Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, March 11, 2016
For the Establishment
"Burn it down." That's the slogan of faux conservatives who now rejoice that the Republican Party is being smashed by a slick, howlingly transparent grifter. The urge to destroy has a kind of pornographic appeal to a certain personality — but it's a shock to find it so widespread. The Republican Party is choosing an odd time to commit suicide. Obama's two victories were painful setbacks, but in the Obama era the Democrats lost 13 U.S. Senate seats, 69 House seats, 913 legislative seats, 11 governorships and 30 legislative chambers. All that stood between Republicans and real reform at the federal level was the White House — and the Democrats were sleepwalking toward nominating the least popular major player in American politics.
Anti-Trump Conservatives Might Need to Swallow Pride, Support Cruz
The so-called Republican establishment is coming to the painful realization that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz may be its only hope to block Donald Trump from winning the nomination and Hillary Clinton from winning the White House. It's not assured, of course. There are as many theories on how to emerge from this year's Republican convention with an acceptable nominee as there are interpretations of what was going on in the TV show "Lost." But the most plausible path to a Trump-free, Republican-controlled White House is consolidation around Cruz. It's a difficult conclusion for many people, and some may not get there until Sen. Marco Rubio loses the primary in his home state of Florida. And some may never accept Cruz, opting to bend the knee to Trump instead.
Open Borders?
When conservatives suggest that it should be the nation's policy to deport all illegal immigrants, the response from the media, the left, and, sadly, even some quarters of the right is, "That's ridiculous. You're not going to deport 11 million people." Well, based on their statements at last night's debate, the opposite view of open borders and no deportations appears to be the new standard on the left. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders promised to go farther than Barack Obama in protecting illegal immigrants. In fact, Mrs. Clinton's comments seemed to take amnesty advocate Jorge Ramos of Univision by surprise.
'Trapped' in a Pro-Abortion Bubble
On the libertine left, one of the most revered "social justice warriors" is the abortionist. "Abortion providers" are revered as living statues of liberty, granting the freedom from being "punished with a baby," to quote our current president. Entire documentaries celebrate them. The latest is "Trapped," named after the pro-abortion lingo for any law that regulates the abortion industry, or as they spin it, "targeted regulation of abortion providers." In the Los Angeles Times, Katie Walsh provided the propagandistic ooze: "These providers embody a remarkable mix of tenacity and tenderness as they comfort patients and attempt to discern and comply with labyrinthine regulations."
Media Malpractice 2016
One of the greatest challenges a human being can face is to find a "political strategist" on any cable news network who has actually worked for well-known politicians within the last four years — or even last decade. The lack of core competence in campaigns actually shapes the lack of core competence in reporting on campaigns. Many of those who report on campaigns have never actually worked on one. Many of those on television pontificating about campaigns as so called "political strategists" do not know the difference between a margin of error and a margin on paper. They go with the conventional wisdom that sounds good.
The Loan Ranger of ObamaCare
If you thought your doctor bills were getting bigger, you should see the federal government's! According to a troubling new report, Uncle Sam is deep in debt to the country's doctors and hospitals, thanks to a collapsed co-op system built into the president's health care law. "The co-ops were supposed to be the happy face of health care," the Washington Times explained, "user-friendly, non-corporate plans offered as a part of the Obamacare's exchanges, designed to convince consumers skeptical of major insurance companies that there was a real alternative for them in President Obama's signature health care law." When Democrats scraped their plans for a public option in Obamacare, these co-ops were the compromise between government-run health care and a single-payer system.
Obama and Juan Williams Need a Lesson on the Constitution and the Facts on Judicial Nominations
Someone should remind President Obama and Juan Williams what the Constitution actually says about confirming nominees. They seem unaware of how the process works. They also appear ignorant of the facts regarding the many judicial nominees the president has had confirmed over the past seven years. First of all, the claim by Juan Williams that race "has something to do" with Republicans' supposedly not moving on President Obama's appointments is completely false — and the numbers prove it. The U.S. Senate has confirmed 321 individuals nominated to the federal bench during Obama's presidency: 264 district court judges, 55 appeals-court judges, and two Supreme Court justices. That represents more than one third of the entire federal judiciary.
A Vote for Trump Is a Vote Against American Consumers
As I was listening to Donald Trump's performance art/news conference the other night, I wondered whether it was even worth writing another column about the assorted lies and myths he peddles on trade. I don't think so. Trump promises to bring Third World jobs back to an advanced economy, and millions of voters — left and right — find this emotionally satisfying and politically reasonable. Many of these people just want to find work, so it's understandable. And when the economy is stagnant, you're not going to allay working-class anxiety by pointing out that capital account surpluses matter more than trade deficits or that productivity, not foreigners, is realigning the workforce — even if it's all true.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
A Lesson for Trump in Bulger's Rejected Appeal
The U.S. Court of Appeals last week upheld the conviction of James "Whitey" Bulger, the infamous South Boston gangster and serial murderer now serving two life sentences at a penitentiary in Florida. The three-judge panel unanimously rejected Bulger's claim that his trial was unfair because he wasn't allowed to tell the jury that a top prosecutor had long ago promised him immunity for any crimes he might commit, up to and including murder.
'Who Lost Iraq?'
My parents originally named me "Victory Japan" because my slightly premature birth resulted from mom and dad dancing in the streets of Saint Petersburg, Florida on the night of August 16, 1945 — the day after the United States won its last war. Seventy years is a lifetime by the Biblical standard of our allotted three score and 10 years. Go back to 1945 and subtract 70 and you are two years away from the end of Reconstruction.
Does the Justice Department Want to Enable Noncitizen Voting?
We continue to get rapid developments in the noncitizen voter-registration lawsuit involving the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, and the U.S. Department of Justice. DOJ has been siding with the League and the NAACP instead of defending the EAC. The latest actions of the Justice Department (DOJ), which include filing a motion for a protective order, seek to shield from discovery potential government misbehavior that could affect election outcomes.
Allowing Doctors to Kill Undermines Solidarity and Corrupts Medicine
Physician-assisted suicide is often portrayed as a compassionate option for clear-thinking adults to end their lives peacefully. But the reality is much darker. Letting doctors prescribe deadly drugs can actually encourage acts of violence, often resulting from subtle social and psychological coercion. Physician-assisted suicide fundamentally changes the doctor-patient relationship, how medicine is practiced, and how society views the poor, elderly or disabled. This is why it's so disconcerting that so many states are considering allowing physician-assisted suicide. Assisted suicide denies the equal worth and dignity of every human life.
Seeking Safe Spaces on Campus Report
Once upon a time, a conservative speaker was invited to a university to speak. Although many liberals on campus disagreed with him, they listened to his speech and then asked questions, leading to a discussion that left everyone better informed about current issues. At least that's how it's supposed to work. The reality, circa 2016, is this: The conservative speaker was disinvited when liberal students and faculty learned that, horror of horrors, someone who disagreed with them would be permitted to speak on campus. Their shrieking complaints scared the cowardly administrators into ensuring the speaker never even arrived.
The Action Is Not All in Washington
As the race for the presidential nomination enters the pandemonium stage, I take solace in the soothing wisdom of my friend the British historian, Paul Johnson. He writes: "America is a big country, with vast regions and endless opportunities for polycentrism." Another way of putting it is that America is a federalist system with endless opportunities for variation. It is always a mistake to focus too intensely on Washington or New York. What about Indianapolis, or Wichita, or Raleigh, North Carolina? Today the campaign for the Democratic nomination is entering an eerie stage. The campaign for the Republican nomination is entering a terminal stage. Yet out there in America things are taking place that should be reassuring.
Spoilers Alert!
If there's anyone secretly cheering for Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Governor John Kasich (R-Ohio) to stay in the race, it is probably Donald Trump. While I certainly appreciate persistence and determination, there's no question that this morning's headlines would have been dramatically different had Rubio and Kasich exited the race. By all accounts, the two men at the bottom of the GOP ticket are what's keeping the billionaire afloat, splitting the ballots just enough to let Trump squeak by his biggest rival: Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Nancy Reagan: 'Do You Really Think People Will Say That?'
The following conversation took place at the Ronald Reagan Library, Simi Valley, California, Friday, Feb. 6, 2004: Larry Elder: Let me tell you what an honor this is. This is like meeting royalty. Nancy Reagan: Thank you very much. Thank you. Elder: Tell me what you consider your greatest accomplishment. Reagan: My greatest accomplishment. Well, I think raising the awareness of the drug problem, traveling around and promoting that, and I think we did do some good.
The Results: Democrats
Bernie Sanders stunned the pundits and proved the pollsters wrong [Tuesday]. The last poll before the Michigan primary gave Hillary Clinton a whopping 27-point lead. Sanders' voters ignored the polls and gave him a 50% to 48% victory over Hillary. One commentator said the Michigan polling was "among the greatest polling errors in primary history." But Mrs. Clinton had some good news, too. She won the Mississippi primary by a lopsided margin of 83% to 17%.
The Trump Campaign — Dragging America Into the Political Gutter
While Donald Trump may be a successful businessman, one who has created a larger than life public relations persona, his business acumen and PR spin does not qualify him to be the next President of the United States. Further, Donald Trump is an existential threat to conservatism. Despite his boisterous claims, Donald Trump is no uniter. He is arguably one of the most divisive figures in modern political history and his candidacy represents not only a threat to the Republican Party, Donald Trump is dragging the nation into the political gutter. It's time for Republican and conservative voters to open their eyes to the real Donald Trump and understand the reasons why the nation deserves better than this political huckster.
Three Changes America Needs
America has seen a decade of political upheaval. Ten years ago, voters took control of Congress from the party of the incumbent president and gave it to the opposition party. Two years later, they gave the White House to that other party, too. Two years after that, they gave the House of Representatives back to the party that opposed the new sitting president. Four years later, they gave the Senate to that opposition party, too. Now, in this presidential primary season, it has become a cliche to say many voters in both major parties are angry at the government and driven by an anti-establishment sentiment.