Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
The Truth Has Been (Omitted)
Barack Obama is a dramatic failure. His economy has been a slow-motion train wreck. His domestic policy has driven racial antagonism to renewed heights and divided Americans from each other along lines of religion and sexual orientation. On foreign policy he has set the world aflame in the name of pretty, meaningless verbiage and a less hegemonic America. But there’s good news: At least he controls the information flow.
Horror and Hush-Up in Twin Falls, Idaho
Something wicked happened in Idaho’s rural Magic Valley. The evil has been compounded by politicians, media and special interest groups doing their damnedest to suppress the story and quell a righteous citizen rebellion. On June 7, a brief news item appeared on local Twin Falls, Idaho-based KMVT about a “reported sexual assault that possibly occurred near the Fawnbrook Apartments” five days earlier. Unconfirmed accounts of the alleged crime on conservative-leaning websites, plus reports from area members of anti-jihad activist Brigitte Gabriel’s Act for America group and longtime watchdog Ann Corcoran’s Refugee Resettlement Watch blog, culminated in coverage on the powerhouse Drudge Report.
England’s Brexit Issues Mirror Our Own
It’s anyone’s guess how things will go in Thursday’s referendum on British membership in the European Union, also known as “Brexit.” Right now the polls are essentially tied at around 47 percent for and 47 percent against (not that British polling has a particularly good track record). But win or lose, the fight over Brexit is symptomatic of a much larger crisis facing out-of-touch elites on both sides of the Atlantic. The European Union was the ultimate triumph of technocracy. The smart set not only insisted that a common European currency would work fantastically well, they insisted that doubters were knaves and nuts. Then the waves of Euro-crises hit the continent, most notoriously in Greece.
Purification of America
In 2008, Barack Obama promised a fundamental transformation of America. Where that promise has gone unfulfilled the most is in areas of sexual and racial discrimination. What’s worse is the official sanction given to such discrimination. Let’s look at some of it. Visit just about any California men’s prison and you will see that one’s race determines whom he cells with, the toilet and shower he uses, and what recreation areas he enjoys. Then there is sexual discrimination. Female correctional officers earn the same pay as their male counterparts. However, when it comes to extracting a dangerous inmate from his cell, it is always a five- or six-male officer team that risks bodily injury. How fair is that? Why not have both male and female cell extraction teams?
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
The Truth About Socialism: The Venezuelan Disaster
Many Millennials are finding socialism attractive — at least as presented by Bernie Sanders. This is perplexing because there is ample and dramatic evidence of how a full-fledged socialist state fails its own citizens so miserably. Witness Venezuela. Fifteen years under socialist Hugo Chavez followed by three years under his socialist successor, Nicolas Maduro, have left the economy in shambles and the living standards of Venezuelans falling to a level that can only be described as intolerable. Why and how does this happen in Venezuela or in any other country that embraces the false, deceitful, utopian promises of socialist politicians?
The Irrelevant Crusade
Almost as soon as the massacre at the Orlando nightclub Pulse ended, Democrats took up their push to forbid people on the terrorism watch list from purchasing guns. The timing, in the wake of the awful shock of the Orlando attack, was right, and the talking points wrote themselves. The polling was, of course, very good. The only problem was that the Orlando killer wasn’t on the watch list when he bought his weapons (although he had previously been on the list in 2013 and 2014 before the FBI removed him). Democrats nonetheless maintained that the watch-list legislation was an urgent necessity.
Taking Away Constitutional Rights at the Discretion of the Government
If the news reports are correct, the latest “gun control” proposal being put forward by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is a “measure that would block people on the Transportation Security Administration’s no–fly list from buying firearms,” according to ABC News. There is one major problem with that proposal: It is potentially unconstitutional since it would take away a constitutional right — your Second Amendment right to bear arms — at the discretion of a government official in a secret, nontransparent process that has no adequate due process protections.
3 Economic Facts That Counter Obama’s Recovery Narrative
President Barack Obama needs a reality check. Earlier this month in Indiana, he accused his critics of ignoring the “facts” and purporting “myths” about his economic record. But if Republicans are truly ignoring the facts, Obama should consider it a blessing. A quick look at the facts will show that Obama’s economic performance has been weak — even by his own standards. In its budget for the fiscal year 2010, the Obama administration estimated that real gross domestic product would decline in 2009 by 2.8 percent that year and then increase by 2 percent in 2010. Furthermore, the White House forecast that by 2011 its massive stimulus program would start paying off, with growth accelerating to 3.8 percent that year and then soaring above 4 percent from 2012 to 2014.
The Gun Control Farce
Surely murder is a serious subject, which ought to be examined seriously. Instead, it is almost always examined politically in the context of gun control controversies, with stock arguments on both sides that have remained the same for decades. And most of those arguments are irrelevant to the central question: Do tighter gun control laws reduce the murder rate?
Why We Have — and Probably Will Keep Having — Sluggish Job Growth
Why has the American economy had such sluggish job creation and economic growth? That’s a pretty fundamental question, and one for which most conventional economists have had unsatisfying answers. Clues can be found, I think, in the new book by the unconventional economist and blogger Arnold Kling. “Specialization and Trade: A Re-Introduction to Economics” is, among other things, a polemic against macroeconomists who treat the economy as what Kling calls a “GDP factory” and who think policymakers can get it producing more by just stepping a little harder on the gas pedal, with federal stimulus spending or low interest rates.
Logic-Free Zone
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) recently disclosed that a congressional investigation has found at least 72 employees of the Department of Homeland Security listed on the U.S. terrorist watch list. In other news, President Obama used a memorial service for the victims of the Orlando massacre to advocate for more gun control laws. Anyone else see a contradiction in these two items? Interviewers frequently ask me why I don’t favor more gun control laws. My response: Name one law that deters someone intent on breaking the law. Murder has been prohibited since the beginning of civilization, but people still murder. One might as well outlaw human nature.
Whitewashing Islamic Terrorism
Appearing on NBC’s weekend talk show “Meet the Press” [Sunday], Attorney General Loretta Lynch made a stunning announcement. In flatly contradictory remarks made almost in the same breath, Lynch declared that the FBI would be releasing only “a partial transcript” of Omar Mateen’s calls to 911 and the Orlando Police Department’s hostage negotiating team. Responding to questioning from host Chuck Todd as to why the transcripts were being edited, Lynch said, “What we’re not going to do is further proclaim this man’s pledges of allegiance to terrorist groups, and further his propaganda.” She then added, “We’re trying to get as much information about this investigation out as possible.” Clearly, the administration is not trying to get out as much information as possible.
An Air Force to Be Reckoned With
The retirement ceremony of Master Sgt. Chuck Roberson was a memorable one — but not for the reasons this veteran airman and his family had hoped. After dedicating his career to his country, the last thing Roberson wanted was to turn a proud moment into a national storyline about the military’s hostility toward faith. Unfortunately for him, that’s exactly what happened, thanks to the stunning intolerance of the commanding officers at Travis Air Force Base. Like many service members, Sgt. Roberson wanted to include the traditional flag-folding speech as part of the festivities. And while the Pentagon officially scrubbed God out of the text in 2005, plenty of service members still opt for the original version at their celebrations — usually without controversy.
Big Brother Obama Suppresses Information to Promote Propaganda
If some maniac blurted out his allegiance to Jesus Christ while mowing down 49 innocent people, do you think there’s any chance President Obama would not showcase those remarks? Well, in the case of radical Islamist Omar Mateen, the Obama administration not only refuses to emphasize his Islamic battle cry but also is actively suppressing it and trying to prevent the public from hearing or reading about it.
The Immaturity of Supporting Hillary Clinton as a Woman
It is hard to imagine a more immature or morally primitive stance than that of progressive women (and men) who argue how important it is to support Hillary Clinton because, as your local college would put it, she identifies as a woman. One perfect example of such thinking was the recent statement made by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright at an event on behalf of Clinton. Albright announced that “there is a special place in hell” for women who don’t support women, meaning in this instance, for women who don’t vote for Clinton.
Monday, June 20, 2016
James Comey and the Reset Button on Honest Government
When James Comey became the chief U.S. law enforcement officer in 2013 as FBI director, swearing to “faithfully discharge the duties of the office ... without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion,” he probably never thought he would face indicting the heir apparent leader of the party under which he would serve. The facts regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s actions, surrounding the use of an unsecured private email server for conducting government business, show that she violated some 10 federal statutes.
Harambe, We Hardly Knew Ye!
I think the fanatics at PETA are all certifiable loons or they wouldn’t dare compare the plight of chickens to the Jews who were murdered in Nazi concentration camps.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
A Father’s Prayer
My father left my mother and four children when I was very young. As a boy growing up without a dad, I found it hard to imagine a father in heaven who really loved me and would never leave. And while my mother was persistent about taking us all to church, I disliked religion and believed churchgoers to be mostly hypocrites. It wasn’t until I graduated college, got married and began my career that I began to sense a deep need to be connected to both my father on earth and the one in heaven.
Heed Trump’s Warning
One of Donald Trump’s political skills is giving widely condemned speeches. His post-Orlando jeremiad fit the pattern, but the speech was a little like Wagner’s music as described in the famous Mark Twain line: Not as bad as it sounds. There is something so inherently inflammatory in Trump’s delivery that he could read the Gettysburg Address and some listeners would wonder how he could possibly say such a thing.
Orlando Massacre Can Be a Turning Point in the War on Terror
Within 24 hours of the nightclub massacre in Orlando committed by Islamist terrorist Omar Mateen, reports came out that the perpetrator had been a person of interest known by the FBI. In 2013 Mateen was interviewed twice by the FBI after he had made inflammatory comments to workplace colleagues asserting his ties to ISIS. In 2014 he was questioned again about a reported connection to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, who attended Mateen’s radical mosque in Fort Pierce, Fla., and who had carried out a suicide bombing in the Syria conflict. The FBI says the bureau dropped Mateen from being a person of interest or being on a terrorist watch list because of insufficient and inconclusive evidence.