Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Super Bowl Ads Go Political, Marring Otherwise Classic Game
Super Bowl 51 was one heck of a game, folks. We were treated to a presidential coin flip, all the players stood for the national anthem and Lady Gaga kept her clothes on. Miss Gaga also got bonus points for not injecting politics into the halftime show — and also for not wearing a dress made out of brisket. Good on all of you, as we say back home in Tennessee.
Education at a Crossroads: Part II
One of the painful realities of our time is that most public schools in most low-income, inner-city neighborhoods produce educational outcomes that are far below the outcomes in other neighborhoods, and especially in more affluent neighborhoods.
Is That Sermon Political?
Should pastors preach politics from the pulpit? Or should houses of worship be kept rigorously politics-free? Compelling arguments can be made both ways.
Falsehoods & Follies
In retaliation for Trump’s placing a travel ban on Muslims from several different countries in the Middle East, the Ayatollah has retaliated by banning Americans from entering Iran. Talk about win-win, Trump not only managed to keep a bunch of potential jihadists out of the U.S., but found a way to cut off Iran’s easy access to American hostages.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Education at a Crossroads
In just a matter of days — perhaps next Monday — a decision will be made in Washington affecting the futures of millions of children in low-income communities, and in the very troubled area of race relations in America. An opportunity has arisen — belatedly — that may not come again in this generation. That is an opportunity to greatly expand the kinds of schools that have successfully educated, to a high level, inner-city youngsters whom the great bulk of public schools fail to educate to even minimally adequate levels.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Targeting Tehran
In yet another dramatic break from the past eight years, the Trump administration announced [yesterday] that it was imposing new sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The sanctions target “multiple entities and individuals involved in procuring technology and/or materials to support Iran’s ballistic missile program, as well as for acting for or on behalf of, or providing support to, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.”
Planned Parenthood: No Friend of Parents
It seems the hits just keep on coming for America’s abortion titan, Planned Parenthood. In the past few days, more devastating facts have surfaced about the organization that profits from the more than 300,000 abortions it performs every year: Planned “Parenthood” is not really for parents.
A Modest Proposal to Solve Inequality
Tight labor markets shrink income inequality by causing employers to bid up the price of scarce labor, so policymakers fretting about income inequality could give an epidemic disease a try. This might be a bit extreme but if increased equality is the goal, Stanford’s Walter Scheidel should be heard. His scholarship encompasses many things (classics, history, human biology) and if current events are insufficiently depressing for you, try his just-published book “The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century.” Judge this book by its cover, which features Albrecht Durer’s woodcut “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”
In Trump’s Washington, Nothing Feels Stable
He has overloaded all circuits. Everything is too charged, with sparks and small shocks all over.
Trump the Magnificent
In November, when I voted for Donald Trump, my main motivation was to defeat Hillary Clinton. I hoped Trump would be a good president, but the only thing I really knew for certain was that he’d be better than her.
Friday, February 3, 2017
Fake News, Executive Orders and Immigration
The controversy over so-called “fake news” does not seem to be going away. However, the press’s frustration about it is increasingly misplaced. After the presidential election the media fixated for months on a handful of fictitious headlines from suspect websites that were shared around Facebook which allegedly affected the election. But they missed the bigger story about their own problematic reporting.
Gorsuch Is the Anti-Trump
If President Donald Trump is a budding authoritarian, as his critics allege, one of the safeguards is Judge Neil Gorsuch.
Mr. President: Don’t Cave to Liberal Fearmongering. Protect Religious Freedom.
Liberals are up in arms over a possible executive order from President Donald Trump protecting religious freedom. A draft copy of the executive order was leaked to LGBT groups and liberal media outlets in an attempt to prevent the president from issuing it. But the president should not cave. He should stand up to the liberal outrage and hostility to ordinary American values that fueled his rise in the first place.
Derailing the Trump Express
The Trump Train is rolling on. It’s going so fast and in so many directions at once that its critics can’t catch up. All week long President Trump has filled the headlines with news.
Trump’s 2nd-Week Follow-Through
Donald Trump’s second week as president has been full of surprises and Sturm und Drang. His Friday afternoon executive order barring for 90 days immigration from seven countries designated by the Obama administration as “countries of concern” was obviously ill-vetted and prompted nationwide and international protests. His Tuesday night nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court triggered well-rehearsed protests but also some unexpected support.
On Trump, Conservatives Have Little Choice but to Take It Issue by Issue
Resist?! Sure. What would you have us resist? Everything. There’s an expectation — and often a demand — that movement conservatives be all in or all out on the Donald Trump presidency. Lock-stepping partisans of both varieties offer this false choice. The election phase of the debate is over. Traditionally, presidents offer a menu of policies that more or less comport with the worldview of their party. This is different. So while I don’t contend to speak for all conservatives, I do imagine many are horrified/excited/sad/happy/content/embarrassed by what’s going on — often on the same day.
The President & Prayer
President Donald Trump spoke [Thursday] morning at his first National Prayer Breakfast. The event is a long-standing Washington tradition where members of both parties come together to honor the importance of faith and America’s Judeo-Christian heritage. The president’s speech did not disappoint.
Let’s Hope the Loony Left Keeps Exposing Itself
How deliciously ironic that the unhinged Democrats are fueling, not paralyzing, President Donald Trump and energizing, not intimidating, his supporters — whose numbers are growing.
Cutting Off Their Nose
President Trump has kept the one promise that caused conservatives to rally to him through all the turmoil of the presidential election. In nominating Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court, the president is putting a Scalia-worthy replacement in Antonin Scalia’s seat.