E!! The True Conservative Story™

Write-ups of and photos from The Sammies will prob’ly start to surface today; I’ll post links here as I find them.

Here’s a nice piece and a couple of photos from Illinois Review (that’s me on the far left, next to Mary Katherine Ham).

And here’s Warner Todd Huston’s write-up.  (How on earth did I miss talking to WTH?!  Darn it!!)

Here’s Bob Weeks’ blurbs at Kansas Meadowlark.  Including mention that Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher presented me with my award.

Just received (pass it on!):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Chuck Muth
(702) 531-5551
April 11, 2009

Citizen Outreach Joins Las Vegas Tax Day TEA

Party/Rally/Picnic to Be Held at Sunset Park

(Las Vegas, NV) – Citizen Outreach Foundation has teamed up with citizen-volunteer Tax Day TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party organizers for the rally being held this Wednesday, April 15th, at Sunset Park in Las Vegas. Citizens unhappy with local, state and federal government taxing, spending, borrowing and bailing-out public policies will gather to voice and show their displeasure. More than 500 similar rallies will be held nationwide on the same day.

Since the Clark County Department of Parks and Recreation wouldn’t allow TEA party organizers to use the park unless they were having a picnic and rented one of the picnic areas, Citizen Outreach President Chuck Muth stepped up to pay the rental fee and officially host a “picnic” for rally participants from 11:30 am until 2:30 pm.

“The government said we had to hold a picnic in order to use their park, so I decided to host a ‘pork’ roast!” Muth said. “What could be more appropriate? So bring your blanket, your kids, your folding chairs and a picnic basket and join our protest against higher taxation and pork-barrel spending. Forget about work; Obama has you covered!”

Keynote remarks will be delivered around 1:00 pm by special guest Herman Cain. Cain is a national motivational speaker, a FOX News business commentator, and host of “The Herman Cain Show” on WSB 750 AM out of Atlanta, Georgia. He’s the former chairman of Godfather’s Pizza, as well as a former president of the National Restaurant Association. Cain also ran for the United States Senate in Georgia in 2004.

Additional scheduled speakers include:

* Susane Crawford, Las Vegas Tax Day TEA Party director

* Casey Hendrickson and Heather Kydd, talk-show hosts for KXNT-840 AM

* Wayne Allyn Root, the Libertarian Party’s 2008 presidential candidate

* Chris Hansen, former state chairman of the Indpendent American Party

* Geoffrey Lawrence, Fiscal Policy Director for the Nevada Policy Research Institute

* Elizabeth Crum, award-winning blogger of “E!! The True Conservative Story”

Sunset Park is located at the southeast corner of Sunset and Eastern near the airport. Picnic Area F is located in the southwestern section of the park near the dog runs. Use the south entrance off Eastern into the huge parking area adjacent to Picnic Area F.

For additional information, contact Susane Crawford at (702) 374-7733 or by email at edirector@clarkgop.org

New Hampshire has the best state motto, don’t you think?

And now four of its state legislators are living up to it.  HCR 6, a bill borrowed mostly from “Jefferson and Madison’s Kentucky Resolutions of 1798,” is quite an interesting piece of work.

Here’s one of my favorite parts (emphasis mine):

That the several States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their General Government; but that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a General Government for special purposes, — delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; and that whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force; that to this compact each State acceded as a State, and is an integral party, its co-States forming, as to itself, the other party: that the government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact among powers having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress….

Dear Reader:

Study this.

Cordially,

E.

In the midst of all the in-fighting over whether social conservatives and the religious right have ”ruined” the Republican party, the American Conservative Union has re-published an interesting piece by Randall Hoven (originally printed at American Thinker).

I don’t talk much about my faith here on E!!  but as a Christian conservative with a libertarian streak, I am always interested in these kinds of debates.  Generally speaking I’m a social and cultural conservative, but I am cautious about state-mandated morality (because it can cut both ways) and often find myself defending freedom itself as an important right and virtue.

This is because I believe that (1) God grants us freedom and free will, (2) God grants us free will for a reason, and (3) Jesus Christ was not an Authoritarian. 

Free will is meaningless if people aren’t free to choose wrong as well as right, evil as well as good.  (Please don’t interpret this to mean I support anarchy; I don’t.)  We can and should legislate behavior to keep people from unduly harming one another, but we really can’t legislate matters of morality and conscience and spirit.  A man’s heart and mind cannot be taken by force; he must give it freely.

Jesus never strong-armed or forced anyone into listening to him, following him, or believing in him.  He spoke the truth with grace, closed his remarks with something pithy like “go and sin no more,” and that was basically it.  You were either touched and moved by what he said or not – but he didn’t chase you down the street, and he didn’t appeal to Rome to turn the Beautitudes into the law of the land. 

Anyway, check out Hoven’s piece and let me know what you think about his views.  I’d be interested to hear from so-cons as well as libertarians.

This post on the values of capitalism over on Overcoming Bias is just excellent.

It starts with this quote:

“The financial crisis is not the crisis of capitalism.  It is the crisis of a system that has distanced itself from the most fundamental values of capitalism, which betrayed the spirit of capitalism.”
        — Nicolas Sarkozy

and includes gems like:

The fundamental morality of capitalism lies in the voluntary nature of its trades, consented to by all parties, and therefore providing a gain to all.

and

Vigorous work is praiseworthy but should be accompanied by equally vigorous results.

and

No one has a right to their job.  Not the janitor, not the CEO, no one.  It would be like a rationalist having a right to their own opinion.  At some point you’ve got to fire the saddle-makers and close down the industry. 

and

No company has a right to its continued existence.  Change happens.

and

A high standard of living is the just reward of hard work and intelligence.  If other people or other places have lower standards of living, then the problem is the lower standard, not the higher one.  Raise others up, don’t lower yourself.  A high standard of living is a good thing, not a bad one – a universal moral generalization that includes you in particular.  If you’ve earned your wealth honestly, enjoy it without regrets.

and

People safeguard, nourish, and improve that which they know will not be taken away from them.  Tax a little if you must, but at some point you must let people own what they buy.

and

In countries that are lawful and just, the government is the referee, not a player.  If the referee runs onto the field and kicks the football, things are starting to get scary.

and

Making money is a virtuous endeavor, despite all the lies that have been told about it, and should properly be found in the company of other virtues.  Those who set out to make money should not think of themselves as fallen, but should rather conduct themselves with honor, pride, and self-respect, as part of the grand pageantry of human civilization rising up from the dirt, and continuing forward into the future.

Amen!

Days after the cessation of the Conservative Leadership Conference 2008, remembrances float up…

…Seton Motley’s talk on Media Bias and the unFairness Doctrine (sponsored by the Media Research Center)…clip after clip of such biased “reporting” (commentary and emoting) that one is heartily laughing and throughly appalled all at once…

…Chris Matthews (MSNBC), Keith Olbermann (ditto), Brian Williams (NBC), Ann Curry (ditto), John Roberts (CNN), Campbell Brown (ditto), Charlie Gibson (ABC), Terry Moran (ditto) and more…

…the observation that some so-called journalists and major media outlets are now eschewing ratings and “sacrificing the bottom line to ideology”…sacrificing viewers (do they say “good riddance”?) in order to push their increasingly obvious agenda…

…the concept of Bias by Omission (what is not reported that should be)…

…the three upcoming vacancies on the FCC (February) and who will seat them (McCain or Obama) and do the vetting…

…the new “code words” for the Fairness Doctrine that are springing up in activist organizations posing as non-partisan groups:  “localism,” “media democracy,” “media reform,” “universal access”…which you can see in action here…

…the effect the Fairness Doctrine (and other limits on media) would likely have:  the mass migration of conservative talk radio personalities to satellite radio, increased internet podcasting, vlogging (blogging via video clips), and other New Media forums/outlets…

…a comment by a young mother in attendance that Nickolodeon attempts political indoctrination of children via their “kid reporters” (who covered the DNC, but not the RNC)…

E!! is going to be offline thru Sunday while I go have fun in my role as Media Liason for the Conservative Leadership Conference (and also try to catch a few panel discussions) here in fabulous Las Vegas.

I’m looking forward to meeting Michael Brodkorb, the mind behind “Minnesota Democrats Exposed” who has been chosen to receive the conference’s annual Blogger of the Year Award. 

Also will be very happy to finally shake hands with Blue Collar Muse and the Much Younger Trophy Wife I have heard so much about, as well as with Eric Odom.

A few other speakers/attendees I hope to catch a word with (there are too many to name them all): WSJ writer and author John Fund, Paul Seidler of the Nuclear Energy Institute, Steve Miller of NPRI, instructor Michael Tanner of The CATO Institute, Grover Norquist and Sandra Fabry of Americans for Tax Reform, Joel Mowbray, Pat Toomey of the Club for Growth, Roger Hedgecock, Lt. Col. Allen West, Bob Barr, Richard Viguerie, Ward Connerly of the American Civil Rights Institute, Rich Galen of Mullings.com, Chris Simcox of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin, NV GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden, David Keene of the American Conservative Union, and AZ Rep. John Shadegg.   

Last night in his interview with Bill O’Reilly, Obama said:

“If I am sitting pretty, and you’ve got a waitress who is making minimum wage plus tips, and I can afford it and she can’t — what’s the big deal for me to say, ‘I’m going to pay a little bit more.’ That is neighborliness.”

Well, Senator Obama, it WOULD BE neighborliness if you were doing it VOLUNTARILY, i.e. if free will were involved.

However, if the amount you pay is decided by the federal government, collected by the federal government, and distributed where and whence the federal government sees fit, and if you resent the hell out of it (as I do), then the act is NOT neighborliness but state-mandated SOCIALISM, otherwise known as the forcible redistribution of wealth, otherwise known as highway robbery by the Nanny State bandits of the world.

(I was pleased when O’Reilly called him “Robin Hood Obama.”)

Andrew Klavan and Queen Victoria   – posted by [Peter Robinson] @ The Corner @ NRO

Today on Uncommon Knowledge, novelist and screenwriter Andrew Klavan, author of the new thriller, Empire of Lies, explains why he’s no longer a liberal:

The thing I like best about being a conservative is that I don’t have to lie. I don’t have to pretend that men and women are the same. I don’t have to declare that failed or oppressive cultures are as good as mine.

Leftism has outlived its own failure by hiding itself within the most labyrinthine construct of social delicacy since Victoria was queen.

To watch that Victorian contsruct of social delicacy being utterly demolished — brilliantly and merrily  — click here. 

This Eric O’Keefe blog/op-ed is for my Michigan readers (of whom there are a few).  It’s also worthy of note for anyone concerned with combatting massive tax hikes, the freedom of citizens in recall processes/petitions, and blatant media bias. 

The Free Press’s position is passing strange considering it’s been 25 years since the last legislative recall in Michigan.  And I agree with O’Keefe’s closing:

The Free Press is good at covering the Tigers and Red Wings. It should stick to covering sports, the weather, and the continuing decline of Michigan’s over-taxed economy.

Remember the movie Pay It Forward in which random acts of kindness are not paid back but instead are bestowed upon someone Else?   

Here in Nevada, we’re gearing up to shoot the sequel.  It’s called Tax it Backward and its about Nevadans imposing taxes on folks who don’t live here:  the hapless tourists standing behind us in whatever line for whatever show at whatever mega-resort.

The would-be producers of this very bad idea are the usual suspects:  the head honchos in the teachers union and many of the Dems in Carson City.  The extras are the voters in favor of fleecing Nevada’s tourists rather than pay for a tax increase on themselves.  Those against funding education spending increases with a room tax increase can be found on both the left and the right. 

CityLife editor Steve Sebelius thinks we need to raise taxes.  Me and the Muthster, we say no.  Where we three agree is thinking its wrong to fund the education department by taxing people who don’t live in Nevada (tourists) via higher lodging taxes.  Yesterday, Sebelius wrote…

“The Review-Journal published a poll in today’s editions, revealing that 60 percent favor increasing the room tax to pay for education, a move that will raise about $150 million to $185 million per year. ‘People will vote for tax increases that don’t affect them. I would be surprised if it did not pass given the numbers that are showing right now,’ said Brad Coker, managing partner of Mason-Dixon, the company that did the poll.

“Exactly. People don’t mind soaking others for things they ought to be paying for themselves. In this case it’s two easy targets: Casinos, and tourists. 

“How many of those people would walk into a 7-Eleven, fill up a Big Gulp, grab some Doritos and then tell the clerk to charge the guy who’s next in line? Sure they might want to do that, but how many would actually have the cojones to do it in person?

“Not very many. But they’ll do it at the ballot box.

“The point is, education benefits everybody in Nevada, and therefore, everybody in Nevada has an obligation to pay.”

Correct-a-mundo.  To raise taxes on tourists is not only taxation without representation – a no-no per the Founders of this great nation - it’s also bad for Tourism which, might I remind everyone, is a major source of revenue here in Nevada.  

If we’re going to raise taxes for education in Nevada - which I strongly oppose because I don’t think more money is the answer to our education problems – then Nevadans ought to be the ones to put their money where their ballot button is. 

And that’s a Wrap.

One of today’s Roll Call alerts leads with this opener:  “With the controversy surrounding Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) speaking at the GOP presidential convention and his name being floated as a potential GOP running mate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) maintains that there will be no consequences for the Independent-Democrat.”

What “consequences” would there BE…? 

Does this mean Reid has called off his privately funded band of mercenary thugs?  Or changed his mind about bribing a Senate dining room server to poison Lieberman’s lunch?

And is this anything like Jack Nicholson’s order (in the film A Few Good Men) that Private So-and-So was “not to be harmed”?

I just love a good David-and-Goliath story.  And as a blogger at Blogivists and friend of Eric Odom, I’ve got a front row seat to a good one.  Strap in and hold on tight as we go on a whirlwind tour of the recent refusal of House Republicans to adjourn without voting on offshore drilling, the #dontgo Twitter tag movement, an attempted sabotage of #dontgo by MoveOn.org and the subsequent launch of a hot new conservative website.  The story goes like this:

Two Fridays ago, Madame Pelosi ajourned the House over GOP objections.  Dems sprinted for the door like kids on the last day of school.  The mics were silenced; the lights were unlit; the CSPAN cameras were killed.  Even so, a few GOPers who wanted a vote on offshore drilling refused to leave the Floor.  Rep. Culberson (R-TX) and Rep. Hoekstra (R-MI) started Twittering (mini-blogging) while Rep. Boehner (R-OH) addressed those still present and Rep. Blunt (R-MO) talked to reporters in the press gallery.

Meanwhile, back in Chicago, a couple of regular guys – Eric Odom and Allen Fuller - threw up the Twitter tag “#dontgo” so the mini-blog reports and emails coming in could be easily searched/tracked.  The tag was chosen to support the GOP hold-outs, as in “don’t go until something is done on energy.”  Reps and staffers started using #dontgo to call the action.  Though the CSPAN cameras were dead, some video of the goings-on was captured on Rep. Culberson’s cell phone and broadcast on qik.com. 

Word began to spread.  MoveOn.org got wind of the Twitter feed and started spamming with irrelevant messages – but rather than jamming #don’tgo, all the spam pushed the tag to the top of Twitter’s list.  (Rob Neppell has since created a low-on-spam version of the Twitter Stream so it is virtually spam free.)

As the Twitter community chirped on, Fuller purchased the domain name dontgo.us; Odom installed WordPress, created some graphics, and wrote some copy and petition (sign here!); and the two took the site Live and began sending out links.  Media forces like Media Lizzy helped Eric and Allen spread the word.  On Tuesday morning, encouraged by the momentum, the duo threw up a jazzier replacement website called Dontgomovement.com to serve as hub.  Thousands of hits started coming in and within a few hours, Eric was contacted by reporters from several major media outlets, including CNN.

The CNN story went live just after the site was opened up, and the story was followed by The Next Right, Red State, Politico, Michelle Malkin, HotAir, Washington Examiner, and scores of bloggers. This wave of attention sent more than 60,000 unique visits to the new site within 24 hours.  Eric has been swamped with emails and already has a good-sized (10,000) mailing list compiled.  The e-mail RSS subscriber list is about 1,200 strong and the #dontgo Twitter Army marches on.

And so it came to be that a couple of fast-on-their-feet guys planted a Twitter tag on Friday and by Wednesday, their new website had been slingshot into national media attention.  Bloggers and Twitterers and web publishers should take a page from that playbook.  This is the “New Media” at its best:  alert, agile and ready to fight the Giants.

Check out this great List of Libertarian Quotes on Eric Odom’s blog.  If you love Liberty, you’re bound to find some Keepers.

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of commentary suggesting that Conservatives need to get angry about the frightening Leftward socio-political swing our country is in danger of taking no matter who wins the election this fall – and to do/say something about it.  For a little taste of what this might look like, click below for my recent column/rant in Liberty Watch Magazine:

 http://www.liberty-watch.com/volume04/issue04/trueconservative.php

It seems appropriate to begin this blog with one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotations:

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber-barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.”