Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Feminization of America Is Bad for the World
Last week, The New York Times published an article, "Sweeping Away Gender-Specific Toys and Labels," that contained three sentences that explain one of the most important phenomena in American life.
How Ted Cruz Changed the Presidential Campaign Landscape
About a quarter of the way into the CNBC-hosted Republican debate at the University of Colorado, Sen. Ted Cruz reached back and cast a lightning bolt into the proceedings. He jolted the debate, the whole debate process, and possibly even the election. CNBC's Carl Quintanilla raised the issue of the debt limit with Sen. Cruz. The deal that Congress and the White House is about to make, said Quintanilla, "would ... prevent a government shutdown and calm financial markets that fear another Washington-created crisis is on the way. Does your opposition to it show that you are not the kind of problem-solver America voters want?"
Beat the Elite
We love to complain about elites, people who seem to have a special advantage, privileges in life. I get annoyed by the Kardashians and other spoiled rich kids. They didn't work for their wealth. They don't contribute. Still, those elites are mostly harmless. But there's one group of truly dangerous elites: politicians. Spoiled party kids may have stupid ideas, but they can't impose them on the rest of us. Politicians can, and do. It's an important distinction to remember.
Republicans vs. The Media
For years, I have been begging Republicans to stand up to the mainstream media. The left has dominated the media for as long as I've been alive. Yet Republicans have consistently granted leftists in media the patina of legitimacy: they've appeared on their programs, answered their questions without quibble, and allowed the audience to believe that the questions themselves spring from a place of objectivity rather than a desire to harm Republicans.
The Left's Lawlessness
There are disturbing reports in a leading Capitol Hill newspaper that the Obama Administration is, once again, looking for ways to circumvent Congress and ignore the courts. Using his pen and his phone, Obama is hoping to enact a radical climate change agreement through executive regulation, just like he did with the Iranian nuclear deal. In addition, leaked memos from the Department of Homeland Security indicate that the administration is preparing to ignore court orders that have so far frozen his executive amnesty efforts.
You're Doing It Wrong, 'The View'
It looks like those elitist harridans on ABC's "The View" learned nothing from the national backlash over their mockery of nurse Kelley Johnson less than eight weeks ago. Guess they've already forgotten how major advertisers Johnson & Johnson, Party City, McCormick spices, Snuggle, and Eggland's Best all pulled spots from the show after co-host and lead Mean Girl Michelle Collins led a cacklefest ridiculing Johnson, Miss Colorado 2015, for a heartfelt monologue about her work during the Miss America pageant.
Mail Bonding? Richards Writes Ryan for Help
The House Speaker may have changed, but Planned Parenthood's tactics have not. In an odd sort of congratulatory letter, President Cecile Richards reached out to Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) for the first time since his election. In hopes of veering him off his predecessor's course, Richards spends four pages defending her organization's baby parts-for-profits ring before asking the new speaker to call off his investigators.
Long-Overdue Vigilance on Moderators
The competing Republicans presidential campaigns had a meeting on Nov. 1 to discuss their concerns with how the Republican National Committee had planned debates with the media. That's a healthy development, considering the CNBC debate, in which liberal journalists asked one too many deliberately snide and hostile "gotcha" questions attacking the GOP candidates, and the candidates exploded in anger.
Another Ground War in the Middle East?
There is a country in the Middle East ruled by a secular authoritarian regime — a state sponsor of terror — that has reigned for 44 years under the leadership of a father and then his son who belong to a minority Shiite-derived religious sect. For four years, this regime has been the target of a brutal civil war. In that civil war, the regime's two leading antagonists are the al-Nusra Front, which is the local al-Qaida affiliate, and the Islamic State, which has supplanted al-Qaida as the most aggressive Sunni Islamist terror group.
Destroying Your Vote
Voter ID laws have been challenged because liberal Democrats deem them racist. I guess that's because they see blacks as being incapable of acquiring some kind of government-issued identification. Interesting enough is the fact that I've never heard of a challenge to other ID requirements as racist, such as those: to board a plane, open a charge account, have lab work done or cash a welfare check. Since liberal Democrats only challenge legal procedures to promote ballot-box integrity, the conclusion one reaches is that they are for vote fraud prevalent in many Democrat-controlled cities.
Might Offend Non-Christians? Man Told to Remove Christmas Display
Jeremy Morris, of Hayden, Idaho, loves to go all out for Christmas. Think Clark Griswald on steroids. His annual Christmas display includes tens of thousands of lights, a Living Nativity, a 22-voice choir and a camel named Dolly. Folks travel from all over town to experience the larger-than-life Christmas display — and spectators say it is indeed something to behold. But the West Hayden Estates First Addition Homeowners Association does not share Jeremy's yuletide cheer.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
ObamaScare: More Americans Spooked by Health Costs
The president promised that his health care law would grow on us. Well, something's growing all right — but it isn't support. Costs and frustrations are at all-time highs just two days into the new enrollment period that kicked off Sunday. According to insiders, even the cheapest plans on the not-so Affordable Care Act are soaring 13% above last year's prices. With double-digit premium hikes and fewer policy benefits, the options aren't exactly wooing new customers.
Obama's Jail Break
Over the weekend, 6,000 so-called "non-violent criminals" were released from federal prisons, part of the Obama administration's efforts to relax sentences for non-violent drug offenders. An additional 8,500 prisoners may be deemed eligible for early release next year. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Administration officials estimate that as many as 46,000 prisoners may have their sentences reduced over the next few years, leading to what one report called "the biggest prisoner release in U.S. history."
What Happens When an Irresistible Force Meets an Immoveable Object?
What happens when an irresistible force meets an immoveable object? That's one question raised by the 2016 presidential campaign. The immoveable object is the close and bitter partisan division that has prevailed in general elections for the last two decades. The irresistible force is the corrosive discontent of American voters, their sense that the nation is headed off on the wrong track and that experienced leaders are more the problem than the solution.
The Delusional Conceit of Harwoodian Liberal Journos
So CNBC's John Harwood is not only unashamed of his disgracefully biased moderating of the GOP debate, he's doubling down — entrenched as a five-year-old boy guarding his Halloween candy. After the debate he tweeted, "GOP debate in 2015 enriched my understanding of challenges @SpeakerBoehner has faced and @RepPaulRyan will face." I assume he was not speaking complimentarily of these "challenges."
Why the Senate Should Not Defer to the President's Judicial Nominees
What, exactly, is the Senate's role of "Advice and Consent" when it comes to the nominations made by a president? It's a topic of perpetual debate in Washington. One wrong-headed argument holds the role to be quite modest: Senators should defer to a president's choices except in extreme circumstances. That position is advanced far too often by Republicans, and almost never by Democrats (except when a member of their party is doing the nominating). It has led some Republican senators to have a policy against filibustering presidential nominees, no matter how much their confirmation may endanger the rule of law and adherence to the constitutional order.
ObamaCare Is Still Failing
For the press, the debate about Obamacare is over. There may be a few proverbial Japanese soldiers wandering on isolated islands yammering on about the failure of Obamacare, but word will eventually filter down to them, too. This assumption is so deeply embedded that it is impervious to new evidence that Obamacare is an unwieldy contraption that is sputtering badly. Yes, Obamacare has covered more people and has especially benefited those with pre-existing conditions (to be credible, Republican replacement plans have to do these things, as well), but the program is so poorly designed that, surely, even a new Democratic president will want to revisit it to try to make it more workable.
Ignoring the Obvious
A recent, widely publicized incident in which a policeman was called to a school classroom to deal with a disruptive student has provoked all sorts of comments on whether the policeman used "excessive force." What has received far less attention, though it is a far larger question, with more sweeping implications, is the role of disruptive students in schools.
Bob Beckel Should Be Dead
In Washington, most stories that make the newspapers and evening newscasts are about scandals and political infighting. Rarely is there one about redemption. In his new book, "I Should Be Dead: My Life Surviving Politics, TV and Addiction," Bob Beckel, the longtime Democratic Party political operative, tells a deeply personal story about searching for life's meaning through political power, drugs, physical abuse as a child, womanizing, hardball politics and finally a change of heart and direction.
Tax Reform Is Having a Comeback
Overshadowed by this week's CNBC-versus-the-Republican-presidential-nominees brawl was the release of Ted Cruz's flat tax plan. The Texas senator would impose a 10 percent tax rate on wage earners and a 16 percent tax on businesses, with no deductions. "Flatter rates," says Cruz, "will make for a more rapid-growth economy." He's right: in virtually all the cases of the last 100 years, lower tax penalties on working and investing have led to more jobs and higher incomes.