E!! The True Conservative Story™

“[R]eligion, or the duty which we owe to our creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and this is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.”

–Virginia Bill of Rights, Article 16

Source:  Founder’s Quote Daily, a service of The Patriot Post.  To subscribe, link to http://patriotpost.us/subscribe.php.

E!! will be off for the next few days and then (probably) posting only sporadically through Jan. 3rd.

September 17, 2008

Hi,

I finally figured it out!

I have decided to settle down and get serious about a career in Public
Garden Management and Horticulture.  This decision allows me to work in
areas where public transportation is readily available, work in a greenhouse
environment, avoid the stress of production related capitalism, contribute
to the beauty of urban areas, preserve plants for future generations, and
educate people who are really interested in plants.  It also solves the
dilemma about what I want to do when I grow up, because this way I can do a
little of everything.

Cornell and the University of Delaware both have fellowship only programs
for Master’s degrees (both fully funded with a living stipend).  There are
other programs out there as well.

I have joined the Horticulture club as an active member (I might consider
running for an office) and am taking an extracurricular Urban Gardeners
Program with a 40-hour community service requirement at the local community
greenhouse (Hunter Park in Lansing – 2 minutes from my door walking).  I am
working on a proposal for an internship with Beal Gardens here at MSU,
probably revamping the website and working on grant acquisition as we all
know that I can weed just fine.

Now to 4.0 everything and do well on the GRE.

 Love,

 Me

“Cultivated plants are neatly planted; wild plants flourish in chaos.”

– Susun Weed

Here are the most recent stories and alerts:

This one in the Lansing State Journal has a good (better) photo of Krista than the previous piece; also her house:

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20081120/NEWS01/811200373

This one was written by a reporter at MSU’s The State News:

http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2008/11/family_friends_shocked_after_student_goes_missing

This one is a brief online alert:

http://boards.insessiontrials.com/showthread.php?p=12443140

And here’s a photo taken a few Thanksgivings ago with our maternal grandmother in Florida:

E!! is on hold until further notice.

My sister, Krista Lueth, is missing.  She was last seen on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at her home in Lansing, MI near the intersection of Pennsylvania Ave. and Michigan Ave.  She was reported to the police as missing this past Saturday, Nov. 15.

She is a student at Michigan State University; the school has been notified and is cooperating.

(updated since original post)  Here is the Lansing newspaper story:  http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20081118/NEWS01/811180342

For any who may be in her Facebook networks, this is her Facebook profile:  www.facebook.com/people/Krista_Lueth/723027485

And MySpace:  http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=69627212

This is an online alert that was posted over the weekend (includes a photo):  www.powerfulintent.ning.com/profiles/blogs/missing-sister-can-you-help

The police are involved and are following every possible lead.  If you know people in the Lansing, Michigan area please forward this to them.  If you know anyone in the media willing to get the word out, please have them contact me via email (on my Contact page here).

If not, please pray.

Love you!!

(Today is the 10th anniversary of my marriage to The Venerable Mr. Crum. Tonight there will be champagne and peking duck with plum sauce.)

Unbelievable. Client #9: guilty as sin, free as a bird.

The comic genius and killer sarcasm of Iowahawk knows no bounds.  He’s supercalifragalistic, folks!

Fox called Virginia for Obama a few minutes ago.  Not that it matters.

No results for the Nevada races yet.

The Crum household is talking about how the Dem controlled Congress will screw things up so badly that in 2 years there will be significant GOP gains and in four years we’ll be putting a conservative in the White House.  I guess that means we’re conceding that Obama has won this.

I was holding out hope.  (sigh)

We occasionally check the news networks to see what they are saying and doing.  ABC is showing wide angle shots of the staging at Grant Park in Chicago.  It’s so Hollywood.  And my most unfavorite part of our politics.  Governing should be about principles and ideas, not who can gussy up the best stadium setting.

they hadn’t called Ohio with only 15% of precincts in. We’re sitting here debating whether or not the election is “over,” and it all hinges on whether the Ohio call is right.

Well, if that proves out it’s not looking good for McCain. The numbers are nearly impossible with both PA and OH in Barack’s column. And no Republican has ever been elected while losing Ohio (as Rove just pointed out).

Jeez! I just yelled “what are you talking about?!” at Brit Hume on Fox News because he said they were calling Ohio for Obama. He corrected himself a half minute later. Only 3% of the precincts are in there.

They’ve called PA for Obama at this point. (Darn!) I thought maybe the Murtha thing and the coal industry thing would help esp. in the western parts.

NC too close to call yet they say.

So there’s your E!! inside look at the KNPR studio. (Left to right: host Dave Berns, Chuck Muth, Steve Sebelius, E!!, and Jon Ralston)

There’s been some confusion about where/how to find my election predictions among the many in the Symposium on National Review Online, so here it is:

Elizabeth Crum
Like everyone who is willing to be honest about it, I have no earthly idea what is going to happen today in the presidential election so I’m going with the most interesting, historically significant (and actually plausible) outcome I can imagine:   

Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, and Pennysylvania go to The One; New Hampshire, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida go to McCain; and the electoral college is tied at 269. Ten thousand attorneys descend upon these eleven toss up states like one of the great plagues of Egypt. Obama wins because he has more money and more lawyers to defend the fraudulent votes cast by dead people and out-of-staters. 

In Nevada, Democrat Dina Titus will beat John Porter in our Distict 3 congressional race. Many feel that Porter deserves his loss: He has not been a reliable conservative in D.C. and ran a terrible campaign.   

The most interesting and controversial Nevada initiative — to raise our room tax by as much as three percent to fund public education — will pass, even though economic analysts have warned this will harm our already struggling tourism industry. And our educational system will no doubt continue to be ranked among the worst in the nation due to our Board of Education’s general hostility to fiscal responsibility, reform, and charter schools. 

— Elizabeth Crum is a freelance blogger in Nevada. 

Over the past few weeks, the dissenting views of conservatives Peggy Noonan, Kathleen Parker, David Brooks, and Christopher Buckley et al have stirred up quite a storm.  All have disavowed Palin, McCain, or both, to some degree or another.  Liberals are gleeful that the conservative movement is “falling apart” and many heretofore like-minded and friendly conservatives are thoroughly irritated with one another.

For the record, unlike Jonah Goldberg (with whom I usually agree), I have no problem with these debates, whenever they may occur.  People are free to vent their emotions, push their agendas, explain their motivations, and air their grievances anytime they like.  I do think we should keep cool heads and let pragmatism rule when possible, but those who find they cannot are free to do what punditry permits.  Should they later feel some regret, they can retract and re-state as needed.

I do agree with Jonah on this point, though: 

We’ll all know what we need to know after the election and if McCain and the GOP come out the losers we’ll have a luxurious amount of time to argue amongst ourselves about which way forward and which wrong turns we may or may not have taken. If David Brooks wants to be oncologist in chief of the GOP and tell us where the cancers are, he’ll be free to do so. If some of my colleagues want to crack the whip on the ideological slackers in our midst, they’ll have plenty of elbow room. 

But it’s worth pointing out that if McCain loses and the Democrats surge in the Congress, we’ll also have some greater reminders of what we agree on to help us keep our disagreements in perspective.

This morning, Culture11’s James Poulous called Yuval Levin “one of the sharpest tools in the conservative shed” and provided a link to this piece on why John McCain is a better choice than Obama.

I cheerfully admit to being biased toward all things Levin - you can see what I mean over at The New Atlantis - but the piece is well worth reading even for non-admirers.

According to Yahoo! Finance, Nevada is behind only California, Arizona, and Florida in terms of total state budget shortfall.

Nevada’s budget gap is 16% of the total state budget or $1.2 billion.

Nevada has the worst foreclosure rate in the nation, and falling tourism and gambling revenues has slowed the economy dramatically.

A special legislative session in June resulted in budget caps and cuts, but it’s quite likely another special session will have to be called – after the elections in November.

Written Friday night, soon after scanning the latest polls and reading that Chris Buckley is casting a vote for Obama:

Rich ~ I ask your indulgence with this entire email.  I know we don’t know one another and that a handful of emails from me to you over the years, and you occasionally responding “thanks,” don’t really justify what is to follow.

But, you are the editor of National Review, and tonight I am a distraught conservative, so here it is:

I got tears in my eyes reading Chris Buckley’s whole post.

Chris seems cheerful enough about all this, so it’s not for him I cry. His dear father is no doubt quite content (and causing some kind of harmless mischief) in the great Hereafter, so no need for tears there.

I feel a sense of grief and loss; what is it…?

Chris Buckley is wrong; of that I am sure; but still it feels sad.

It seems to me that the splintering of the conservative movement, and its mixed political fortunes, and a sort of crisis of identity, have led us here. Fractured, floundering, weak, perhaps conservatism no longer knows what It is and so cannot inspire and compel as it once did. (I am so tired of talk of the Big Tent…)

It seems to me attempts at fusionism have (so far) failed: if McCain is the prototype and/or product, surely we must admit that? Chris Buckley admits it, with gusto: he now throws his hat in the ring for the uber-liberal senator from Illinois, saying Obama is preferable to the inauthentic and often unconservative McCain.

Is Obama to be elected and are we conservatives to be banished to the fringe, then, as we once were? For decades the establishment ignored us. Only because of Bill Buckley and then with Reagan did history really take note.

But what principle, what policy, what politician, what philosopher will unite us now?

From 1944 to 1991 we were held together by the glue of anticommunism. Barry Goldwater tried to carry the torch onward; Frank Meyer’s fusionism attempted the same and seems to live on in the postmodern pursuit of authenticity through freedom and virtue.

But. An inclusive doctrine – which conservatism has become – though seemingly practical, can lend itself to problems. Indeed, can anyone deny that we have landed ourselves in quite a spot?

When someone like Chris Buckely throws all hierarchies out the proverbial window and says he is voting for Obama, what then?

Has the postwar conservative intellectual movement lost its way; will it now become unrecognizable?

What has become of American conservatism?

One of the happiest days in the life of a new blogger is a mention at Instapundit. 

Still all warm and fuzzy from my KNPR radio appearance this morning, I logged in to E!! to see that Instapundit linked up to yesterday’s ACORN post.

Thanks Glenn!

Here’s some more unbiased journalism from the national press:

(The premis is a joke. Didn’t anyone see Obama’s eyes darken and veins swell during the debate? At one point I thought he was going to pop his jaw out of joint while waiting for McCain to finish. And what he lacks in temper-mental-ness, Michelle MORE than makes up for.)

(Plus: I kind of like McCain’s grumpy old man routine when he’s had his fill of the crap on The Hill. The man’s got some fire; so what?)

Hat Tip:  All American Blogger

Must be nice to have raised nearly half a billion for your campaign so you can do stuff like this.

Michelle Malkin inquired about the All Obama All the Time channel and got a response from Dish here.

My question:  what is The One paying for his 24/7 satellite channel?  And is that the going rate or did he get some sort of affirmative action discount?

You simply must read this NYT times piece by Stephen Holmes from September 20, 1999.  A few excerpts to whet your whistle:

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets — including the New York metropolitan region — will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans.

and

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980’s.

and

”From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,” said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ”If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.”

(Hat Tip:  Nicky Cheese)

K. emails from Michigan that a TARP – ref: Paulson’s Troubled Asset Relief Program - is (literally) a COVERING used to protect something that has been EXPOSED.  (She adds “Duh” for emphasis.)

Along these same lines, BS is (literally) a bunch of crap that comes out of the orifice of a creature at the end of all its gluttonous gorging.

I think we’re on to something here…

So let me just say for the record that a thing called the 9/11 Truth Movement is the main (practical) reason why I am Not a Libertarian, why I did not and could not support Ron Paul, and why I think a large part of the Libertarian Party needs to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and come down off the roof.

Stephen Spruiell blogged today from the Ron Paul festivities in Minneapolis-St. Paul.  He reported that after eloquently defending the 2nd Amendment (well worth defending), Jesse Ventura broached a controversial topic — “something that when I discuss it, I get attacked,” he said. “Something called 9/11.”

From all accounts, at every Ron Paul event this year, there have been a lot of people from this so-called 9/11 Truth movement.  Apparently today was no different. When Ventura brought up 9/11, these folks starting cheering and clapping. “ Why is it that when you ask questions about 9/11, it’s out-of-bounds?” he asked. “Why has the U.S. Department of Justice not charged Osama Bin Laden for 9/11?”

As Ventura continued to “ask questions” about what “really” happened on 9/11, Spruiell said the crowd started chanting, “9/11 was an inside job.” At one point, Stephen said it got so loud that Ventura had to pause for a few moments before going on. Many in the crowd were applauding Ventura throughout his talk on 9/11 (and to be fair some were looking on with dismay).

9/11 was an “inside job”………..?   Does any sane, rational person really believe that?  Are they all off their meds?  Or are they so paranoid and delusional that they are simply beyond the reach of modern psychiatry?

Message to 9/11 Truthers:  Put. The. Crack. Pipes. Down.

If Ron Paul actually believes this nonsense, or even if he just allows it preached at his parties for Effect and to please the lunatic fringe, I must say I have very little use for him.  Or for Jesse Ventura, either.  There is no place in our national dialogue for such Complete and Utter Nonsense.

(What a bunch of Noodles.)

Smart + Pretty = A Good Start

(Submitted this and got it posted on my new favorite blog:  This + That.  Very clever idea.  Check it out!)

A short time ago, word was spreading that Pawlenty was cancelling speeches and appearances left and right.  And now it just broke that Pawlenty will be on “Meet the Press” with Brokaw this weekend.

If Pawlenty’s the pick, I’m “0 for 2″ with political predictions.  Actually, 0-3 since McCain/Romney can’t win if Romney ain’t on the tick-ie.

(darn!)(LOL)

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.

Carter said in his video clip that during and after Katrina, New Orleans residents were “abandoned by their government.”  Um…  In the midst of all that Chaos mistakes were certainly made, but that does not equal Abandonment.  Carter grossly exaggerates.  As usual.  What is his deal?

Blue Collar Muse has a good piece up on Fred Baron’s seemingly bottomless pile of cash and what he’s choosing to do with it:  among other things, hide the truth (Edwards’ affair) from the public and attempt to swing national elections. 

Instapundit has a photo of some Denver protestors up.  One of the signs says “Riot 4 Peace”

:-/

Charles Krauthammer writes an excellent piece on the Russia-Georgia issue.  All this back bending appeasement is an embarassment – and a tragedy.  Unbelievable.

A friend and Nevada business owner just sent me this link.  Wyoming is trying to seduce and steal her away from the Silver State.  With all the discussion in Nevada about a possible business tax, she says she’s seriously considering leaving us. 

The first E!! election prediction to come true?  (Predictions were posted here.)

If you’re a reader or writer of conservative books, an aspiring author or publisher, or a left-wing bookhound with an open mind, don’t miss Harry Stein’s piece The Future of Conservative Books.

It’s a look at how mainstream publishers have gotten on (and may soon be getting off) the bandwagon of conservative publishing, and how smaller publishing houses are stepping in to fill the gap.  The article also remembers those who forged the way for today’s conservative bestsellers and offers thought-food to conservative writers thinking about their next (or first) book.

Stein is an editor for City Journal and the author of How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Peace).

Media Alert:  Cynthia McFadden, co-anchor of of ABC’s Nightline, is in desperate need of eye surgery.

How do I know this?  I just finished reading a transcript of McFaddden’s interview with Pastor Rick Warren on Monday.  Among other things, she pestered him to admit that he’s a Republican (although a conservative, he’s actually a registered Independent).

At one point, McFadden goaded: “You know, there are some people who feel that this is kind of a sham operation. That really, we know you, as an evangelical, are a Republican, a John McCain supporter.”

I wish Warren had replied, “Well, you know, Cynthia, there are some people who feel that ABC and the other network news operations are a kind of sham operation.  That really, we know you, as a member of the elite liberal media, are a Democrat, a Barack Obama supporter.”

Where does McFadden get off drilling Warren about his political affiliation and calling the forum he put together at Saddleback a “sham” when Warren has been widely praised by people on both sides of the aisle for his objectivity?  And while she and others at ABC regularly operate with blatant bias, carrying out the charade of interviewing subjects and reporting the “news” in what can only be called…a sham operation?

McFadden seemed to miss the irony in the fact that Rick Warren, a conservative evangelical pastor of one of the largest mega-churches in the nation, did not reveal any bias in his interviews with Obama and McCain, and is still operating objectively when in the public eye…whereas her own questions to Warren were dripping with prejudice and pre-conceived notions. 

Pluck the log out of thine own eye, Ms. McFadden.

 If you live and/or work in north Summerlin, you’ll probably be glad to read that the County Commissioners decided to go ahead and open the interchange at Lake Meade and the 215 in 6 to 8 weeks (as soon as they can get the lights done).  One would think using a $12.4 million finished interchange wouldn’t require a special discussion, but apparently it did…

Thought we’d start the day here on E!! with a little light-hearted commentary on Russia’s violent invasion of a free, democratic Georgia during this, the first week of the Olympics.  I’ve read quite a few op-eds about it this morning and here is my three cents:

The Russia-Georgia cease-fire brokered by France’s president is being honored by Russia, sort of.  Fewer shots were fired once it was in place, but the Russian army kept moving moving and now occupies Gori.  Georgia has been cut in two and although the road to the capital (Tbilisi) is open it’s obvious that Putin is intent on pursuing his objectives through continued military pressure.

Putin’s agenda seems pretty clear. In addition to detaching South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia so they can be absorbed into Russia and, oh yes, completely obliterating the Georgian army…Putin aims to remove Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and replace him with someone more agreeable to Putin’s agenda.

How will Putin attempt to achieve this last aim?  By continuing to say he won’t talk to Saakashvili.  Putin’s refusal to dialogue about what will happen next - troop withdrawals, territorial negotiations, etc. – makes regime change the first requirement for progress and peace.  And Putin is hoping he can pressure the EU into pressuring Saakashvili into resigning so “peace talks” can progress.

As Charles Krauthammer points out, a key benefit of Russian control of Georgia is that Moscow would control the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.  This is the only major European-bound pipeline for Caspian Sea oil that does not already pass through Russia. With Putin’s boot heel pressed firmly on Georgia’s neck, Moscow would become lord and master of the Caspian oil basin.  And send an unambiguous signal to the entire region about who is really Boss.

So, what to do?

Here’s Krauthammer’s list of possible measures to be deployed if Russia does not live up to its cease-fire commitments.  It’s so excellent that I am going to post it verbatim:

1. Suspend the NATO-Russia Council established in 2002 to help bring Russia closer to the West. Make clear that dissolution will follow suspension. The council gives Russia a seat at the NATO table. Message: Invading neighboring democracies forfeits the seat.

2. Bar Russian entry to the World Trade Organization.

3. Dissolve the G-8. Putin’s dictatorial presence long made it a farce but no one wanted to upset the bear by expelling it. No need to. The seven democracies simply withdraw. Then immediately announce the reconstitution of the original G-7.

4. Announce a U.S.-European boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi. To do otherwise would be obscene. Sochi is 15 miles from Abkhazia, the other Georgian province just invaded by Russia. The Games will become a riveting contest between the Russian, Belarusian and Jamaican bobsled teams.

Krauthammer suggests that all of these steps (except dissolution of the G-8, which would be permanent) would be subject to “reconsideration” depending on what ensues.  All could be taken back after the Russian withdrawal of troops.  In any case, we absolutely ought to support the Saakashvili government.  

Condi is headed to France and then on to Georgia. We’ll see how well she does, i.e. whether she can convince the EU to agree to sanctions - and begin imposing them.  

A few Cornerites are batting around the contention that if Obama is not elected, bitter accusations of racism from the Left will haunt our nation for another 20 years.

Maybe so, but I agree with John Miller:

I would argue that although the defeat of Obama may hurt race relations to some degree (especially when liberals try to pin it on racism), even worse would be for America’s first black president to be a failed president.