COP on the Hill: Stories from the weeks of January 20 & 27, 2017

COP on the Hill:

Stories from the week of January 20 & 27, 2017

Inaugural Balls: Karen and I attended the Texas ball on Thursday evening. Our first two in 09 and 13 were not only enjoyable, they were productive as I had solid chats with a number of VIPs. Sadly, this year was a bust for politics. We had a good time.

On Friday MPP invited me to the Liberty Ball at the Library of Congress. This was both enjoyable and productive. Marijuana reformers filled a table of 12, I had chat with many guests (most chats started with: “love your hat” to which I replied, “You should see the horse that goes under it.” and much was discussed over excellent food and drink . Whereas the Texas ball had some 12,000 attending (making it a mad house), this one only had 425, allowing for more contacts and enjoyable, quiet conversations.

Will the center hold? Don Murphy of MPP and I drove to Philadelphia on Wednesday to mingle at the Republican national retreat. Fortune favoring the bold, we just walked up to the police barricades, acted like we owned the place and voila, the Sergeant let us pass into the venue hotel. I had solid chats with 4 House Reps and two Senators that first night.

About 8PM a crowd of 4-500 gathered on the opposite side of the street and they were in an ugly mood. The police moved 100 officers to keep them away from the venue…it was a bit tense for an hour or so. The highlight was Congressman Peter King (R-NY) who asked Don to take some fotos outside (see below). That led to a 10-minute social chat inside and now both he and Cman Donavan know me as “The Cowboy.”

Socks Optional: The next night (after Trump and Pence were there) the security was even tighter. Don led the way and another Sgt escorted us a block and half to the venue. Cman Yoho of Florida (and a solid leader in ending MJ prohibition) invited us to his table for drinks… His first question was to ask Don if he were wearing socks (Don has a reputation of not)…which lasted a half hour…. Cman Rohrabacher and I discussed 1968 Prague events…wow..Seven hours later we returned to our hotel (across the street) happy with our many chats with Members of Congress and the national media. Thank you Don and MPP for suggesting and planning these two days.

This week’s stats:

2 meetings

25 major conferences attended – (United Nations drug conf, CPAC, LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc) 01 this week

161 personal chats with a Member of Congress.. 14 this week ( all Republican )
139 interviews and reports in minor media = 03 this week.
72 Radio Interviews. 01 this week

COP stats since inception: August 2009
2287 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 00 this week
205 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc. 0 this week

84 published letters to the editor (value per MAPINC in free publicity: $83,000).. 0 this week
42 published interviews/foto in major (daily) newspapers or magazine… 0 this week
62 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media..This week (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR)…02 this week (NBC twice)
* 2 editorials in daily papers mentioning Howard’s efforts & in support of COP position
Weekly attendance at Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 150 conservative leaders. Named the “Grand Central Station of the Conservative Movement.”
* Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. 30 dollars buys all the copy paper COP uses in one year. Law Enforcement’s voice in opposition to current policy is vital on the Hill to achieve a repeal of federal prohibition. COP provides that voice. www.citizensopposingprohibition.org