[This post was originally published on The Living Room Tumblr.]
I’m in Salt Lake City this 4th of July weekend, attending FreedomWorks’s “Free the People” event (a.k.a. #FTP2013) and the closely associated Glenn Beck event, #maninthemoon, as well as the speaker series put on by #M1Charity. My family and I drove in from Denver on Wednesday, and we will be enjoying a mini-vacation in SLC – our first time visiting the area – in between events. I’m very excited to be here!
Over on my Twitter account, @brendanloy, I’ve been newly following a lot of people who are using the event hashtags, so I’m getting a bunch of follow-backs. Some of these new followers might vaguely remember me from my 15 minutes of InstaPundit-fueled Hurricane Katrina fame, or from any of my various other Instalanches over the years, like the one to my pro-Lieberman, anti-Lamont post in 2006 (a hit among conservatives, naturally). Others might know me as the Pajamas Media “Weather Nerd.” Many others will never have heard of me.
Regardless, unless they’re already familiar with my politics, many of these new followers will likely become confused when they notice that my Twitter timeline skews a bit, well, uh, left of the mainstream for this particular event. As in, “Wait – this guy writes for Pajamas Media and comes to FreedomWorks/Glenn Beck events, but he sounds like a stinkin’ Democrat! What gives?!” So I thought, lest any confusion or misunderstanding arise, that I should introduce myself to these new conservatweeps:
My name is Brendan Loy. I have a wife and 3 daughters, ages 5 and under. I’m a long-time blogger, a recovering journalist, and a Colorado attorney.
I’m also the “FreedomWorks Token Democrat.” And I come in peace.
Exactly how I ended up as a guest of FreedomWorks at this event – with a VIP pass for the speaker series, and a seat on Blogger Row for #FTP2013, no less – is a bit of a long story, which I won’t relate in full here. But, as a famous Kenyan* might say, let me be clear. I’m not some “occupier” or Code Pink protester. I’m not some leftist jerk. (At least, my many conservative friends and tweeps don’t seem to think so.) Yes, I’m a bit left of center overall. But I’m here to listen, not to disrupt. I’m hoping for friendly and respectful conversation, not rancorous argument.
As I said, I’m FreedomWorks’s guest this weekend (it’s the second time I’ve attended one of their events), and I intend to be a good, well-behaved guest. So if you see me use a hashtag like #OccupyFTP2013, rest assured, I’m just kidding. 🙂
I’m genuinely looking forward to hearing Mia Love and Sen. Mike Lee, among others, speak this weekend. I’m also thrilled to finally meet, in person, my longtime Twitter friend @zachblox, himself a very conservative fellow. As for Glenn Beck? Okay, look, I’ve got to be honest. I don’t like Glenn Beck. So, you can expect to see me tweet some negative things about him. But I’ll do my very best to keep it civil and light-hearted. Regardless, nothing I say about Beck is intended as a personal attack on people who are fans of his. I just don’t personally care for the man. If you like him, as presumably most of you do (given that you’re here!), that’s fine. Agree to disagree. 🙂
More broadly, I can’t promise a Twitter feed devoid of snark or #trollin… but that’d be just as true, if not moreso, if I was tweeting at Netroots Nation or whatever. I mostly just enjoy silliness and snark.
Anyway, thanks for welcoming me to your shindig, conservatives. I look forward to a fun weekend!
Oh, and Happy 4th of July!!! America is the best, ain’t it?
*That “Kenyan” thing was a joke. 🙂 I like jokes. Ideology takes a back seat to humor in my book. (My book, by the way, is available in all 57 states!) (See?)