Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
NFL: No Freedom League?
In the NFL's offseason, league officials are trying to invade someone else's turf: Georgia's. In the ongoing scrimmage over the state's deflated religious freedom bill, the National Football League is using a familiar playbook to frighten Governor Nathan Deal (R) out of signing H.B. 757, a shell of a measure that — in its old form — would have shielded Christians from the heavy hand of the government. Now, days after the proposal was gutted of any meaningful conscience protections, the NFL, NBA, and MLB are pulling out all the stops to kill a bill that's actually *less* inclusive than the First Amendment!
Judge Garland and the Left's Disdain for Truth
The mainstream media — that is, the liberal media — share all the views and characteristics of the left. Among these is the left's view of truth. There are honest individuals with left-wing views, and dishonest individuals on the right. But truth is not a leftist value. Everything the left believes in is more important than truth: social justice, economic equality, reducing carbon emissions, expanding the power of the state, battling sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism, and above all of these, destroying its conservative opposition.
Monday, March 21, 2016
National Security Agency Rebuffed Clinton Request for Blackberry
Apparently, there is at least one government agency that understands Hillary Clinton is not above the law and must follow the rules like the rest of us. Judicial Watch has just obtained State Department documents revealing that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeatedly sought to obtain "Blackberry-like communications," but was rebuffed by the National Security Agency due to security and cost concerns. The National Security Agency's Information Assurance Directorate response was "shut up and color." The emails show that Clinton demanded Blackberry devices that could be used by her and her staff in her office's Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF).
The Perils of Cooking Intelligence: From Vietnam to ISIS
Recent revelations by the Pentagon's inspector general indicates that U.S. Central Command, which bears responsibility for military operations in the Middle East, altered intelligence analyses to support the Obama administration's contention that limited air strikes have "contained ISIS." If so, that's unfortunately nothing new. Politically skewed intelligence has a history.
Sex Is Etched in Our DNA, but Race Is All in Our Heads
At Milton Academy, the tony Massachusetts prep school, the longstanding "one boy, one girl" rule requiring equal representation on the student council has been scrapped. The student government voted this month to move beyond what the council's cochairman refers to as the "archaic norms" of male and female, and instead "accept the world and the people within it the way they are now." To which I say: Out of the mouth of babes.
The Spirit of '76
Here I am entering the fourth quarter of my life, assuming that my plan to make it to a hundred pans out, and I'm not at all happy with the way that 2016 has started off. After all, this was going to be the year that ended with just 20 days remaining of the Obama reign. But how much confetti can I toss when his likely successor looks to be Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump? One political pro after another has flogged himself for being caught unaware of the growing discontent among the voters. But I don't think Democrats are discontented. Why should they be? They twice elected a guy who promised to radically transform America and then actually went ahead and did it.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Georgia Guts Religious Freedom Bill
On Wednesday night, the Georgia legislature introduced new language to its religious freedom bill and passed the bill in mere hours. Haste makes waste. This new language significantly waters down a religious freedom bill that had real force even though it was, as we pointed out three weeks ago, already lacking in certain respects. The new version of the bill provides Religious Freedom Restoration Act levels of protection for certain protected persons, but it explicitly says these protections cannot apply in cases of "invidious discrimination." Of course, no one is in favor of invidious discrimination, but the problem is that in the hands of a liberal judge, *everything* looks like invidious discrimination even when it is not, such as religious universities or adoption agencies that want their policies to reflect their teachings on marriage. This apes the bad "fix" that gutted the Indiana religious freedom bill.
Fight or Flight?
The primaries march on, with Donald Trump in the lead. But he doesn't have a lock on the Republican Party nomination. He needs to win more than half of the remaining delegates, no easy task while facing his two toughest opponents. But apparently he's afraid to share a stage with them again. The debates matter now more than before. First, the next couple months will determine whether any candidate wins the race outright, and who will hold the edge if there is a contested convention. The last Republican Party voters soon will have to make their decisions.
The GOP's Blocking of Court Pick Is Indefensible
The Republican Party's incoherent response to the Supreme Court vacancy is a partisan reflex in search of a justifying principle. The multiplicity of Republican rationalizations for their refusal to even consider Merrick Garland radiates insincerity. Republicans instantly responded to Antonin Scalia's death by proclaiming that no nominee, however admirable in temperament, intellect and experience, would be accorded a hearing. They say their obduracy is right because: Because they have a right to be obdurate, there being no explicit constitutional proscription against this. Or because President Obama's demonstrated contempt for the Constitution's explicit text and for implicit constitutional manners justifies Republicans reciprocating with contempt for his Supreme Court choice, regardless of its merits.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Trump vs. Kemp
Marco Rubio's speech suspending his campaign after his crushing loss in the Florida primary was a requiem for an entire style of Republican politics. Rubio represented an upbeat, opportunity-oriented vein in the GOP that ran through George W. Bush's compassionate conservatism back to the late supply-sider Jack Kemp, who practically made a civic religion out of optimism and inclusivity. Donald Trump has grabbed this Kempian tradition by the collar and frog-marched it from the room with all the delicacy of one of his security guards ejecting a troublesome protester from a rally.
GA Bill a Real Peach of Work
If you're looking for a clue behind the inexplicable rise of Donald Trump and his support among "evangelicals," look no further than Georgia. It's called Republicans. In a state where protecting religious liberty is as popular as peach pie, Republican Governor Nathan Deal (R) and House Speaker David Ralston (R) are presiding over the demise of Georgian's First Freedom.
Kerry Sees the Obvious
After seven years of radical Islam rampaging across the Middle East — massive killings, pledges by ISIS to drive Christians out of the region, beheadings and crucifixions — Secretary of State John Kerry has finally decided that genocide is taking place. Yesterday, Kerry officially designated the atrocities committed by ISIS against Christians and other religious minorities in the region as genocide.
Mrs. Prelutsky Weighs In
Although I'm a very good speller, even I need a proofreader. In my case, the problem is that my eyes sometimes see what my brain has convinced them is on the page. As a result, my eyes will read a word that belongs on the page, but which isn't really there. It is usually a little word, so in the previous sentence I could easily have left out the "a" or the "on" and not noticed they'd gone missing. That's where Yvonne's role kicks in, but she will also comment on the content, and as annoying as that can be, I must confess she sometimes makes such a persuasive case that even Ted Cruz would be swayed.
Islam — Facts or Dreams?
In 1993 I was a seasoned federal prosecutor, but I only knew as much about Islam as the average American with a reasonably good education — which is to say, not much. Consequently, when I was assigned to lead the prosecution of a terrorist cell that had bombed the World Trade Center and was plotting an even more devastating strike — simultaneous attacks on the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, the United Nations complex on the East River, and the FBI's lower Manhattan headquarters — I had no trouble believing what our government was saying: that we should read nothing into the fact that all the men in this terrorist cell were Muslims; that their actions were not representative of any religion or belief system; and that to the extent they were explaining their atrocities by citing Islamic scripture, they were twisting and perverting one of the world's great religions, a religion that encourages peace.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Having a 'Trump Talk' With Your Kids
I was watching a Republican presidential debate as my eight-year-old, John, sat next to me. Donald Trump, the front-runner, looked left and ripped Ted Cruz as a "liar" before seamlessly pivoting right and skewering Marco Rubio as a "sweating choke artist." "Lying Ted!" Trump barked. "Choking Marco!" he shouted. My eight-year-old son laughed at the buffoonish spectacle, as if we'd just tuned in to Cartoon Network. "No, John," I told him. "That's not funny. We shouldn't treat people that way."
Comedy Central's Clinton Propaganda
No one doubts that the "fake news" shows on Comedy Central are propaganda organs for liberalism. NPR and MSNBC hosts have swooned over the soothing satirical nightcaps for the snarky liberal. Apparently, that genre isn't enough. Now, the channel's situation comedies are pushing the Democrats. In the March 16 episode of the millennial-female sitcom "Broad City," the buffoonish main character (played by Ilana Glazer) volunteers for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign — so enthusiastically she put "Rodham" in her name, as in "Ilana Rodham Wexler." Since she's not very bright, she assumes that she is being paid for the volunteer position.
Kerry Comes to Terms With ISIS
War-torn Christians in the Middle East finally have a new advocate: the United States of America. While families languish in camps and hiding places desperate for the West's help, the Obama administration is finally offering some. In somewhat of a surprise announcement, since State Department officials hinted that they might miss Congress's March 17 deadline, Secretary John Kerry righted a longtime wrong by joining the rest of the Western world in condemning the violence against Christians and other religious minorities as genocide.
The GOP Should Steal the Nomination From Trump
Donald Trump booster and radio talk show host Laura Ingraham recently urged the GOP's remaining candidates to avoid a "bloodbath" at the Republican National Convention. "I don't see what the point of all this is," she explained. Well that is a great point, actually: taking the nomination away from Trump. Sen. Ted Cruz could still conceivably win. But there's no soft landing in this scenario. No rapprochement. No team-building exercise is going to fix the 2016 iteration of the Republican Party. There is only going to be a crackup, no matter who captures the nomination. If that's true, and if it means one side has to prevail, why not save your party from a hostile takeover that could potentially cost it both the Senate and the House?
Please Lie to Us
"I trust in the good judgment of the American people." So said a radio host I admire (not one of the screamers) about six months ago when the rise of Trump was still notional. At this moment, looking at both parties, you have to ask whether judgment is being applied at all or whether we're in the much more dangerous realm of emotional release. Let's start on the left. Democrats have made careers out of pretending that "government" has money to distribute, that the rich don't pay their fair share of taxes, that most of the problems of black America are attributable to white racism, that deficits can be eliminated by raising taxes on the few at the top, that women are victims in need of government redress and that climate change is the greatest national security threat we face. Fairy tales.
Garland Nod the Latest Move in Democrats' Game of Thrones
Given the rancor and turmoil inside the GOP these days, even a bitter, partisan, hammer-and-tongs battle to the death over a Supreme Court justice seems almost quaint by comparison. The Republican-controlled Senate, which is empowered by the Constitution to offer both advice and consent to the president's judicial nominees, has offered the following advice: Not now and not you. Antonin Scalia's death left a court vacancy larger than a mere one-ninth of the voters on the bench. Replacing Scalia with a reliably liberal justice would upend the court's ideological balance, to an unacceptable degree for the GOP.