Five years ago I put up a post on RedState asking if any of the long time readers, diarists, and commenters wanted to get together in person. We had been online four years at that point.To my surprise, several hundred said yes. So we met in Atlanta five years ago this weekend. The first weekend in August ever since we have met. Our second year, Rick Perry threw a welcome party, thus starting the tradition of Governors welcoming us to their state. Tomorrow night, Bobby Jindal will do the same here in New Orleans.Each year we have featured solid conservative leaders we are proud to stand behind, solid conservative candidates we want to see elected, and sound voices from the movement who should be heard.The Gathering never attracts a lot of media attention, save for 2011 when Rick Perry announced his Presidency at the RedState Gathering. We never were designed as a CPAC or other large convention. This is about conservative activists interacting with those they help elect. Questions are asked and answers, speeches are made, and a good time is had as we prepare ourselves for the fight ahead.We’ve never had a set theme, but this year it seems pretty clear there is a theme of disruption within the GOP — fighting within to defund Obamacare, challenging incumbents to move to the right in states where it is possible, and fighting the Democrats within the moral parameters of freedom.We Gathering in New Orleans as friends and happy warriors fighting for a better, freer America.