Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Clinton's Contract
The day after Hillary Rodham Clinton became secretary of state in 2009, she signed a contract with the American people, not figuratively, but literally. She signed a Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement — a contract acknowledging that she held a very special position that would put her in possession of extremely important information. Information that had to be handled with the utmost care.
Libeling Reagan
Donald Trump is just one symptom of today's cultural pathology of self-validating vehemence with blustery certitudes substituting for evidence. Another is the fact that the book atop the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list is a tissue of unsubstantiated assertions. Because of its vast readership, "Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency" by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and his collaborator Martin Dugard will distort public understanding of Ronald Reagan's presidency more than hostile but conscientious scholars could.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
'Slap in the Face!': University Drops Pledge, Flag From Veterans Day Service
Patriotic students are infuriated after the Pledge of Allegiance and the Presentation of Colors were removed from Seattle Pacific University's Veterans Day chapel over fears they might offend people. The university's Military and Veteran Support Club was outraged by the chaplain's decision. They called it a "slap in the face" of every soldier who fought, sacrificed and died for our freedoms.
Bumper Drive Leads to Repeat O-fenders
The buzz is usually about who's *in* police cars — not what's on them. But that's all changed after the explosion of the national motto bumper stickers cropping up on vehicles across the country. No one knows exactly how it started, but since mid-summer, it's become a national phenomenon. In Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, Missouri, Texas, Florida, and other states, policemen are combatting the negativity about law enforcement by proudly sticking "In God We Trust" on their fleets.
Less a Debate Than a Lynching
The best things about the latest Republican debate were the candidates. Even the ones I don't particularly care for, like Rand Paul and John Kasich, had their moments, although I'm not sure I can say the same for Jeb Bush, who more and more resembles the tallest nerd in everyone's high school yearbook.
Capital Prayer Alert
As you know, my wife, Carol, prepares a prayer alert about once a month. I hope you will share Carol's thoughts with your friends and fellow worshippers. Thank you for taking an interest in her monthly devotion.
Exaggerating and Distorting the News 'While Black'
If you wonder about the bias and lack of objectivity and accuracy of reporters in the mainstream media, look no farther than what they are learning at schools like the University of North Texas, where Dorothy Bland is the dean of the school of journalism. Bland recently wrote an article in the Dallas Morning News about her supposed harassment by police officers for "walking while black" that doesn't bear even a passing resemblance to what really happened. Of course, we would not know this based on her allegations of racist treatment. But fortunately for us and the Corinth, Texas, Police Department, the officers who encountered Bland turned on the dashcam video in their police cruiser before they stopped her.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Marco Rubio's Immigration Problem
Marco Rubio has a dubious distinction among the top-tier Republican presidential candidates: He's the only one who crafted and passed through the Senate a so-called comprehensive immigration reform that is anathema to the right. As Rubio has demonstrated considerable political strength, the spotlight has turned to him. Inevitably, his role as frontman for the "Gang of Eight" bill will get extensively relitigated — and it should.
Eighth Graders Asked to Write About Booze, Herpes and One-Night Stands
A New Jersey school district is facing scrutiny for a provocative eighth grade homework assignment that reads more like a chapter from "Fifty Shades of Gray." The boys and girls at Myron L. Powell Elementary School in Cedarville were instructed to write a "reactive response" to a given situation. They wanted to know what the students would do if they went to a party, got drunk, had sex with a stranger and then contracted herpes.
Cruel Apprentice Where the Boss Is Fired
It seems Jobs "Rn't" Theirs at Toys "R" Us. Breitbart News uncovered a particularly flagrant example of H—1B visa abuse at Toys "R" Us. The story is particularly timely in the wake of the exchange between Donald Trump and Marco Rubio at the CNBC Inquisition. Rubio wants to greatly expand usage of the H—1B visa program that ostensibly brings in foreign workers to do jobs Americans are not qualified to perform. Rubio justifies his support with the rationalization that if there are abuses, those companies shouldn't be allowed to participate in the program.
A Proposition We Could Refuse...
The city that launched a hundred missions pulled off one of its biggest Tuesday, when Houston downed anti-freedom Proposition 1. The measure that sparked millions of dollars in ads, rallies, and public outcry was soundly rejected, blindsiding liberals who wrongly believed the country was on board with their social extremism. Now, barely 48 hours after the 61-39% drubbing, the mainstream media is still scratching its head over how conservatives pulled off such a mammoth victory.
The Emmaus Code and the God-Void
Some of you, especially those on the left side of the political aisle, are scratching your heads over Ben Carson's recent surge in the polls. I get why you're surprised, but you shouldn't be. This has definitely been the year of the outsiders in the Republican race, but this "outside" group may be more multifaceted than you think. Many people supporting outsiders are not just tired of business as usual from the beltway establishment. They are not just aghast at the disastrous direction in which this nation's economy and foreign policy are headed.
Liberals Losing the Culture Wars?
The libertine left has done a lot of boasting over the last several years about the inevitability of History vanquishing every corner of American social conservatism. Election Day 2015 was a terrible day for these revolutionaries, as so often it is when it's the American people, not liberal elites, making the decisions.
Who's Burning Black Churches? Oh.
Here we go again: another liberal narrative burned to a crisp. Over a two-week period in October, an arsonist targeted seven churches in the St. Louis area — including several in Black Lives Matter protest hotspot Ferguson, Missouri. The Atlantic magazine, invoking the "long history of terrorism against black churches in America," lamented that the crime spree had been "slow to get the same attention" in the local and national media as another string of church arsons that occurred earlier this summer.
The Party of God vs. the Party of Government
"The U.S. Public Becoming Less Religious," reads the headline from the new Pew Poll Religion in America series. The share of Americans who profess to believe in God has dropped from 92 to 89 percent since the Pew Research Center conducted its last Landscape Study in 2007. That said, the U.S. is still home to the highest percentage of believers in any advanced nation in the world.
Did ISIS Bomb Plane?
Intelligence information increasingly suggests that a bomb brought down Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 over the Sinai Peninsula, killing 224 people. ISIS, which is known to be operating in the area, was quick to claim responsibility. The region is extremely popular with tourists, but the Sharm el-Sheikh airport is reportedly well-known for its lax security. It is believed that ISIS operatives smuggled a bomb on board the plane at the airport.
Imagining a World Without Polls
What if the polls just stopped working? Admittedly, this needs work as a plot device for a Stephen King novel. But for politics, it might be pretty awesome. This week, businessman Matt Bevin won a stunning upset in the Kentucky governor's race. It was only the second time in more than four decades that a Republican took the governor's mansion in the Bluegrass State. Bevin's margin of victory: nine percentage points.
Chris Christie's Cheap Shot
"My mother was a smoker," Chris Christie told a New Hampshire audience in a video that has gone viral. Though she tried everything — gum, patches, hypnosis — nothing worked. When she was diagnosed with cancer, he continued, "No one came to me and said, 'Don't treat her, (because) she got what she deserved.' No one ... said, 'Hey listen, you know your mother was dumb. She started smoking when she was 16. Then after we told her it was bad for her, she kept doing it, so we're not going to give her chemotherapy, we're not going to give her radiation, we're not going to give her any of that stuff — you know why? (Because) she's getting what she deserves.' No one said that."
Liberals' Response to Dissent: 'Shut Up'
"'Shut up,' he explained." That's a sentence from Ring Lardner's short story "The Young Immigrunts." It's an exasperated father's response from the driver's seat to his child's question, "Are you lost, Daddy?" They also can be taken as the emblematic response of today's liberals to anyone questioning their certitudes. As with the father in the story, it's a response that indicates uneasy apprehension — the fear that they have no good answer.