E!!

Got an email from an old friend who found me not here.

Should’ve posted a “Gone Fishin’” sign (and have done so now).

I’ll be back someday (when the time is right), but in the meantime here is where to find me these days:

– Editing and managing the Nevada News Bureau

– Blogging on The Blog there (now branded E!!Politics)

– Doing political analysis & commentary wherever I’m hired or invited

Also:  Follow me on Twitter @elizcrum

All my blog pages and archived posts are now here at the new blog location.  (Thank you, Andrew!!)

Unfortunately, my sidebar widgets, blogrolls, link lists, and ”In the Media” blurbs did not carry over, so I’ll have to re-build those.

But I think  I can safely blog here now without fear of losing things in cyberspace…so, happily, I’ll start blogging again tomorrow!!

Sincere thanks to all my readers for their patience and support during these very trying weeks.

Since I don’t have an agent or a PR department, I have no choice but to shamelessly promote myself (see award #4).  I think there is a blog badge or button coming at some point; I’ll proudly post it here when it arrives.

If you’re in the Chicago area (or want an excuse to be) and would like to attend the awards banquet and ceremony on April 18, click here for tickets.  Presenters and VIP guests include Michelle Malkin, John Fund, Stephen Moore, Mary Katherine Ham, Paul Jacob, and Joe the Plumber (yes, really!)

A quote in honor of Sam Adams, the namesake of the award:

“It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate and tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

The award-bestowing Sam Adams Alliance is a 501(c)(3) “To Do Tank” based in Chicago.  They educate, inform, and empower citizens about important political issues through New Media tools (blogs, wikis, Google groups, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)  Among other things, they created Blogivists:  the platform/server upon which this blog was started.

*

I do realize this isn’t the Grammys and that the Thank Yous are the most boring part of any awards event…but in addition to a general “thanks” to my readers and fellow bloggers, I would like to specifically acknowledge a few people for their support of this blog:

I wish I had that many.

Thanks to all two readers who have sent concerned emails asking if I am ok.

I am fine and just very busy with two new projects that are leaving me with very little time for browsing the blogosphere and offering my three cents here on E!!

The first project – RFC Radio – is the brain child of my All American Media business partner and dear friend Andrew Riley.  Ideally, he would do all the work and I would reap the benefits.  Alas, he says he needs me to help with the To Dos.  And check his spelling.  And help make Duane feel guilty for missing our conference call last week.  (there, I did it)

The second project is Nevada News Platoon. Apparently, in a fit of extreme congeniality during which I hallucinated that I have spare time and that I am independently wealthy and do not need to paid for my work, I agreed to be the volunteer editor of this soon-to-launched grassroots news and blog site.

The gist is that we will cover news and politics in Nevada from an openly conservative and/or libertarian perspective.  We will not advocate for political parties, but we will unapologetically promote free-market, small government policies.  And provide valuable information to Nevada citizens who would like to Do Something about the current sad state of affairs.

February 5th is the “soft launch” (that’s New Media talk for all you greenies) and then the ”hard launch” and related fanfare will be sometime in March.

If anyone wants to help, here’s what I need from the conservative and/or libertarian citizens, activists, bloggers, writers, media-gurus, and leaders in Nevada (choose the one that fits):

- Commit to visiting the News Platoon site weekly and signing up for our news briefs

- Comment on our blog posts and stories so we know what you think

- Forward select Platoon news items to help spread the word (at your discretion)

- Send me news tips and story ideas (now and on an ongoing basis)

- Keep me informed of all your interesting political and business activitites (this is your opportunity to share info or expertise that only you have and maybe shed light on things for the public)

- Write letters to the editor (me) when you are upset about something going on in NV

- Refer bloggers and citizen journalists to me as potential contributors

- Tell anyone who’s not reading us that they Should Be

I think that about covers it.

Oh - and if anyone figures out how to squeeze more hours out of the day, please let me know.

A faithful reader (aka The Venerable Mr. Crum) recently mentioned that I haven’t been providing my recent Ladyblog posts for your (his) convenience. Here they are:

Condi Signs with William Morris, Wants to Help U.S. Children Become Global Citizens

After O’ers

“My Daddy’s Name is Donor”

He’s Too Sexy for These Shirts

Vanity, Maybe Thy Name Really IS Woman (or At Least, This One)

I Will Remember to Relate Everything to Women. I Will Remember…

Feminist (or anti-Feminist?) Quotations

Not much posting today because I was busy prep’ing for my KLAS Channel 8 interview re: Governor Gibbon’s State of the State speech next week, Nevada policy issues, and the role of blogging, citizen journalism and new media in politics. Clips will be televised next week in the days leading up to the speech.

I’m too tired right now to repeat what I said on camera, but I’ll sum it up for you sometime before next week’s event. Right now, I’m going to have drinks and dinner with Andrew and the Venerable Mr. Crum.

Cheers!

Have an amazing blog, but haven’t been noticed? Looking for a way to give another blogger some extra recognition? Then submit a nomination to the first annual Ladyblog Awards, designed to honor the most creative, consistent, quality bloggerettes on the ‘net. Awards will be given in five different areas:

Politics

Religion

Parenting

Healthy Living / Leisure

Pop Culture / Entertainment

LadyBlog is looking for diamonds in the rough — ladies who might not drive as much traffic as the big names, but who are every bit as informative, forward thinking, thoughtful and entertaining. Conservatism will be a qualifying factor for the political blogger but will not necessarily make or break the selection process for the other categories. And, yes — you must be female to qualify.

If you know of an outstanding female blogger who fits the above criteria, please follow the links below to nominate their blog. After they receive your initial nominations, Culture11‘s Ladybloggers will pick the top 10 in each category, and readers will get to vote on the top pick.

To nominate a blog or get more information, click here.

I was recently encouraged, by the executives of an organization that shall go unnamed so I can keep my day job, to write a letter to my Congressman touting the benefits of the Fix Housing First Proposal.

Here’s my letter.

Dear Congressman (or woman)(or Dina Titus):

Rumor has it that you are considering additional action in re: to the housing market. As I understand it, the Fix Housing First proposal consists of the following:

1. The federal government will offer a gi-normous and historically unprecedented supercalifrajalistic tax credit to anyone buying a house in 2009, and anyone who took last year’s lesser tax credit or bought their house prior that can bite the proverbial Big One because they aren’t getting doodleley squat. In essence, those retards who had the poor sense to purchase a domicile before you and your Wall Street pals f***cked the economy into a coma are SOL: too bad, so sad, cry me a Hudson River, etc.

2. In addition – and again, this is only for those bless’d and priveleged few who choose to buy homes in 2009 – the federal government will guarantee a super-sweet taxpayer-subsidized loan at a low, Low market rate of 2.99 or 3.99. Those who were short-sighted enough to finance their homes at 5, 6, or 7% – what a bunch of losers!! – will just have to continue at those rates and hope that sometime in this millenium, they or their unfortunate descendants can break even…or at least not have to file bankruptcy and sell special personal favors out behind the local WalMart.

Naturally, as someone who enjoys being regularly screwed over by my elected officials, I support the Fix Housing First proposal. In addition to priveleging a few citizens over the vast majority and attempting to artificially stimulate an entire industry with the taxpayer dollars OF that majority, it will effectively grind into dust my last vestiges of faith in fairness, equity, and the American Way.

I now realize that virtues such as these are for fools and idealists, and I thank you for freeing me from the naïve weltanschauung that has enslaved me for the better part of my life. Now instead of wasting my time aspiring to liberty and justice for all – what crack-smoking maniac thought up THAT ridiculous concept? – I can now embark on a life filled with bitterness, vitriol and rage and go to my grave cursing both man and God, as is only befitting of an enlightened person of the twenty-first century.

Congratulations on your confirmation into Congress.

Sincerely,

Citizen Sue

The Conservative Muse amuses with a clever poem entitled “An Open Letter to Comrade Obama.”

Three readers have asked me to provide links to my posts on other blogs/sites.

I hope it is not too bold to assume these readers do not find those other blogs/sites as completely riveting as E!! and so do not wish to visit them and scroll and click through their content.

(But in fairness and all seriousness, my lady readers should try to read LadyBlog. It’s pretty interesting most of the time, very funny some of the time, and somewhat controversial once in awhile ~ as it was this week.)

Anyhooha (for that joke, see here in the Comments), here are my most recent other posts:

Pimp My Corpse

Cardboard Controversy

If you are a word-smither, political junkie, media critic (professonal or homegrown) or even an avid reader, don’t miss this great satirical piece by Iowahawk on Joe the Plumber’s foray into the publishing world.

Many are saying this election was a failure of Conservatism.  Not so.  It was the product of poor Republican leadership and big government policies.  Fiscal discipline went out the window.  Earmarks were snatched up eagerly.  Corruption scandals sprang up too often.  Communication and message management were poor.

In short, the Republican party became undisciplined, greedy, weak and ineffective.  This dirtied and eroded the Republican brand such that it became unrecognizable and uninspiring. 

We need new leadership.  We need new voices and/or the renewing and rejuvination of existing voices.  Our elected officials need to stop concerning themselves with power grabs, pandering, and placating.  We must unapologetically and unashamedly stand on True Conservative values.

We need to get back to basics and get on message, recognizing that effective and persuasive communication matters.  As Laura Ingraham said today, “We must cultivate a new generation of leaders who are both proud of their conservative beliefs and comfortable articulating them with vision, clarify and optimism.” 

I hereby invoke part of Russell Kirk’s introduction to Ten Conservative Principles:

Perhaps it would be well, most of the time, to use this word “conservative” as an adjective chiefly. For there exists no Model Conservative, and conservatism is the negation of ideology: it is a state of mind, a type of character, a way of looking at the civil social order.

The attitude we call conservatism is sustained by a body of sentiments, rather than by a system of ideological dogmata. It is almost true that a conservative may be defined as a person who thinks himself such. The conservative movement or body of opinion can accommodate a considerable diversity of views on a good many subjects, there being no Test Act or Thirty-Nine Articles of the conservative creed.

In essence, the conservative person is simply one who finds the permanent things more pleasing than Chaos and Old Night. (Yet conservatives know, with Burke, that healthy “change is the means of our preservation.”) A people’s historic continuity of experience, says the conservative, offers a guide to policy far better than the abstract designs of coffee-house philosophers.

I have always loved Kirk’s Ten and that intro.  Not an ideology but ”a state of mind, a type of character, a way of looking at the social order.”

Conservatives are skeptical of change for its own sake and will always pause to ask, “but what are the unintended consequences?”  Conservatives value that which has been good, and is good, and are not eager to dismiss that good in favor of untested new ideas.  Conservatives are open minded but cautious.  Social experiments are looked upon with great skepticism.  As Kirk later writes:

Therefore the intelligent conservative endeavors to reconcile the claims of Permanence and the claims of Progression. He thinks that the liberal and the radical, blind to the just claims of Permanence, would endanger the heritage bequeathed to us, in an endeavor to hurry us into some dubious Terrestrial Paradise. The conservative, in short, favors reasoned and temperate progress; he is opposed to the cult of Progress, whose votaries believe that everything new necessarily is superior to everything old.

Just so.

I’ve got two new posts up @ Vote Fraud Squad:

Judges to rule on Georgia citizenship case

and

GOP hired hand arrested in Cali on suspicion of voter registration fraud

E!! is a Proud Supporter of the VIP

Kathleen Parker chimed in on the Christopher Buckley thing.  A very well written piece, and I agree with much (though not all) of it.

Let me be clear that I have no issue with Buckley’s complaints against and dissatisfaction with the Republican party.  In these things I agree with him and am similarly disgruntled.

My criticism was not of the fact that Buckley left National Review; it was the way he left.

And, though his vote is his own, I don’t think it makes sense to show your disgust for the lack of conservatism in the GOP by voting for the candidate/party who has even less of it.

UPDATE:  As for the “shunning” of conservatives like Buckley, I have to agree with what Rich Lowry said just a bit ago, mentioning both Kathleen and Peggy Noonan:

In her Palin-centered column, Peggy says those “whose thoughts lead them to criticism in this area are to be shunned, and accused of the lowest motives,” and then cites Christopher’s resignation from his NR column as an example. Peggy is a busy person, so I suppose she hasn’t had time to notice that Kathleen Parker’s columns ripping Sarah Palin have appeared on NRO. That David Frum has aired his discontent with the Palin pick on NRO. That others of us—Ramesh and even me (between my occasional bouts of rhapsodic gushing!)—have criticized aspects of her performance. And that other writers on NRO have stuck up for Palin and pushed back against the critics. It’s called debate.

Now, I regret how some conservatives immediately question the motives of the critics of Palin, but it’s equally regrettable that Noonan, Parker et al are portraying most conservatives as irrational thugs. It makes you wonder: Who is really being overly emotional and deeply unfair in this intra-mural conservative debate? Which brings us naturally to Kathleen Parker’s column today. Read and judge for yourself. Is this calm, cool deliberation? Or hyperbole worthy of a peeved e-mailer? (By the way, I hate that Kathleen got any abusive e-mails at all; it’s a very unfortunate part of the world of the web. But hate e-mail goes both ways. I wouldn’t want to live for a minute with, say, Kathryn Lopez’s or Jonah Goldberg’s in-box on any given day.)

Finally, on Christopher, I already addressed it here. But he proffered a “sincere offer” of resignation of his column that he had taken up temporarily while Mark Steyn was on hiatus. It struck us as a win-win: Chris would get out of a column we thought he wanted out of; we’d get Mark Steyn, who had recently returned to writing, back on our back page. We never imagined Chris would feel he’d been “fatwa-ed.” In any case, Chris is still on NR’s board, and is welcome to write pieces for us going forward, which I’m hoping he’ll do after everyone, very much including the Noonans and Parkers of the world, takes a deep breath.

And BTW, I posted on what Peggy Noonan said earlier over at Culture11‘s LadyBlog.

I am pleased to have been invited to join the Voter Integrity Project and the publishers of Ballotpedia in a non-partisan effort to help the American voter report and expose incidences of vote fraud and vote suppression, in order to ensure a more fair, open, and democratic election process.

We are now recruiting citizen journalists and bloggers in Nevada and elsewhere.  If you are interested in helping report, document, and deter voter fraud, please contact me ASAP (see my Contact page). 

Your level of involvement could range from calling or emailing me with Tips between now and election day, to joining our Twitter feed #voterfraud, to texting alerts, to taking photos and video to be uploaded on Flika, to blogging on our VoterFraudSquad site.

A number of concerned readers have inquired about the Civility/Comments post.

No, I have not received any death threats.  There was, however, a rather nasty (and untrue) comment posted yesterday, and I deleted it.  Which is my prerogative as Queen of this tiny blogdom.  This is not a democracy, and I don’t have to tolerate Nonsense if I don’t wish it.

Note to that commenter, since I’m typing this:  I am nobody’s Yes Girl.  I agree and/or disagree with whomever, whenever, and however I please, based on my values and the facts at hand.

As I said, I don’t mind disagreement – even in the extreme – but readers need to state their case rationally and decently.

Apt Quote – an E!! Favorite

I wish that I may never think the smiles of the great and powerful a sufficient inducement to turn aside from the straight path of honesty and the convictions of my own mind.” — David Ricardo, The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. VII, p. 372

Opposing viewpoints and criticisms are welcome, but nasty remarks will be deleted.  State your comment or case with some civility – preferably citing facts and examples - or be silent. 

(And if you can’t be intelligent, at least be funny.)

For more on the Christopher Buckley thing, here’s his latest post, and Rich’s note on The Corner yesterday.  (Don’t miss the part where Buckley changed the header of his post from the patently dishonest “I Was Fired” to the fully accurate ”Buckley Bows Out”)

Here’s my three cents:

(1)  Those who cancelled their subscription to National Review over this matter are being silly. The magazine’s value is not negated by what any one contributor (or ex-contributor) does or says on any one day. NR is more than a great conservative political journal; it his an American Icon. You’d no more stop reading it than you’d swear off apple pie and ice cream.

(2)  It appears that Christopher Buckley is exaggerating all over himself in an effort to create a stir and invite publicity as he breaks away into his brave new world.

What does Christopher mean by saying that Rich Lowry “rather briskly” accepted his resignation and that he is saddened by the “disavowal”?

Does he mean there was not a satisfactorily lengthy pause preceding Rich’s agreement to his departure?  Was Christopher’s ego disappointed at not receiving the expected number of murmured regrets and “it’s a damn shame”s?

Or did he think, as I suspect, that his resignation would not be accepted?  Was the act more a gesture than a genuine offer, and is he now in a snit because Rich and Jack Fowler had the ill manners to take him at his word?

Regardless, to say there was/is “acrimony” on the part of NR is surely going too far. I’ve seen nothing but friendship and warmth extended Buckley’s way from everyone at NR and on The Corner, so the insinuation that there is an air of rancor and animosity feels like Complete and Utter Nonsense.

(3)  There is much more that could be said in re: to Christopher’s comments about WFB’s occasional support of liberal Democrats (all far better men than Obama appears to be), rigorous standards of candor (which Junior seems to be lacking), and independence of thought and action (which were genuine and never for show).

But, it is all well known. WFB was a singular man. He was always himself, and never embarrassed or dishonored his friends (or even his enemies) by being small of heart or deed.

The son does not honor the father with all this elaborate and unpleasant flailing around.  A graceful exit would have been a more fitting tribute to the man we all loved…and miss terribly in these difficult days.

(UPDATE: Anne of Idaho, who is reading D.H. Lawrence, sends an unrelated yet serendipitous quote.

“And he began to feel, coldly and cynically, that among all her distress there was a luxuriating in the violent emotions of the scene in hand, and the situation altogether.”

Re-stated: Christopher Buckley is being a drama queen, and it is causing me to feel more indifferent to his plight than I otherwise might.)

Adapted by Elizabeth Crum - E!! - from “A kingdom for a stage” by William Shakespeare [from Henry V]

O for a Muse of moderation, that would ascend
The brightest netwave of invention,
A kingdom for a Sage, senators to act
And bloggers to behold the swelling scene!

Then should the warlike pol, like Reagan,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash’d in like hounds, should dollar and dividend
Crouch for employment. And pardon not, O Blogivists,
The doltish congressmen who dare

On their unworthy stage to recommend forth
Their idiotic plans:  can that intellectual vacuum hold
The vasty notions of fiscal responsibility?  Or will we cram
Within this week the very blunders
That did affright the kings of Wall Street?

O, pardon! since a crooked politician may
Protest while pocketing a million;
So let us, Bloggers in this great sphere,
Type, click and upload on screens galore.

 Today within the corridors of Congress
We see confined two indistinguishible parties,
Whose egos are exceeded only by their greed
And perilous corruption splits all asunder:
Piece out their imperfections with your posts;
Into a thousand parts divide their rhetoric,
And make it clear to all who rules this realm:

The Blogosphere, in all its glory rides

Printing our apt remarks i’ the receiving Web;
For ’tis our thoughts that now shall thump our kings,
Chase them here and there; Twittering and
Turning the empty accomplishment of many years
Into pithy posts:  for the further supply of which
Welcome us Bloggers to this great Webstory;
We pundit-like your online reading pray,

Bookmark our blogs, and kindly judge our daily Play.

-

After debunking a couple of rumors and lies on E!! this week, I’ve decided to spread the word that I am a bit of a Research Geek – and encourage readers to email me with “Is It True?” questions/links.

If you read or hear something that makes you go “Hmmmm….?” or are lacking information on a person, place, or thing and you’d like to find out Just The Facts, Jack…

Please email me the info and I’ll do some digging and post any/all discoveries (along with a big Thank You to the reader who asked) on E!!

Please note that my fact-finding is guarantEEd to be non-partisan.  In other words, no matter who it benefits, I will find out the truth – and Tell It like it is.

Here’s her speech.  And here’s some video from an interview with Newsweek earlier this year.  And nice, detailed piece on her from the Anchorage Daily news from 2006.

And then there’s this cute/funny tribute by my friend @ PragmaticallyPolitical:  10 Things I Love About Sarah Palin

PS  The graceless statement put out by the Obama camp re: Palin this morning was uncalled for.  McCain went out of his way to congratulate Obama on a historic nomination last night; Obama should have done the same for Palin.  But he didn’t.  And so Mr. Self-Proclaimed Non-Partisan shows us just how little class he really has.  

 And now for a few Cons:

Politically speaking, it sort of undermines a large part of the case against Obama:  inexperience, lack of credentials, lack of foreign policy and national security know-how.

She has never worked in D.C. so there will be a steep learning curve – and probably a few slip-ups.  (Then again, McCain will make sure she has a great staff.)

And then to all those on the Right who have called the Obama candidacy an example of Tokenism, there’s this question:  Would Palin would been picked if she were a man?

And the Unknowns:

How will the female thing play?  The pro-choice feminists will all hate Palin, but the female Republican base might show up in never-yet-seen numbers.  Bitter and disaffected Hillary supporters might vote for her out of spite.  Or they might see her as a threat to Hillary in 2012 and decide they don’t want her anywhere near D.C.

(And what about the guys?  Will men vote for her because she’s got great legs and is just waaaay better looking than Biden?)

Also, how will she do on the stump?  Can she hold her own?  Will she make any major gaffes (which will cause the opposition to Shriek and Point at her Inexperience)?  Will Biden handle her well or come off looking like a bully when he goes up against her?

All are encouraged to visit Culture11 and start reading.  It’s a new magazine of and about American Culture as well as a new online community (groups, discussion threads, buddies, blogs, etc.)  And FWIW, it looks like I’ll be doing some writing for them in the weeks and months to come.

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to
live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same
time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn,
burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders
across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop
and everybody goes “Awww!”    –Jack Kerouac

Well, I’ve listened to an hour+ of commentary and been on a dozen blogs and no one is mentioning the thing that (to me) stood out most in Michelle Obama’s speech:  she started at least a dozen sentences with the word “See…” to the point that the repetition became a distraction and annoyance.

I took it this way:  ”See, it’s like this” and “See, let me tell you how” and “See, this is what you have to understand.”  As she delivered her lines, she was just shy of being vein-poppingly earnest.  Which is to say, she wasn’t quite convincing except in her obvious desire to make us See what she thinks we need to See in order to put she and her husband in the White House.

Coupled with the finger pointing and subtle head-bobbing which both increased as the moments ticked on (go back to the video and watch for it) I couldn’t help but think, “You can take the girl out of the South Side, but you can’t take the South Side out of the girl.” 

No soft dress, salon-styled hair, and suave speech writer can make Michelle Obama other than what she is:  an overtly proud and condescending woman with an attitude a mile high.