Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Karl Rove: Why McKinley Still Matters
The economy has been staggering, with stagnant or no growth, for several years, after a financial crisis. Loud complaints have been raised against Wall Street financiers and the concentration of great wealth in few hands. Rapid technological development is generating massive economic change, with many old-line jobs vanishing. Majorities disapprove of the Democratic president, as they had of his Republican predecessor. All this is happening after a protracted period of partisan polarization and political deadlock between roughly equal-sized Democratic and Republican parties. The polarization is all the more bitter because it is based on vastly different outlooks on cultural issues.
Republican Hemlock Society
"I am not a member of any organized political party," Will Rogers quipped in the last century, "I'm a Democrat." If today's Republican Party were organized, if its storied "establishment" were even a shadow of the leviathan its detractors claim, the world would look very different. Republican Party leaders would long since have organized an advertising campaign in the early caucus and primary states to show voters that Donald Trump is: 1) nothing resembling a conservative, 2) not a friend of the working class, 3) not a particularly successful businessman (despite inheriting a vast fortune, he's managed to clock four bankruptcies) and 4) temperamentally unfit to be president.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Red, White & Blue Privilege: All Americans' Unique Blessing
"White Privilege." This is a phrase we've begun to hear frequently in our nation over recent months. Even some leading presidential candidates are jumping in to opine about the subject. I'd like to weigh in on this divisive topic, but before I do, I need to briefly touch on my past. Growing up in Spain for more than a decade, I can remember many instances when I had the opportunity to affirm my American citizenship. Whether I was being singled out by Spanish kids when playing with them in the street, or whether it was wearing my size 12 red, white and blue Converse high-tops, there was no mistaking which country I called home.
Why Senators Should Want to Preserve the Filibuster
It's been reported that some Republican senators are looking to eliminate the filibuster on the Motion to Proceed to appropriations bills, citing frustration at the Democrats obstructing their agenda. There are a lot of reasons why conservatives should preserve the filibuster (the practice of allowing a senator to speak, often against a certain bill, as long as he wishes). As Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., recently wrote, it promotes cool debate and cautious review, it guards against tyranny of the majority, it limits the scope of government, and it ensures that every voice is heard. In short, it fulfills the Founders' vision for the Senate.
The Many Contradictions of Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton recently said she would go after offshore tax "schemes" in the Caribbean. That is a worthy endeavor, given the loss of billions of dollars in U.S. tax revenue. Yet her husband, Bill Clinton, reportedly made $10 million as an advisor and an occasional partner in the Yucaipa Global Partnership, a fund registered in the Cayman Islands. Is Ms. Clinton's implicit argument that she knows offshore tax dodging is unethical because her family has benefitted from it? Does she plan to return millions of dollars of her family's offshore-generated income?
Dollars for Hostages
Every American should be glad that American hostages have been freed by the tyrannical Iranian regime and are being reunited with family, friends and co-workers. Less satisfying is the return of Iran's $400 million trust fund, used to buy military equipment, which was frozen in 1979, along with its diplomatic relations with the U.S. (plus what President Obama ludicrously called "appropriate interest" of $1.3 billion), all returned to what the U.S. State Department branded the world's "preeminent sponsor of terrorism." Expecting Iran to use this windfall for purposes other than terrorism would be like expecting a kidnapper to donate the ransom money to a children's hospital.
Hillary's Past Meets the Present
Did any of the political cognoscenti consult Real Clear Politics last Thursday? Those who did found evidence that Donald Trump's recent charges against Hillary Clinton for spending years as an "enabler" to her husband while committing "very seedy" behavior is irrefutable. Moreover, the evidence alluded to has been contained in a book right under our noses. The book was written by David Brock — now a Hillary Clinton champion — and Brock is still quite proud of the book. He actually has boasted that, "reviewers had found [the book] to be fair, well-balanced, and accurate" — such reviewers as The Washington Post and The New York Times. Why no one has consulted it is mysterious. Is the press really that lazy?
Notes From the Democrats' Debate
Fighting off the temptation to fall asleep during the most recent Democratic — and Donald Trump-less — debate, I wrote these thoughts, observations and questions I hoped would be asked but were not. I end with my opinion about who won the debate — and who lost. No fair cheating and going right to the end. It's a falsehood that although the U.S. spends more on health, we don't get more — we do. Survival rates for many cancers, for example, are higher in the U.S. than in comparable developed countries.
The Affordable Care Act — Mission Accomplished?
During the Democratic presidential debate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned that as president she would build on President Obama's signature health care plan. The Affordable Care Act "is one of the greatest accomplishments of President Obama, of the Democratic Party, and of our country," she added. I beg to differ. First, the ACA didn't reform the health care system. It just threw trillions of dollars at an already dysfunctional system. In the next 10 years alone, ACA spending will be at least $1.5 trillion.
March for Life
The March For Life will take place this Friday, January 22nd, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The annual march memorializes the anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision 43 years ago in Roe v. Wade forcing every state in the union to permit the destruction of innocent unborn children. After more than four decades of marching year after year in the bitter cold and snow, some might ask, "Nothing is changing. Why keep doing it?"
Clinton Accused of Mail-Practice
Hillary Clinton is running all right — *for* president and *from* allegations. Serious ones, if the Inspector General's report is any indication. The former First Lady, who has years of practice dodging scandal, is desperate to do so here, now that the Intelligence Community is confirming what most people suspected: Clinton, as Secretary of State, didn't just break protocol — she risked American lives — storing top secret information on her private server. The bombshell, which broke this week, suggests that Clinton's emails didn't just contain classified subjects — but *highly* classified ones.
The March for Life and Fighting for the Unborn
It has been more than four decades since the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that unborn were of no account. Precious life created in the image of God was treated as but an inconvenience to be removed "on demand." A Constitution drafted by those who believed in life and liberty became a license to kill the most helpless and defenseless among us. The ruling greatly accelerated what Pope John Paul II termed the "culture of death."
China's Flawed Ascent
China produces an astonishing number of astonishing numbers, including this: In the 20th century, America made automobiles mass-consumption items, requiring prodigious road building. China, however, poured more concrete for roads and other construction between 2011 and 2013 than America did in the 20th century. This fact is emblematic of China's remarkable success. And is related to its current difficulties, including its 2015 growth rate (6.9 percent), its slowest in 25 years.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Lessons of Faith Radiating From Chernobyl
Described by the Belaruskaya Entsiklopedia as the "largest technological disaster of the 20th century," the catastrophe at Chernobyl was the equivalent of 350 atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima. To increase your understanding of this tragic event, I highly recommend Svetlana Alexievich's book, "Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster." Alexievich was recently honored as the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature, a well-deserved honor.
Is It OK for Government to Demote Employee Based on Misunderstanding of His Politics?
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in another free speech and association case, this time involving a police officer who was demoted for purportedly helping the challenger in his town's mayoral election. The First Amendment is supposed to protect the free speech and associational rights of individuals who work for the government. Yet, in Paterson, N.J., Jeffery Heffernan was subject to an adverse employment action because of his political speech and association.
Supreme Court Justice Judge Judy?
There's really no way to sugarcoat this, moms and dads — your recent college graduate may be dumber than dirt. A recent survey showed that nearly ten percent of recent college graduates say that television star Judith Sheindlin is on the Supreme Court. Yes, friends — our best and brightest seem to think that Judge Judy sits on the highest court in the land. Parents, your child's B.A. may in fact be a bunch of B.S.
Hillary Clinton's Shabby Health-Care Attack on Bernie Sanders
The children of political candidates are useful adornments in campaign literature and ads, and when they are older, as character witnesses on the campaign trail. Rarely are they used as attack dogs, let alone armed with shameless talking points to try to dampen the rise of an inspirational political rival. But nothing is beneath Bill and Hillary Clinton. So they trotted out their daughter, Chelsea, to warn about the dastardly designs that Bernie Sanders has for ending Medicare as we know it.
Freed to Believe
For Naghmeh Abedini, it was a celebration more than three years in the making. The dream that her husband, Pastor Saeed, would be free from Iranian captivity finally came true on Saturday, which was also (fittingly) Religious Freedom Day in America. Since 2012, the mom of two had been pleading with U.S. officials to intervene in the case — even quitting her job and traveling the country holding rallies for his release. Now, she and her family are swapping their tears, vigils, and prayers for joy at the news that President Obama himself called to confirm.
Can Government Force You to Fund the GOP — Or a Teachers Union?
In a free country, the answer is obvious. Yet in the Supreme Court last week, it was up to Justice Antonin Scalia to ask the question. "Is it OK to force somebody to contribute to a cause that he does believe in?" Scalia asked. Note: Scalia did not ask if it is OK to force somebody to contribute to a cause he does *not* believe in. "I wouldn't think, your honor, that you could force Republicans to give contributions," responded lawyer Michael Carvin.
Mayor de Blasio: Hypocrite Hooked on Hollywood Cash
Because the crime rate is zero, the potholes are all fixed and homelessness has been completely eradicated, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio now has time to focus on what really matters to Big Apple taxpayers: Racial quotas in Hollywood. Social justice warrior de Blasio took to Twitter last week to lambaste the 2016 Academy Awards nominations, which did not include any black actors or actresses.