Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Thursday, January 5, 2017
A Recipe for Economic Growth in the New Year
With the beginning of a new year comes the hope for change. There is so much we could wish for — peace, the end of poverty or social tensions, and fulfillment for all. The thing is that the best way to get many of these goals is through a tired but so true refrain: Create economic growth. It seems obvious to many of us, yet it’s so important to get right that it bears repeating over and over again.
Why the Anti-Israeli Sentiment?
Secretary of State John Kerry, echoing other policymakers in the Obama administration, blasted Israel last week in a 70-minute rant about its supposedly self-destructive policies. Why does the world — including now the U.S. — single out liberal and lawful Israel but refrain from chastising truly illiberal countries?
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
The Wisdom of the Ages: My Grandfather’s Example
It was early 1943. The war in Europe and Asia waged on. The nations of the world were embroiled in an epic battle of good versus evil. Tens of millions of lives were being lost and hundreds of millions more were grieving those losses. Hell had unleashed its fury in a manner that had never previously been experienced. The utter depravity of man was center stage and no human soul remained untouched.
Will Obama Pardon the Rosenbergs?
You may have noticed an unusual amount of renewed attention being given to the Rosenbergs — that is, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. That’s because there’s an aggressive push by liberals to try to exonerate the Rosenbergs, especially Ethel. This campaign has been going on for a while, but the hopeful are counting on one Barack Obama to come up big with a pardon for the two glorious comrades in these closing weeks of his presidency of fundamental transformation.
Teens Step Forward to Serve as Pallbearers for Veteran With No Family
Navy veteran Jerry Wayne Pino died on Dec. 12th in Long Beach, Mississippi. He was 70 years old. We don’t know that much about Jerry. He was born in Baton Rouge and joined the Navy in New Orleans. He was a petty officer third class in Vietnam. That’s the extent of his biography. No family. No friends. He died alone.
The Nation’s Abattoir
The city of Chicago is conducting a long, bloody experiment in what happens to a gang-ridden municipality in the absence of effective policing.
The Trump Years
Two more weeks until the new administration begins! I wonder if President Donald Trump will stick to his campaign promises — like reducing immigration and slamming consumers by imposing a 35 percent tariff. Hope not. But it could have been much worse.
Trump Wins Again
Ford announced today that it was cancelling a planned $1.6 billion investment in Mexico. Instead the automaker is now planning to invest $700 million in a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, which is expected to create 700 new jobs at the plant.
The DNC’s Keith Ellison Dilemma
As we enter 2017, the Democratic Party has good reason to be concerned. In Washington, Republicans now control the White House and both houses of Congress. Thirty-three governors are Republicans, and Republicans control both houses of state legislatures in 32 states whereas Democrats control both chambers in just five.
Setting the Record State
It may be a new year, but there’s nothing new about the concerns surrounding the State Department’s liberal activism. While Americans were busy unwrapping presents, conservatives were tearing into something else: Obama’s record on social issues. After eight years of watching the State Department operate as a global base for abortion and sexual activism, most Republicans are ready to get back to the real business of diplomacy. That’s a tough job under normal circumstances, but after two terms of President Obama, the Trump team will have its hands full.
Can Speculation Be Defined as News?
At the dawn of 2017, let us offer a philosophical question for the news media. If the scourge of the new year is “fake news,” should we not concede that it’s not news to speculate about what will happen after a news event? The problem is, without speculation about the future — whether immediate or distant — cable news channels and radio news outlets would surely enter a crisis about how to fill 24 hours a day, and newspapers would struggle to fill their pages.
Forensic Nightmare: The Perils of Touch DNA
Have you heard of “touch DNA?” This mundane, yet menacing phenomenon exposes the double-edged sword of forensic science. With just an innocent handshake, an indirect transfer of epithelial cells, you could find yourself suspected of heinous crimes, charged with rape or convicted of murder.
2016’s Biggest Loser: Big Green
The day after the presidential elections, Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, glumly called the Donald Trump victory “devastating for our climate and our future.” Well, yes, if you’re a climate-change alarmist who hates fossil fuels, you’re in for a bad four and maybe eight years.
Make Government Schools Compete or Die
If you pay taxes and take responsibility for getting your own children to and from school, you may be interested in learning that the government spent $23,233,698,000 in the 2012-2013 school year transporting other people’s children to and from public schools around this country.
The Anti-Science Mainstreaming of Mental Illness
On Tuesday, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported that 23-year-old Anna Teshu of Staten Island, New York, has gone missing. Teshu’s 15 minutes of fame began in 2015 when she was featured on the internet because her boyfriend was walking her around on a leash in public. Her boyfriend said: “The collar is like a ring for most couples. They use rings, we have a collar.” Teshu reportedly enjoyed spending time in a puppy cage, as well. She explained, “The first time I put on a collar I thought, ‘Now I need to find someone for the other end.’”
Obama Going Out in a Blaze of Self-Interest
Of all Barack Obama’s costumes, the most ill-fitting is that of the hawk. The guise doesn’t work for all sorts of ideological and historical reasons. Plus there’s the fact that he’s rushing to put on the outfit as he’s heading out the door. The new sanctions against Russia are fine with me on the merits, even if they are remarkably tardy and being sold in no small part for domestic, political reasons.
Liberal Struggle Against Reality
We will never understand liberals and progressives until we recognize that they often see reality as a social construct subject to being challenged and changed. For example, throughout the world, boys and girls have different toy preferences. Typically, boys like to play with cars and trucks, whereas girls prefer dolls. Liberals explain this with the assertion that boys and girls are socialized and encouraged to play with different types of toys by their parents, peers and “society.” Growing scientific evidence suggests that toy preferences have a biological origin. Even studies of male and female primates find that they exhibit similar toy preferences. Despite the growing evidence of biological determinism, liberals have managed to intimidate toy sellers into getting rid of the labels “toys for boys” and “toys for girls.”
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
ObamaCare Repeal Must Be on Day One: Congress Has No Excuses
In less than three weeks’ time, when Donald Trump becomes our next president, he will take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. It is fitting, then, that Trump has committed to repealing and replacing one of his predecessor’s most infamous unconstitutional policies, the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. But he won’t be able to do it alone. Repealing Obamacare requires Congress to write legislation for the president to sign into law.
Kerry’s Two-Faced Solution
In his recent speech excoriating Israel for refusing to commit suicide by allowing a sworn enemy to have a state adjoining the Jewish state, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed the U.S. government “did not draft or originate” the UN resolution critical of Israeli “settlements.”
Monday, January 2, 2017
What Experts Predict, Reality Will Contradict
A new year dawns, and you know what that means: Insiders, pundits, and gurus will spend the next 12 months making confident predictions that turn out to be spectacularly wrong.