Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Cruz Must Be the Anti-Trump
Is there any way for Ted Cruz or John Kasich to wrest the Republican nomination from Donald Trump? With every tick of the clock, it looks less likely. The chances differ for the two candidates. Kasich needs a miracle. Cruz may possibly succeed with a new emphasis. Kasich's claim boils down to this: He's a Midwestern moderate who may not perform well in deep-red states such as Texas and Utah but will find his natural constituency in the Northeast and West Coast states coming up. His electoral performance and his campaign's incompetence suggest otherwise.
Obama's Ideological Holiday in Havana
The split-screen told the story: on one side, images of the terror bombing in Brussels; on the other, Barack Obama doing the wave with Raul Castro at a baseball game in Havana. On one side, the real world of rising global terrorism. On the other, the Obama fantasy world in which romancing a geopolitically insignificant Cuba — without an ounce of democracy or human rights yielded in return — is considered a seminal achievement of American diplomacy.
What America Should Learn From the Attack in Brussels
For now, we live in a nation with a well-assimilated, diverse and patriotic Muslim population, but the situation could always change. Like Europe, we could embrace immigrants from places teeming with radicalism. We could disincentivize assimilation. We could dismiss anyone who has legitimate concerns about these threats as bigots. After every terrorist attack, much of the media predictably cautions Americans about the impending wave of Islamophobia — one of the most vacuous and misleading terms in political discourse. Even before the bodies had been cleared off the streets in Brussels, where attacks claimed at least 34 lives with scores of others wounded, the usual suspects were warning about hurt feelings and the big backlash that never comes.
Let's Get This Straight: Trump Is No Reagan
"Ronald Reagan is dead, and he's not coming back." "I wish more conservatives could come to grips with this relatively simple fact. We are now in something like the fifth round of the pin-the-tail-on-the-next-Reagan game and it's getting old. Catering to the conservative base, the GOP presidential candidates keep trying to put on the Reagan mantle the way Cinderella's ugly stepsisters tried to cram their dogs into her glass slipper. Not gonna happen."
The Crossroads of History
This weekend is the anniversary of the single most important event in human history. What came after was entirely different than what came before. While many dispute even the basic facts, historians have long acknowledged that the events more than two billion people worldwide will remember this weekend fundamentally reshaped the planet.
N.C. Brackets Charlotte's March (Into) Madness
[Wednesday], leaders in North Carolina achieved more in a day than many state leaders have been able to accomplish in years. In a single-day special session, legislators passed and the governor signed into law protections for the privacy of children and women using school and public bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms in the Tar Heel state. Governor Pat McCrory (R), Lt. Gov. Dan Forest (R), and House Speaker Tim Moore (R) are to be commended for a day's work well done!
A Fight for British Freedom and Sovereignty
On a visit to London last week, I had the opportunity to meet with members of the British Cabinet and several members of Parliament to discuss the issue of "Brexit." On June 23, the British people will vote in a referendum to decide whether to leave the European Union. For the first time in over four decades, British voters will finally be able to shape their own destiny.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Results: The Democrats
Senator Bernie Sanders notched two wins [Tuesday] night. He won Idaho 78% to 21% and carried Utah by an even larger margin — 80% to 20%. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton carried Arizona 58% to 40%. The delegate allocation from the three states slightly favored Sanders — 57 to 51. But he is still a long way from catching Mrs. Clinton. In the total delegate count for the Democrat nomination, Hillary Clinton has 1,681 delegates (71% of the total needed to win the nomination) to 937 for Senator Sanders.
Big Brother Bullies Little Sisters at the Supreme Court
The plaza of the U.S. Supreme Court and the courtroom itself were full of people you don't normally see at the court — priests, ministers, and nuns of various religious orders. They were there Wednesday to hear the U.S. government argue that the Little Sisters of the Poor — an order of Catholic nuns who have served the elderly and the poor for 175 years — must violate their faith and assist in providing contraceptive drugs and devices (including abortifacients) for all of their nuns and any other employees — through their health care plans.
Encouraging Real Change in Cuba
t's been over a year since the United States "normalized" relations with Cuba, making concessions that, supposedly, would encourage the island nation to become freer and more open. In light of President Obama's visit, however, it's clear that this policy has proven to be a failure. You would think that only by making concrete improvements in the lives of ordinary Cubans would the repressive rulers in Havana merit the first U.S. presidential visit since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.
The Hypocrisy Behind the Student Renaming Craze
University students across the country — at Amherst, Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, UC Berkeley and dozens of other campuses — are caught up in yet another new fad. This time, the latest college craze is a frenzied attempt to rename campus buildings and streets. Apparently some of those names from the past do not fit students' present litmus tests on race, class and gender correctness. Stanford students are demanding the rebranding of buildings, malls and streets bearing the name of Junipero Serra, the 18th-century Franciscan priest who some 250 years ago founded California's famous chain of 21 coastal missions. The sainted Serra was often unkind to Native Americans and by our standards racist in his worldview.
The 'Apology Tour' Comes Full Circle
At the beginning of his presidency, Barack Obama traveled to Cairo, Europe and the United Nations to "apologize" for past American actions and attitudes, which he claimed helped create divisions between countries. At a town hall meeting before a mix of French and German citizens in Strasbourg, France on April 3, 2009, the president said the United States was partially to blame for increased tensions with Europe following the Iraq war: "there have been times where America (has) shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive" toward Europe.
Reforming Corporate Taxation Is a Bipartisan Issue
What do Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., President Barack Obama and all the Republican presidential candidates have in common? They all want to fundamentally reform the corporate income tax. President Obama proposed cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent. Sen. Schumer wants a major reduction to taxation of corporate income abroad. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says he would abolish the tax altogether as president — replacing it with a 16 percent business flat tax — and Donald Trump would reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent.
Can Automakers Redefine Mobility Again?
If Mark Fields' theory is correct, his industry faces novel challenges. His theory about the changing role of driving in Americans' lives is one reason Ford Motor Co. now describes itself as an "automotive and mobility company." Fields, Ford's CEO, remembers a time when, on the day a teenager became old enough for a driver's license, he or she made an early morning beeline to get it. Many still do, but increasing numbers are less ardent about the machine that made modern America. In 2014, only 76.7 percent of people 20 to 24 years old had driver's licenses, down from 91.8 percent in 1983.
Trump vs. Democrats: Who Are the Real 'Racial Arsonists'?
In a recent interview with Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, CNN's Jake Tapper said, "I would just ask, as a fellow American, if you could consider whether or not dialing down the temperature — trying to bring down the temperature — might be a healthier thing both for your campaign and for the nation at large." And PBS' Tavis Smiley — who once said Ronald Reagan "tortured" blacks — calls Trump a "religious and racial arsonist."
Repeat After Me: 'President Donald Trump'
People on the left think highly of themselves when they exalt the lowly poor, when they cry out for world peace and when they speak about a race. As these Americans on the left prattle on about their alleged noble ends (as opposed to the means to those ends), some conservative Americans have grown downright envious. They think to themselves, why can't we, too, think well of ourselves when we talk about poverty, international relations and race? The answer is that conservatives generally talk about specific policies that lead to jobs for the poor (a modus vivendi for hostile nations) and the rule of law for all Americans. Still, such talk leaves these conservatives covetous of America's sanctimonious left.
Cruz Buzz in the Beehive State
If anyone's enjoying the wild ride of this election cycle, it's the two dozen states voting after Super Tuesday. At this point in most presidential primaries, the nominee is a foregone conclusion, giving Americans in these later primary states very little in the way of influence or motivation. In 2016, states like Utah and Arizona, as we saw [Tuesday], are finally getting a say in a process that is normally dominated by voters in February and early March.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
I’m Mad As Hell So I'm Voting For...
In 1976 the film *Network* featured a scene in which a fictional TV anchor, in response to the overall decline in America due to inflation, unemployment, crime and a recession, encouraged his viewers to stand up, go to their windows, stick their heads out and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" While the movie was a fictional story, the plot highlighted the mood of a large number of Americans at the time.
Why Race Wasn't Behind Virginia Redistricting Plan
The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a congressional redistricting case that involves the complicated issues that arise under the Voting Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment when race intersects with politics. Experienced Supreme Court litigator Mike Carvin was up against Marc Elias, who is the attorney for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, although he was not acting in that capacity in this case. Virginia has eleven congressional districts. Eight are represented by Republicans and three by Democrats. One congressional district, District 3, is majority/minority district under the Voting Rights Act (i.e., it has a majority of black voters and is represented by a black Democrat, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va).
Student Punished for Criticizing Vegetarian
I was noshing on a juicy cheeseburger on my lunch break the other day when I came across a fascinating story in the Washington Post written by Eugene Volokh. The story involves a New Jersey sixth-grader who ran afoul of the state's Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act after he poked fun at a vegetarian classmate. (For you folks on the professional barbecue circuit, a vegetarian is someone who abstains from pork butts.) "Vegetarians are idiots," the youngster declared. "It's not good not to eat meat."