Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Monday, December 26, 2016
A Labor Secretary Who Knows How to Create Jobs
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Andy Puzder, CEO of Carl’s Jr., the successful fast-food hamburger restaurant chain, as his secretary of labor. This has set off a bit of protest by the hard left and the union bosses.
The Conventional Threat to Trump
Donald Trump was supposed to take over the Republican Party, but the question going forward will be whether the Republican Party takes over him.
As Socialism Shattered Venezuela, the Useful Idiots Applauded
When the Cold War ended 25 years ago, the Soviet Union vanished into the ash heap of history. That left the West’s “useful idiots” — Lenin’s term for the ideologues and toadies who could always be relied on to justify or praise whatever Moscow did — in search of other socialist thugs to fawn over. Many found a new heartthrob in Hugo Chavez, the anti-*Yanqui* rabble-rouser who was elected president of Venezuela in 1998, and in short order had transformed the country from a successful social democracy into a grim and corrupt autocracy.
Trump the Miracle Worker
I am amazed at how much better I feel about America’s future, all thanks to Donald Trump’s having vanquished Hillary Clinton. Elections, even presidential elections, don’t always have that much riding on their outcome. But this one did.
Sunday, December 25, 2016
An Arizona Waitress Receives a Christmas Gift From God
From Phoenix comes a story of good will this Christmas season. It’s a story about a woman with child who had an encounter with God in the most unusual of places.
When a House Is Accused of a Crime
For Christos and Markela Sourovelis, for whom the worst thing was losing their home, “Room 101” was Courtroom 478 in City Hall. This “courtroom’s” name is Orwellian: There was neither judge nor jury in it. There the city government enriched itself — more than $64 million in a recent 11-year span — by disregarding due process requirements in order to seize and sell the property of people who have not been accused, never mind convicted, of a crime.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Cross Restored to Town’s Beloved Christmas Tree
It was not so much as a Christmas miracle as it was a Christmas compromise, but the good news is the cross has been returned to the town Christmas tree in Knightstown, Indiana.
A More American Conservatism
The astonishing political campaign of 2016 involved much debate about whether Donald Trump is a conservative. He was not always facile with the lingo of conservatism, and he pointed out once that he was seeking the nomination of the Republican, not the conservative party. Yet there is a lot we can learn from him about conservatism.
People From Another Planet
I know that some of us feel that liberals have come to earth from outer space, which is why we sometimes refer to them as space cadets. But they are much more like those dumb kids back in grade school whom we insisted had been AWOL when the brains were passed out.
Friday, December 23, 2016
School Lesson Says Christians Are Treating Muslims Harshly
A classroom assignment on Islam says one negative effect of the Crusades is that Christians are still treating Muslims harshly.
To the Old Media — Bah Humbug!
In the last six weeks the liberal pundits and biased reporters of the Old Media have pulled a groin muscle trying to discredit President Trump in advance.
Democrats Care About Their Power, Not About Russian Hacking
Isn’t it interesting that it took an electoral barnyard beat-down to get the Democrats interested in Russian hacking? A drubbing by Donald Trump has done wonders to focus their minds.
One Man’s Impact
On Dec. 19, radio host Charlie Sykes completed his last broadcast for WTMJ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His last hours on the air were adorned with encomia from some of the leading figures his show had helped to incubate: Reince Preibus, Scott Walker, Paul Johnson and Paul Ryan, among many others. For three and a half hours every day for 23 years, Wisconsinites got the Charlie Sykes catechism: free markets, rule of law, school reform, free speech (and anti-political-correctness) and strong families. The policy meal was substantial and nourishing, but that didn’t mean the taste was bland. Sykes delivered information with just the right soupcon of humor and entertainment, and, of course, a hearty serving of Green Bay Packers hits.
With Arctic Drilling Ban, Obama Continues His Historic Abuse of Power
While the left panics over President-elect Donald Trump and the erosion of democratic norms, President Barack Obama went ahead and issued another decree without any regard for the nation’s legislative process.
Burden in the Bells
“I heard the bells on Christmas Day / Their old, familiar carols play, / and wild and sweet / The words repeat / Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Fake News
As we head into the holidays, it is getting hard to keep track of how many of the election-related “hate crimes” have been proven false. Not only are they false, but they are almost always perpetrated by leftists.
The Islamic Terrorists Wage Real War on Christmas
2016 hasn’t been a hot year for discussions of a rhetorical war on Christmas in our malls or public schools. Maybe we’ve tuned out the secular hostility in our culture. We’ve gone from banning Linus reading from the Gospel of Luke to banning Christmas to banning Santa Claus to banning even the thought of a holiday, since it might not be for others.
Media Guilty of Double Standard on Terror Attacks
Here’s a paradox for you. Whenever there’s a terrorist attack, the immediate response from government officials and the media is: “Let’s not jump to conclusions.” Yet when there are breaking reports that Muslim or Arab Americans were allegedly victimized by bigots in some hate crime, the response is instant credulity, outrage and hand-wringing.
Some Christmastime Advice for Pundits and Partisans
Now that the 538 electors have voted — and, with only the most minor of exceptions, for the expected candidates — we can marvel at how such a huge difference in public policies can be made by just a few votes, the 77,744 votes by which Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton for the 46 electoral votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Aleppo and American Decline
The fall of Aleppo just weeks before Barack Obama leaves office is a fitting stamp on his Middle East policy of retreat and withdrawal. The pitiable pictures from the devastated city showed the true cost of Obama’s abdication. For which he seems to have few regrets, however. In his end-of-year news conference, Obama defended U.S. inaction with his familiar false choice: it was either stand aside or order a massive Iraq-style ground invasion.