Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Democrats' Debate: No Solution for Economic Inequality, No Interest in Economic Growth
You may not have noticed, but Lincoln Chafee, the erstwhile Republican U.S. senator and Independent-turned-Democratic governor, had one penetrating comment at the Democrats' debate Tuesday night. "But let me just say this about income inequality," he said toward the end. "We've had a lot of talk over the last few minutes, hours or tens of minutes, but no one is saying how we're going to fix it."
What Deal?
[Sunday] President Obama issued orders for the government to begin the process of lifting sanctions against Iran as required by the nuclear deal. But do we even have a deal? The Iranian parliament, the Majlis, approved the deal last week, but that doesn't mean anything. Moreover, the Iranians are again demanding that sanctions be "terminated" rather than suspended.
Academic Stalinism Still Thriving
There are many opinionated people on each side of the political spectrum, including me, but I haven't heard of any conservatives trying to muzzle leftists. Liberals on the other hand? Ha. Man-made global warming liberals ridicule skeptics as corrupt or brain-dead deniers, and their advocate in chief, President Obama, habitually derides conservatives for rejecting his hysterical narrative on climate change.
Sunday Schooled on the GOP Field
After two disappointing election cycles, the worst thing about this crop of candidates may be picking one! For evangelicals, it's a good problem to have: a majority of presidential hopefuls aligning with them on key issues. As this weekend's events proved, it's an embarrassment of riches for voters who are sick and tired of the anti-Christian extremism pumping out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Democrats' Preoccupation With Inequality
If you want to understand today's Democratic Party, a word search of the Democrats' debate last week provides a pretty clear picture.
Football Coach Refuses to Lose Religion, but Will He Lose His Job?
The Washington state football coach defied the Bremerton School District on Oct. 16 by dropping to a knee and praying at midfield after the Friday night football game. "I'm going to be bold in my faith, and fight the good fight," he told the Kitsap Sun. "It's beyond humbling to have so much support. Whatever happens, happens."
Monday, October 19, 2015
Stop Appeasing Iran's Ayatollahs as They Crackdown on Dissidents
Shaqayeq Azimi is an aspiring, joyful girl of 22 with a full life ahead of her. She is also an Iranian dissident, committed to challenging the repressive theocracy that rules her home country.
No, Bernie Sanders, Scandinavia Is Not a Socialist Utopia
When Bernie Sanders was asked during CNN's Democratic presidential debate how a self-proclaimed socialist could hope to be elected to the White House, he gave the answer he usually gives: Socialism has been wonderful for the countries of Scandinavia, and America should emulate their example.
Let the White House Be a Gun-Free Zone!
The question is whether Barack Obama realizes how silly he sounds when he begins pontificating about guns. I realize he isn't as smart as his defenders like to pretend, but is it possible that he's really so stupid that he thinks the cause of violence in America is guns, the inanimate objects that are powerless until someone picks them up and uses or misuses them?
Sunday, October 18, 2015
What This Top Justice Offical Gets Wrong: American Culture Isn’t Racist, Discriminatory
Recently, the acting head of the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Principal Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupta, gave a very long speech for the "Community Policing Summit," hosted by the U.S. Attorney's office in New Jersey. The speech was a longer and more detailed version of remarks delivered repeatedly by Obama administration officials these days, so it is worth reading with some care.
Climate Change's Great Legacy: International Wealth Redistribution
A $Trillion here, a $Trillion there — pretty soon you're talking real money. No, I'm not talking about the U.S. national debt, now at over $18 trillion. That's a very bad thing that threatens to impoverish our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Washington Sets the Stage for Another Financial Crisis
My 13-year-old son told me at the dinner table the other day that Franklin Roosevelt was one of America's "greatest presidents" because "he ended the Great Depression." He's usually a good student, so I checked where he got this tripe, and sure enough, the fairy tale was right there in his American history book.
Is Economic Equality a Moral Imperative?
America is more distant from the 1933 beginning of the New Deal (82 years) than that beginning was from the 1865 end of the Civil War (68 years). Both episodes involved the nation's understanding of equality: The war affirmed equality of natural rights, the New Deal addressed unequal social conditions. Today's Democratic Party is frozen, like a fly in amber, in the New Deal preoccupation — but with less excuse than Democrats had during the Great Depression. The party believes that economic inequality is an urgent problem, and that its urgency should be understood in terms of huge disparities of wealth. Neither proposition is (to use the term Jefferson used when he wrote equality into America's catechism) a self-evident truth.
Who is the Real Con Man: Ryan or Krugman?
Writing about Republicans in U.S. House of Representatives, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says Paul Ryan is "basically, the best con man they've got." He goes on to characterize the modern Republican Party" as "a post-policy enterprise, which doesn't do real solutions to real problems."
Saturday, October 17, 2015
'The Pause' Remains 18 Years 8 Months Despite Strong El Niño
Each month when RSS (Remote Sensing Systems) updates its global average temperature data, Lord Christopher Monckton calculates how far back one can go in the RSS record without showing a positive trend, i.e., how long "the pause" is. It's been lengthening for several years and as of the end of August had reached 18 years and 8 months. Now, with a strong El Niño developing in the Pacific, the calculation yields a new starting point — not January of 1997 but February. We might say we've hit a "pause in the lengthening of the pause."
Coach's Challenge: Pray Under Pressure
When the Bremerton High School football team takes the field tonight, the loudest cheers will be for the coach. After a public spat over game day prayer, Joe Kennedy has picked up plenty of fans — and not just from conservatives. The former Marine has become a statewide hero after refusing to back down from his seven-year tradition of thanking God at every game. And while he never asked his players to join him, they wanted to. The midfield kneel became part of the team's identity until this year, when Coach Kennedy was told to stop praying or *start* finding a new job.
'Day of Rage'
Israelis [were] on heightened alert [yesterday] after the terrorist group Hamas declared Friday to be a "day of rage." Palestinians began the day by taking out their rage on Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, setting fire to the Jewish holy site. Reports indicate the shrine suffered serious damage. The Washington Post tells us that Muslims supposedly "venerate the site." Yet it was attacked and destroyed by Palestinian mobs in 2000.
Nurturing a Crucial Alliance
South Korean President Park Geun-hye is in Washington this week as the third of President Obama's summit trifecta with Northeast Asian leaders. She has the opportunity to address growing regional security challenges and reassert an important Korean role on the world stage. When I attended President Park's inauguration in 2013, I stated that I had "every confidence that she would carry South Korea's success and the relationship with the United States to new heights." Two years later, I believe my confidence was well-placed.
A Dangerous Precedent, an Act of Desperation in the Ex-Im Bank Saga
Advocates of crony capitalism just won't give up. Last Friday, a large block of House Republicans joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition to force revival of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) to the House floor. 42 Republicans joined 176 Democrats in signing on to the discharge petition, circumventing the authority of House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling — whose committee has rightfully opposed the bank as corporate welfare.
Does Fido Have a Soul?
Recently, a friend of mine asserted that dogs don't have souls. Inasmuch as I nearly always agree with her, I found it surprising that we were in opposing camps on this particular subject. Because I respect her opinion, I found myself questioning my own belief system somewhat more than usual. Is it possible, I asked myself, to have four legs, a tail, fleas and a soul? While I'm not absolutely certain what souls are, I finally decided that if they are what I think they are, dogs definitely have them.