Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Questions Lester Holt Should Ask
Next week’s presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton could determine the outcome of the election. As polls show Trump leading in some swing states and closing the gap in others, it appears the only burden he must overcome is the one Ronald Reagan shared, looking presidential enough that voters trust him with so much power. The way these debates have usually gone in the past is that the Republican candidate is asked about abortion, gay rights and other social issues and the Democratic candidate is asked about subjects that appeal to a wider range of voters. Lester Holt, the “NBC Nightly News” anchor, will moderate the first debate. Here are some questions he should ask: For Clinton: You once supported traditional marriage, but now favor same-sex marriage. Polygamists now want to be next in line to receive legal and cultural approval. Do you oppose polygamy, and if so on what basis? If elected president, how would we know you wouldn’t change your mind on this issue?
ISIS Cheers Attacks
The Islamic State was quick to claim credit for this weekend’s carnage in St. Cloud and New York. After the bombing in Manhattan, Islamists celebrated on social media. And while local authorities struggled to understand the motivation of St. Cloud slasher Dahir Adan, ISIS hailed him as “a soldier of the Islamic State.” Below are some updates to our earlier report. Dahir Adan was brought down by Jason Falconer, a former police chief and off-duty officer. Falconer is also an NRA Certified Instructor and owner of Tactical Advantage shooting range. Once again, a good guy with a gun stopped the bad guy. Were it not for Mr. Falconer’s courage and expertise, the carnage at the St. Cloud mall could have been far worse.
Terror Explodes as Leadership Implodes
President Obama had plenty to say at a New York City fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on Sunday — but nothing when it came to the terror attacks that rocked the city hours earlier. Barely a day removed from bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey — and a Minneapolis stabbing in the name of ISIS — the president couldn’t be bothered to address national security because he was busy propping up a candidate who would continue his failed policies. For the White House, which has watched attacks like these peak under Obama’s watch, the optics were less than flattering. As the Chelsea neighborhood grapples with the wreckage from a homemade pressure cooker bomb, the administration continues to downplay the pain of 29 wounded Americans, suggesting that this conflict is “just a war of narratives.” (I guarantee the 30 people lying in hospital beds across New York City would beg to disagree.)
Will Democratic Success Breed Clinton’s Failure?
Success breeds failure. That’s one of the melancholy lessons you learn in life. The success of policymakers in stamping out inflation in the 1980s and minimizing recessions for two decades also produced policies that contributed to the collapse of the housing and financial markets in 2007-08. It’s the same in politics. Strategies and tactics that seem certain to produce victory can eventually produce defeat. Prognostications that one party or platform will prevail far into the future usually turn out to have a surprisingly early sell-by date. That becomes apparent when you look at the shrinking margin for Hillary Clinton in the polls. As of Friday, the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls shows Clinton’s margin down to 1.5 percent in two-way pairings with Donald Trump and down to 1.1 percent in four-way pairings that include Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.
No Thank You, Obama
Last week, while touting the new Census report on income and poverty in America, Barack Obama took credit for $2 a gallon gasoline, and immodestly shouted to his crowd of supporters: “Thank you, Obama.” I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but given that for eight years your administration has done everything to decapitate the oil and gas industry that gave us low gas prices, sorry: No thanks are in order, Mr. President. Even more amazing was Obama’s victory lap on the income numbers. Yes, incomes for middle-class families rose by an impressive 5 percent in 2015. And poverty fell. Thank goodness. It’s about time. But the Census report was anything but cause for celebration. It is a stinging indictment of the policy results of both the George W. Bush and the Obama legacies. They both miserably failed and are equally culpable for the sad state of the American family’s finances today.
Did the Famous Sailor Sexually Assault the Famous Nurse?
The most famous American photo of World War II is undoubtedly that of the four Marines planting the American flag on Iwo Jima. The second most famous is probably the legendary photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt’s picture of an American sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square in New York City, when people were celebrating Japan’s surrender. The kiss was not, of course, merely a peck on the cheek. If it were, no photo would have been taken. And if one were, no one would have remembered it. The sailor clearly grabbed the nurse. She is leaning backward, bent at the waist; he is holding her up with both hands around her waist. The photo has been back in the news because the woman, identified as Greta Zimmer Friedman, died on Sept. 8, at age 92. She was 21 when the picture was taken.
Obama Cracks Jokes While Jihadists Lay Siege to America
Islamic radicals are once again waging jihad on American soil and President Obama is AWOL. There have been attacks in New York, New Jersey, Minnesota and a charity run for Marines. Among the victims: an eight-year-old child and a 15-year-old girl. And the only reason we’re not talking about massive casualties is because of alert citizens and the incompetence of the jihadist. America is under siege, and yet our Commander-in-Chief remains strangely aloof. On Saturday night — just moments after the bombings — the president was bashing Donald Trump at the Congressional Black Caucus gala and cracking jokes about the Islamic State. The president was cracking jokes while New Yorkers were digging shrapnel out of their bodies. On Sunday he flew to New York City to attend a posh fundraiser for Hillary Clinton — less than a mile from where the Chelsea bomb exploded. He made no mention of the attack in his remarks to wealthy donors. And to my knowledge he made no hospital visits. The White House seems to be treating the horrific events of this past weekend as if it was simply a normal day in America.
Is Trump a Traitor?
Someone dares call it treason. Hillary Clinton used the occasion of the New York-area bombings to accuse Donald Trump of providing “aid and comfort” to ISIS. This speaks both to her desperation as polls show a tightening race and her foolish misunderstanding of what drives ISIS and other Islamic radicals. Clinton makes it sound like ISIS fighters are disaffected members of a swing-state focus group who, as soon as they hear an offensive statement from Donald Trump, prepare the next attack. If Hillary really believes Trump is a “recruiting sergeant” for terrorists, she has a thin understanding of human motivation. It takes something very powerful to convince a young man to risk life and limb fighting for a terror group that is hunted and bombed wherever it gains a foothold. That something isn’t the ephemera of an American presidential campaign; it is religion.
Monday, September 19, 2016
America Under Attack
The country breathed a sigh of relief that nothing happened on the 15th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. But this weekend, Islamic supremacists living among us unleashed attacks while our politicians ran for cover. At this moment, after a weekend of pipe bombs and pressure cooker bombs, New York City is on the highest level of alert since the 9/11 attacks. The attacker in St. Cloud, Minnesota, who went on a stabbing rampage in a mall, is dead. Dahir Adan came here when he was just three years old. He had lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. Adan was a junior at St. Cloud State University. A family friend identified Adan as “the most assimilated kid in the neighborhood.” Yet he was capable of attacking nine people at a mall after making sure that none of his victims were Muslims.
Public School Tells Second Graders: Allah Loves Cleanliness
I have the most exceptional readers in the world. When there is wrongdoing in their hometowns, they are the first to let me know — and we’re proud to jump on those stories like a pit bull on a pork butt. The other day Lisa Erskine of Barnegat, New Jersey, alerted me to a bizarre story involving Islamic cleaning rituals and a second-grade class at Cecil S. Collins School. Yes, Islamic cleaning rituals. The Asbury Park Press reports that a second-grader came home with a health and hygiene worksheet that included references to hijabs and thawbs — clothing worn by religious Muslims. The worksheet also included a reference from the Koran: “Allah loves those who make themselves clean and pure.”
A Long Way From the Chinese Exclusion Act
The largest mass lynching in the United States took place in Los Angeles on Oct. 24, 1871. It was a ghastly eruption of lethal racism, but the victims — 18 men and boys, dragged from their homes and summarily hanged or shot — weren’t black. They were Chinese, and they were murdered by a mob, nearly 500 strong, that included some of the city’s leading citizens. “Their first victim was an elderly, inoffensive Chinaman, whom they seized and dragged headlong through the streets, beating and abusing him at every step,” the Los Angeles Daily Mirror later recounted. At the corner of Temple and New High streets, the lynch party tied a noose around the old man’s neck and hauled him up. “The rope broke and the unfortunate wretch, innocent of any wrong, asked for mercy from his cruel tormentors. This was denied with jeers, and he was again hung up; this time successfully.”
Is It Alzheimer’s or Amnesia?
Hillary Clinton now claims she can’t recall all or, perhaps, any of her security briefings at the State Department. Apparently she blames it on a concussion she suffered a few years ago. That must be one heck of an accommodating concussion. Apparently, it severely handicaps her memory, but would in no way interfere with her ability to carry out her duties in the single most difficult, stress-inducing, job in the world. When Bill got the news, he gushed: “Nothing? She remembers nothing?! Golly willikers, that’s a relief!” At the rate that Mrs. Clinton lies, you’d need an abacus to keep count. For instance, in the beginning of the private server scandal, she said she only used one mobile device for convenience. Then it turned out that she had two. Now it appears she had 13, and would have her aides smash them with hammers when she was done using them. And still, James Comey insists there was no criminal intent behind her use of an easily hacked server.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Lies, Lies and More Lies
Have you noticed how often the word “lie” is coming up in this presidential campaign? Both leading candidates have called each other liars. That’s to be expected. But among the commentators, almost all of whom seem to be anti-Trump, I’ve noticed three things. First, they keep expanding what counts as a lie. Promising to “build a wall,” for example, has now become a “lie.” Second, although they accuse Donald Trump of lying, they never use that word when referring to Hillary Clinton, even though they admit that a good deal of what she has said isn’t true. Instead, Hillary is “cagey” (Paul Krugman) “deceptive” (Rem Rieder), “shades the truth” (Nicholas Kristof) — but apparently she doesn’t actually “lie.”
School District: Betsy Ross Flag Symbolizes ‘Hate’
A Michigan school district called the historic “Betsy Ross” flag a symbol of hate and profusely apologized after students displayed the flag at a recent high school football game. “To wave a historical version of our flag, that to some symbolizes exclusion and hate, injects hostility and confusion to an event where no one intended to do so,” wrote Forest Hills Public Schools Superintendent Daniel Behm in a letter to parents. The controversy surrounding the 13-star flag erupted on Sept. 9th during a football game between predominantly white Forest Hills Central High School and predominantly black Ottawa Hills High School, MLive reports. Forest Hills students not only waved a “Betsy Ross” flag, but they also displayed a Donald Trump banner (behavior guaranteed to get you labeled deplorable).
This Year’s Most Consequential Senate Race
From Erie in the west to Scranton in the east, Pennsylvania is flecked with casualties the stubborn economic sluggishness and relentless globalization have inflicted on industrial communities. But in this middle-class Philadelphia suburb, Tom Danzi knows that the economy is denting even his business repairing damaged cars. His Suburban Collision Specialists once had 27 employees kept busy by drivers stimulating the economy by producing fender benders. Now he has only 17. Many cash-strapped motorists keep driving cars with unrepaired scars. So, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican seeking a second term, recently came here to commiserate and to warn that if his Democratic opponent wins she will make matters worse.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Whom Do You Trust?
Desperate to figure out which way the political winds are blowing, pollsters are peppering voters with lots of questions. Here’s are a few from the latest Quinnipiac poll that jumped out at me. Asked whether they thought Hillary Clinton was honest, 65% of voters said “No.” Only 32% said “Yes.” That’s a whopping 33-point honesty deficit. In a follow-up question, 55% of voters said that Clinton “was not honest enough to be president.” (This would seem to be a disqualifying issue. I don’t understand how anyone could vote for a candidate they believe is lying to them.) Asked which candidate they thought was more transparent, 37% of voters said Hillary, while 54% said Trump. That’s a 17-point transparency gap.
On Faith, Kaine Walks Far Afield
I have no problem with politicians quoting Scripture. In fact, I think if more politicians replaced their own empty promises with the words of the Bible, our politics would be more substantive by leaps and bounds. But when politicians — or anyone else, for that matter — misuse Scripture to support a position that Scripture is clearly against, they should be respectfully but unequivocally challenged. Last weekend, as Democratic vice-presidential nominee Senator Tim Kaine spoke to a far left LGBT-activist group, Kaine invoked the Bible as evidence that his church was wrong on the issue of marriage.
Travel Back to an Early Clinton Scandal
The question came up this week at a political panel: Why don’t people like Hillary Clinton? Why do they always believe the worst? Why, when some supposed scandal breaks and someone says she’s hiding something, do people, including many of her supporters, assume it’s true? The answer is that Mrs. Clinton has been in America’s national life for a quarter-century, and in that time people watched, observed and got an impression of her character. If you give the prompt “Clinton scandal” to someone under 30, they might say “emails,” or Benghazi” or “Clinton Foundation,” or now “health questions.” But for those who are older, whose memories encompass the Clinton era, the scandals stretch back further, all the way to her beginnings as a national figure.
Catholics: Respect the National Anthem or Ride the Bench
The Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, has a message for high school football players: either respect the National Anthem or be prepared to ride the bench. Any player or coach for high school sports teams in the diocese who does not “demonstrate appropriate respect” during the Star-Spangled Banner will be subject to a two-game suspension, Philly.com reports. The Catholics are doing what the National Football League refuses to do. “Our schools are founded on the teaching of respect and honor; respect and honor for God, country and duly appointed authority,” Supt. Mary Boyle wrote to Catholic high schools in the diocese. “The best approach is helping our young people understand that blood was sacrificed so that we all can enjoy the gifts of our faith and our country.”
Karl Marx Was an Idiot
One of the great mysteries of the world is the infatuation that some people have for socialism. It has never worked. In fact, if you had set out to invent an economic system doomed to failure, you would probably come up with socialism. After all, it is based on the notion that it is natural for people to share equally with each other, even with those who refuse to do their share of the labor. Competition is natural to human beings. You see it in ballparks, on school playgrounds, at the Olympics and in the workplace. Humans compete for money, prestige, position, mates, even for prom dates. But Karl Marx, a pinhead who rarely bathed, decided that on his mere say-so, he could reverse thousands of years of human nature. And just in case he couldn’t, he also came up with communism, an inevitable adjunct that supplies a few individuals with the dictatorial power to enforce socialism on the masses.