189675wild-in-the-streets-posters.jpg

Matt Lewis of Clownhall writes:

As Amanda wrote, several prominent senior conservative leaders recently held a conclave to discuss the future of the movement. 

Some bloggers and younger conservatives have expressed frustration that they were not invited.  (In fairness, I’m told the group was small because the location would not permit a larger audience.  I’m also told there will be more inclusive future meetings.)

Meetings like this should be kept secret because when they go public, they make the dozen, or so, leaders in the room feel great – but they also annoy and offend every other leader who wasn’t invited.  It actually creates disunity.  Clearly, someone leaked.

Regardless, I think the offended folks miss the point that the paradigm has shifted.  And while I applaud the conservative leaders who convened the meeting — and while I have a deep-abiding respect for them and the work they have done (and will contribute to do in the future) – the times also call for a new generation of conservative leaders to arise.

A quick check on who these "prominent senior conservative leaders" were reveals the usual suspects: Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, the Leadership Institute’s Founder Morton Blackwell, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, the Publisher of the American Spectator Al Regnery, pollster Kellyanne Conway and Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com Richard Viguerie which is pretty much the whole nexus of wingnut welfare movement. This might explain why Matt Lewis was willing to swallow the "there aren’t enough chairs or party favors to go around for everyone" excuse, because getting pissy about the no-invite might ‘paradigm shift’ Matt onto the real welfare and not the wingnut-flavored brand.

But never mind that because The No-Longer Virgin Ben explains why conservative youth is being given the Ben-Gay and creamed-corn smelling cold shoulder :

The Sheer Idiocy of Following Youth Movements

There is no question that the Barack Obama Movement was led not by elder statesman, but by college students and twentysomethings. This election cycle provided Generation Y a chance to assume unearned moral superiority over their elders by promoting a black president. It also provided Generation Y a chance to live out the precepts of their public school educations, which focused on changing the world, as well as diversity and tolerance.

Heres the big question: Why in the world should we be excited about young Americans defining our politics?

Here’s the bigger question: Wasn’t Ben Shapiro the heralded conservative tyro who was hired at age 17 to write a nationally syndicated column on politics and culture a mere seven years ago? As I recall, conservatives have not fared well during the Shapiro Epoch although he did manage to define "unearned moral superiority" for generations to come.