During November 14-21, Karel and I boarded the ship, Nieuw Amsterdam, for a Post-Election cruise sponsored by the good folks who publish The National Review magazine. The trip was relaxing and entertaining (think turquoise-blue waters, endless sandy beaches, snorkeling at Grand Turk and climbing a Mayan temple near Cozumel). It was also an intellectual treat of interacting with bright, articulate people with well-grounded conservative views of history, government, and politics, points of view not often presented in our local and national liberal media.
The food was delicious, but came in second to the intellectual feast of conservative philosophy and ideas served up by panels of brilliant individuals. The panels included such scholars as: Rich Lowry, Editor of National Review, Bernard Lewis (world-renowned Islam scholar), Victor Davis Hanson (writer and classical scholar), Senator-elect Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania), Karl Rove (political architect), Andrew McCarthy (writer and former DOJ attorney who helped convict the Blind Sheik), Jonah Goldberg and Cal Thomas, (nationally syndicated columnists), Scott Rasmussen (national pollster) and Andrew Breitbart (BigGovernment.com), to name a few. Panel topics ran the gamut of current issues of interest to conservatives (and presumably others) such as: “The Elections: What Happened and Why; America versus Radical Islam; Trillions?: America, Debt, and the Economy; The Elections: Is the MSM (Mainstream Media) a Big Loser?; The State of U.S.-Euro Relations and, The State of Liberalism.”
At one dinner, Karel and I sat next to Senator-elect Toomey, a thoughtful, intelligent person and great conversationalist, possibly Presidential material. He had spoken to the large group earlier, holding everyone’s interest for almost an hour - - without notes, without repeating himself, and without using teleprompters! There must have been some Tea Party folks there, too. If so, they had disguised themselves as intelligent, knowledgeable conservatives. They were decent folks.
Imagine that!
Jim Littlejohn
