Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Open Door Creates Draft for Women
Be careful what you wish for. That's the message from Marine Corps leaders about the president's phony push for women's "equality" in the ranks. Yesterday, Senate Armed Services Committee members heard plenty of sobering testimony about the repercussions of opening up combat jobs to females — and none should sicken Americans more than the news that drafting our girls is next. Sixty-five hundred U.S. girls turn 18 each day — and every one of them will be eligible for selective service if the Obama administration gets its way. Unfortunately, that's all but inevitable after Defense Secretary Ash Carter's decision to ignore the advice of his military chiefs and bring women into the most dangerous, grueling roles in the service.
Obama's Alternate Reality
In the wake of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks — terrorist atrocities carried out by radical Islamist supremacists — President Obama is visiting a synagogue today to reassure Americans concerned about rising anti-Semitism. No, wait ... that's not right. Sorry, folks, he's going to a church to express his outrage over the unprecedented level of Christian persecution taking place in the world today. Oops, wrong again.
The Clinton Curse Returns
In the many decades I have had the pleasure of covering the Clintons, I have developed several themes about them that have, over the years, been validated by fact. One theme is that there is a Clinton curse. It afflicts many who come into contact with the fabulous couple. In the early days, the curse brought down the McDougals, Webb Hubbell, Vince Foster and former Governor Jim Guy Tucker, all of whom by now are figures known only to history. More recently it was Jeffrey Epstein, sex offender and Bill Clinton's pal and fellow epicure. Now, quite possibly, Josh Earnest, press secretary to President Barack Obama, will be added to the list along with Hillary Clinton's aides: Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills, Bryan Pagliano and Jake Sullivan. Perhaps even David Brock will suffer the Clinton curse. The Clintons are a couple to be avoided. Even the Democratic Party might not be spared come Election Day 2016.
Hillary's Iowa 'Win' Is a Big Loss for Democrats
Hillary Clinton's asterisk-heavy victory in Iowa might have been the narrowest of wins for her, but it was arguably the worst of all possible outcomes for the Democratic Party. As of this writing, the result was a statistical tie, 49.9 percent for Clinton and 49.6 percent for Bernie Sanders. The margin of victory in the delegate count was decided by six coin tosses that "flip truthers" will forever remember as mysteriously biased toward Clinton. Clinton raced to the podium to declare victory, but the news media will continue to describe it as a tie, probably forever. Sanders' supporters won't even make that concession, bitterly complaining about irregularities and, again, coins that seemed to be in Clinton's pocket, figuratively speaking.
Donald Trump: Clueless About Free Trade
One of Donald Trump's talking points and biggest applause lines is how "they" — Japan, China and Mexico — are "beating us in trade" and are "taking our jobs." He proposes tariffs, for example, on Chinese goods in retaliation for that country's alleged "cheating." To someone who is out of work in an industry where foreign workers do what he or she once did, Trump-like protectionism sounds appealing. But Trump actually proposes punishing the American consumer. As economist Milton Friedman says, protectionism discriminates against low prices.
Why Pundits, Politicians and the Press Hate Ted Cruz
Senator Ted Cruz is now the frontrunner in the Republican race for the White House. But if you believe the mainstream media and the political pundits, Marco Rubio won the Iowa Caucus. Just look at Tuesday's news coverage — they marginalized Senator Cruz and glorified Senator Rubio. And that's the narrative. Cruz may have won, but Rubio is more electable. And yet the numbers in Iowa tell a very different story. One out of three evangelical voters chose Cruz. So did four out of ten very conservative voters.
$19 Trillion and Counting
The statutory limit on how much debt the federal government can accumulate is back in the news, but this time it's not because Washington is close to breaching it. That's not a present concern thanks to the year-end bipartisan spending spree that included a suspension of the debt limit until March 2017. The news is that a report from the House Financial Services Committee found that the Obama administration's Treasury Department has been repeatedly misleading the American public on the matter. Treasury has routinely rejected the idea that once the government reaches the debt limit, federal spending could be prioritized to avoid a default. During a previous debate over the debt limit in 2011, my colleague Jason Fichtner and I wrote a paper explaining that even if Treasury is unable to issue more debt, it can still avoid a default and thus give policymakers more time to implement reforms that would put the government on a more sustainable fiscal path.
The Regrettable Decline of Higher Learning
What do campus microaggressions, safe spaces, trigger warnings, speech codes and censorship have to do with higher learning? American universities want it both ways. They expect unquestioned subsidized support from the public, but also to operate in a way impossible for anyone else. Colleges still wear the ancient clothes of higher learning. Latin mottos, caps and gowns, ivy-covered spires and high talk of liberal education reflect a hallowed intellectual tradition.
In Iowa, Signs of Civil Health
When Huck Finn asked Tom Sawyer what a Moslem is, Tom said a Moslem is someone who is not a Presbyterian, which is true, but not the whole truth. Donald Trump says he is a Presbyterian ("I drink my little wine ... and have my little cracker"), which apparently was not good enough for enough of Iowa's evangelicals. One person who left Iowa having earned the nation's gratitude is Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse. He campaigned with three Republican aspirants (Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina) in order to advance this year's most urgent task, which is to elevate the Republican race by removing the Trump distraction.
Do Not Close the Book on Carly Fiorina
Scott Walker, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee and now Rand Paul. All were considered to be serious candidates for the Republican nomination for president and all have dropped out. Carly Fiorina began the campaign with far less name recognition, far less money, and yet her national profile has grown and when she speaks people hang on every word. She has far outlasted the so-called heavyweights. Do not count her out. While I have yet to endorse in the GOP presidential race, what has so impressed me about Carly is the drive, persistence and consistency she has shown throughout the entire process. She is undaunted and undeterred, and that's what it takes to go the distance when one plays at this level.
The Failure of Multiculturalism
Just as radar warns of approaching storms, so does the flood of migrants entering Europe warn us of a deluge yet to come, not only for Europeans, if they continue to allow unrestricted immigration, but for the United States. Reports that women in Cologne, Germany, have been groped and robbed by men described by authorities as having "a North African or Arabic" appearance should be warning enough, but there are other and more ominous warnings that suggest worse lies ahead, unless the problem receives immediate attention and action. And it's not just Cologne.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
The Establishment Is Dead
In Monday's Iowa caucus, Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the man most hated by the Republican establishment, came from behind to nab front-runner Donald Trump. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the supposed establishment favorite, came in just a point behind Trump. According to conventional wisdom, this should set up a battle royal among anti-establishment Cruz, anti-establishment Trump and establishment Rubio. If Rubio emerges victorious, the pundits explain, the establishment will have lived to fight another day, and put those rowdy conservative grass-roots anti-establishment types in their place.
Does Hillary's Résumé Make Her the 'Best-Qualified' Candidate?
Is Hillary Clinton qualified to be president? To hear some of her prominent supporters tell it, no candidate could be *more* qualified. Stumping in Iowa with Clinton on Sunday, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey hailed her as a "great American" who would be "the most qualified person since George Washington" to serve as president. Mere hyperbole from an enthusiastic advocate? Maybe. Yet James Carville, the well-known political advisor, had made the same claim one day earlier. "We've got the best chance we've ever had to put a woman in the White House," Carville wrote in a fundraising email, "and oh, by the way, she just happens to be the most qualified candidate maybe since General George Washington himself!!"
The Age of Working-Class Discontent
We live in the age of working-class discontent, which, if it wasn't obvious before, has been made plain by the passions roiling 2016 presidential politics. The media's preferred description of the average Republican voter has often been "the angry white male." This was crudely simplistic and meant to be pejorative. If the press wants to update the descriptor, it should refer to "the despairing white male." Or more accurately, the despairing white working class. Two of the most illuminating and alarming books of the past few years — "Coming Apart" by Charles Murray and "Our Kids" by Robert Putnam — described the struggles of working-class America. This is the year that the facts and figures in the pages of those books have made themselves palpably felt in our politics, both left and right.
ValidaTED: Cruz, Values Voters Win Iowa
If a blizzard was supposed to scare away Iowa voters, they didn't get the message! [Monday's] presidential caucus shattered turnout records in the state — a sign that people are more engaged than ever in the search for the next president. More than 184,000 Iowa Republicans flooded the caucus sites despite the nasty forecast — a 63,000-vote increase over 2012. Evangelical Christians made the biggest statement, clocking in at a whopping 64 percent of the GOP caucusgoers (up seven points from 2012) and solidifying their place as one of the most influential voices in the Republican nomination.
Cruz Wins
In an Iowa caucus that broke all turnout records, with more than 186,000 Republicans participating, Ted Cruz defied the polls by defeating Donald Trump 28% to 24%. Cruz's ground game and turnout effort impressed even seasoned Iowa operatives. For the last three weeks Cruz has been the target of withering attacks from all sides. Trump hit Cruz repeatedly with concerns about his citizenship. The party establishment, from the governor of Iowa to Bob Dole, did its best to smear him. In the last debate, which Trump skipped, every other candidate saw their chance to eviscerate Cruz, hoping to knock him out of contention. How did Cruz defy expectations? According to the exit polls, there was a surge of evangelical voters. In 2012, evangelical voters made up 57% of Iowa GOP caucus-goers. [Monday] night, they accounted for 64% of Republican caucus-goers, and Cruz won them by 12 points.
Isn't It Strange?
There is a letter titled "Isn't It Strange?" making the rounds in email boxes. It asks questions to which our fellow Americans should know the answers, save for those caught up in modernity. It starts off asking, "Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture but ... after a shooting, the problem is the gun?" In other words, after a shooting, it is the gun, an inanimate object, that is the culprit, but after a bombing, it is not the bomb that receives the blame but the evil individual. In both cases it is the evil individual who is to blame.
The Decline of Political Party Power
The campaigns will be eager to tell you the meaning of Ted Cruz's victory and the virtual tie between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in Iowa last night, but the larger significance of this election has been clear for months: The two major parties are paper tigers. My old boss, the late Ben Wattenberg, was a conservative Democrat who worked for decades to keep his party from drifting leftward. In the end, he failed. But he fought a valiant fight. He helped found the Coalition for a Democratic Majority, which was a kind of precursor to the Democratic Leadership Council, the "New Democrat" organization that helped Bill Clinton burnish his image as a more conservative, "different kind of Democrat."
Chicken Little Chuckie Schumer: America's Disease-Fighting Phony
Latin America's Zika virus is the latest undocumented immigrant to hit our shores, but have no fear. Self-appointed Zika Warrior Prince Charles Schumer has declared that he is here to stop it. The New York Democrat has a "three-point plan" of attack to build a "firewall" that will prevent an outbreak of the mosquito-borne illness from spreading across our mainland. He's armed with big charts and jabby index fingers, too. Allons! Five cases of the Zika virus have been identified in the Empire State alone. The CDC says a total of 31 Americans in 11 states and Washington, D.C., have been identified as carriers who brought the miserable disease in from abroad.
Trump's Disregard for Private Property
Donald Trump is running a pretty successful presidential campaign saying that he wants to "Make America Great Again." But he seems to have very little interest in what exactly it is that makes America great. This paradox is very much on display when Trump talks about eminent domain, the authority given to government in the constitution to take private property for public use. Trump says, "Eminent domain is wonderful." The Fifth Amendment to our Constitution tells us: "No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."