Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Born That Way? A False Hypothesis
Literature reviews are a common thing in the world of academic research. They often involve esoteric topics confined to a narrow universe of scholarly interest. Few literature reviews, however, have generated as much controversy as the recently published paper “Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological and Social Sciences,” by Lawrence Mayer and Paul McHugh. Among the issues attracting attention in the Mayer-McHugh paper is the claim that the causes of sexual orientation are poorly understood, but — most importantly — that genetics is not the sole determinant of sexual orientation. The hypothesis that those who have lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) orientations were born that way is found to be inconsistent with the data.
Friday, September 16, 2016
The Trick Lawmakers Use to Hide Their Wasteful Spending
Imagine, for a moment, that you’re running a restaurant (and if you are already, congratulations). Imagine, further, that every month you serve more and more of your food, but never restock the groceries, and never come up with a plan to buy more. At some point, your restaurant is going to hit a wall: You’ll need to restock everything, all at once, for a massive sum of money, lest you go out of business. Believe it or not, that’s pretty much the way Congress routinely funds the federal government. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the legislative and the executive branches to agree upon a dozen different appropriations bills before the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30. And year after year, they have failed to meet this deadline.
Hillary and Bill — The Old Couple
Now that the health of Hillary has become a serious issue in the mainstream media and not just a dirty alt-right rumor, maybe someone should carry Bill Clinton down to the nearest clinic for a checkup. Bill appears to be in much worse shape than poor old Hillary. In his campaign speeches the old lech looks and talks like some retired codger you’d find hanging out at Jerry’s One Stop convenience store in Hope, Ark. If I’m running Hillary’s Campaign to Nowhere, I’d pull the old man off the trail immediately and let him appear only at private $100,000-a-plate fundraisers in Hollywood. All thin, rich Bill does now is remind people how old and tired he and Hillary are.
A Big, Beautiful Black Swan
If you aren’t seriously contemplating the biggest black swan event in American electoral history, you aren’t paying attention. Fifteen months ago, Donald Trump was a reality-TV star with a spotty business record and a weird penchant for proclaiming that he was on the verge of running for president. Now, he’s perhaps a few big breaks and a couple of sterling debate performances away from being elected 45th president of the United States. Trump has no experience in elected office and, unlike past nonpoliticians elected president, hasn’t won a major war. He barely has a national campaign. He perhaps knows less about public affairs than the average congressman. He has repeatedly advertised his thin-skinned vindictiveness and is trampling on basic political norms.
Sports and Politics Mix Like Oil and Water
I’ve never been a sports fanatic. In fact, I’m the kind of guy a lot of sports obsessives can’t stand. I tend not to pay attention to anything until the playoffs, and even then it’s entertainment more than passion. This can be a disadvantage in real life because, particularly among men, sports talk is a kind of safe space and common tongue all at once. I’ve seen it a million times in Washington, particularly in cable news green rooms. Two politicians or pundits who are diametrically opposed to each other ideologically manage to be friendly with each other solely because they can talk about the Nationals’ roster or the Redskins’ terrible coaching. I’ve also seen the same thing at airports, bars (and airport bars), in line at the DMV and in almost every other public space. Rich and poor, black and white, liberal and conservative, Southerner and Northerner: People from all walks of life can engage in friendly conversation about this widely shared cultural institution.
Trump Connects
Donald Trump clearly connected with Republican primary voters in a way that the professional consultants, Washington insiders and political class struggled to comprehend. Now he is connecting with average Americans and his success is sending Democrats into shock. During a speech [Wednesday] in Canton, Ohio, Trump hit Hillary Clinton hard for her “basket of deplorables” comment and for her globalist instincts. He again promised to campaign for every vote in any community, and he blasted the Democrats’ neglect of our inner cities. Trump vowed to create jobs by rebuilding our cities, making America great again and uniting us once again.
The Longer Game
Henry County, Georgia is one of those rapidly changing, rapidly growing counties causing Georgia to slowly turn back toward the Democrats. George W. Bush won the county in 2004 with almost 60 percent of the vote. John McCain won the county, as did Mitt Romney, but each time falling closer and closer to fifty percent. In 2014, Democrat Michelle Nunn won Henry County in the U.S. Senate election. The county has seen a decrease in white voters and an increase in minority voters. As mostly black voters have moved into Henry County to escape the problems of neighboring Clayton County, white voters have moved out. This shift of voters and voting patterns is playing out across the nation from Wisconsin to Texas. Republican led states, doing better economically than most Democrat led states, are experiencing population surges of Democrats fleeing the states they previously screwed up.
The Year of Political Re-Enactors
The thought came to me as I watched the Cleveland police clear away protesters from the city’s Public Square. Half a dozen on horseback, nearly a dozen or so on heavy-duty bikes, the cops deftly corralled the protesters without so much as touching anyone, much as a border collie channels a flock of uncomprehending sheep. Then it struck me: What I was seeing was not the real thing, not a genuine spontaneous protest, stoked by anger and with the constant potential of breaking into unstoppable violence. Instead, I was watching a group of re-enactors, wearing costumes copied from the past and carrying signs minimally updated.
Political Correctness Doesn’t Only Threaten Speech
Many, including me, have lamented that political correctness, especially on university campuses, is undermining free speech. That’s true, but I’m not sure that political correctness is the only culprit or that free speech is the only casualty. Most of us have heard about “white privilege,” “trigger warnings,” “microaggressions” and “safe spaces.” Let me provide rough definitions from an online dictionary and other websites. I’m sure that I could be accused of a microaggression for failing to be more precise, but I’m trying.
Child Care Proposals: Be Like Sweden?
There may be valid criticisms of the Trump (Ivanka as much as Donald) child care proposal, but The New York Times and the Huffington Post did not find them. As is always the case with new proposed social spending, The New York Times chides the United States for being so very retrograde: “Within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a consortium of 35 countries, including the world’s wealthiest, the United States stands out as the only nation that does not already guarantee paid maternity leave.”
What Follows the Bathroom Boycott?
Any American who has sought refuge from politics by escaping into the world of sports realizes now that there is no escaping politics. In the last few months, it has become completely impossible to follow sports without being lectured about the oppressive ways of the United States, and its failures to achieve the highest of today’s cultural goals: “inclusion.” Leave that word in quotation marks because in the guise of “inclusion” people will be most righteously excluded. In the name of “tolerance,” those condemned for intolerance will be boycotted and punished, unless they genuflect to ever-evolving “anti-discrimination” dictates.
Just Because ICANN Doesn’t Mean You Should
Al Gore may not have invented the internet, but his government is responsible for managing it! For more than 20 years, a little-known nonprofit called ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has been at the controls of the web’s domain and IP addresses. Overseen by the Commerce Department, this private west coast office has been an international hub for maintaining one of the most important aspects of the internet.
Why the Conservative Admiration of Putin Is Dangerous
Donald Trump admires Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strength and “great control over his country.” So naturally, conservative supporters like Hugh Hewitt, Dinesh D’Souza and many others felt compelled to praise the effectiveness of the Russian strongman, especially when compared to President Barack Obama. First of all, remember that when Trump’s con game is over, you’ll still be one of the people who defended an authoritarian thug. Then again, this growing Putin admiration among conservatives probably reflects two dynamics. The first, which we’ve seen on numerous fronts in this election, is the corrosive effect this Republican nominee has on the principles and long-held beliefs of conservatives in general.
Hillary Sharpens, Trump Softens. He’s Rising, She’s Falling.
If you are the status quo candidate in a change election in which the national mood is sour and two-thirds of the electorate think the country is on the wrong track, what do you do? Attack. Relentlessly. Paint your opponent as extremist, volatile, clueless, unfit, dangerous. Indeed, Hillary Clinton’s latest national ad, featuring major Republican politicians echoing that indictment of Donald Trump, ends thus: “Unfit. Dangerous. Even for Republicans.” That was the theme of Clinton’s famous open “alt-right” speech and of much of her $100 million worth of ads. Problem is, it’s not working.
West Point: ‘Valid Concerns’ About Post-Game Football Prayer
The top general at the U.S. Military Academy said Army’s head football coach “crossed the line” with a post-game locker room prayer and admitted that critics had “valid concerns” about constitutional violations. “It creates an atmosphere where it is expected from everybody to say a prayer regardless of their faith or no faith,” Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen told The Washington Post in an exclusive interview. The controversy arose after Coach Jeff Monken asked a staff assistant to lead the football team in a prayer after their upset victory over Temple University. It was first reported by Army Times. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed a complaint over the post-game petition to the Almighty. They alleged that 90 West Point graduates, staff members and football players were apparently horrified that young men were praying in a locker room.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Trump and Tax Cuts: Made for Each Mother
The two presidential candidates may not be separated by much in the polls, but they’re miles apart when it comes to most policy issues. [Tuesday], the Trump campaign unveiled a pro-family revamp to the tax code that goes beyond any policy initiative that we’ve seen in years. At a meeting outside Philadelphia [Tuesday] night, Donald Trump proved that he understands the challenges of moms with young children by unveiling a proposal that will give families the flexibility they need to care for their own kids. Spurred on by daughter Ivanka, a successful businesswoman in her own right, Trump set out to show that he has a lot more to offer than the competition in relieving at least some of the burdens parents shoulder in providing for their children. Believe it or not, Ivanka points out in a thoughtful op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, almost two-thirds of moms with kids under the age of six are working outside the home. “And the majority of these women,” she explains, “work in low-paying jobs without flexibility or benefits.”
When Politicians Play Doctor, Patients Always Lose
While many Americans rightly have concerns about the affordability of some medicines, the evidence has always shown that government solutions are the wrong way to go. People are living longer and healthier and many previously debilitating and incurable diseases are now better managed, and sometimes cured. That is made possible thanks to a culture of innovation in this country where people and companies, both large and small, spend valuable time and resources researching, testing and ultimately bringing life-saving drugs to the market. However, when government dictates prices or tilts the playing field towards certain players that will only discourage that investment in inventing groundbreaking new treatments and medicines.
Anatomy of a Media Smear
Gov. Mike Pence was on CNN Monday discussing Hillary Clinton’s comment that half of Trump’s supporters are a “basket of deplorables.” During the interview, Wolf Blitzer asked Pence about David Duke. The governor responded: “I’m not really sure why the media keeps dropping David Duke’s name. Donald Trump has denounced David Duke repeatedly. We don’t want his support and we don’t want the support of people who think like him.” (Duke hasn’t been in the news for years. But all of a sudden he is useful to big media and Hillary Clinton, so he is getting lots of press.) Given Pence’s clear rejection of Duke and the campaign’s past condemnations, a reasonable person would say, “No news, move on.” But the interview was a setup. Blitzer and the Clinton News Network wanted a “gotcha moment.”
Churches Could Be Forced to Comply With Transgender Law
Churches in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts have grave concerns about a new anti-discrimination law that could force congregations to accommodate the transgender community under the threat of fines and jail time. The law, which goes into effect in October, does not specifically mention churches or other houses of worship. However, the attorney general, along with the government commission assigned to enforce the law, have a different point of view. Attorney General Maura Healey wrote that places of public accommodation include “auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls, houses of worship, and other places of public gathering.” The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the commission responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination law, reinforced that interpretation in a document titled, “Gender Identity Guidance.”
Hillary’s ‘Deplorables’? What About Hillary’s ‘Generalistic’?
This political season means full employment for pundits, opinion givers, strategists and soothsayers, on cable television and via social media. It’s interesting to watch the catch phrases, verbal crutches and tics speakers and writers use, which often, when examined, make little or no sense. We all do it. Donald Trump is fond of saying, “*That* I can tell you.” Does that mean he’s sitting on the real bombshells? Hillary Clinton, in her broadside against “half” of Trump supporters whom she said were a “basket of deplorables,” actually invented what appears to be a new word — “generalistic.”