Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Never Forget
It is hard to believe that 14 years have passed since the 9/11 attacks. Today is a good day to talk to your children and grandchildren who, in many cases, were not alive or were too young to understand what happened or why. Unfortunately, all too often, they are getting a warped analysis of that day. Some colleges are actually teaching about 9/11 from the perspective of the hijackers. While I applauded George W. Bush's leadership in the days that followed, I do think that the Bush Administration made a fundamental mistake that has only grown under the politically correct policies of recent years.
The Federal Reserve Parking Lot
Recent commentary by David Stockman, former Reagan Administration budget chief, is timely for investors because it focuses on the Federal Reserve's internal debate about "policy normalization" in advance of Wednesday's important Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Stockman argues that the Fed's desire to raise rates, first, followed by actions to shrink its balance sheet (allowing its debt securities to mature without reinvesting the proceeds) is "putting the cart before the horse" and that the reverse — reducing the balance sheet followed by raising interest rates — is the right path to "normalization." Stockman has a valid point, but there is potentially much more to the story.
Sodom & Gomorrah, Here We Come!
Because Barack Obama says he wants his administration to look more like America, he recently appointed Raffi Freedman-Gurspan to be the director of the White House Office of Personnel. I'm not sure what that title means, either, but that's not really important. What matters is that Mr. Freedman-Gurspan is the first transgender to ever be a White House official. At least his/her/its being a transgender makes that goofy hyphen slightly more appropriate than is usually the case.
Friday, September 11, 2015
Dear GOP Leaders, Stop Being Cowards on the Abortion Fight
It's probably true that Republicans won't be able to force Planned Parenthood to shut down its human organ harvesting business. Not this year. Maybe not any year. And it's probably true that Republicans won't be able to stop the flow of over $500 million to the abortion conglomerate — at least not until the GOP builds a veto/filibuster-proof majority and wins the presidency. So, not soon. Maybe never. And it's undoubtedly true that flailing, pointing at shiny objects and creating unrealistic expectations are counterproductive in the long run. But here are some other things that are true.
Kim Davis Is Complicated
Kim Davis is the clerk of Rowan County, Ky. After Anthony Kennedy and four other justices of the United States Supreme Court decided that they know better than the more than 50 percent of Americans who either oppose gay marriage or think the states should have decided things, Davis decided to stop issuing marriage licenses in Rowan County. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, now running for governor of Kentucky, had refused to represent Kentucky in federal court in the gay marriage case. He needed to consolidate the political left to his side. Defending Kentucky's constitutional provision in support of real marriage would have cost him political support. So he sat on his hands.
Hillary Clinton Comes Clean
In an ABC News interview, Hillary Clinton apologized for using a private email while secretary of state, a notable departure after months of not letting the slightest crack show in her steadfast public defense of her arrangement. The interview was progress. But she has a lot to apologize for. A more fully and properly contrite Hillary might sound something like this: I've repeatedly said that my private system was permitted by the State Department. As anyone who has done a little Googling knows, the State Department's manual for employees has said since 2005 that day-to-day business should be conducted on the authorized system. When I said "permitted," I merely meant that no one physically stopped me. I take responsibility for this misunderstanding.
'There Is No God but Allah'? School Accused of Islamic Indoctrination
Maury County, Tennessee, is in the heart of the Bible Belt. So it's understandable why the local church ladies got all shook up when they discovered that school children had been forced to declare, "There is no God but Allah." Seventh graders at Spring Hill Middle School spent three weeks covering Islam in a Social Studies class — enraging some parents who say the lessons crossed the line into indoctrination and proselytization. "I am not pleased that my 12-year-old was taught the Islamic conversion prayer," parent Brandee Porterfield told me.
All Lies on Planned Parenthood
As revealing as David Daleiden's undercover videos are, they're exposing a lot more than Planned Parenthood. The summer scandal is also pulling back the curtain on where several politicians stand. As the first House hearing proved, a number of Democrats seem perfectly content — if not *proud* — to support a group nonchalantly carving up tiny humans for dollars. [Wednesday], their allegiance was on full display, as they doggedly defended an organization whose grisly side business has yet to affect its lucrative relationship with American taxpayers. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) desperately hopes to change that, inviting women who survived the excruciating procedure Planned Parenthood profits from, to testify. "Do not tell me these are not children," pleaded Gianna Jessen. "A heartbeat proves that. So do I."
Expect More Tyranny and Thus More Kim Davises
Why do so many who castigate Kim Davis for flouting the law routinely cheer on President Obama for actions far more lawless and consequential? Why are those demonizing the Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk so indifferent to the Supreme Court's rank abuse of power that created the atmosphere of conflict from which her actions arose? Who died and made the Supreme Court god? Well, the Supreme Court made itself god in 1803, with the case of Marbury v. Madison, in which it asserted its power of judicial review — the right to declare acts of the legislative and executive branches unconstitutional.
The Iran Charade on Capitol Hill
Congress is finally having its say on the Iran deal. It will be an elaborate charade, however, because, having first gone to the U.N., President Obama has largely drained congressional action of relevance. At the Security Council, he pushed through a resolution ratifying the deal, thus officially committing the United States as a nation to its implementation — in advance of any congressional action. The resolution abolishes the entire legal framework, built over a decade, underlying the international sanctions against Iran. A few months from now, they will be gone. The script is already written: The International Atomic Energy Agency, relying on Iran's self-inspection (!) of its most sensitive nuclear facility, will declare Iran in compliance. The agreement then goes into effect and Iran's nuclear program is officially deemed peaceful.
Putting an End to the 'Refugee Crisis'
Most of the Syrians we see on the nightly news and on newspaper front pages are not fleeing war-torn Syria. The 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi (whose real name is Alan Shenu) whose heartrending death was broadcast around the world was not fleeing Syria. He'd lived his whole short life in Turkey, where his parents had been living in safety. The Shenu family, like so many of these refugees, left Turkey on a smugglers' boat, ultimately trying to reach Canada in pursuit of better economic prospects and a better life. This distinction is often lost in the coverage of the European "refugee crisis" that is in many respects a migrant crisis. According to the law, never mind morality, we treat refugees differently. Refugees flee for their lives. Migrants make choices.
Boehner Changes Course on Iran
As Americans rallied on Capitol Hill demanding more resistance to the Iran nuclear deal, Speaker John Boehner changed course late [Wednesday]. There is a growing consensus that President Obama failed to meet his legal obligations under the Iran Nuclear Review Act, so the speaker scrapped plans for just one vote.
America's Reckless Refuge for Jihad
On the anniversary week of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Obama is rolling out the welcome mat to tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees. What could go wrong? There's no need to hypothesize. Our nation remains utterly incapable of screening out legitimate dreamers from destroyers, liberty-seekers from liberty-stiflers. Indiscriminate asylum and refugee policies rob the truly deserving of an opportunity for freedom — and threaten our national security. It's shameful that our leaders in Washington, sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution and our people, suffer chronic amnesia about the fatal consequences of open borders. I'll keep reprinting my reminders. Maybe someday someone in a position of power will pay heed, throw political correctness out the window, and stop hitting the snooze button.
No 'Mainstream' Air Time for Mark Levin
Mark Levin's new book "Plunder and Deceit" has been number one on the New York Times bestseller list for five weeks in a row. Like with his other best-sellers, no liberal journalist will read it, no liberal newspaper will review it, and no liberal network would imagine calling up Levin for an interview. They are too busy advocating tolerance and diversity. Why doesn't Mark Levin deserve a turn on CBS's "60 Minutes"? Why can't the conservative taxpayers be granted a forum for Levin or "Charlie Rose" on PBS or on NPR's "All Things Considered"? In short, why not a slice of Levin in all of the places where leftists like Paul Krugman and Tom Friedman are treated like the greatest minds of our time?
In Praise of Monarchy
Some time in the early evening of Wednesday, London time, Queen Elizabeth II broke a record: she became the longest-serving monarch in British history, beating her great-great-grandmother Victoria's reign of 63 years and 216 days. She is also, at 89, by a solid stretch the longest-lived British monarch. And still busy at work, with hundreds of public appearances every year and reading official papers every day in red boxes and meeting with the prime minister every week. The sovereign, as Walter Bagehot wrote in "The English Constitution" some 150 years ago, has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage and the right to warn."
Huckabee Plays the Fool
Watching Republicans on TV is getting more painful by the week. And believe it or not, my pain has nothing to do with the successful candidacy of Donald Trump. The pain started Tuesday, when, joining a few score of my fellow Americans, I accidentally tuned into MSNBC. There was big Mike Huckabee, live, making a religious, political and constitutional fool of himself.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Fight Over North Carolina Election Rules Shows Obama Will Stop at Nothing to Win Elections
The recently concluded federal trial over North Carolina's election rules proved one thing beyond a reasonable doubt: The Obama administration and its partisan, big-money, racial-interest-group allies will stop at nothing to win elections. And using the courts to change election rules is a key part of their strategy.
Corn Maze Honors 'American Sniper' Chris Kyle
The owners of a small Georgia farm took a tractor, a global positioning system and seven acres of corn and created a masterpiece made of maize last month honoring American sniper Chris Kyle. "I felt like we needed to do something patriotic," Misty Duren told me. "It hit me one day that it would be great to honor Chris Kyle." Misty and Lamar Duren are the owners and operators of Corn Dawgs, an adventure park that includes a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo and a corn cannon that can blast an ear of corn at least 100 yards. And they also have a giant corn maze.
'Black Lives Matter' Movement Getting Blacks Killed
Despite the lack of evidence that there is an increase in cops shooting blacks, let alone shooting blacks unlawfully, a few recent killings of blacks by cops has spawned the so-called Black Lives Matter movement. But over the past 45 years, per the Centers for Disease Control, police killings of blacks are *down* 75 percent. What *are* on the increase, year-to-year, are cop killings. The No. 1 preventable cause of death of young black males is homicide — usually at the hands of other blacks. The primary cause of preventable death among young white males is auto accidents.
Tea Time for Iran Debate
President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran got the Tea Party treatment [Wednesday]. Americans concerned about our security and Israel's turned out on Capitol Hill [yesterday] afternoon for a huge rally warning against this terrible deal. It featured Glenn Beck, Ted Cruz, Mark Levin, Sarah Palin, Phil Robertson, Donald Trump and many others. I also spoke at the rally and did a live interview with the Fox Business Network as the event was getting underway. You should know that many members of Congress are just as frustrated as you are by this deal and how it is being handled. They are pursuing a variety of options to stop it.