LA was not the only city spending money to honor the "king of pop." As reported from On the Beat: ..."Things were far more low-key in Raleigh, where several hundred people gathered for a remembrance service. There were many multiples more empty chairs than people inside the cavernous Raleigh Convention Center. That added up to a financial disaster for event organizer Bruce Lightner, who thought the event would draw at least 5,000 people. The actual turnout was less than a tenth of that, which Lightner said that left him with $20,000 in bills to cover rent and expenses. "I don't know where the money's coming from," he said afterward. "I'll probably have to get a loan from the bank to pay it off. But I've learned a valuable lesson. Sometimes you have to say no. It was a mistake on my part to attempt to do this."" More money spent when NC can't afford it. So much for a thriller.

Worth every penny?

Absolutely. The problem with the conservative movement is NOT that people disagree with conservative tenets, but rather a lack of conservative politicians actually willing to step out and champion truly conservative points. Moderating the conservative message not only affects a small portion of voters (thank you Chris for data to support this) but it actually hurts the conservative movement. The “conservative-turned-moderate” waters down conservatism and when the public wakes up to decide it doesn’t actually like what is going on, conservatives take the fall… but maybe the moderate agenda isn’t actually part of the conservative movement to begin with?