Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Free-Market Medicine
President Obama’s proudest accomplishment is increasing the number of Americans with health insurance. A better idea would be to help people escape government care altogether. As I wrote after my recent surgery, hospital bureaucracy is toxic for patients. Unfortunately, calls for reform usually come from people who want more of the same — more health insurance coverage, more Medicaid, more layers of government oversight. Our likely next president will push for more government-run health care.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Harvard Law Professor Says Treat Conservative Christians Like Nazis
Liberals, stop being so defensive. That’s the message of Harvard law professor Mark Tushnet in a new post at Balkinization, titled “Abandoning Defensive Crouch Liberal Constitutionalism.” The problem, according to Tushnet, is that liberals have been *too defensive* when it comes to advancing their agenda in the courts.
Looking Back on the Two Cuban-American Also-Rans
John Quincy Adams, our greatest secretary of state (sorry, Hillary Clinton fans), thought that Cuba would inevitably become part of the United States. It hasn’t, at least not yet, but two Cuban-Americans were serious presidential contenders this year. Yes, neither Marco Rubio nor Ted Cruz won the Republican nomination, instead suspending their campaigns the nights they lost the Florida and Indiana primaries, respectively. But they did become Donald Trump’s most serious competition. And if you imagine that a few things had happened a bit differently, you might plausibly believe that one of them would now be mulling his VP pick and preparing an acceptance speech for Cleveland.
Left Preaches Open Borders
One of the progressives who runs America gave the commencement address to the 2016 graduating class of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, Friday. Just in case the students weren’t made stupid enough by four years of left-wing indoctrination, the speaker finished the job when he said, in response to proposals to build a border wall, “There are no walls big enough to stop people from anywhere, tens of thousands of miles away, who are determined to take their own lives while they target others.”
Trump Might Want to Rethink Snubbing the Base
Another week has passed and I’m still unenthusiastic about Donald Trump’s presumptive GOP presidential nomination. Instead of allaying our fears, he’s intensifying them — as if on purpose. Throughout the primaries I’ve expressed doubt that Trump is a reliable conservative, and my skepticism has already been vindicated. Yes, I’ve held my nose and supported RINO nominees before, always believing that less damage to the conservative cause and nation would come in supporting those candidates. But with Trump we have a different situation than ever before.
Suit First, Ask Questions Later
The Justice Department promised a lawsuit over the bathroom debate — and [yesterday], it got one! There’s just one twist: the federal government isn’t the plaintiff — North Carolina is! After mulling it over, Governor Pat McCrory (R-N.C.) decided to go on the offensive in the showdown with the Obama administration over the state’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (H.B. 2).
The Scariest Reason Trump Won
There are many reasons why Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. The four most-often cited reasons are the frustrations of white working-class Americans, a widespread revulsion against political correctness, disenchantment with the Republican establishment, and the unprecedented and unrivaled amount of time the media afforded Trump. They are all valid.
A Shadow Cabinet for Trump
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has broken just about every political rule and precedent this election cycle, so what difference would it make if he broke one more? If Trump wants to gain credibility with voters who are either wary of or vehemently opposed to him becoming president, he should borrow from the British system and name a shadow cabinet.
All GOP Primary Voters Not Created Equal
Several years ago, I joined a poker game with a group of people I hadn’t met before. The stakes went up and up, and, at one point, a pot reached over $1,000. I had what I was fairly certain was the winning hand, but the dealer, who was a friend of my remaining opponent, “accidentally” flipped his last card face up, not down. Normally, the rule is that the misdealt card is “burned” and a replacement card is dealt face down. No harm, no foul.
Dry Rot in Academia
Jason Riley has now joined the long and distinguished list of people invited — and then disinvited — to give a talk on a college campus, in this case Virginia Tech. Mr. Riley is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal and, perhaps most relevantly, author of a very insightful book titled “Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed.”
Monday, May 9, 2016
Registering Women for the Draft: A Charade, Not a Necessity
The Armed Services Committee (ASC) recently approved a measure requiring American women aged 18 to 26 to register for the draft and sent it to the full House for consideration. If this measure becomes law it will do nothing to enhance gender equality in the Department of Defense that recently lifted a ban on women serving in combat.
Words of Wisdom
Although I generally rely solely on my own brain when writing my articles, I’d be pretty darn silly if I didn’t occasionally share the thoughts of others. To kick things off, my actor friend James Wood, who, having retired, thus cutting himself loose from the shackles of group think, Hollywood-style, is finally free to express his own conservatism. Taking advantage of his new-found freedom, he recently observed: “The world is fighting Islamic terrorism, starvation and disease, but Democrats are fighting for men to pee in the ladies’ room.”
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Who Will Follow Trump Off the Cliff?
Speaking on “Fox & Friends,” of course, Trump revealed something he learned from the National Enquirer, of course. Although the Kennedy assassination is one of history’s most minutely studied events, all previous scrutiny missed something the supermarket tabloid discovered for people like Trump — a connection between Ted Cruz’s father and the murder of the 35th president.
Democracy’s Death Spiral
On Monday, Puerto Rico missed a payment on $422 million worth of bonds. If the United States doesn’t come to the rescue, this will be only the first of many defaults to come. In all, the island has $72 billion in debt and an additional $46 billion in unfunded pension liabilities — totaling more than the country’s annual GDP. As debt mounts, potential taxpayers are fleeing: 84,000 Puerto Ricans moved to the United States just last year alone.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Parents Sue Feds for Forcing School to Let Transgenders in Girls Locker Room
Do the rights of boys who identify as girls trump the rights of girls who are born girls? That question is at the heart of a lawsuit filed by dozens of Illinois parents after the Obama administration’s Department of Education strong-armed their school district into allowing a transgender student the right to use all girls’ locker rooms.
The Wall Street Journal’s Skewed Republican Primary Analysis
The race for the GOP presidential nomination this year has been one of the most interesting in decades. Most candidates on the Republican ticket made a clear effort to cast themselves as outsiders, fed up with Washington’s failure to follow through on promises made in prior elections. The two finalists with the most electoral votes, Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, were the most outspoken against “business as usual” in Washington. Both campaigned on the need to end amnesty, repeal Obamacare, end Common Core, and rebuild the military.
Bathroom Vanity! Feds Think They Can Trample N.C. Law
Governor Pat McCrory (R-N.C.) has already stared down billionaire CEOs, the liberal media, and the LGBT activist bullies who want to topple North Carolina law. He’s certainly not going to be intimidated by the threats of Obama’s big government. Until this Wednesday, the controversy over the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (H.B. 2) had all but died down — when the president’s team of wannabe legislators at the Department of Justice attempted its favorite form of blackmail: financial.
No Premature Surrender in the Battle for the Supreme Court
Living through the craziest and most unpredictable election season in my lifetime, it appears that nothing goes according to plan and there is always another surprise. However, even in this volatile political year, there are still some things you can count on. A lone conservative voice will predict loss and call for early surrender and the media will go into overdrive to shine a light on this tiny minority to declare victory or amplify a story of conservative division, where one does not exist.
Obama Economy Stalls
[Friday] morning’s April jobs report disappointed many economists. It estimated that 160,000 jobs were created last month, but the experts had predicted at least 200,000. Moreover, the jobs figures for March and February were revised downward by nearly 20,000. And while 160,000 new jobs were added last month, that “good news” is overshadowed by the fact that more than twice that number of people — 362,000 — left the labor force last month.
Debating a Liberal
Over the past few decades, I’ve made a conscious effort to avoid liberals. I realize it’s intolerant of me, but I find it next to impossible to associate with people who support the politicians I believe are actively and intentionally destroying America. Even I can only talk about baseball for just so long. One of the few liberals I have retained cordial relations with is a former agent of mine. He is without a doubt the only agent I ever had that I liked. Believe me, in most cases, you really don’t want to be seen in public with these people.