Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
The Clinton Diagnosis — Chronic Secrecy and Dishonesty
With the Clintons, mistrust always pays. A couple of weeks ago, Hillary was yukking it up with Jimmy Kimmel over the absurdity of rumors that she was hiding something about her health. Look, she can open a pickle jar! That feels so long ago now that her campaign has admitted that she was indeed hiding something about her health — a pneumonia diagnosis late last week.
The ‘Deplorables’
Every now and again secular progressives rip off their mask and tell conservatives what they really think of them. At an LGBT fundraiser last Friday in New York, Hillary Clinton one-upped President Obama, who said of conservatives during the 2008 presidential campaign: “And it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” That came to be known as the “bitter clingers” speech.
Racial Issues
Ordinarily, it is not a good idea to base how you vote on just one issue. But if black lives really matter, as they should matter like all other lives, then it is hard to see any racial issue that matters as much as education. The government could double the amount of money it spends on food stamps or triple the amount it spends on housing subsidies, and it will mean very little if the next generation of young blacks goes out into the world as adults without a decent education. Many things that are supposed to help blacks actually have a track record of making things worse. Minimum wage laws have had a devastating effect in making black teenage unemployment several times higher than it once was.
Clinton’s Deplorable Comment
There were huge news events over the weekend. Let’s start with the most deplorable. While speaking Friday evening at an “LGBT For Hillary Gala,” which featured a performance by Barbara Streisand, Clinton said this about conservatives supporting Donald Trump: “You could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. . . The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it. . . some of those folks, they are irredeemable.” Calling millions of conservatives “deplorable” and “irredeemable” — that is deplorable!
Want Prosperity? Follow the Red State Model
What makes America an economically ingenious place is the competitive federalism model set forth by our Founding Fathers. They established our nation as the world’s largest ever free trade zone, in which 50 states use varying economic and fiscal policies to compete for jobs and people. And boy, have liberals come to hate that model. Why? Because it puts their policies of tax, spend, regulate and restrict on trial every day. We can see with our own eyes the stampede flowing out of liberal blue states and into conservative red states.
How’s That Fundamental Transformation Going?
When Air Force One landed in China last week for the G-20 Summit, Chinese authorities didn’t wheel out the usual staircase for the president to disembark. Instead he had to exit through an opening in the back of the enormous aircraft. It was, you might say, a pivot to Asia. That wasn’t the last insult Barack Obama absorbed in Hangzhou. The president of the Philippines, long considered a U.S. ally, called him a name family publications usually don’t print. It’s rare for an American president to be treated with such contempt. It’s what happens when you draw red lines and do nothing when people step over them.
How Is the Godless West Working Out?
There are many recent developments in the godless West. To name a few: The Supreme Court of Italy last week ruled that public masturbation is legal (except in front of minors). The New York City Council voted in May that public urination is not a criminal act. The San Francisco City Council decided, by one vote, to continue the city’s ban on public nudity — not, of course, on the grounds of “decency” but on the grounds of public health. Since that can easily be resolved by use of a towel on public benches and chairs, it is only a matter of time, probably a couple of years, before people will be permitted to walk around naked in San Francisco.
VVS 2016: ‘It’s Now or Never’
The Values Voter Summit has become known as a one-of-a-kind gathering for social conservative voters who are concerned about the moral condition of our country and the well-being of future generations. Because of this, every VVS possesses a certain sense of urgency about turning America back to its founding Christian principles. This past weekend in Washington, D.C., that sense of urgency was at an all-time high, as speaker after speaker strongly emphasized that the time to act is now — staying home on Election Day is no longer an option.
Monday, September 12, 2016
Weather Entering Campaign About More Than Just Global Warming Fight
Why? Well, the obvious — the responses to Louisiana and Hermine and perhaps what will still be some healthy hurricane threats. Just like summer in the East, the second half of the hurricane season needs to be played. But with a temperature of 79 degrees Fahrenheit, a dewpoint of 61, a relative humidity of 53% and *northwest* winds gusting to 28 MPH in Central Park yesterday at 10 AM, the idea that the weather was responsible for Hillary Clinton’s health crisis is far fetched to say the least. There were a lot of people gathered in NYC yesterday morning for the 9/11 events. I wonder, given the above normal amount of people at that time of the day, how many other weather-related events occurred due to heat problems.
The Great Ty Cobb
Charles Leerhsen’s “Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty” may be the most important baseball book in decades. It is historically significant in two respects: First, it is the definitive biography of the greatest baseball player from the deadball era and indisputably one of the greatest players of all time. No film footage exists of Ty Cobb playing baseball, so the only way to preserve the memory of this superstar of superstars is the written word. Second, this book corrects a great historical injustice, namely, the egregiously dishonest portrayal of Cobb in previous pseudo-biographies and in film. Leerhsen’s book was exhaustively researched; indeed, over the course of its 400-plus pages, it becomes clear that he tracked down far more original sources than anyone else who has written about Cobb, and in doing so, sets the standard for all biographers (not just of sports figures) going forward. “Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty” provides valuable insights into four areas: the deadball era, Cobb the man, Cobb the player, and the libelous treatment of Cobb after his death.
It’s Time for the Gun-Toting Bible-Clingers to Reclaim America
*The following is a transcript of Todd’s speech at the 2016 Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC.* I don’t know about you, but I am honored to share a fox hole not only with you but also with the Family Research Council as we fight to defend religious liberty. Now before I begin my remarks, I want to issue a warning, especially to any of you folks who suffer from micro-aggressions. It’s about to get politically incorrect up in here — and as I promised you guys on the radio this morning, I’m about to shuck it to the cob. Several years ago when I addressed this incredibly attractive crowd of conservatives I told you that I was one of those folks President Obama referred to back in 2007 — one of those bitter clingers. And today I stand before you and proudly say that I am still a gun-toting, bible-clinging, flag-waving son of a Baptist, and I’m not bitter — I’m blessed.
Big on Bigotry
Recently, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump traded insults, each of them accusing the other of being a bigot. Whereas most people cringed at the calling of names, I thought they were both right. Trump showed his own colors when he voiced resentment that a judge born in Indiana shouldn’t be allowed to hear the lawsuit targeting Trump University for no other reason than that he had an Hispanic surname. For his part, Trump was right to hit Mrs. Clinton that she was the titular head of a party that treats blacks in much the same way that plantation owners treated their slaves, except that the DNC only requires that their black underlings vote, not that they pick cotton.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
On Election Day, It’s OK Not to Vote. Really.
You don’t vote? You’re not alone. Tens of millions of American adults don’t take part in elections, and most of them have perfectly good reasons for abstaining. In 2014, according to the US Census Bureau, 28 percent of nonvoters said they were too busy with other things, and 10 percent were out of town. Another 16 percent weren’t interested in the election, and 8 percent didn’t vote because they didn’t like the candidates or the issues. For more than 60 percent of nonvoters, in other words, the election wasn’t a priority. And that’s fine.
Third Party or Third Rail?
Record numbers of Americans are frustrated with the two major party candidates. Third party options are proliferating: there’s a libertarian, a “greenie,” and even an independent former CIA operative — at least, he says he’s *former* CIA. No doubt, they all have some redeeming qualities, although the positions taken by the greenie, a recently arrested Harvard-trained physician, suggest she might be taking too many of the meds she normally prescribes to others. The libertarian is running ads arguing that the two-party system is outdated. I suppose that’s hardly a new argument coming from a third party, but the claim makes no more sense today than in the past.
Which Is the Party of Hate?
Have you noticed that we are becoming increasingly balkanized — by race, religion and in other ways? When an angry black gunman ambushed and killed five police officers and wounded nine others in Dallas, he said he was upset over police shootings of black men and that he wanted to kill white people, especially white police officers. When San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem, he said “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” When Black Lives Matters stages protests around the country, they often chant “Pigs in a blanket, fry like bacon” — a phrase expanded from one used by a killer who executed two police officers.
The IRS Commissioner Merits Impeachment
Republican congressional leaders ardently want conservative members of the House to not force a vote on impeaching the IRS commissioner. The public does not care about John Koskinen’s many misdeeds. And impeachment will distract attention from issues that interest the public. And because Democrats are not ingrates, the required two-thirds of the Senate will never vote to convict Koskinen, whose behavior continues the pattern of doing what Democrats desire with the most intrusive and potentially punitive government agency. These Republican leaders’ reasons are cumulatively unpersuasive. Resuscitating the impeachment power would contribute to revitalizing Congress’ Article I powers. Impeachments are rare — no appointed official of the executive branch has been impeached in 140 years. But what James Madison called the “indispensable” power to impeach should not be allowed to atrophy, as has Congress’ power to declare war.
School District Boots Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is no longer welcome at a school district in Tipton, Missouri. And neither are prayers nor a religious hymn. The Tipton R-VI School District decided to cleanse itself of anything remotely affiliated with Christianity after it was was bullied by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. They even pulled down a giant portrait of our Lord that was displayed in the grade school’s library. The FFRF is a Wisconsin-based group of perpetually offended atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers. They fired off a nasty letter to the school board claiming to represent a “concerned attendee” of the annual high school awards program. For as far back as anyone can remember, students at Tipton High School always concluded their annual awards program with a candlelight ceremony.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
15 Years Later
There are a lot of issues making headlines this morning. North Korea tested perhaps its largest nuclear weapon to date. New polling shows the presidential race is tightening in key states. More football players are refusing to stand for the National Anthem. Many fans are considering boycotting the NFL. Iran may have been paid tens of billions of dollars, not just $1.7 billion. A parasite has been named after Barack Obama. These are important issues — well, all but one. But today I want to put the headlines aside to remember 9/11 and to reflect on what is the most important issue of all — the war the West is fighting to defend Judeo-Christian civilization against radical Islamic supremacism.
Tim Kaine’s Dangerous Liaisons
The New York Times Sept. 4 feature on Tim Kaine shows that his year in Honduras introduced him not to Jesus Christ, but to Karl Marx. The story doesn’t say that, exactly, but connect the dots with a little history, and an alarming picture emerges of Kaine’s adventures with radicals and revolutionaries in 1980s Latin America. The Times notes that in Honduras, “Mr. Kaine embraced an interpretation of the gospel, known as liberation theology...” This wasn’t mainstream “Catholic thought” at the time. It was a radical, Marxist-based ideology at odds with the Church, the pope, and the United States, but supportive of (and supported by) the Soviet Union.
Remembering a Hero, 15 Years After 9/11
What do I think about when I think about that day? The firemen who climbed “the stairway to Heaven” with 50, 60 pounds of gear. The people who called from Windows on the World and said: “I just want you to know I love you.” The men on the plane who tried to take the cockpit of Flight 93 before it went down in a Pennsylvania field: “Let’s roll.” And I think about Welles Crowther, the man in the red bandanna.