Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Obama Gets Tough!
After nearly eight years of groveling at the feet of the world’s worst tyrants, from the mullahs of Iran to the Castro brothers in Cuba, President Obama has finally located his spine and laid down the law. Unfortunately, the target of his ire was not the North Koreans or ISIS, but the dreaded Brits! Britain is in the middle of an important debate over whether to withdraw from the European Union. The press has dubbed the June vote “Brexit.”
Reversing Trump’s False Narratives
Donald Trump is trying to establish the narrative that he’s already won the Republican presidential nomination. If that’s true, why is his team trying to reinvent him? Trump had a big win in New York, and he’s likely to have another big day in other Northeastern states this week. But neither New York nor these other states are a surprise. The Ted Cruz team anticipated this and warned Cruz supporters that this would be a dry patch, adding that things will get better.
Why the Left Loathes Western Civilization
This month, Stanford University students voted on a campus resolution that would have their college require a course on Western civilization, as it did until the 1980s. Stanford students rejected the proposal 1,992 to 347. A columnist at the Stanford Daily explained why: Teaching Western civilization means “upholding white supremacy, capitalism and colonialism, and all other oppressive systems that flow from Western civilizations.” The vote — and the column — encapsulated the left’s view: In Europe, Latin America and America, it loathes Western civilization.
The Felon Vote
Thanks to Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-Va.) 200,000 convicted felons in the state of Virginia may now register to vote. Writes The Washington Post, “The change applies to all felons who have completed their sentences and been released from supervised probation or parole. The Democratic governor’s decision particularly affects black residents of Virginia: 1 in 4 African Americans in the state has been permanently banned from voting because of laws restricting the rights of those with convictions.”
Ethnicity Still Matters in the Politics of 2016
Ethnicity still matters. That’s one lesson I draw from the results so far of this year’s Republican and Democratic primaries and caucuses. We’re encouraged to believe ethnicity doesn’t matter much anymore; only race does. This is the implicit assumption behind the analyses that divide the electorate into four racial categories: whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians.
The Intersection of Faith, Family and Freedom
As a Christian and an across-the-board conservative author, I write about a variety of topics: economic freedom, national security, international relations and social issues. My Christian faith informs all areas of my life, and it enables me to share wisdom that is much greater than my own. As long-time readers of my columns and books know, my biggest passion is to help family members grow stronger in their relationships with each other; to help moms and dads raise children of character; and to provide tips to parents so that our children might understand that they are deeply loved. I also frequently focus on how certain government programs weaken families, how regulations often interfere with the rights of parents, and how parents sometimes unwittingly relinquish to others much of the tremendous influence they have over their own children. There’s an old saying that many seem to have forgotten.
Conservatives for Trump?
The sudden appearance of Donald Trump on the political horizon last year may have been surprising, but not nearly as surprising as seeing some conservatives supporting him. Does Trump have conservative principles? Does he have any principles at all, other than promoting Donald Trump? A smorgasbord of political positions — none of them indicating any serious thought about complicated issues — is not a principle. Nor is cheering for himself and boasting about all the great things he is going to do as President.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Let Patients Pay the Piper, and the Price of Health Care Will Fall
She went to the doctor, the one at the downtown hospital she’s been going to for years, for her annual physical in January. She showed her insurance card when she checked in, and confirmed that the details hadn’t changed. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health, renewed her prescriptions, and updated her medical record. It was a routine visit, and she gave it little further thought. Until a bill arrived this week.
Cruz vs. Trump: Comparing Their Tax Proposals
As Donald Trump and Ted Cruz battle to become the Republican nominee for president, it is time to closely consider their policies. Although both propose cutting taxes, the details of their plans are very different. Ted Cruz is proposing a drastic revision of the tax code that would replace the progressive income tax with a flat tax. Donald Trump’s proposal, though it would lower the top tax rate, preserves higher rates on the rich. In terms of sound principles that should guide discussions of future tax policy, Cruz’s proposal is better than Trump’s.
In Defense of Contested Conventions
To hear the way that some people talk, you would think that a contested convention would be the worst thing to hit humankind since the black plague killed off half of Europe in the Middle Ages. By “some people,” I suppose I mean Donald Trump and his consigliore, Roger Stone, who keeps saying he has no connection to the Trump campaign, but nevertheless took it upon himself to threaten delegates to the Cleveland convention with eternal damnation if they even considered abandoning Trump after the first ballot.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
What if the Left Doesn’t Really Want to Achieve Its Policy Goals?
Here is something I bet you haven’t thought about. We naturally assume that that public policy advocates actually want to achieve the things they advocate. But there are a lot of people both on the right and the left — but especially on the left — for whom that probably isn’t true.
The ‘Settled’ Consensus Du Jour
Authoritarianism, always latent in progressivism, is becoming explicit. Progressivism’s determination to regulate thought by regulating speech is apparent in the campaign by 20 state attorneys general, none Republican, to criminalize skepticism about the supposedly “settled” conclusions of climate science.
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Victim of AGs’ Climate Change Inquisition Fights Back
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) has launched a fierce counter-attack against Claude Walker, the attorney general for the Virgin Islands, who recently served a subpoena on CEI demanding documents related to CEI’s research on global “climate change.” On April 20, CEI’s attorney, Andrew Grossman, filed a long and extensive objection to the subpoena and made it clear that CEI will not comply with it. Grossman, a lawyer at BakerHostetler and co-founder of the Free Speech in Science Project, told Walker in his cover letter that the attorney general’s legal action targeting CEI is “a blatant attempt to intimidate and harass an organization for advancing views that you oppose.”
Donald Trump Is Not a Conservative
What sort of man is lurking deep inside Donald Trump’s innards? We were led to believe that Mr. Trump was one of us — a conservative of the gun-toting, Bible-clinging variety. But friends, Mr. Trump is no conservative. His talk is far different from his walk.
Obama Sidesteps Senate Approval of Paris Agreement
This Friday is “Earth Day” and by all indications the Obama administration intends to celebrate it by traveling to the United Nations in New York and signing the Paris Agreement on climate change. Despite the pomp and circumstance of a U.N. Headquarters signing ceremony, President Obama claims that the Paris Agreement is not a treaty. Since he claims it is not a treaty, he does not plan to submit the Agreement to the Senate for approval.
Happy Earth Day!
Today is Earth Day, and 170 countries are expected to sign the so-called “Paris Agreement” on climate change. The impact of this radical agenda is already being felt. Remember Barack Obama’s promise to “bankrupt coal companies”? Last week, America’s largest coal company declared bankruptcy. America’s second-largest coal company declared bankruptcy in January.
A Steady Stream of Bathroom Backlash
If you’re one of those people who wondered how same-sex marriage would affect you, walk into a Target bathroom and find out! Less than a year after the Supreme Court made “feelings” the condition of marriage, liberals are trying to make them the basis of gender too. But not without a major fight first. The American people aren’t exactly lining up to put their wives and daughters in harm’s way just to prove how “tolerant” they are. On the contrary, they’re pushing back on this ridiculous agenda with a ferocity even the Left wasn’t expecting.
My Ideal Candidate
There is, of course, no such thing as an ideal candidate. Even I wouldn’t pass muster because, on a few rare occasions, I have changed my mind and I might therefore dismiss myself as an unreliable flip-flopper. But, by and large, I would be happy to vote for someone who agreed with me on, say, 75% of the following issues: I’m against abortions and same-sex marriages. In the first instance, I refuse to accept that a baby can be both a little person whose birth is anxiously anticipated by large numbers of people, while in another case it can simply be removed like a wart. Either the little life is precious or it’s worthless, but it can’t be both simultaneously.
Friday, April 22, 2016
What’s In Your Wallet?
Harriet Tubman was literally a freedom fighter. The “Moses” of the Underground Railroad liberated herself and dozens of others from slavery over the years in a biopic-worthy life of bravery and idealism. She has now been selected to eventually replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, bumping him to the back in the worst defeat for Old Hickory since John Quincy Adams “stole” the presidency from him in 1824.
Despite NY Win, It Was a Bad Week for Trump
Despite his big win in New York on Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has had a pretty bad week. But will it matter? It should — and just might. During an NBC “Today” show town hall Thursday, the host read a question from Twitter concerning Trump’s views on LGBT issues and how he plans to be inclusive as president. “Speak about North Carolina bathroom law in particular.”