bad form, you see – it’s a sign of desperation and hyperbolic exaggeration.

Well, I’m not going to invoke the words “Nazi” or “Hitler.”

So: shortly after assuming power, the legally appointed chancellor of Germany and the leader of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party was faced with a looming national crisis. The National Socialist Chancellor appeared before the democratically elected parliament of the German Republic, known as the Reichstag. This Chancellor asked them to vote on what became known as the Enabling Act of 1933. It was pretty simple, really: he asked the legislature to approve his ability to create law on his own – through what could be best described as emergency executive orders. The Reichstag approved this request by the National Socialist Chancellor of Germany, giving him the power to dictate law as he saw fit.

The constitutionally limited, democratically elected German Republic simply voted itself out of existence, and half of the representatives of the Reichstag were cheering the National Socialist leader of their own party as they did so.

Now, of course, that could never happen here – not in America. Why if an American President were to stand before congress and tell the legislative body that he would assume the power to write his own laws if they did not provide the legislation he desired – well, here in America that President would be booed and mocked and jeered out of the room – he’d be arrested and impeached. Right?

ISIS Runs Ad Campaign Featuring its Members With... John McCain

No one questions John McCain's credentials as a war hero. A POW. A man.

It is his decision-making as a politician, however, that has dramatic and far-reaching ramifications for every American. Those decisions have -- almost uniformly -- been wrongheaded and ill-conceived.

Exhibit 4,059:

Isn’t it nice to know that the US government is talking out of one side of their mouths and doing the complete opposite on the other side? Remember in 2013 when John McCain made that trip to Syria to hang out with ISIS radicals? Now, ISIS is using that photo of them hanging with John McCain as propaganda for themselves.

...This 2013 photograph of John McCain is being circulated by members of ISIS as a photo of him with members of some of their members in Syria... The poster does not specify which of the men is actually from ISIS or “Al Qaeda In Iraq” as they were once called.

Gee, are they ISIS or "Al Qaeda in Iraq"? I'm so confused. Maybe we can check their laminated membership cards.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

The Ugly Face of Tyranny: Feinstein and Other "Progressives" are Coming For Your Right To Speak Freely Online

Guest post by Mac Slavo

Senator Diane Feinstein has taken up the fight for truth and liberty, just as she has done for health care and the widespread disarmament of American citizens.

This month Congess has been debating a new media shield law, which according to its authors, aims to protect journalists and bloggers from being forced to testify about their work should their sources or information come into question.

But Diane Feinstein has refused to support the bill, noting that the law would essentially grant this shield privilege to anyone who chooses to share their opinion on the internet (including those pajama sporting bloggers and news aggregators working out of their basements).

But because freedom of speech, as interpreted by Feinstein, is nothing more than a privilege granted to us by her and her ilk in Congress, she has taken steps to ensure that only those journalists sanctioned by the government will be protected by the new shield laws.

The final hurdle for the Judiciary Committee was defining who is a journalist in the digital era.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) insisted on limiting the legal protection to “real reporters” and not, she said, a 17-year-old with his own website.

“I can’t support it if everyone who has a blog has a special privilege … or if Edward Snowden were to sit down and write this stuff, he would have a privilege. I’m not going to go there,” she said.

Feinstein introduced an amendment that defines a “covered journalist” as someone who gathers and reports news for “an entity or service that disseminates news and information.”

The definition includes freelancers, part-timers and student journalists, and it permits a judge to go further and extend the protections to any “legitimate news-gathering activities.”

And Now: A Very Special Message From Karl Rove

From the man who brought you Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi comes the following pearls of wisdom. Write 'em down, because I'll wager you cash money that these two will be Rove's favorites:

Well, sooner or later he's bound to get one right.

Isn't he?

Well, isn't he???

I've got a pretty good idea which Republican Senate Progressives are undermining Ted Cruz and Mike Lee

The Beltway Establishment ain't happy with Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. Chris Wallace, during his "Power Panel" segment, mentioned that disgruntled Republican insiders had actually fed him opposition research in an underhanded attempt to preserve the Obamacare status quo.

“This has been one of the strangest weeks I’ve ever had in Washington,” Wallace said. “As soon as we listed Ted Cruz as our guest this week, I got unsolicited research and questions, not from Democrats, but from top Republicans to hammer Cruz. Why are Republicans so angry at Ted Cruz?”

Rove insisted it was because Cruz and fellow Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee decided to devise a strategy to defund Obamacare without consulting Republican leadership.

Rove, as usual, is full of it.

He and the rest of the old bulls don't like anyone else in the spotlight, especially those with whom they disagree.

After the Tea Party and Constitutional conservatives swept the Republicans into power in 2010, what did the House leadership do, Karl? Did they embrace the huge crop of new freshmen, incorporate their concerns into their agenda, and install the best of them into key committee slots?

No. No. And no. John Boehner in the House and Mitch McConnell in the Senate did everything in their power to intimidate conservatives and put them on a leash. They ignored their concerns and avoided every real fight over spending and the debt ceiling. Even worse, they made sure that not a single conservative was given a key position, in spite of their popularity.

In fact, Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have done everything in their power to disenfranchise conservatives; their mouthpieces including Rove and the RNC suppressed turnout by attacking primary winners like Sharron Angle, Richard Mourdock, and Christine O'Donnell.

What kind of "leadership" attacks members of their own party?

Not only has Rove been a loser since 2006, but he also despises not calling the shots for the GOP. Now, Karl: with your horrific track record, why would anyone with an IQ above that of an amoeba consult you?

For two years, you, Boehner and McConnell did nothing -- nothing -- to fight Barack Obama's agenda.

House leadership has done nothing serious to investigate the outrageous scandals plaguing this administration. They refuse to name a Select Investigative Committee on Benghazi; they refuse to demand a Special Prosecutor for IRS-Gate; and heaven knows what they're doing about the illegal wiretaps of reporters or the illicit activities of the NSA.

In 2012, with Rove spending more time and energy attacking conservatives than a horrific Democrat candidate in Barack Obama, he managed to turn off millions of conservatives.

Let me say this in terms even he can understand: Karl Rove lost the election for Mitt Romney.

Rove and other "architects" disenfranchised and demoralized the conservative base.

Karl Rove blew $400 million on losing candidates in 2012, according to Donald Trump. He ignored digital outreach. He ignored and/or pissed off the grassroots. And he's the same man who gave us Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2006 and Barack Obama in 2008, for heaven's sake!

Giving money to Rove is like investing with Bernie Madoff.

And which Republicans are secretly attacking Ted Cruz?

So which Republicans have been feeding Chris Wallace opposition research on Ted Cruz?

Conservative stalwarts Mark Levin and Sarah Palin have both called on Chris Wallace to disclose the source of these outrageous attacks.

Gee, it's so hard to figure out:

• McCain Aide: McCain “F–king Hates Cruz”

• Lindsey Graham Knocks Ted Cruz Strategy For Defunding

Not only are the same-sex Senators McCain and Graham big-government neo-Statists, they hate sharing the media spotlight with others.

You guys know "the Oklahoma Drill" in football? That's where a defender has to fight off a blocker and try and stop a rusher in a very contained space, all by himself.

I'd love to see the same drill with McCain and Chuck Schumer on opposite sides fighting one-on-one to get the attention of a cameraman. These lifetime politicians are absolutely useless. If they had to get a job in the private sector, my guess is their highest level of achievement would revolve around the phrase: "Can I super-size that for you, ma'am?"

Karl Rove needs to stop losing elections for Republicans. John Boehner needs to follow Ted Cruz's lead.

We've had enough of these losers. It's time to win, fellas, so get the hell out of the way and let the adults call the shots. Your time is over.


Hat tips: BadBlue News and Mark Levin

Lindsey Graham: Either we kill some camels in Syria or Charleston could get nuked by Iran!

The adjectives for this level of idiocy escape me.

South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says he’s convinced that Syrian President Assad used chemical weapons on his own people...

He says if there is no U.S. response, Iran will not believe America’s resolve to block Iran from developing nuclear weapons [and] those nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists could result in a bomb coming to Charleston Harbor.

He says he’s working to convince South Carolinians weary of war that the situations in Syria and Iran are linked. Graham says Syria could destabilize the entire Middle East...

So, Lindsey, firing a "shot across the bow" -- in Obama's words -- will somehow deter a nuclear Iran?

So, Lindsey, launching an attack "just muscular enough not to get mocked" will subdue Iran?

You're a joke, Senator Graham. You're a joke and a disgrace. And you need to go. My hope for 2014 is that a primary challenger will emerge and defeat you.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

NOT A REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC: Police Barricade McCain-Flake "Public" Meeting on Amnesty

As Mark Levin has consistently observed, we no longer live in a Constitutional Republic. Our representatives do not represent us. They pass laws they haven't read. And they consistently operate without the consent of the governed.

We have what the brilliantly prescient Alexis de Tocqueville called "democratic despotism", exemplified perfectly by a "public meeting" with U.S. senators at which the public was not welcome.

As senators representing a border state, one would think that Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake would be strong proponents for demanding legal immigration as well as for securing our borders. Instead, they have been not just vocal advocates of illegal immigration, these two GOP border state senators made up ¼ of the ‘Gang of Eight’ that crafted the bill to push amnesty on the American people.

There has been much controversy surrounding the route which immigration reform should take in America. Some are calling for amnesty for the tens of millions of illegals in this country. Others are adamant that either we are a nation of laws or we are not and do not support amnesty. Still others are torn between what to do with those who crossed the border illegally as children due to the decision of their parents.

Wherever you stand on the spectrum of beliefs on the topic, one would think that your elected officials would welcome the voice of anyone who wants to be heard regarding this issue that would have enormous economic repercussions on America. That is not the case with Arizona Senators McCain and Flake. On the very important issue of immigration reform, they chose to hold a ‘closed door, invitation only event’, which was labeled not as a town hall, but rather as a ‘Conversation on Amnesty’...

...While the story from the Arizona Republic states that this is a public event, the event was clearly marked as a private event and those without a ticket were only allowed to go so far...

...This decision to leave the people out of this ‘conversation’ resulted in a protest organized by Riders USA outside the Mesa Arts Center, where the ‘private event’ took place. The Arizona Republic did cover the event inside as well as provide pictures of the protest outside. If you look closely, based upon my comparison of the pictures on the Arizona Republic’s website, it appears that the McCain/Flake closed door, invitation only event took place in the Virginia G. Piper Repertory theater. That portion of the facility holds 550 people and, if you look at the picture below from the Arizona Republic, there were plenty of seats still available with a near empty upper level...

But we have an antidote, my friends.

We have a gift bequeathed to us by the founders.

It is Article V of the United States Constitution.

It is an escape hatch from an all-powerful central government that has grown out of control, just as de Tocqueville predicted.

We have an antidote and now is the time to begin reestablishing the Constitution.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Will Mark Levin Actually Moderate the GOP Debates? Exclusive Interview with RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer

A few days ago Sean Spicer, the Communications Director of the Republican National Committee, made a surprising statement: he said that Mark Levin should moderate the GOP debates. Levin has formally accepted the offer. To explore this issue and a few others, I made a few attempts to get a hold of Mr. Spicer and, after a time, was able to synch up with him this evening.

Ross: Sean, thanks very much for taking the time out of your schedule to meet with us. Give us a little bit of background on yourself and how you arrived at the RNC and rose to such a key position.

Spicer: I got involved in several Congressional campaigns, House races in the nineties... after a time, I became the Republican National Congressional Committee's Retention Director. Three years later, I became a spokesman for the House Budget Committee. More recently, for the last three years of the Bush Administration I had a very lengthy title, but was really a trade spokesman.

Ross: Sean, a recent statement you made really caught conservatives by surprise -- and in a positive way. You said you thought Mark Levin and perhaps other conservative thought leaders should moderate GOP debates. How serious was that statement and did the reaction catch you by surprise?

Spicer: That was a very serious statement. Obviously, we're not at a point yet of picking debate forums or moderators, but we are definitely committed to energizing the conservative base. It's common sense: anyone's who listening to Rush, Levin, Hannity... they are addressing the issues that the grassroots are concerned with.

What I also find absolutely unbelievable is that in 2008 Chris Matthews, of all people, moderated two GOP debates. Yet why wouldn't we insist on the converse situation?