Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
The Great Humiliation
The Obama administration was right when it insisted that the capture and release of 10 American sailors by Iran showed the benefits of a cooperative relationship with Tehran. The crux of the arrangement is simple: The Iranians agree to humiliate us (and pursue their long war against the United States and their hegemonic ambitions in the Middle East), and we agree not to care. It is, as Secretary of State John Kerry says, diplomacy at its best.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
The Power to Destroy
In early January 2016, over 100 armed militia took control of a closed wildlife park headquarters at the remote Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. What would provoke these militiamen to take such a drastic step as to occupy a federal nature reserve? Why would they risk a confrontation, one that might even turn violent, with government agents?
Bout Time: Trump, Cruz Rumble in S.C.
After hearing from the president on Tuesday, America took a turn listening to the people vying for his job. And the GOP candidates made one thing clear right off the bat: their take on the state of our union is radically different than Obama's. Governor Chris Christie (R-N.J.) highlighted that in one of the funnier quips of the night, saying that he tuned in two nights earlier. "...I watched story time with Barack Obama, and it sounds like everything in the world was going amazing."
A Tale of Two Nations
The Obama administration must be disconnected from reality. Consider these statements regarding the same event — Iran's seizure of our patrol boats and sailors. **Secretary of State John Kerry:** "I want to underscore how pleased I am that our sailors were safely returned into the United States' hands this morning... I also want to thank the Iranian authorities for their cooperation and quick response... And, in fact, it is clear that today this kind of issue was able to be peacefully resolved and officially resolved, and that is a testament to the critical role that diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure and strong."
My Shortcomings
Because I tend to be so judgmental in my writings and, if truth be told, in my daily life, doesn't mean I'm blind to my own shortcomings. And I'm not just referring to my shortage of hair and height. For openers, I am not the most patient of men, but keep in mind I am quite old and don't have a lot of time to squander on all those videos, trips down Nostalgia Lane and other people's articles, some of you insist on sending me. But I also own up to a lack of a visual sense. Whereas my wife can tell you what everyone at a party or even in a movie was wearing, I'd probably only notice if they weren't wearing anything. The operative word is "probably."
Planned Parenthood and Hillary Clinton
In what is being embraced by Hillary Clinton as the highest praise, Planned Parenthood, America's longtime leading provider of abortion, is enthusiastically endorsing Clinton as president. Clinton can boast the first-ever endorsement of a candidate in a presidential primary in the century-long existence of Planned Parenthood.
Friday, January 15, 2016
The State of the Union — As Usual
If you missed the president's final State of the Union message Tuesday night, don't worry. It might have been billed as historic, but you didn't miss much. There were no surprises. No shocks. No awe. Nothing historic or memorable. It was the usual Obama setup — "We have to find a way to come together, end the government gridlock and make America better and stronger" — followed by the implication that Washington isn't working the way it should because Republicans in Congress are mean, stubborn or stupid.
Sanctions Relief Will Only Aid Iran's Network of Terror
Just as President Obama is about to revoke the economic sanctions on Iran's years-long illegal nuclear projects, the fundamentalist mullahs once again showed their true colors. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) detained 10 of our sailors at gun point and Tehran's state-television broadcast images of them with their hands above their heads being involuntarily taken to the Iranian island of Farsi.
David Bowie, Icon or Abuser?
When David Bowie died after a very private fight with liver cancer, obituary writers churned out words like "icon" and "legend" and "subversive." Despite a life of very fluid explorations of musicality and sexuality and spirituality, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano celebrated Bowie as "never banal," displaying an "artistic rigor" which seemed to contradict the sexually "ambiguous image" he presented to "attract the attention of the media."
Voters' Beef with Pelosi's Whopper
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) must take the same view on faith that she does on health care: you have to subscribe to it before you find out what's in it. The woman who once called abortion "sacred ground" did Catholicism another major disservice this week when the former House Speaker claimed she's a "devout, practicing Catholic" who's never supported abortion on demand.
Yes, Partisanship Can Be Frustrating, but It's Better Than the Alternative
"It's one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better," President Barack Obama lamented in a State of the Union speech packed with rancor and suspicion about his political opposition. What the president probably meant — as most of those who claim to want less "partisanship" — is that he regrets so many Americans remain stubbornly attached to their own ideas about the world.
Obama's Humiliation
The Obama administration is on "spin overdrive" trying to downplay Iran's seizure of two U.S. ships and ten sailors. Secretary of State John Kerry literally thanked the Iranians for their help. Vice President Joe Biden brushed off the incident, saying, "This was just standard nautical practice." Standard practice? Sorry, Joe, but we're not that dumb.
Obama's SOTU Versus Reality
In their State of the Union speeches, all previous presidents presented their policies in the most favorable light, but did they go so far as to distort reality? Did they use them to trash their opponents? I don't think so. But in his last one, Obama did, and adding insult to injury, as always, he pointedly decried partisan sniping right before launching into another episode of partisan sniping. It's as though he doesn't even realize he's being hypocritical on steroids.
The Media Shaped Primary
We now know that there was no mechanical problem with the two U.S. Navy boats the Iranians captured. Our sailors were treated like prisoners while the American president refused to even acknowledge the incident in his State of the Union address. The Obama Administration claimed that Iran's quick release of our sailors was proof of a new and better relationship with the Iranians. Please pay no attention to the number of Americans being held in Iranian prisons for, among other things, reporting on Iran for American newspapers.
The Bogeymen of the 'Billionaire Class'
Clearly the only explanation for Jeb Bush's almost effortless stroll to the Republican nomination is the pernicious stranglehold of big money in politics. Oh, wait. Bush is in the low single digits in most national polls, despite his campaign and his super PAC raising more than $100 million. Perhaps that's only because Donald Trump, the billionaire populist, is buying the nomination with his dragon's hoard of gold? Well, no. Trump has spent less than any other major candidate.
The State of the Presidency: Spent
President Obama's Tuesday night address to Congress was less about the state of the union than the state of the presidency. And the state of this presidency is spent. The signs of intellectual exhaustion were everywhere. Consider just three. After taking credit for success in Syria, raising American stature abroad and prevailing against the Islamic State — one claim more surreal than the next — Obama was forced to repair to his most well-worn talking point: "If you doubt America's commitment — or mine — to see that justice is done, just ask Osama bin Laden."
American Exceptionalism: How Has It Fared in the Obama Years?
In his final State of the Union speech Barack Obama made at least a few bows toward the idea that America is an exceptional nation, an idea he once derided by saying, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks" — this was before their fiscal crisis — "believe in Greek exceptionalism." We remain exceptional, he said in Tuesday's speech, as the world's strongest nation militarily and because we're doing better economically than most other large nations.
Will Next Investigation Be: Who Let Islamic State In?
"Our last message is to the Americans," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said in an audio recording released on Jan. 21, 2014. "Soon we will be in direct confrontation, and the sons of Islam have prepared for such a day. So watch, for we are with you, watching." Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk quoted these words from Baghdadi in written testimony he submitted to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 5, 2014.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Fatal Flaws: From Exploding Airplanes to Crumbling Lives
**Boom!** As I sat staring out the window of our twin engine plane, I could hardly believe my eyes. The engine just feet from my window had exploded, with parts and fluids blowing through the cowling (cover) of the engine. The plane began to veer hard to the right and was losing altitude. I looked around at the other passengers, some of my closest friends and employees, and I saw a look of fear, concern and perhaps even panic by some. Could this really be happening to us?
Why ObamaCare Might Force Doctors to Perform Sex-Reassignment Surgeries
You've heard about the Obamacare Individual Mandate. That's the one that requires every person in America to get government-approved health insurance or face significant IRS penalties. You've heard about the Health and Human Services (HHS) contraception mandate. That's the one that requires private employers, including religious institutions like the Little Sisters of the Poor, to help provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs or face millions in IRS fines.