Instead, the organizers of CPAC apparently searched the four corners of the globe to assemble a “legion of doom”-style roster—a collection of some of the worst “conservative” supervillains who generally share a populist, ethno-nationalist brand of politics (and some, I assume, are good people). Of course, it’s not just Le Pen. The lineup is a veritable murderer’s row of nationalists, including UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Jeanine Pirro, and Seb Gorka—and a panel titled: “Kim Jong Un-iversity: How College Campuses are Turning into Reeducation Camps.”

In fairness, after years of dumbed-down speakers (and this happened long before Schlapp took over), it’s unclear to me why this is a surprise to anyone. Not long ago, the keynote address of the conference involved Sarah Palin making references to her “rack” while drinking a Big Gulp. Why do we expect things to change? As New York Times columnist Ross Douthat observed, it’s “not clear to me that we should be worried about a conference that features Sheriff David Clarke as a luminary of conservatism sullying itself somehow with its other invitations.”