I arrived too late to hear the invocation by Father Frank Pavone. Tony Perkins opened the show, then Mike Pence followed, then Mitt Romney - with a speech that seemed tailored for a 2008 presidential run

(Romney cited the bringing of "freedom" to Afghanistan and Iraq).

Now, a "power panel" including Tony Perkins and James Dobson rules the floor....

Tony Perkins notes that 16 states have passed constitutionnal amendments against same sex marriage...

One of one the notable features of the morning sessions was the notable sub-focus on demonized nations -

[ Dobson ] "Tony you're the man, but can I change the subject ? I want to tell you what's stuck in my craw.... and I mentioned this in the capital last night. I absolutely cannot believe that two days ago Yugo Chavez came to the United Nations and attacked our president viciously and called him a devil and said that - in essence - the platform where he stood stinks and smells like sulfur. And, there has hardly been a statement of defense out of Congress. There's been no OUTRAGE... there's been a few little pantywaist comments....

( applause )

....I was watching FOX news...yesterday afternoon.... and I can't remember who they had on - I think it was a former ambassador - but he was sayin' something like "we really do need to work harder at making friends" and I wanted to throw up. I mean honestly, it made me ill. Here is the president of the United States - whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, he was elected...

( applause )

This NUT stated there that they're working on nuclear weapons and they want to bring us down !... Do we believe 'em ? You know, Adolf Hitler in 1938 or 1939, wrote in Mein Kampf that, that, uh they were going to kill the Jews people - I mean they were, he was very clear about the assault that they were going to - make that he was going to make, and people didn't believe him. And now, we are told these things by Iran, by other Muslim countries, that uh they're going to destroy Israel, incinerate it, that they are going to take us down, and the liberals say whup du dee dee [ or something like that ]"

[ Alan Sears ] ... I spent about five years working in antiterrorism back in the 80's before it was a big deal in the United States, but even at that time the rise of the Islamic radicals were a threat internationally. I don't think, as Americans, we don't understand their mindset. These people do not want to sit down at the table and negotiate with us as some of the Democrats have said. The only table they want to negotiate with us at is one that's rigged with explosives. They want to kill us. And we cannot equivocate, we cannot back down, and the the the opposition that the president is receiving is sending a message across the world that we're not serious about defending freedom here or abroad and it's dangerous for the future of our country and this in large part what this election is about in November.

[ Speaker unclear - Perkins or Sears ] And remember, it's the same ACLU that's trying to limit your religious freedom, that is the number one censor of religious liberty in this country... that alliance is we were talking about the ACLU's challenges on national defense issues and I said there's one statistic - tragically in Iran - or Iraq - last year there were over 10,000 people killed by terrorist acts. There were zero killed in America. Something must be working here.

[ Dobson ] With regard to the war on terror I really do see the War On Terror as a family values issues.... I'm not saying that all Muslims are violent [ but ] ... a small percentage of a very big number is a big number.... what if 4% want to take us down ?.... that are willing to give their LIVES for it ? What if it's 4 % - that's 48 million people in this world who want to kill us. What it if 1/10th of one percent ? We're in a war and it's time that we recognize it."

Then, Dobson followed with a long anecdote on bear hunting - about a bear he'd succesfully shot - with a jibe thrown in about it perhaps being a liberal bear - which focused on the claim that he was at one point in serious danger from the bear.

Now, it's question and answer period.

question: "We are having a fight in New York State. Will you help us to make sure that whatever happens in New York State [ re same sex marriage ] that it's not exported to the world..."

At the moment, James Dobson is outlining why the US is a representative republic and not a democracy....