The Daily Signal - How Stand Up Virginia Is Working to Hold Rogue Prosecutors Accountable

Episode Date: June 15, 2021

 Brenda Tillett is the founder and president of Stand Up Virginia. She joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to talk about the new organization and how it’s working to hold rogue prosecutors accountable. "In Fairfax County, Steve Descano was funded by George Soros," Tillett says. Descano is the elected Fairfax County, Va., commonwealth's attorney. Soros is a leftist billionaire who funds a wide variety of left-wing candidates and causes. And there are four other rogue commonwealth's attorneys in Virginia who were also funded by George Soros. What they do is, they go in, and they completely dismantle law enforcement.And what do I mean by that? Well, for instance, Steve Descano has a policy that if you're a juvenile, meaning 17 years old, you will not have a public record. You won't have a criminal record.So if you want to get together with your friends who are gang members and beat up a 30-year-old man who's leaving a convenience store, bash his teeth in, leave him bleeding to die, Steve Descano will either bring that down to a misdemeanor or not prosecute you.Tillett joins the podcast to discuss all of that and more. Jeff Hunt, the director of the Lakewood, Colorado-based Centennial Institute, also joins "The Daily Signal Podcast." Hunt's organization this week is hosting the Western Conservative Summit, which includes "live speakers as well as mini-documentaries showcasing Western leaders, Western issues, and the beauty and majesty of the Western United States." We also cover these stories: President Joe Biden arrives at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday and reaffirms America's commitment to the North Atlantic alliance.  Before his meeting with Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin tells NBC that he isn’t able to give his word as to whether or not Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader and critic of Putin, will leave prison alive. Republicans introduce a resolution to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and the other three members of "the Squad" for comments made last week likening the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Tuesday, June 15th. I'm Virginia Allen. And I'm Rachel Dildjudis. Brenda Tillett is the founder and president of Stand Up Virginia, a new organization built to protect the rights of the citizens of Virginia. She joins the Daily Signal podcast to talk about her new organization and how it is safeguarding the rights of the citizens in the state. I also speak with Jeff Hunt, the director of the Centennial Institute, about the Western Conservative Summit. And don't forget, if you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure to leave a review. or a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Today's interviews were recorded during the Heritage Foundation's Resource Bank, so please excuse the background noise and chatter.

Now on to today's top news. President Joe Biden arrived at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels on Monday and reaffirmed America's commitment to NATO. Speaking in front of the press with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Biden said all member nations must recognize the new challenges before them, per the Hill. We have new challenges, and we have Russia that is not acting in a way that is consistent with what we had hoped, and as well as China. And I must say that we had, as preliminary of this, a number of my colleagues, our colleagues who were in the G7 have stepped up as well. in terms of the need for there would be greater coordination than we even have now.

But I want to make it clear. NATO is critically important for U.S. interest in and of itself. If there weren't one, we'd have to invent one. Cybersecurity and climate change were two of the key topics being discussed at the NATO Summit Monday. Before his meeting with President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin told NBC that he, he isn't able to give his word as to whether or not Alexei Nelvani, an opposition leader and critic of Putin will leave prison alive. Putin and Biden will be meeting in Switzerland on Wednesday to discuss Russia's election interference and cyber attacks within the U.S. When question as to

whether Nelvani would leave prison alive, Putin said, look, such decisions in this country are not made by the president. Republicans have introduced a resolution to censure Minnesota Democrat representative Ilhan Omar and the other three members of the squad for comments made last week comparing the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban. Republican representatives Michael Walts of Florida, Jim Banks of Indiana, and Claudia Tenney of New York are leading the resolution effort against the squad members. The group of Republicans argues that Omar and Democrat representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ianna Presley of Massachusetts, and Rashib Talib of Michigan have made comments that publicly support the actions of a recognized

terrorist organization. The resolution lays out a number of arguments against the four Democrat members. It states that Omar accused the United States of backing crimes against humanity. Presley equated support of Israel to supporting oppression, violence, and apartheid. Talib accused the government of Israel of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians and, across Cascio-Cortez accused the government of Israel of committing human rights abuses. If passed, the resolution would not bear any actionable consequences on the squad members, but would formally deem their comments inappropriate. The Justice Department will be reviewing its policies after learning that the Trump administration received records from two Democrats on the House

Intelligence Committee. In a Monday statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, as I stated during my confirmation hearing, political or other improper considerations must play no role in any investigative or prosecutorial decisions. These principles that have long been held as sacrosanct by the DOJ career workforce will be vigorously guarded on my watch, and any failure to live up to them will be met with strict accountability. He added, consistent with our commitment to the rule of law, we must ensure that full weight is accorded to separation of powers concerns moving forward. Now stay tuned for my conversation with Brenda Tillett on Stand Up Virginia. Virginia Allen here.

I want to tell you all about one of my favorite podcasts. Heritage Explains is a weekly podcast that breaks down all the policy issues we hear about in the news at a 101 level. Hosts Michelle Cordero and Tim Desher mix in news clips and music to tell a story, but also bring in heritage experts to help break down complex issues. Heritage Explains offers quick 10 to 50 minute explainers that bring you up to speed in an entertaining way. You can find them on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcast. We even put the full episode on YouTube. I'm joined today on The Daily Signal by Brenda Tillett.

She's the president and founder of Stand Up Virginia. Brenda, it's great to have you back on the Daily Signal. Thank you so much, Rachel. Thank you for having me today. Well, it's great to have you with us. So you started an organization. the 501C4 organization called Stand Up Virginia. Can you tell us about it?

Yes, so Stand Up Virginia actually started originally last summer as Bolster the Blue. My son and I wanted to find a way to show our appreciation to law enforcement officers. And from one kind gesture with a law enforcement officer taking lunch to our local precinct and being asked to speak at a board meeting, I then overnight became an activist, fighting for keeping our police stations funded, trying to protect qualified immunity, and just making sure our communities are safe. And we had so much success with that organization that we were approached by individuals who said, you know, why don't you stretch out across Virginia and let's add some other pillars,

let's find some common values that people who want safe communities and who want to protect law enforcement would also share. So we also focus on teaching our children, making sure they're in schools, that they have an apolitical education and also election integrity, making sure that only those individuals who should vote are voting in jurisdictions. Well, you mentioned Bolster the Blue and that's actually the last time we had you on the podcast was to talk about that. That's one of the projects, Bolster the Blue of your organization now at St. Virginia. Can you tell us about Bullster the Blue and then those other pillars that are under Stand Up Virginia? Yes. So we've had tremendous success with Bolster the Blue

just starting as individuals like me who was, I'm a mom. I have an almost 10-year-old son and I was concerned about public safety. And I decided that the time for sitting back and letting other people fight for me could not continue, that I had to stand up and fight for my son's future and I had to be the one to speak out. And I think what's so unique about that, Rachel, is a lot of people are, they're afraid. They don't have the courage or the boldness to be the one to speak out. And so they want to be involved, but they don't know how to be involved. And so what we do at Stand Up Virginia is we help individuals follow. So you don't have to be the first person to speak out or even the second, be the third, be the fourth, be the fifth, and then your neighbors

will come, and they will see you and they will support you. Other mothers, other dads will see what you're doing, and they'll fight for their children as well and for their communities. So we speak at board meetings, we send emails, we hold community events to increase awareness, we do digital ads, and our whole focus is about increasing awareness and giving people opportunities where they're comfortable to be able to push back and fight back for our values. Well, you're a lot of, well, you're are holding an event sued called Virginia's Freedom Fest. Can you tell us about that and how people, if they're interested, can be involved and can come? Yes, so Freedom Fest is going to be on June 19th, at Bull Run Special Event Center in Centerville. We have an amazing lineup of speakers.

Sheriff David Clark will be coming in from Wisconsin. We have Chris Plant from the Chris Plant show. Also, C.L. Bryant will be there and Pierre Wilson. So we're extremely excited about our lineup of speakers. We're also going to have a DJ and music and food. and you're going to be able to be with families and other like-minded individuals, just having a nice afternoon from two to five. It's a Saturday afternoon in Centerville. Well, another project that Stand Up Virginia has launched is a recall of a source back to turning. Can you tell us about this recall?

What went into it? What's happening? And so that's a great question, Rachel. We did not set out with Stand Up Virginia with an idea to start recalling public officials. Our idea was to increase public awareness and get people to speak out. out for what they believe. And we were approached by many individuals on both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans who touch victims' lives in Fairfax County, people within the government, law enforcement, and they shared stories with us that were so egregious that we could not sit back

any longer and let these policies continue. So in Fairfax County, Steve Descano was funded by George Soros. And there are four other rogue Commonwealth's attorneys in Virginia who were also funded by George Soros. What they do is they go in and they completely dismantle law enforcement. And what do I mean by that? Well, for instance, Steve Descano has a policy that if you're a juvenile, meaning 17 years old, you will not have a public record. You won't have a criminal record. So if you want to get together with your friends who are gang members and beat up a 30-year-old man who's leaving a convenience store, bash his teeth in, leave him bleeding to die, Steve Descano will either bring that down to a misdemeanor or not prosecute you. Those individuals,

are released right back on the streets. They are criminals. They are felons. And law enforcement officers have told us, and we have recorded audio on our Facebook page, Stand Up Virginia, where they tell Steve Descano, these criminals are laughing at us. They're walking right back out onto the streets a week later. We're demoralized. We can't do our jobs with your policies.

Steve Descano said, criminals are voters. Every policy he has protects those individuals who are criminals. The case I just told you or shared with you, Rachel, is an actual case of a 30-year-old man who was beat up in Fairfax County. That's just one policy. Every policy that Steve Descano puts forward is about protecting criminals, making felonies, misdemeanors, releasing people without talking to their parents. We have child sex abuse victims in Fairfax County. The predators have been released back into the community or given a plea deal that is so egregious and so beneath furfax. Virginia state law that it would make your jaw drop and Steve Descano will not even return the calls

to the parents. Numerous cases of that. And so Steve Descanu is just quite simply not doing his job and there are many others like him in Virginia. How would you encourage people in other states? Maybe they're not in Virginia. They want to hold these people accountable. They see your organization and they're like, hey, we have a need for this. How would you encourage them to go about that to hold that accountability? Rachel, that is the best question I have been asked in any interview. and I've never been asked that. The secret to our success has been inside information. So if you want to get started, go to a police department, call some of the police associations,

show up in court and actually watch some court cases. They're open to the public. Go in and see what type of plea deals are offered to these criminals. And once you start showing up, building that rapport and say, I'm willing to speak out, I know you can't because you work within the government, you touch victims' lives, you're a law enforcement officer or whomever you may be. I'm willing to speak out and share that story. We will protest.

We will go to board meetings. They want their story told. All they want is someone who's going to uphold the law, whether it's a Democrat or a Republican, and they can't fight publicly for that, but we can. So give them a voice and be that person who's going to stand in the gap for victims, for law enforcement officers,

and for law-abiding residents, and they will welcome you with open arms. Well, I want to go back to you just for a minute, the whole defund the police movement. We were talking before we sat down right here about how it's been a year since the defund the police movement started and exploded. What do you think of what has happened in the past year? Has the movement gained or lost strength? Like what is your, if you put your finger on the pulse of what's happening, kind of like in that area of support for police, what are you seeing?

Well, we see across the country now that defund the police has actually become refund the police. Because amazingly, when you have policies that are pro-criminal and anti-trial. victim and you start stripping our law enforcement agencies of money, officers don't want to do their jobs anymore. They want to find another profession. They leave. So in Fairfax County, 188 officers have already left this last year. And that's a recipe for disaster.

We see it happening with crime spiking. And I reference Fairfax County because that's what I'm so familiar with. But this is happening all across the country. So we know that the second stage of this, the first stage was the protesting, the burning of cities, small businesses, many of which were owned by minorities, and really standing up, speaking out, twisting the arms of Board of Supervisors members and state legislators to have ordinances and laws passed that are not good for law enforcement to defund them. The second stage of this is now Commonwealth's attorneys or county attorneys, depending where you live, who are just going to

brazenly ignore law, release criminals back into the streets, demoralize law enforcement officers to the point where they leave on their own accord inciting a mass exodus and from that they can completely just reform and restructure what law enforcement looks like in the United States and the end game is a national law enforcement controlled by the federal government

and we've already seen what the federal government has done in schools so I don't think there's any fault whatsoever anyone should believe that if the government takes over law enforcement that that's going to look any better than our schools do right now and we know our schools are a disaster. Well, what are you hearing in terms of what you're doing with Stand Up for America or Stand Up Virginia and even Bolster the Blue from residents in Virginia about the work you're doing? Are they really receptive?

Are people wanting to get involved? What are you hearing from the people that you live with and work with? People are excited. Specifically in Virginia, that's where I have my relationships. Stand Up Virginia has given people an option. It's given people a platform and a structure, people to follow. Again, we talked about that earlier, to be able to feel that you're around other people who feel the same way you do. You're not isolated.

You're not alone. You're not the minority. People who want safe streets and safe communities for their children are the majority. Everyone does, right? People who want public schools that are free from political agendas, who teach history as it was written, who celebrate the self-worth of children and don't teach them to self-deprecate. that's what we all want for our children. So that crosses party lines. We're finding at Stand Up Virginia that everyone is reaching out to us.

Minorities are reaching out to us. Democrats and Republicans are reaching out to us. And they're asking, how can I get involved? I may not be able to show up at a rally publicly, but can I be on your email list? Can I share emails? Can I come to Freedom Fest on June 19th? You know, can I donate to you? Can I help support your efforts?

No one at Stand Up Virginia is paid. We are all volunteers. So when we create signs to go and protest, or when we do a digital ad online, or when we go out and try to get these signatures to recall Steve Descano and we're launching another recall very soon, all of that is funded by people who say, I'll stand in the gap. I'll stand in the gap for a victim. I'll stand in the gap for a law enforcement officer. I can't come out publicly, but I'm going to support you with $20 a month as an example. And so everybody pulling together is where we're seeing that huge success and momentum. That's really inspiring. And I feel like when we see news stories today about all the bad things that are happening, stuff that's going on in Portland with Antifa and just around the country and even the world, it is really inspiring to hear that there are people who are engaged who are civically minded and who care about their communities and want to see them flourish rather than deteriorate.

That's awesome. Before we close, I wanted to ask you, Brenda, you mentioned being a mom. How do you balance everything? Your activism, being a mom, what kind of encouraging words would you give to moms out there who maybe want to get involved but feel like they can't? or are looking for something to put their efforts towards with something they really believe in. What would you say to them? So, Rachel, my son just wrote a card for me recently this last week,

and it said, I love my mom, and it listed a few reasons why. And he said, one of them was because my mom fights for Virginia for my future. And he's 10. So he knows about Stand at Virginia, and he knows why mom is doing what she's doing and why all of us are joining together. The greatest gift we have in life is what we leave to those in the future who come behind us. For some of us, that will be our children, for some of us that will be people we mentor. But it's not the here and now.

It's what happens after we're gone. And I always think about that. And I think, what do I want my legacy to be? Do I want to be the person who sat in the background who was too afraid and too scared and thought someone else would do my job? Or am I going to take ownership for my son's future? Am I going to take ownership for the victim who can't speak? English well who's left in court to defend herself against a criminal defense attorney after she

was battered for years by her boyfriend and Steve Descanos sent no one to represent her or prosecute that case, which happens all the time. Am I going to be that person or am I going to be the person who bends, who folds and fails? And I'm choosing to be the strong person, the strong leader. So for any woman who's listening, any father, any mother, anyone who wants to get involved, Just take that first step. Find someone else who's already stepping forward and follow them. You don't have to be the leader because being a leader can be scary. It can be scary to have the strategy or to have the messaging.

Connect with people who are already like-minded on Facebook or within your community and follow them and just show up and stand and listen and learn. And then you'll see what others are doing and you can take steps to encourage others in your community. Well, Brenda, thank you so much for joining us on the Daily Signal. It's great having you with us. Thank you. And I just want to remind people go to our website, standup virginia.com, please, and become a member. Get on our email list and join us at Freedom Fest. Do you have an interest in public policy? Do you want to hear some of the biggest names in American politics speak? The Heritage Foundation hosts webinars called Heritage Events Live. These webinars are free and open to the public. To find the latest webinars and register, visit heritage.org slash events.

I'm joined today on the Daily Signal podcast by Jeff Hunt. He's the director of the Centennial Institute. Jeff, it's great to have you on the Daily Signal podcast. Rachel, great to be with you. I'm a huge fan of the Daily Signal and the Heritage Foundation. It is really an honor to be with you all. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for making time to come on.

So I wanted to talk about this year's Western Conservative Summit. So, Jeff, can you start off by telling us about the work that you all do as well as the summit that's coming up? Absolutely. The Western Conservative Summit is the largest annual gathering of conservatives in the Western United States. This will be our 12th year meeting. It is hosted by the Centennial Institute and Colorado Christian University. So the university and its effort to impact our culture and support of the conservative worldview hosts this event. And it is just a fantastic gathering of intellectual conservatives, grassroots conservatives, all getting together in Denver, Colorado. to advance the conservative worldview in the Western United States. Well, tell us more about what the summit will look like. Can you kind of preview what speakers will be coming and maybe preview to a few topics that will be discussed?

Absolutely. Now, the Western Conservative Summit is in partnership with the Heritage Foundation, so they've been a wonderful friend of this event over the years, and we're so grateful to have them back again this year. So we will have speakers from the Heritage Foundation, but we're going to really focus in on Western issues. We want the nation to understand how the issues taking place in the Western United States affect everybody. So not only will we have live speakers.

We've got great speakers like Brandon Tatum, who's going to be talking about policing and racial issues. We've got Chad Wolf, the former acting director of Homeland Security. He's going to be talking about immigration issues. Lauren Bobert, the representative from Colorado, will be speaking. Andy No, the journalist that's really taking. on Antifa and exposing what they're trying to do to our country. He'll be speaking there as well. Lila Rose, the wonderful pro-life leader, and Jack Phillips, the baker we all love,

who's standing strong for his values, will also be speaking there. And then we have Victor Davis Hansen from the Hoover Institute out at Stanford. He'll be addressing us live as well. But what we've also done is we've gone all over the Western United States for the past few months and filmed Western leaders discussing Western issues. And so, for instance, we've been filming on Western energy issues and how energy independence is critical for our country. And if the current administration really seeks to shut down energy independence in the Western United States, that's going to affect everybody.

We talk about Western land issues, all these forest fires that are taking place as a result of federal kind of management of Western land. That affects everybody in this country. So we're going to highlight those issues as well as have live speakers. It's a wonderful opportunity for you to really understand what's going on in the Western United States and why these issues are unique. You know, there's a lot of conferences out there, a lot of conservative conferences, but this one's really going to highlight what's happening out West. We did a video on the Second Amendment and why that's important, and even rodeo values.

We went to the rodeo with Alan West and Louis Gohmert and Ted Cruz is part of that video as well, talking about how we still have a sport. in America that stands for the flag that's not afraid of faith and family and is proud of our country. So we'll be showcasing the American rodeo as well. How unique. That's a really cool, cool way to educate people. I actually wanted to ask you, Jeff, you mentioned all these different issues, the Western issues, and then just other larger issues that are important to Americans across the country. And I wanted to ask you, given all the different topics you're going to be covering and looking at during the summit. Are there any

topics that you're most excited about or that you feel are particularly timely for the current political and cultural climate? Oh, gosh, that's a great question. You know, what I want people to understand, and it's really important for our country, unfortunately, the Western United States is drifting hard to the left. We used to kind of just laugh off the left coast, right, like Washington, Oregon, California. But if you look at the most recent presidential election, Joe Biden not only won those three states. He won Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado. Now, we're not in the business of getting anybody elected.

We're a nonpartisan event, but with that administration comes certain issues and policies, and that's really what we're focused in on. But it's really, really important for the people to understand that the Western United States is drifting to the left. And that's going to have huge impact for our entire country. So what I would like to see out of this summit and what I'm really excited about is I think our nation needs a movement to engage the Western United States to bring this back into the conservative camp. We need conservative policy leaders. We need conservative issues and conservative policies in this part of the country that is going to help the entire country.

And if we don't get that right, you're going to see other states start to fall in the Western United States. and this has got dramatic policy impact on the entire country. Well, I know you mentioned that a lot of issues being covered is issues of the Western part of the United States, but also we're talking about how the reach of the summit has grown. Can you talk about what the reach is and who all will be participating, whether it's in person or virtually? Yeah, so the Western Conservative Summit for many years, averaged about 2,300 attendees from about 40 states. Last year we went online and had over 300,000 views of the summit with people registering from all 50 states. So this really has become a national event, and we want to encourage everyone to be a part of this,

because you're going to be inspired, truly inspired by the great leaders we have in this country, and you're going to be educated on these issues and why they're so important. Why is the Second Amendment so important? It has nothing to do with personal defense. And it absolutely has nothing to do with hunting, even though we enjoy hunting. But that's not what the Second Amendment is about. Second Amendment is about protecting us from government tyranny. And so you're going to be educated on really the basic foundational principles of this country,

and then you're going to be inspired to action. You're going to be able to partner with groups like the Heritage Foundation, learn how you can get involved with Heritage because they're equipping. They really are. They're equipping conservatives across this country to make a different. in their community. We were interviewing Lauren Bobert and Antonia Oka for Covert and Bobby Daniel about the Second Amendment, about getting involved in their communities.

And what was great about Lauren Bobert, she's a representative from the third district of Colorado, is that, you know, she just was an average leader in her community that wanted to make a difference. She doesn't have an Ivy League education. She was a business owner. She was a mom. and she just kind of said, I'm not going to let these people run my country anymore in this direction. So I'm going to get involved.

And she stepped up. She won her congressional primary. She won her general election. And now she's in Washington, D.C., making a difference for this country. That's what we want to see out of the Western Conservative Summit. We need regular people. I'm tired of the elites. I'm tired of the people that have never set foot in the Western United States

telling us what to do with our part of the country. We need people in their community is willing to step up and make a difference, and that's what you'll get from the Western Conservative Summit. And you'll be able to watch online. All of our tickets are pretty much sold out, so you can watch online for free. If you go to Western Conservatives Summit.com, it's June 18th and 19th. So coming up very, very soon, June 18th and 19th, Western Conservatives Summit.com, register to watch it for free.

Well, on that note, Jeff, I wanted to ask you for maybe people who will be watching online or maybe they have a crazy work schedule and can't tune in. Is there anything you want people to know about what will be happening or why this is important, maybe if they can't tune in even virtually? Yeah, great question, Rachel. We really need a Western conservative political philosophy to inform this country. It's different. It's different than Eastern conservatives.

It's different than Southern conservatives. a little different than Midwestern conservatives. We have kind of a different worldview just because of the issues we have to deal with. The federal government owns 50% of the land in the Western United States. This is land

we can't tax, we can't develop on, our gas and oil regulations are restricted on. We face unique challenges, and so the way that we look at the world, the issues we have to deal with are very unique from the rest of the country, but our principles are the same. We believe in

faith. We believe in family. We believe in freedom. We believe those are critical to the health of this nation. And so let's unite together. Let's support a Western conservatism. Let's engage this part of the country. I think there will be a time when California is back in the conservative column. I think there will be a time when Oregon and Washington are back in the country. I know it's hard. I know it's hard to believe that. But we need to make that effort to bring conservative principles to these states that are failing. I think a lot of us saw recently, I mean, California is filled with problems right now. Portland's murder rate is up 800% over where it was previously. All these states are having huge problems. In the conservative public policies, the conservative

worldview is the right direction for these states to go if they want to reclaim a bit of sanity. And so that's what I hope people will do. These states are not lost. The Western United States is not lost, but we need to engage, and we really need to band together and organize and bring about a change in the Western United States that saves these states from the perils of leftism. Well, Jeff, you already kind of hit on this a little bit, but I wanted to ask just big picture, regardless of – I know we talked about some of the issues that the Western conservatives have to deal with and what you all just deal with in the West in general. What's your perspective on the conservative movement right now as a whole big picture? I think it's great. I really like where it's at.

I've been involved with the conservative movement since 2006, so I'm going on 14, 15 years now. And I'm very excited for where it is because the conservative movement is a blend. And this is what I really love about the Western Conservative Summit is you have grassroots conservatives. I mean, these people are fantastic. They are so passionate. They want to bring about change in their time. communities. They're eager. They're fired up. They want to do something. They're running for office. They're organizing. They're volunteering. They're getting engaged. I love grassroots

conservatives. I also really appreciate, and us being part of a university, like Colorado Christian University, we really appreciate deep thought when it comes to the conservative movement, the Edmund Burke's of the world, the people that have really laid the philosophical foundation of the conservative movement. And so I'm excited that the conservative movement includes both. You know, what President Trump was able to do to bring in grassroots conservatives was tremendous. And you pair that with a deep intellectual foundation of conservatism. People like Robert George that are out there right now, Albert Mueller.

These are great thinkers. Edwin Meese, Ms. Kay Coles, James. These are all great thinkers, and when you're able to pair those together, you have a movement that can really bring about great change in this country. And so I'm very excited about where the conservative movement is right now. Well, on that note, are there any specific challenges or opportunities you see going forward as places where people can zero in on and say, hey, this is a place where we have a challenge or an opportunity? Let's tackle that. Yes. So great question, Rachel.

I think conservatives have that unique moment right now to speak into a crumbling society that has rejected family, that has embraced drug use. We have these tent cities that have popped up all over our cities. I mean, Denver has this huge problem. Portland, California has all these tent cities. What are people doing in those tents? They're on drugs. and so what leftism has done is absolutely destroyed these cities. It's destroyed the policing in these cities.

It's destroyed the families in these cities. It's destroyed the livelihoods and futures and potentials of young people in these cities. And conservatives who come with this wonderful message that family matters, the individual responsibility matters, that work matters, that policing matters. I think we can run I think conservatives could run simply on the message of you know make crime illegal

again and I know there are some people out there running on that message but that's where conservatives have tremendous opportunity we've allowed leftism to take its course and to play itself out and it's not working

the schools aren't working the government's too overburdensome there's too much drug use happening there's too much violence happening. So we're turning to the basic tenets of conservatism, which are liberty, order, and justice. Those three have to work together. If we don't have those together, then conservatism or our society doesn't work. So it's not just about freedom.

You can't just do whatever you want. You need to have self-governance and order. We believe in an ordered liberty conservatives do. So our liberty has to achieve an end in itself. It's about serving our families. It's about making our communities better. And then we need justice. We need good policing.

And so the basic tenets of conservatism are ripe for this age. And if we are not willing to engage, we're going to watch our communities continue to stumble and fall apart. Well, as we wrap off, Jeff, I wanted to ask you about one more thing in regards to the summit. So the president of the Heritage Foundation, K.K.K.K.K.K. James will be receiving the Armstrong Award. Can you tell us about the award and why Mrs. James is receiving it? absolutely we are honored oh what an honor to have mrs k coals james the recipient of the

2021 william l armstrong award this award is given to national leaders who are committed to the american ideal and our previous winners have included dennis prager dr james doveson robert george edwin meese and now mrs k cole's james she has been a tremendous leader a lot of lifetime of service to our nation. And she has made the nation so much better. She really has, because of her, America is better. And we wanted to honor her. And so we actually filmed, bestowing the award to her ahead of time.

The Armstrong family flew out and got to meet with her and give her the award. And so you'll get a chance to understand her background, the life that she has led, the book she has written, the impact she's made. So you get a chance to see that in our little mini documentary about her. But what a fitting person to receive the William Mell Armstrong Award. Bill Armstrong, who was the president of Colorado Christian University, helped found the Centennial Institute. He was a two-term U.S. senator from Colorado and a man of deep faith.

Most importantly, he was a man of deep faith. And as a result, he had a great impact on our nation. And so we give the award out to someone who's made a big difference. And Mrs. K. Coles, James, has done that. And we're so honored to be able to give her that award this year. Well, Jeff, thank you so much for joining us on the Daily Signal podcast and talking more about the Western Conservatives Summit. It's been great having you.

Oh, it's been great to be with you as well. We've got folks from the Heritage Foundation that will be here, and you'll be able to see them online at this year's summit as well. So be sure to tune in if you're a fan of the Heritage Foundation, like we are. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal podcast. You could find the Daily Signal podcast on Google Play, Apple Podcast, Spotify, and IHeart

Radio. Please be sure to leave us a review and a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Thanks again for listening and we'll be back with you all tomorrow. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. It is executive produced by Kate Trinko and Rachel Del Judas, sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. For more information, visitdailysignal.com.