Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Scourging Scalia: The Left's Latest Hissy Fit
In other words, instead of students attending colleges that match their academic background, training, and credentials, the racially discriminatory admissions programs of universities like the University of Texas push many students into universities where they are in the bottom of the class from the very start of their college careers. This leads to lower grades, lower graduation rates, and students dropping out of more academically rigorous disciplines like science and engineering – black and Hispanic students abandon those areas of study at much higher rates than whites.
Immorality and Contempt for Liberty
American immorality and contempt for liberty lie at the root of most of the political economic problems our nation faces. They explain the fiscal problems we face, such as growing national debt and budget deficits at the federal, state and local levels of government. Our immorality and contempt for liberty are reflected most in our widespread belief that government ought to forcibly use one American to serve the purposes of another American. Let's examine it.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Good Grief, Charlie Brown! Secular Fundamentalism Goes After Linus at Christmas
You may have heard about the Kentucky school district that ordered its administrators to scrub any religious references from its various Christmas productions. Most infamously, an elementary school in the Johnson County School District removed the lines from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" where Linus recites the Gospel of Luke's account of the Nativity of Jesus Christ. This censorship was colossally silly — both because Linus' speech is the dramatic center of the play, and because of the self-evident absurdity of staging a play with "Christmas" in its title and then deleting the key lines that explain what Christmas celebrates.
Facing Investigations, DOJ Claims the Right to Avoid Investigations
Attorney General Loretta Lynch has no intention of reversing the Justice Department's defiance of the Inspector General Act. She made that clear during a House Judiciary oversight hearing last month. Indeed, her own Office of Legal Counsel has issued a badly flawed opinion that insists DOJ and FBI officials can, at their discretion, withhold information from the Justice Department's inspector general — the individual tasked by Congress with investigating those very same officials.
Baby Jesus, 'Merry Christmas' Banner Removed From VA Hospital
A manger and a banner reading "Merry Christmas" were removed from a public area of a VA hospital in Texas after someone complained about "overly religious and offensive" decorations. "They ruined our decorations," Vietnam veteran Ethel Holloway told television station KENS. "They threw them out." Holloway said she had been putting up decorations at the Audi Murphy VA Hospital for 33 years without any problems. This year, her yuletide banner turned out to be problematic.
The Dick Durbin Internet Tax
How's this for an early Christmas gift? Right before Congress left town for the holidays, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip, blew up a bill that would have provided Americans a permanent ban on the taxation of Internet service. Call it his "bah humbug" moment. Grinch Durbin has promised to hold this bill hostage unless he gets paid a ransom. He says he will only allow a permanent ban on Internet access taxes, if Congress votes to allow state and local sales taxes on Internet purchases.
Republicans Surrender to the 'Dark Side'
Since nearly everyone else seems to be employing "Star Wars" metaphors these days, permit me to use some of my own. To conservatives, the Republican congressional majority was supposed to be the good side of "The Force," as opposed to what they regard as the Democratic "dark side." And yet, unlike the film, "dark side" Democrats have triumphed again in the latest budget battle, which was no battle at all. The supposed good guys surrendered without a fight against the relentless onslaught of the Democrat "stormtroopers" and their media enablers.
Inspector in Chief Barack Clouseau
President Obama's reckless neglect of America's national security is a rapidly growing malignancy on this nation, and there are no signs it will get better. Some might attribute his arrogantly inaccurate assessment of the Islamic State group as "a JV team" or his delusional assertion, hours before the terrorist massacres in Paris, that the Islamic State is "contained" to personal pride or political posturing. After all, he never admits his policies aren't working, and he is perpetually partisan.
The Known — and Unknown — Unknowns in the Republican Race Ahead
Some observations on the 2016 presidential race as we head into the dark period, i.e., the two weeks of Christmas and New Year's holidays in which no one has ever dared, at least in the past, to conduct any polls. Those of us who pick over poll results will have to fly blind until the week starting Jan. 4.
Trump & Terrorism
There was a Democrat debate over the weekend. Many pundits commented on the fact that the timing of the debate — competing with the newest Star Wars movie and the last weekend of Christmas shopping — seemed designed to keep viewership low. Not surprisingly, Saturday's debate had the lowest ratings of any debate — Democrat or Republican — held in 2015.
Saying 'Merry Christmas' Is Very Important
The nearly universal change from wishing fellow Americans "Merry Christmas" to wishing them "Happy Holidays" is a very significant development in American life. Proponents of "Happy Holidays" argue that it's no big deal at all, and that proponents of "Merry Christmas" are making a mountain out of a molehill, especially when proponents say that the substitution of "Happy Holidays" is part of a "war on Christianity." But the "Happy Holidays" advocates want it both ways.
The Busybody Left
The political left has been trying to run other people's lives for centuries. So we should not be surprised to see the Obama administration now trying to force neighborhoods across America to have the mix of people the government wants them to have. There are not enough poor people living in middle class neighborhoods to suit the political left. Not enough blacks in white neighborhoods. Not enough Hispanics here, not enough Asians there.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Our Inalienable Right to Free Trade
Who says nothing ever gets accomplished in Washington? When the House of Representatives voted this fall to lift the nation's 40-year ban on exporting crude oil produced in the United States, the measure seemed doomed in the face of White House opposition. But on Wednesday, congressional leaders settled on a massive spending and tax package, and, wonder of wonders, the resumption of oil exports made the final cut. Both House and Senate were expected to pass the legislation promptly (albeit grudgingly); President Obama has said he'll sign it.
Holiday Notions
I think I have at least a partial solution to the reduced defense budget. I think that along with an all-volunteer military, we should have an all-voluntary support system. After all, something like six out of seven people in the military will never engage in combat. Today, with this reluctance to have "boots on the ground" or, in other words, doing the job our tax dollars are supposed to pay for, why not get old people to take over those essential tasks that don't call for toting 70-pound packs, climbing walls and marching?
Sunday, December 20, 2015
When Hollywood Celebrated Christmas and Marriage
A few days before Christmas, I checked the schedule for Turner Classic Movies, one of the few TV channels I watch. I was looking for Christmas movies, maybe the 1938 Reginald Owen version of "A Christmas Carol" or something like that — something for the family. I was pleased to find three favorites back-to-back that I've seen with my wife and daughters, all nice Christmas romances — and all with a similar happy ending.
Higher Education Is a House Divided
Although he is just 22, Andrew Zeller is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in mathematics at Purdue University. He is one reason the school is a rare exception to the rule of unreason on American campuses, where freedom of speech is under siege. He and Purdue are evidence that freedom of speech, by which truth is winnowed from error, is most reliably defended by those in whose intellectual pursuits the truth is most rigorously tested by reality.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Students Sing 'Allah Akbar' at Holiday Concert
Nothing says Merry Christmas like a Ramadan song — at least in Blaine, Minnesota. There was a big controversy after Thursday's holiday concert at the local high school when the teenagers belted out a praise song to Allah. I'm sure a number of Lutherans along with other Protestant parents spewed their egg nog when they heard their offspring singing, "Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar." Television station WCCO first reported on the holiday dustup, quoting several moms and dads who were not all that happy their children were singing about the glories of Islam.
The Alpha Dog of the Gop
If there's any lesson from Tuesday's debate, it's that six months after his entry into the Republican presidential race, no one has any better idea of how to handle Donald Trump than when he first got in. Las Vegas highlighted how Trump has established alpha-dog dominance in the Republican field. He's not only the front-runner according to national polls, he's a front-runner other candidates are literally afraid to criticize in his presence.
A Tale of Two Elementary Schools
W.R. Castle Elementary School in Wittensville, Kentucky, was set to host a performance of that classic holiday special "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Unfortunately, political correctness kicked in and school officials decided to censor Linus. "We don't want to do anything that would cause harm to our district or our children here in Johnson County Schools," said Superintendent Thomas Salyer. I suspect you're probably scratching your head trying to recollect what it is that Linus does in the cartoon that could in any way cause harm to children. He doesn't do drugs. He doesn't steal from anyone. He doesn't cheat on a test or start a fight.
Question of Semantics: What Do 'Radical Islam' and 'Terrorism' Really Mean?
President Obama and his administration's spokespersons continue to explain the eruption of bombings and mass shootings as "lone wolf attacks" or "work place violence." The cause, they often say, is too many guns in society. Their response is a further demand for sweeping gun laws. Many others, however, refer to these events as radical Islamic terrorism. Is this a game of semantics or is there a real difference between the two terms? As the title implies, there are two terms involved here: "Radical Islam" and "Terrorism." Defining each will tell us much about the president's confusion and the reality that has him befuddled.