NYT: The Conservative Force Behind Speeches Roiling College Campuses

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What is wrong with this exactly? Even if these speeches were planned just to draw reactions, it is up to the young leftists to rise above it and behave better. For Christ's sake, my second cousin is now refusing to speak to his mother because she made a joke in a mock Chinese accent. They're the ones who are the problem.

They're wasting their time. Anyone who came of age during the Bush years, tea party revolt, and finally Trump will never be Conservative in the numbers of previous generations . They've lost a generation and they better get used to it.

Go to any YAF meeting on a college campus....it's one part white frat guys looking to trigger libs and another part Christian extremists trying to outlaw abortion.

Lol you've clearly never been to a YAF meeting. It's mostly the blue blazer crowd of young anti-Trump "truh conservatuvs" and wanna-be edgy libertarians who are too afraid to even smoke a joint.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What is wrong with this exactly? Even if these speeches were planned just to draw reactions, it is up to the young leftists to rise above it and behave better. For Christ's sake, my second cousin is now refusing to speak to his mother because she made a joke in a mock Chinese accent. They're the ones who are the problem.

Movement Conservativism is dead. Get used to it

Movement Conservatism was a cancer on the party. I voted for Trump to kill it and replace it with a new animal. Tell that to the blue blazer kids, not me. I wanted to freaking punch the Students for Rubio president during the GOP debate, he was that arrogant and annoying.

Note to Torie: I would never actually do that, don't delete. I'm a lover not a fighter.

Movement Conservativism is dead. Get used to it

Another thing worth noting-you yearned for movement conservatism during the primaries as Trump rose to power. Are the crows starting to peck at you up there on your cross?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What is wrong with this exactly? Even if these speeches were planned just to draw reactions, it is up to the young leftists to rise above it and behave better. For Christ's sake, my second cousin is now refusing to speak to his mother because she made a joke in a mock Chinese accent. They're the ones who are the problem.

They're wasting their time. Anyone who came of age during the Bush years, tea party revolt, and finally Trump will never be Conservative in the numbers of previous generations . They've lost a generation and they better get used to it.

Go to any YAF meeting on a college campus....it's one part white frat guys looking to trigger libs and another part Christian extremists trying to outlaw abortion.

Lol you've clearly never been to a YAF meeting. It's mostly the blue blazer crowd of young anti-Trump "truh conservatuvs" and wanna-be edgy libertarians who are too afraid to even smoke a joint.

Well, there's a lot of overlap with the blue blazer crowd of young anti-Trump "truh conservatuvs" and the white frat guys looking to trigger libs. Just saying.

I don't mean to come off as a dick, but there seems to be a disconnect here. Do any of you guys know any young conservatives or talk politics with regular folks outside of Atlas? The frat kids who like to piss of "teh Libtards" are hardcore for Trump. The blue-blazer people are less involved in fraternities, and those who are hypocritically lament the "intellectual death" of the GOP while ironically yearning for Reagan. Idiots.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Another thing worth noting-you yearned for movement conservatism during the primaries as Trump rose to power. Are the crows starting to peck at you up there on your cross?

I'm glad Trump won...he'll destroy the GOP in the long run

I remember you tools saying that in 2013 and look who is President now.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Another thing worth noting-you yearned for movement conservatism during the primaries as Trump rose to power. Are the crows starting to peck at you up there on your cross?

I'm glad Trump won...he'll destroy the GOP in the long run

I remember you tools saying that in 2013 and look who is President now.

Being unable to legislate when your Party controls the presidency, house, and senate is a pretty clear sign that your Party is on the decline. Carter and the Democrats of the late 70's are the best analogue to Trump and the GOP at the moment.

If we aren't able to govern, how do you explain the weekly meltdowns about the healthcare bill? Sure they flubbed it up in the first 100 days, but I'm seeing a lot of panic that shouldn't be there is the man was incompetent or if the party was in as much chaos as people are saying. The GOP has been in continuous civil war since 2010 and we've retaken the House, Senate, most of the gubernatorial races, and the Presidency in short order.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Great.  I love free speech.  This warms my heart.

Look at the money and donors behind this. This speech is anything but "free".

I think this is the one reason conservatives get so jacked up over George Soros. He's the one Bonafide rich guy out there other than Hollywood actors, and frankly none of them I can think of give me or the same kind of money Soros does, who backs liberal and left-wing causes. Literally 100 + right-wing billionaires - - because it's kind of part and parcel to be far right-wing when you're a billionaire - - who give vastly greater sums than Soros. He's the one guy we were publicans can look at it and tell ourselves that big money is a bipartisan issue.

When in reality I think it's just my party despising Soros for being a traitor to his class. Much like FDR was criticized buy Blue Bloods back in the thirties

Having worked for the Koch brother's private army (pays well for a high school gig), this is exactly why people hate Soros. He's literally the only person who supports the Democratic Party financially through motivating the grassroots, where as the others are a shadowy, unknown clique of various industry lobbyists and corporate figures who go directly to the party's political leadership.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Great.  I love free speech.  This warms my heart.

Look at the money and donors behind this. This speech is anything but "free".

I think this is the one reason conservatives get so jacked up over George Soros. He's the one Bonafide rich guy out there other than Hollywood actors, and frankly none of them I can think of give me or the same kind of money Soros does, who backs liberal and left-wing causes. Literally 100 + right-wing billionaires - - because it's kind of part and parcel to be far right-wing when you're a billionaire - - who give vastly greater sums than Soros. He's the one guy we were publicans can look at it and tell ourselves that big money is a bipartisan issue.

When in reality I think it's just my party despising Soros for being a traitor to his class. Much like FDR was criticized buy Blue Bloods back in the thirties

Having worked for the Koch brother's private army (pays well for a high school gig), this is exactly why people hate Soros. He's literally the only person who supports the Democratic Party financially through motivating the grassroots, where as the others are a shadowy, unknown clique of various industry lobbyists and corporate figures who go directly to the party's political leadership.

If you can call giving millions to Hillary's SuperPAC in the primary motivating the grassroots.

Oh, I'm no Soros-lover, if that isn't clear enough. But he does support causes that engage people directly. Americans for Prosperity is a corporate funded entity, yet it elicits genuine grassroots support from tens of thousands of committed activists who are the backbone of the organization. I was paid to go door to door in the week and collect polls and information, but on the weekend I always had five volunteers under my command (it was like herding cats).

The business model used by AFP is very similar to the Transcendental Meditation cult that I got sucked into a few years back, actually.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I attended one of their conferences at the Reagan Ranch last summer. Some notes:

 - My roommate was one of those "The UN is going to invade Texas" guys. He's the nicest, sweetest guy you'll ever meet, and he thinks that the UN is going to invade Texas.

 - As stated in the article, they actively *try* to incite liberal outrage, and the fracas over Ann Coulter was something approaching a dream made reality for them -- massive national publicity, a ton of debate on campus, etc. We were taught by officials from all over the country how, step by step, to stir things up on-campus.

 - The headliner at the Reagan Ranch was Sam Brownback. On the 35th anniversary of Reagan's tax cuts, he was lauded across the board by speakers and attendees alike for "continuing Reagan's legacy" -- when I tried to broach how the cuts weren't actually 100% Terrific Awesome Wow to the other kids, I was met with scorn and raised eyebrows. He was even asked if he would consider running for President in 2020.

 - Ron Robinson thinks that gay marriage will lead to incest and polygamy, and he has said as much to a room full of high school kids.

 - During a "bull session" with Jake Jacobs where gay marriage came up, one gentleman called homosexuality a "mental illness." Another young man said that he was gay, and that comments like that had made him suicidal the previous year, before storming out. Most of the other kids reacted by deriding and mocking him behind his back the next day.

I went there excited that I would be able to finally get involved in movement conservatism. I left mildly disgusted by the prospect.

The most blue-blazer story I've ever heard. I guarantee you that each kid in the room thinks he'll (note the word he'll) be President. The Students for Rubio President here in Florida was a real piece of work.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I attended one of their conferences at the Reagan Ranch last summer. Some notes:

 - My roommate was one of those "The UN is going to invade Texas" guys. He's the nicest, sweetest guy you'll ever meet, and he thinks that the UN is going to invade Texas.

 - As stated in the article, they actively *try* to incite liberal outrage, and the fracas over Ann Coulter was something approaching a dream made reality for them -- massive national publicity, a ton of debate on campus, etc. We were taught by officials from all over the country how, step by step, to stir things up on-campus.

 - The headliner at the Reagan Ranch was Sam Brownback. On the 35th anniversary of Reagan's tax cuts, he was lauded across the board by speakers and attendees alike for "continuing Reagan's legacy" -- when I tried to broach how the cuts weren't actually 100% Terrific Awesome Wow to the other kids, I was met with scorn and raised eyebrows. He was even asked if he would consider running for President in 2020.

 - Ron Robinson thinks that gay marriage will lead to incest and polygamy, and he has said as much to a room full of high school kids.

 - During a "bull session" with Jake Jacobs where gay marriage came up, one gentleman called homosexuality a "mental illness." Another young man said that he was gay, and that comments like that had made him suicidal the previous year, before storming out. Most of the other kids reacted by deriding and mocking him behind his back the next day.

I went there excited that I would be able to finally get involved in movement conservatism. I left mildly disgusted by the prospect.

The most blue-blazer story I've ever heard. I guarantee you that each kid in the room thinks he'll (note the word he'll) be President. The Students for Rubio President here in Florida was a real piece of work.

That too. Like, if you looked up "bourgeoisie" in the dictionary, you would see a YAF conference staring back at you. It made me realize how white, male, and upper middle-class I really am.

You definitely got that "I'm going to be President/the next Milo" vibe from most of the dudes, even though none of them actually gave two sh**ts about public policy. The girls, and the rest of the guys, were just there because their rich and politically involved parents made them go.

What is particularly hilarious is that they all manage to know their local State Rep/State Senator on a personal basis, and yet, you'll never see them in the campaign office except maybe a week before election day.

I worked for a congressional candidate for nine months. In the last two weeks a bunch of them started showing up, and they very quickly tried to remove me as the campaign's main overzealous teenager. Fortunately I'd fostered a friendship with most of the staffers (besides the personal assistant to the candidate. That dude was a dick), especially the Political Director due to our shared love of the Grateful Dead and Ron Paul. So I was able to mantain a supervisory type position over them and made sure that every task they completed (spreadsheets, phone call check lists, etc) were handed over to me so I could deliver it personally to whomever it was meant for.

Office politics is fun. 2012 was such a freaking awesome year .