Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Optimism and Obama
In the commercial that President Obama released prior to his final State of the Union address, Obama said he would tell Congress how "optimistic" he is about America's future. Good. Politicians and the media are at their most dangerous when they try to scare us, telling us disaster is on the way unless we follow, and pay for, their latest schemes to "protect" us.
Students Advised to Stop Chanting 'U-S-A, U-S-A' and 'Air Ball'
The wussification of Wisconsin has begun. Last month the state's governing body for high school athletics declared that chanting "U-S-A, U-S-A" is unsportsmanlike behavior. The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association also directed schools to stop fans from booing, or chanting "Air Ball," "Season's Over," "Fundamentals," "Scoreboard," and "Over-Rated."
Paperwork Can't Stop Criminals From Getting Guns
A lack of background checks for gun buyers plainly had nothing to do with the mass shootings that have grabbed headlines in the last few years. The weapons used in those crimes were purchased legally from federally licensed firearms dealers, which means the buyers passed background checks. During last week's CNN "townhall" on "Guns in America," President Obama nevertheless continued to tout background checks as a way to prevent mass shootings, which is one of the reasons it is hard to trust him when he talks about common-sense gun safety. At the same time, Obama hinted at a different, more sophisticated rationale for expanding the federal background check requirement, based on the debatable assumption that new regulations can stop ordinary criminals from obtaining guns.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
From Inside the Supreme Court, the Key Exchanges on a Case Pitting Unions vs. First Amendment
[Monday] morning, the Supreme Court heard a challenge to the requirement in California that government employees, such as public school teachers, pay fees to the local union even if they choose not to join the union.
Franklin Graham: It's Open Season on Christians in America
Franklin Graham is a voice crying in the wilderness. "I believe we are perilously close to the moral tipping point for the survival of the United States of America," Graham wrote in Decision magazine. "I refuse to be silent and watch the future of our children and grandchildren be offered up on pagan altars of personal pleasure and immorality." The Supreme Court has already redefined marriage. The nation has become a killing field for Islamic radicals. And Christians have become targets for practicing their First Amendment rights.
'Messing With the Constitution'
In recent years, a small but growing number of people have advocated a convention of states to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The reaction to the proposal has been hostile, out of all proportion to either the originality or the danger of such a convention. The political left has been especially vehement in its denunciations of what they call "messing with the Constitution." A recent proposal by Governor Greg Abbott of Texas to hold a Constitutional convention of states has been denounced by the Texas branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and nationally by an editorial in the liberal "USA Today."
Republicans Must Take a Stand for Kids and Minorities
The great Jack Kemp used to say about politicians that "voters don't care what you know until they know that you care." Republicans say they care about the poor and minorities, but do they, really? We have a test case in front of us right now over whether the congressional leadership will renew the Washington D.C. school voucher program. The program's budget is only $25 million, or less than 0.1 percent of federal education spending. The scholarship program was created in 2004 and was the handiwork of John Boehner and President George W. Bush. The results have been uniformly positive for these families.
Census 2015 Shows Increasing Cultural Division and Political Polarization
The Census Bureau has delivered its annual Christmas gift to demographic junkies: its estimates of the populations of the 50 states and the District of Columbia for mid-2015. They show where the nation has been growing since the April 2010 Census headcount, a period that follows the end of the 2007-2009 recession and includes three-fourths of the Obama presidency. They show what states Americans have been moving in and out of, and what states have attracted the most immigrants.
Solutions to Poverty, Not Posturing
In sports, if a game plan is not working, the coach changes it. In medicine, if a course of treatment does not cure a disease, doctors try a different approach. In government, failure means nothing. Government keeps cash flowing with little regard for results. In government, failure endures. In an attempt to change our approach to poverty and to combat the long-held liberal accusation that conservatives care only about tax cuts for the rich and cutting programs for the poor, the Jack Kemp Foundation sponsored a forum last weekend in Columbia, South Carolina.
Obama: Bitter Partisan and Committed Ideologue to the End — and Beyond
The liberal media seem perplexed that President Obama plans to deviate from his usual State of the Union practice of "asking" Congress for a laundry list of policy proposals and "not talking about himself." You heard me right; the narrative is that Obama hasn't talked about himself in previous SOTUs. If that's their perception, can you imagine what an ego-fest — a virtual orgy of self-congratulation — this could be? But enough about that for now. I just ask that you sympathize with those of us who feel as if we have to watch it because it promises to be even worse than the preceding ones — and that's a very high bar.
Fighting for the Soul of the Republican Party
At a time and day — 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday — when most Americans are sleeping in, the Kemp Forum on Expanding Opportunity convened in the capacious Columbia, South Carolina, convention center. Even at 8:15, it was tough to find a seat. South Carolina's important primary is Feb. 20, and doubtless some of the more than 1,500 attendees were attracted by the opportunity to hear from six of the Republican candidates for president. (It would have been seven, but Carly Fiorina missed her flight.) Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, John Kasich, Marco Rubio and Mike Huckabee offered their views on how to fight poverty and expand opportunity. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump declined to attend.
More Attacks Coming?
Last week we told you about the assassination attempt on Philadelphia Police Officer Jesse Hartnett. Edward Archer, who fired 13 shots at close range into Officer Hartnett's patrol car, confessed to police that he did so "in the name of Islam." In recent years, Archer made two trips to the Middle East — one to Saudi Arabia for the hajj and one extended visit to Egypt. At a press conference Friday, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said, "In no way shape or form does anyone in this room believe that Islam or the teaching of Islam has anything to do with" the shooting of Officer Hartnett. "It is abhorrent," Kenney continued. "It is terrible and it does not represent the religion or any of its teachings."
Red Meet: GOP Huddles Over 2016 Strategy
For once, the GOP isn't in retreat — they're headed to one. After a few rocky years, the House's new leadership team is ready to kick off a new chapter at its planning and strategy meetings in Baltimore this week. Many would say the year is already off to a good start after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) put the first-ever rebuke of ObamaCare and taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood on the president's desk. Now, with Obama prepping for his final act, one last State of the Union speech, Republicans are chomping at the bit to help drive the messaging in a year pivotal to their — and the country's — survival.
Multiculturalism Trumps Protecting Women From Rape
Since the scores of New Year's Eve sexual attacks on German women by hundreds of men identified as Arab or North African, the left in Germany has faced a dilemma: which to fight for first — women's human rights or multiculturalism? This was the same dilemma that faced British authorities between 1997 and 2013. During those six years at least 1,400 girls from the age of 11 in just one English city (Rotherham, population 275,000) were raped by gangs of men, nearly all of whom were immigrants (mostly from Pakistan) or their sons.
Monday, January 11, 2016
What’s the Real Motive Behind German Green Party's Plan to Ban Petrol-Driven Vehicles?
Der Spiegel reports ... that the German Green Party has announced that it intends to get petrol-driven (gasoline and diesel) vehicles off German roads, aiming to have no more such vehicles registered from 2036 onward.
Retrieved Emails Show Top Clinton Aide Prioritized Advertising Design over the Deaths of U.S. Personnel in Benghazi
As noted above, this week the State Department Office of Inspector General report confirms that the State Department under Hillary Clinton knowingly violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by hiding Hillary Clinton's emails and the emails of her top staff — including Cheryl Mills. What was the Clinton gang trying to hide?
When Political Correctness Equals Political Cowardice
Political correctness has become one of the constants of our age. Many of the examples are more ridiculous than anything else. Inappropriate Halloween costumes, campus safe zones free from controversial ideas, saying "happy holidays," and now, from Sweden, men sitting when they have to urinate. But at a time when people are being murdered at home and abroad because of their religion, PC — which really stands for political cowardice — can be downright dangerous.
State of the Union Spectacle Would Appall Thomas Jefferson
On Tuesday evening, amid much splendor and spectacle, the president of the United States will be welcomed by a joint session of Congress, there to be cheered and applauded like a homecoming conqueror, and, before an audience of lawmakers, diplomats, military officers, and dignitaries, to deliver his State of the Union oration in a live nationwide broadcast.
Saving You Time & Money
Although I have been a lifelong movie fan, the truth is the love affair has clearly cooled off in recent years. In 2015, for instance, I only saw a handful of movies in a theater, the best of which was "The Woman in Gold," a work of non-fiction which starred Helen Mirren. It is the story of a Jewish woman whose entire family was not only exterminated by Hitler, but had had their priceless art collection confiscated by the Nazis and their partners in crime, the Swiss. Ryan Reynolds portrays the lawyer who fought her legal battles.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Calling All Generation Xers...
The Job Search: It's Not What You've Done, but Who You Are