Schilling Purloins Geller Panel, Takes Bow In @Politico

Stalin was known for erasing his political opponents’ very existence: not only would he execute them, but he would have old photos retouched so that they were no longer present. This Politico article is Stalinesque. Although I originated this panel, gave it its title and focus, and invited all those who are speaking, I am not mentioned in this article at all. Terry Schilling, who had nothing to do with the conceptualization or organization of this panel at all, takes credit for it all.

What a lie.

I connected with him for the first time this past Monday, when Dan Schneider, Executive Director of the American Conservative Union, said Schilling had a room he wasn’t using and that I could hold my panel in it. I had the panel all planned and in place.

When I said to Schilling that he should say a few words at the event, which was an AFDI event that was only being held under the auspices of Schilling’s American Principles Project because CPAC wouldn’t have it any other way, he said, “Oh no, I know nothing about this subject. I could be there and do the intro or something. I don’t have the expertise, so I couldn’t do the panel.” And I said, “Well, yes, you should make some introductory remarks,” as a kind gesture.

In the Politico piece, Schilling makes this incredible boldfaced lie: “The panel was organized by the think tank American Principles Project…” What is he talking about? They never had a panel. They had an empty room. That’s how it was offered to me – as an empty room in which I could put a panel discussion. It was a small available space that came with APP’s CPAC sponsorship package. It was offered to me this past Monday. APP had nothing going on, no new panel to put together. I organized the entire event.

Whatever else Terry Schilling may be, he is a skillful and habitual liar.

“Speaker pulled from panel alongside CPAC over Florida shooting controversy,” by Cristiano Lima, Politico, February 21, 2018:

A speaker has been pulled from a panel planned to coincide with the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference after his website propagated evidence-free theories about survivors of last week’s Florida high school shooting, a representative for the group organizing the discussion said Wednesday.

Jim Hoft, founder of Gateway Pundit, a conservative site that has previously shared false stories, was slated to speak on a panel on “Social Media Censorship.” The panel was organized by the think tank American Principles Project and other groups and was to occur on the sidelines of the annual summit of conservative political figures on Friday.

American Principles Project’s executive director, Terry Schilling, said Wednesday that Hoft was pulled from the lineup after Gateway Pundit suggested without evidence that students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were coached to criticize President Donald Trump’s response to the shooting.

“The reason that Jim Hoft is not allowed to be on this panel is because of his unfair and distracting coverage of the Florida shooting,” Schilling said.

Hoft claimed Wednesday that CPAC had moved to “censor” his voice by canceling his participation, but APP later announced the event would go on without him.

“The topic of censorship of conservative views by big tech companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter — especially in the wake of last night’s #TwitterLockout — is very important,” Schiller said in a statement, referring to the recent purge of social media accounts on the network. “We will be holding the panel as scheduled.”

Earlier this week, Gateway Pundit published an article that baselessly claimed that a shooting survivor, David Hogg, was “coached” to attack the president. Hogg and students from the Parkland high school have gained prominence in the past week as advocates against gun violence.

The Gateway Pundit article said Hogg had been “astonishingly articulate and highly skilled at propagating a new anti-Conservative/anti-Trump narrative behind the recent school shooting.” The site suggested that Hogg was critical of Trump because his father is a former FBI agent….

Schilling said Gateway Pundit’s actions were not representative of conservative ideals.

“That’s not what conservatism is about,” he told POLITICO. “Conservatism is about arguments and ideas. We’re sticking to policy, and we’re going to have a high-minded discussion.”