Cheney To Address Secret Group

[Gold9472]

Cheney to address secret group
The conservative Council for National Policy will meet in downtown Salt Lake

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7001456

By Thomas Burr
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 09/26/2007 02:11:44 AM MDT

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney will speak to a super-secret, conservative policy group in Utah on Friday during his second trip to the state this year.

Cheney will address the fall meeting of the Council for National Policy, a group whose self-described mission is to promote "a free-enterprise system, a strong national defense and support for traditional Western values."

The organization - made up of few hundred powerful conservative activists - holds confidential meetings and members are advised not to use the name of the group in communications, according to a New York Times profile of the group.

"The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs, before [or] after a meeting,'' a list of rules obtained by The Times showed. The group did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Czech Republic President Václav Klaus is also expected to address the Council for National Policy's meeting in downtown Salt Lake City. After his speech, Cheney will meet with Klaus, the vice president's office said Tuesday.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, will also be in Utah on Friday but his campaign did not respond to a question about whether he would talk with the group.

Cheney's visit is expected to be short, only a few hours, according to people familiar with the trip's details. The trip coincides with fundraisers in California, Colorado, Nevada and Wyoming, Cheney's spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said.

All of the events on the trip are closed to the public and the news media, McBride said.

Cheney last visited the state April 26 to give the commencement speech at Brigham Young University.

[simuvac]

Maybe if there weren't so many secret groups on the Right, there wouldn't be so many conspiracy theorists on the Left?

[Gold9472]

Cheney to address top secret conservative policy group

http://rawstory.com//news/2007/Cheney_to_address_top_secret_conservative_0928.htm l

Jason Rhyne
Published: Friday September 28, 2007

An ultra-secret conservative group -- so secret that members don't even use the group's name in communications -- will feature Vice President Dick Cheney as a speaker at a meeting in Utah today.

"Cheney will address the fall meeting of the Council for National Policy, a group whose self-described mission is to promote 'a free-enterprise system, a strong national defense and support for traditional Western values," according to the Salt Lake City Tribune.

Founded in 1981 by Tim LaHaye, the co-author of the popular post-apocalyptic Christian-themed Left Behind books, the group holds confidential meetings three times a year attended by a small but powerful cadre of top conservatives.

"The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs, before of after a meeting," one of the group's rules reads, according to a New York Times profile of the organization in 2004.

"The membership list is 'strictly confidential," said the Times. "Guests may attend 'only with the unanimous approval of the executive committee."

"In e-mail messages to one another," the paper continued, "members are instructed not to refer to the organization by name, to protect against leaks."

"We do not lobby Congress, support candidates, or issue public policy statements on controversial issues," the group states on its website. Members "meet to share the best information available on national and world problems, know one another on a personal basis, and collaborate in achieving their shared goals."

"Czech Republic President Václav Klaus is also expected to address the Council for National Policy's meeting in downtown Salt Lake City," the Tribune reports, adding that GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will also be in Utah, but did not respond to the paper about whether or not he would be attending the meeting.

"Many current and former members politely said they would prefer not to speak on the organization's behalf," ABC's Marc Ambinder said in an earlier behind-the-scenes piece focusing on the group. "Those who did respond to telephone and e-mail messages declined to talk about their interest in the organization. More than a dozen did not respond at all."

Cheney's speech and other events of his trip, which coincides with a fundraising swing through West, is closed to the public and the press, according to the Tribune.

[dMole]

Hey all,

Gawwd, I'm glad I didn't know the vice-prez-in-Thief was in town yesterday!! As to the the likely "super secret" organization(s) let me hereby "out" the "Eagle Forum" and the "Eagle Foundation" that are usually located on South Temple Street in SLC, UT-- one's a nice "ladies" group and one's for the politico hubbies. I'm pretty distant from the Republi-fascsists, but my shovel is pretty sharp and I'm in that neck of the woods and could dig for specific requests...

Aug, for the record-- I was NOWHERE near the grassy knoll, or the sewer grate, or the Book Depository... One what...?

[simuvac]

Dude! Cheney's a member of Fight Club!

[dMole]

Hi Simuvac,

Hell, he's got my vote for anti-christ! (If the foo shits...)