December 2006

Annual Meeting

Conservative Forum Members at Meeting

Our Conservative Forum meeting of December 5th was very well received by its attendees. Forty Conservative Forum members and guests observed The Conservative Forum's first annual meeting. First of all, 17 board members were nominated and elected to two-year terms. Then, 10 board members were chosen to be on the Executive Committee to meet monthly to discuss the day-to-day running of the Forum. The Executive Committee is as follows:  

President - Richard Geno

VP Programs - Jack Mallory

VP Finance - Bill May

VP Operations - Jan Soule

Advisory Council Chair- Don Wolfe

Membership Chair - Bob Nystrom

Media Committee Chair - Eleanor Traeg

Events and Venue Chair - Pam Stone

E-Newsletter --Jack Ward

Writers Group - Keith DeFilippis  

VP Finance and Treasurer Bill May then gave a full financial report of all revenue and expenses for 2006. President Richard Geno announced that we had nine general meetings during the year with a speaker, and indicated the names of each of the speakers. We also had a special recognition for Independence Day in July with over 500 in attendance. We had our first Special Event in September with Star Parker, and a paid attendance of over 200. The 12th meeting was the current one where we returned to our roots, and had several small discussion groups.   Membership was announced to be $50 per year, $85 per family. There are four levels of family membership beyond basic membership: Century Club ($100-249); Cato ($250-499); Heritage ($500-999); and Hoover ($1000 -plus). All members are entitlted to attend the eight regular meetings and the Independence Day celebration at no cost. The Special Events are $10 for members ($15 at the door) and $20 for non-members ($25 at the door). All family members at Cato level or higher are entitled to free admission to Special Events. Our next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 9, 2007; and our next Special Event will be held on Tuesday, February 6. 2007.  

President Richard Geno made a special presentation to Bob Parkhurst, the most prolific writer on our Writers Group, who got  53 articles published in local newspapers in the past 16 months. Pete Constant spoke briefly, thanking us for our support on his campaign, and shared that San Jose government got substantially more conservative after the November elections. He also introduced Hon Lien, the only true conservative candidate running for Chuck Reed's old seat on the San Jose city council.   Bob Nystrom then introduced the Discussion Group - Dialogue Across the Divide - that has been started with a few meetings already held between two conservatives (Bob Nystrom and Richard Geno) and two liberals and a facilitator. We have discussed poltical polarization, Islamo-Fascism and the Iraq War. Bringing the concept back to The Conservative Forum, we broke out into five discussion groups where we had several people in each group. After about 40 minutes of discussion, a spokesperson from each group gave a 5-minute report to the whole group as follows:

1. Iraq and Hard Place - Arlie Blackshear, a new guest, gave his group's report as follows: He indicated that we are going to have to find other ways to define how we fight wars. We must do a better job of communicating to conservative leaders and the media. He pointed out that the media is liberal, and that is the way it is. It will probably be that way for the next 20 or more years until this group of journalists dies or retires. We must combat the poltics of the situation by acting strategically more like the liberal Democrats.  

2. The Conservative Forum - Jack Mallory used the opportunity to solicit names of potential desirable speakers. He received names of almost two dozen potential speakers. Since we are non-partisan and conservative, Jack pointed out that we have a real opportunity to be influential with the new more conservative city government.   3. Conservatives and the Republican Party - Another new guest reported on her group's discussion - Ruby Blackshear. She pointed out that the Republican Party did not own the conservatives. She  referenced the most recent mid-term elections where a number of moderate and conservative Democrats got elected to Congress. There are now over 50 "Blue Dog" Democrats in the House of Representatives. Her group discussed the tactic of letting the liberal talk first. She also described her transformation from being a Democrat to a conservative Republican with the phrase: "I thought I was a liberal until I faced the facts."  

4. Terrorism - Frank Lacy made a very outspoken analysis of terrorism. He indicated that it was the most serious enemy we have ever faced, and clearly the biggest problem in the world today. He said that this is an area where poltical correctness can actually kill us. While everyone in "polite company" is unwilling to say it, this is indeed a religious war. The Muslim religion tells the extremists to do exactly what they have been doing for over a quarter of a century. "Kill the infidel. Take over the world," is the message. Either the country lives by Sharia Law or it will be overtaken. We are in a battle for our survival.  

5. Immigration - Keith DeFilippis gave a relatively gloomy report on where we are heading as it relates to illegal immigration. He predicted that the Congress would not call it amnesty, but that that is what we are going to get. He said that his group did not feel that the government would be making much of an effort to curtail the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States. He suggested that the conservatives needed to do something that the left has been doing for quite a while; namely, create paper organizations with nice sounding names (ie, People for the American Way) to endorse the direction that we want to country to go.   At the end of the meeting, many members indicated that they would like to do this again more frequently. "We do not need a speaker every month," proclaimed several people. With this type of feedback, we will undoubtedly have a couple regularly scheduled "discussion" meetings during the upcoming year.   He discussed the 14th Amendment, the equal protection clause and affirmative action.

Specifically, he discussed how PLF has successfully defended Proposition 209, which was passed by the citizens of California in 1996.

Recently, PLF has been hired by the state of Michigan to defend Proposal 2, which was approved on November 7, 2006 by approximately 60% of the voters of the state of Michigan.

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