Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Last Chance for America?
The "Super Tuesday" primaries may be a turning point for America — and quite possibly a turn for the worse. After seven long years of domestic disasters and increasing international dangers, the next President of the United States will need extraordinary wisdom, maturity, depth of knowledge and personal character to rescue America. Instead, if the polls are an indication, what we may get is someone with the opposite of all these things, a glib egomaniac with a checkered record in business and no track record at all in government — Donald Trump. If so, the downward trajectory of America over the past seven years may well continue on into the future, to the point of no return.
Arizona, Not Trump, Shows Republicans the Way on Immigration
In last Thursday's slam-bang Republican debate everyone saw Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz do a fine job of demonstrating Donald Trump's ignorance and inconsistencies. But many may not have noticed Cruz's citation of a Feb. 9 Wall Street Journal article that casts light on the immigration issue — and suggests strongly that Cruz's and Rubio's serious immigration policies could prove more effective than Trump's bombast about building a wall and getting Mexico to pay for it.
South Carolina Results
As was widely predicted, Hillary Clinton won Saturday's Democrat primary in South Carolina. What no one predicted was the lopsided result: Clinton 74%, Sanders 26%. Clinton's victory was impressive. She carried every single county. According to exit polls, she won every major demographic except one: Millennials or voters under 30. And she crushed Sanders with black voters: 86% to 14%. If there was a weakness with Clinton's win, it would be turnout: Democrat turnout was way down — off by 16% compared to 2008. In contrast, GOP primary turnout set a record.
Republicans Can Give Workers a $1 Billion Pay Raise
If Donald Trump's gravity-defying ascendancy has validated anything, it is that for Middle America, jobs and economic security are still the dominant issue. Republicans have talked up tax reform, regulatory relief and fiscal restraint — and those are all critical to growth. But it's time for Republicans to expand their portfolio of issues and concentrate directly on increasing worker paychecks. Hillary Clinton loves to talk about helping "the working-class folks." This is a voter group she knows so much about, because they are the chauffeurs that drive her to Ritz-Carlton hotels and clear the dinner tables when she gives her $200,000 speeches to Goldman Sachs. But Clinton can't truly champion these workers' rights, because the unions won't let her.
Bed, Bath, and Brevard
"This is not San Francisco," one man exclaimed. "This is Brevard County!" And thanks to hundreds of vocal parents and pastors in Florida, it'll stay that way. After a five-hour meeting at the Brevard County School District, the community broke into cheers and "amens" after winning a huge victory over political correctness. While the media hasn't exactly been eager to cover the story, moms and dads of Brevard County packed out last Tuesday's school board meeting to fight a proposal that would have added "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" to the district's anti-discrimination and "equal employment" policies.
Exploring Trumpism
Just what is the Trump movement all about? I've tried to get to the bottom of it by conversing with various Donald Trump supporters on Twitter. I have found that most outside the movement are having great difficulty understanding it. It's like nothing we've seen -- at least on the Republican side of the political spectrum. One perplexed person asked me, "Does it shock you that with all the detrimental information on Trump he is still leading in practically every poll?" My answer: "It doesn't shock me so much as disappoint me."
Gratuitous Hatred Is Destroying Republicans — Just as in Ancient Israel
I have been a radio talk show host for 33 years, nationally syndicated for 18. I have never experienced anything similar to what I am experiencing now. Until recently, the only hate mail I ever received was from a small number people on the left. The major reason for this, I am convinced, is that I don't yell at callers and I treat callers who disagree with respect. Reading my emails these days is a brand new experience. I receive hate mail, sometimes laced with obscenities, from Republicans. Most come from Donald Trump supporters, even though whenever I explain my opposition to Trump, I also explain that I understand why so many people support him, and even though I ask anti-Trump listeners to respect these Trump supporters.
History Comes Full Circle
Judicial Watch Releases New Document in Whitewater Criminal Corruption Case against Hillary Clinton
Monday, February 29, 2016
The 2016 Election Is All About SCOTUS
For 30 years Antonin Scalia sat on the Supreme Court. He was a legal giant, unimpressed with the pretensions of power and resistant to liberal orthodoxies. He was unafraid to skewer what typically passes for legal "reasoning," even — or perhaps especially — when expressed by his colleagues. And he sometimes surprised even his critics, rigorously defending the Constitution irrespective of the issue.
The Albatross of a Trump Endorsement
Donald Trump's distinctive rhetorical style — think of a drunk with a bullhorn reading aloud James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake" under water — poses an almost insuperable challenge to people whose painful duty is to try to extract clarity from his effusions. For example, last week, during a long stream of semi-consciousness in Fort Worth, this man who as president would nominate members of the federal judiciary vowed to "open up" libel laws to make it easier to sue — to intimidate and punish — people who write "negative" things. Well.
If the Supreme Court Had Term Limits, Confirmations Wouldn't Be So Bloody
The framers of the US Constitution were a brilliant bunch, but even they blundered now and then. One of their blunders was life tenure for Supreme Court justices, a constitutional flaw for which Americans are paying a price to this day. The political mud fight that erupted within hours of Antonin Scalia's death was as predictable as it was disgraceful. When President Obama announced his intention to nominate a new justice promptly, Senate Republicans indignantly howled that an election-year confirmation was out of the question, and that any nomination should wait until voters could choose a new president. Senate Democrats howled just as indignantly that Scalia's seat must not be left vacant, and that it would be scandalous for the Senate not to hold hearings and a vote on the president's nominee.
Meet Donald Trump: The King of Sleaze
Donald Trump is widely known as the presidential candidate and businessman who promises to "Make America Great Again." It's time for Republicans of all stripes and Evangelicals in particular to meet Donald Trump, The King of Sleaze. In 2013, when Mr. Trump owned the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City he brought the first strip club to the area's casinos. Who thought that the gambling ghetto could be brought to a new low? Donald Trump figured out how to do it.
Checking Out the Constitution
When we conservatives defend the Constitution and refer to those patriots who created it as divinely-inspired, it should be understood that we are referring to the first 10 Amendments, otherwise known as the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, there have been 17 additional Amendments passed since then. They're a hodge-podge, some good, some not so good. The ones abolishing slavery, franchising women and eliminating the poll tax, were worthwhile; the ones that established the income tax, the direct election of senators, lowering the voting age to 18 and setting the date of presidential inaugurations two-and-a-half months after the election, have been disastrous.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
How to Cool Down Trump
"Hell," said Alabama's Democratic Gov. George Wallace before roiling the 1968 presidential race, "we got too much dignity in government now, what we need is some *meanness*." Twelve elections later, Wallace's wish is approaching fulfillment as Republicans contemplate nominating someone who would run to Hillary Clinton's left. Donald Trump, unencumbered by any ballast of convictions, would court Bernie Sanders' disaffected voters with promises to enrich rather than reform the welfare state's entitlement menu — Trump already says, "I am going to take care of everybody" — and to make America great again by having it cower behind trade barriers. If elected, Trump presumably would seek re-election, so there would be no conservative choice for president until at least 2024.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Elect Not to Fear
The GOP debate stage was remarkably less crowded at the 10th than it was at the first — but the drama certainly didn't suffer for it. Less than a week before Super Tuesday — when voters in a dozen states will likely vote a couple more candidates off the island — the five men still standing did their best to make a lasting impression on voters. And they made an impression all right — as bitter antagonists so busy tearing each other down that they failed to focus on America's future.
Debate Recap
The gloves came off at [Thursday] night's Republican debate in Houston, Texas. Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were eager to knock Donald Trump off his perch as the GOP frontrunner. While I am glad they had a spirited debate, I really don't think it helps when everyone talks at the same time.
Candidates for the Loony Bin
In a way it's fortunate that two left-wing dingbats are fighting it out to replace Barack Obama. The fear that either Mrs. Clinton or Sen. Sanders could extend Obama's betrayal of America by four or eight years is the best reason I have for voting for one of the six guys seeking the Republican nomination. Dr. Ben Carson lacks the experience to step from the surgical amphitheater into the Oval Office, but at least he seems like a grown-up. I can't imagine spending five minutes with any of the others, who come across like petulant children. The fact that it is only February and that we might not settle on a nominee before the convention convenes in Cleveland in mid-July fills me with despair. I feel like the father of a large family heading off on a cross-country trip. Only instead of the kids asking the age-old question, I'd be the one constantly screaming "Are we there yet?"
Friday, February 26, 2016
Obama's Idea of Optimism
"I have never been more optimistic about America's future than I am today." That is what President Barack Obama said in the letter he sent to Congress with his annual economic report. What is there to be optimistic about as Obama moves through the eighth — and final year — of his presidency? Certainly not the economic future of the United States. As this column mentioned two weeks ago, real GDP grew by less than 3 percent in each of the 10 years from 2006 through 2015, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That is a record: Since 1930, the first year for which the BEA has calculated real annual growth in GDP, this was the first time the United States went 10 years without 3 percent growth.
Frontal Assault
Does the Republican field have the sense to change tactics when the very nature of the party and country are at stake? Ted Cruz, who bears some responsibility for the rise of Trump, keeps aiming his Jimmy Swaggart-style pitch to the choir, unctuously proclaiming his status as truest, bluest conservative in the race, and as such the logical tribune of the grass roots. Cruz encouraged them to destroy the "Washington cartel" and boy did they listen — except not to his benefit. Irony: The greatest crony/corporate Democrat in America is alive and Ted Cruz's campaign is nearly dead. John Kasich and Ben Carson are deaf to everything except their own egotism.
The Hypocrisy of Big Business Attacking Georgia’s Religious Liberty Bill
Last Friday, the Georgia Senate passed a good bill that protects religious freedom in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's redefinition of marriage. And already special interest groups and big businesses are trying to pressure the governor into refusing to sign the bill unless it is significantly watered down in the House. This is yet another example of cultural cronyism. Businesses in Georgia were always free to embrace gay marriage — to bake wedding cakes for gay marriages and make floral arrangements for same-sex nuptials — and many do, but now they want the government to force *everyone* in Georgia to do the same.