Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Why Left Opposes Sessions: He’s Right; They’re Wrong
Richard Allen, President Ronald Reagan’s first national security adviser, once wrote an essay for Human Events describing a visit he made to Reagan’s California home in 1977. Allen went there, he wrote, to ask Reagan to support his campaign for governor of New Jersey. He and the future president ended up talking about foreign policy.
Why the Image of the Great Economic Leader Is Dangerous
On Tuesday, Alibaba CEO Jack Ma, one of the richest men on the planet, met with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower. After emerging from the meeting, he stood alongside Trump and announced: “We specifically talked about ... supporting 1 million small businesses, especially in the Midwest of America. Small businesses on the platform selling products — agriculture products and American services — to China and Asia because we’re pretty big in Asia.” Trump shook Ma’s hand in front of the cameras and announced, “Jack and I are going to do some great things,” before shaking hands.
The Black Community and Crime
The FBI reported that the total number of homicides in 2015 was 15,696. Blacks were about 52 percent of homicide victims. That means about 8,100 black lives were ended violently, and over 90 percent of the time, the perpetrator was another black. Listening to the news media and the Black Lives Matter movement, one would think that black deaths at the hands of police are the major problem. It turns out that in 2015, police across the nation shot and killed 986 people. Of that number, 495 were white (50 percent), 258 were black (26 percent) and 172 Hispanic (17 percent). A study of 2,699 fatal police killings between 2013 and 2015, conducted by John R. Lott Jr. and Carlisle E. Moody of the Crime Prevention Research Center, demonstrates that the odds of a black suspect’s being killed by a black police officer were consistently greater than a black suspect’s getting killed by a white officer. Politicians, race hustlers and the news media keep such studies under wraps because these studies don’t help their narrative about racist cops.
Will Trump’s Twitter Fixation Drive Away His Allies?
The political class is still coming to grips with what appears to be Donald Trump’s novel management philosophy: Government by Twitter. Put aside the by-now-familiar weirdness of our president-elect’s gloating over Arnold Schwarzenegger’s poor “Celebrity Apprentice” ratings or swipes at Meryl Streep. Trump’s Twitter addiction poses heretofore unnoticed challenges for his administration.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Sessions Faces a Racially Motivated Political Lynch Mob
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general is facing nothing short of a racially motivated political lynch mob on Capitol Hill. Prior to his confirmation hearing, two men dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes shouting in southern accents were removed from the hearing room. The incident set the stage for what will no doubt be an ugly attempt by Democrats to assassinate the character of the gentleman from Alabama.
The Reset Failure
President Barack Obama has finally had it with Russia. It only took eight years of cold reality — topped off by the Russian interference in the November election — to make the outgoing president almost cleareyed about the Kremlin.
Russian Hacking and Glass Houses
Many top U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed a secret intelligence operation for the purpose of discrediting Hillary Clinton, thereby helping Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election.
Jerusalem Terror
Just over two weeks ago, President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry conspired at the United Nations to declare that it is illegitimate for Jews to live in the “occupied territory” of East Jerusalem. Over the weekend, an ISIS-inspired jihadist took his own action to decrease the number of Jews in “occupied” Jerusalem by killing them.
We Need Tax Reform, Not Tariffs
If America’s competitors intentionally tried designing a tax system to destroy the American economy, they probably couldn’t come up with a better plan than the way the United States currently taxes its own businesses.
Libs Try to Unhinge Trump’s Cabinet
After eight years of fundamentally transforming America, most liberals aren’t exactly thrilled to see it transformed back. Desperate to keep their legacy of lawlessness alive, the Left is taking the surest path to protecting their “progress:” fighting the leaders who would unravel it and return law and order to America. With the New Year came a new intensity to knock down any cabinet nominees of President-elect Donald Trump’s who pose a threat to President Obama’s radical gains.
Disturbing Lessons From the Chicago Beating
Last week, four young blacks — two males, both 18 years old; and two females, 18 and 24 years-old — kidnapped a mentally disabled 18-year-old white boy and tortured him for 24 hours. Among other things, they kicked him, beat him, cut his scalp, made him drink from the toilet and made him kiss the floor while saying he loves black people. During the beatings, the suspects yelled out, “F— white people, boy” and “F— Donald Trump.”
Monday, January 9, 2017
The Key to the Russian Riddle
“Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The key is Russian national interest.” Winston Churchill’s quote came a quarter century and two months after the start of World War I. In late August 1914, one month into that conflict, a massive Russian army was defeated at the Battle of Tannenberg. While the German offensive through Belgium that brought Britain into the Great War on August 3, 1914 had stalled at the First Battle of the Marne in mid-September, the relatively small British Army committed to France would be destroyed within a year, to be replaced with conscripts.
Barack Obama’s Legacy of Failure
As he prepares to move out of the White House, Barack Obama is understandably focused on his legacy and reputation. The president will deliver a farewell address in Chicago on Tuesday; he told his supporters in an e-mail that the speech would “celebrate the ways you’ve changed this country for the better these past eight years,” and previewed his closing argument in a series of tweets hailing “the remarkable progress” for which he hopes to be remembered.
102 & Counting
On consecutive days last week, I had the unusual experience of having lunch on Wednesday with my oldest friend and, on Thursday, lunching with my oldest friend, and they weren’t the same person.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Business Owner to CNN, Liberals & Springsteen: ‘We’ve Had It With You Idiots’
A small business owner in Oregon has a message for CNN, ignorant liberals and Bruce Springsteen: “We’ve had it with you idiots.”
Obama’s Unforced Errors on Foreign Policy
When Barack Obama moves two miles from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to 2446 Belmont Road in Washington’s Kalorama neighborhood, he will live half a mile from 2340 S Street, where Woodrow Wilson spent his three post-presidential years. Wilson’s embittering foreign policy failure was the Senate’s rejection of the U.S. participation in the embodiment of Wilsonian aspirations, the League of Nations. Obama leaves office serene because “almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago.”
Saturday, January 7, 2017
A Costly Obsession With Abortion
Supporting Planned Parenthood isn’t just the wrong decision — it could be politically costly! Some Senate Democrats are about to learn that lesson the hard way, Susan B. Anthony List warns in a new report about voters’ feelings on the abortion giant. In six states where Senate liberals are on shaky ground in 2018, the news isn’t exactly promising for longtime Planned Parenthood allies. “A majority of voters in Florida, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin said they would be less likely to support their senator if he or she voted to fund Planned Parenthood over women’s health clinics that do not perform abortions,” the survey found.
Paving the Road to Hell
I could almost feel sorry for Angela Merkel if only her good intentions hadn’t led so inevitably to the murders and rapes that have plagued Germany ever since Frau Merkel swung open her nation’s doors to 400,000 of the Islamic scum.
Make Inaugurals Dignified Again
Advice for the new president on his first day — and for the media covering it.
Narrow-Minded A-List Celebs Could Learn Lesson From Patriotic Marching Band
The Palmetto Ridge High School Marching Pride Band erupted in cheers when they learned they would be representing the town of Naples and the state of Florida at the 2017 presidential inauguration.