Anticipating a favorable outcome to the November elections, the National Review is already advertising its post-election cruise. For about $2,000, you can spend a week listening to and rubbing shoulders with the following line-up of “conservative stars”:

Former Congressman Col. Allen West,

Acclaimed historian Victor Davis Hanson,

Former US Senators Jon Kyl and Fred Thompson,

Former governors Tim Pawlenty (MN) and Luis Fortuño (PR),

Legal experts John Yoo, Cleta Mitchell, Ed Whelan, and William Jacobson (publisher of the popular Legal Insurrection blog),

Liberal-media scourges Brent Bozell and Christian Robey,

Syndicated columnists Cal Thomas, Mona Charen and Deroy Murdock,

Top political strategists Ralph Reed and Ned Ryun,

Townhall.com political editor Guy Benson,

Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips,

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez,

City Journal editor Brian Anderson,

Claremont Review of Books editor Charles Kesler,

NRO editors-at-large Jonah Goldberg and Kathryn Jean Lopez,

NR editor Rich Lowry,

Terrorism and defense experts Bing West, Andrew McCarthy, and John Hillen,

Policy experts Sally Pipes, Christina Hoff Sommers, and Jennifer Marshall,

Best-selling novelist Michael Walsh,

NR senior editors Jay Nordlinger and Ramesh Ponnuru,

NR essayists Charles Cooke and Kevin Williamson,

NR columnists Rob Long and James Lileks,

Ace political writers John Fund, Jim Geraghty, John J. Miller, and

NR cartoonist Roman Genn.

 

It took me three or four tries before I could get past the first name on the list.

Yes, Allen West is the headliner.

We would surely miss him if he would ever actually stay away.

 

Here’s a list of Allen West’s 15 most memorable pronouncements, courtesy of Zachary Bernstein at ThinkProgress. I have picked my top five. You can find the other ten at: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/02/16/417174/allen-west-15-worst-quotes/

(2) JOSEPH GOEBBELS WOULD “BE VERY PROUD” OF DEMOCRATS: In December, West told reporters, “If Joseph Goebbels was around, he’d be very proud of the Democrat party, because they have an incredible propaganda machine.” The link to Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945, drew criticism from several members of Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, and others.

(9) I AM “THE MODERN-DAY HARRIET TUBMAN”: Speaking with O’Reilly Factor guest host Laura Ingraham in August 2011, West said the Democratic party is a “21st-century plantation.” He added, “So I’m here as the modern-day Harriet Tubman, to kind of lead people on the Underground Railroad, away from that plantation into a sense of sensibility.”

(11) “WE ALSO SHOULD BE CENSORING THE AMERICAN NEWS AGENCIES”: In response to the whistleblower website Wikileaks releasing thousands of pages of diplomatic cables, West declared: “And I think that we also should be censoring the American news agencies which enabled [Julian Assange] to do this and also supported him and applauding him for the efforts.” West later claimed he only called for “censuring” the media. Either way, it would be a First Amendment violation.

(12) “I DON’T KNOW IF IT WAS A KIDNAPPING ATTEMPT”: When West first ran for Congress in 2008, the Arab news network Al Jazeera asked for an interview. West recalled, “But my b.s. flag really went up when [Al Jazeera] said they wanted my address, to pick me up at night. They said they would send a car but wouldn’t tell me where it was going. I don’t know if it was a kidnapping attempt. But I am not going to entrust Al Jazeera with my life. I said, ‘Cancel the interview!’”

(15) DEMOCRATS SUPPORT “MOST INSIDIOUS FORM OF SLAVERY”: Just yesterday, West accused Democrats of supporting the worst form of slavery known today. “The Democratic appetite for ever-increasing redistributionary handouts is in fact the most insidious form of slavery remaining in the world today,” West said.