Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Retreat, Hell! Trump Just Got Here!
After less than 75 days in office, the mainstream media is already writing obituaries for the Trump administration. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry from the absurdity of it all.
The President Is This Presidency’s Worst Enemy
The conservative commentariat is full of suggestions these days for how Donald Trump can salvage his first 100 days.
Rice-a-Ruined
Former Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice is having a bad day. You remember Ms. Rice. After the attack in Benghazi, Rice was sent on every Sunday TV talk show to tell the American people that the violence was a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Islam video. That was a lie.
Is Profiling OK?
Profiling is needlessly a misunderstood concept. What’s called profiling is part of the optimal stock of human behavior and something we all do. Let’s begin by describing behavior that might come under the heading of profiling.
Jeremiah Denton and the Point of No Return
The chairman told the witness to stand. “Do you swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” The witness said: “I do so swear.”
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Student Told to Ditch ‘Offensive’ Pro-Trump Poster
Al Roker, the Today Show’s chief weather-guesser, has been crisscrossing the fruited plain attempting to set world records at various universities. On March 27, Roker helped students at the University of Oklahoma set the world record for largest human image of a cloud and largest human image of a lightning bolt. But civil engineering major Levi Kell was not among the students who set the world record inside the university’s football stadium. That’s because Levi was escorted from the premises after he refused to turn over a homemade poster supporting President Trump.
Block and Blue: Dems Vow Filibuster
There’s never been a successful filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee in history — but that won’t stop the Democrats from trying! The hard-headed minority is insisting that it’ll pull off what no party in America ever has: blocking Neil Gorsuch from an up-or-down vote. Nevermind that Democrats blasted the GOP for threatening the same thing under President Obama. As far as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is concerned, some political views were only meant to last as long as the party’s power does.
It’s Time for Conservatives to Celebrate This President
Do conservatives — or non-leftists, for that matter — appreciate just how terrific Donald Trump has been as president? And how lucky we are that he won the presidency?
What Congress Can Learn From the Rhode Island Miracle
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more poorly designed program in the federal budget than Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans. The costs are shared between the states and the feds, which means that the more money a state wastes under Medicaid, the bigger the check Washington writes to the state. No wonder the program costs keep spiraling out of control.
Gorsuch and The Ghost of Harry Reid
What goes around comes around is one of life’s undeniable truisms and never more than in the politics of Washington, D.C. (the “D.C.” increasingly standing for dysfunctional city).
Should Obama Officials Lawyer Up?
The bombshell story that broke on Fox News this weekend has the potential to blow up Obama and his senior national security advisors.
Monday, April 3, 2017
Elation and Frustration
A new study suggests the ideas about a step function in temperature movement is something that is real. And I have been arguing for several years that this is what we are seeing.
Rolling Stone Blasts ‘Duck Dynasty’
Duck Dynasty was a modern-day version of Mayberry — a television show that celebrated faith and family and ducks. And now the show has ended; the duck blind is closed. It was back in 2012 that A&E introduced the nation to the owners of Duck Commander — the Robertson Family, of West Monroe, Louisiana. It was only a matter of time before Phil and Miss Kay and Uncle Si and Willie became some of the most popular stars in reality television show history. Among all of us gun-toting, Bible-clinging deplorables, the Robertson’s were beloved.
Terry McAuliffe, Virginia’s Voter-Fraud Guru
Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, is at it again, vetoing six bills aimed at preventing voter fraud and illegal voting. What does he have against election integrity? Why does he want to make it easier to commit fraud and harder for election officials to detect or deter it?
The Freedom Caucus Goes Berserk
I thought the replacement bill that Paul Ryan cobbled together and that President Trump endorsed stunk, but if I’d been a House Republican I would have held my nose and voted for it. Politics is a blood sport and those who are afraid of contamination should best consider a career in the priesthood.
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Thirty Years of ‘Varsity Academics’
Of the three R’s, says Will Fitzhugh, the founder and publisher of The Concord Review, the middle R has long been the most neglected. It was true in his own case — when he arrived at Harvard as a freshman 61 years ago, he had never had to write a single term paper — and it remains true now. On the whole, American students graduate from high school incapable of writing a coherent, well-researched essay. Most of those who continue to college don’t become competent writers there, either.
The Greatest Engine for Good
This is one of those times of year where people who don’t usually attend church may find themselves attending services. Maybe it’s part of a family visit. Maybe it’s tradition. Maybe it’s an itch in need of scratching. Or maybe it’s a desire. Whatever the cause, it could be fuel for civic renewal.
Baseball Numbers Aren’t Difficult. But This Quiz Might Be.
Sportswriter: “You hit only two home runs all last year and already you’ve hit seven this year [1969]. What’s the difference?”
Saturday, April 1, 2017
The Un-United States of America
If you’ve watched even five minutes of Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings, you can understand how badly divided the country is today.
No to ‘Racial Impact Statements’
The Federalist Society blogsite has an interesting post by James Scanlan on proposed legislation in New Jersey that would require racial and ethnic impact statements for any legislative measure that affects pretrial detention, sentencing, probation, or parole policies. Mr. Scanlan notes that racial-impact-statement laws have already, alas, been enacted in Connecticut, Iowa, and Oregon and that similar legislation has recently been introduced in Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, and Wisconsin; and, what’s more, frequently the legislation addresses not just post-arrest and conviction policies, but what is made criminal in the first place.