Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Iran: Wisdom Calls for a Tough Policy
John F. Kennedy famously said: "We cannot negotiate with people who say what's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable." 50 years later, we seem not to have learned this lesson. Just several weeks ago we concluded negotiations with a bad faith partner in the form of the Islamic Republic of Iran, resulting in a nuclear agreement that has been met with skepticism by our Saudi allies and with fury by Israel.
Something Worse Than the IRS Awaits Greedy Televangelists
The fourth circle of Hell, as envisioned by Dante Alighieri in *The Divine Comedy*, is reserved for the avaricious and the profligate. It is where those whose lust for getting and spending knew no bounds in life are punished in the afterlife by being battered endlessly with heavy weights. Notable among the souls damned for their greed, Dante wrote, "were clergymen and popes and cardinals, within whom avarice works its excess." What disgusted the great poet in 14th-century Florence — money-grubbing hucksters masquerading as men of God — is just as disgusting in 21st-century America.
Ferguson: The Nightmare Continues
It's too bad that schmucks like Bull Connor gave firehoses such a bad image back in the 1960s when he and his goons trained them on black people who merely had the audacity to think they should be allowed to vote, go to school, ride a bus and share a lunch counter, with white people. I say that because every time I see the morons in Ferguson and those involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, I find myself thinking how much I'd enjoy seeing the swine hosed off stages, podiums and the streets of our cities.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Earth to Paul Krugman and The New York Times: Debt Is Not Good
First the good news. The federal government's tax receipts are coming in at a rate somewhat higher than what was expected a few months ago. That means a shut-down-the-government debt limit stalemate will be pushed back until November or December. It also means that the federal debt will actually decline a bit this year. Now for the bad news. We are experiencing the calm before the storm. The Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday that although our fiscal situation is improving, by 2018 we will snap back to swelling deficits and unsustainable debt.
Affirming a Right to Die
Brittany Maynard was soon to die. The question was whether she could do so on her own terms, as a last act of autonomy. Dr. Lynette Cederquist, who regrets that Maynard had to move to Oregon in order to do so, is working with others to change California law to allow physician assistance in dying. Maynard, a 29-year-old newlywed, knew that her brain cancer would fill her final months with excruciating headaches, seizures, paralysis, loss of eyesight and the ability to speak. Radiation and chemotherapy would have purchased mere months. "I'm not killing myself," she said. "Cancer is killing me." She would not put her loved ones through her cancer's depredations. Advances in public health and medical capabilities for prolonging life — and dying — intensify interest in end-of-life issues. Reductions in heart disease and stroke have increased the number of people living to experience decrepitude's encroachments, including dementia.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Donald Trump, Eminent-Domain Abuser
Supporters of Donald Trump relish the prospect of a president who knows how to "get things done," and won't bore them with details or principles. They like hearing Trump tout the stop-at-nothing aggressiveness of his business dealings, as in this description, in a CNN interview, of how he acquired the Doral golf resort in Miami: "I didn't sit down and say 'let's do a 14-point plan.' I went in and got it. I took it away from so many people." Trump boasted of his prowess at a rally in Michigan on Aug. 11. "You have to be able to do certain things" if you want to be successful, he crowed. I "beat the hell out of people.... I know how to get things."
Media Manipulation, Bring It On
Columnist Mark Steyn reviewed the headlines from major U.S. newspapers that reported on the shootings of two Virginia journalists. As you might expect, the headlines were totally devoid of any information that would inform readers of what really happened. In other words, they were manipulated to avoid printing the kind of information that would normally dominate headlines when it helps the left and hurts conservatives. As we reported [Thursday], both the Charleston shooting and the Roanoke shooting were done by racial bigots, one a white racist and one a black racist. Vester Flanagan, the Roanoke shooter, was also a gay rights extremist, by the way. To the American media, these facts mean the story is to be buried as quickly as possible and reported in the most vague manner possible.
Satan in the Oval Office
Until I was 68 years old, it never occurred to me that I could actually hate someone I had never even met, unless, of course, his name was Stalin or Hitler or had been found guilty of murder, rape or child molestation. But, then, I never dreamed that America would ever elect a president as vile, both politically and personally, as Barack Hussein Obama. Although some people would suggest I despise him because he's a Democrat, that wouldn't explain why I have tolerated and continue to tolerate a great many Democrats. Others would insist that I hold him in contempt because he's black, but that wouldn't explain why I admire people like Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, Thomas Sowell, Jason Riley, Tim Scott, David Clarke, Walter E. Williams and Ben Carson, all of whom had two black parents, not one white and one Arab.
Friday, August 28, 2015
Katrina: Not Global Warming, and Not Worst-Case Scenario
I don't know if people remember but I caused quite a stir Friday afternoon before Hurricane Katrina struck when, on national TV, I said it was coming for New Orleans. I reminded people that I had downplayed Ivan in New Orleans the year before when apparently there was a rumor the mayor, thinking it would hit the city, ordered 10,000 bodybags. Ivan was not their storm, but I knew exactly what kind of storm would result in a disaster. I will explain that below. In any case, I was recently reminded of all this at a dinner with some clients in Houston. One of them thanked me because, as my client, I called him at two o'clock in the afternoon when the European (ECMWF) computer model run came in confirming my worst fear: It was coming for New Orleans. In what I do, serving the client to keep them prepared comes first. The TV was, is and always will be secondary. That being said, I am always going to speak my mind on these matters.
Call Me 'Ze,' Not 'He': University Wants Everyone to Use 'Gender Inclusive' Pronouns
Educators in the Volunteer State are very concerned that students might be offended by the usage of traditional pronouns like she, he, him and hers, according to a document from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Office of Diversity and Inclusion. "With the new semester beginning and an influx of new students on campus, it is important to participate in making our campus welcoming and inclusive for all," wrote Donna Braquet in a posting on the university's website. "One way to do that is to use a student's chosen name and their correct pronouns." Braquet, who is director of the university's Pride Center, suggested using a variety of gender neutral pronouns instead of traditional pronouns.
When Child Sex Abuse Gets Ignored
The double standard our media impose on child sexual abuse is garishly obvious. On Aug. 14, The Washington Post set the stage for the coming American visit of Pope Francis with another splashy front-page story on a man still berating the Catholic Church after being abused by a priest from 1969 to 1976. But on Aug. 21, after a court sentenced former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Molly Shattuck, 48, for sexually abusing a 15-year old boy merely a year ago, the Post ignored it completely. Apparently, there was no room. That boy's family had no media advocate there. It's horrible that a priest would so egregiously betray his vows to abuse and manipulate a child. It's also horrible that a mother would betray her teenage son by sexually molesting one of his friends. But only one of these stories is apparently "newsworthy."
Denver Corruptocrats' Chick-fil-A Smokescreen
Holier-than-thou liberals on the Denver city council are waging war on Chick-fil-A in the name of tolerance and diversity. Now, let me tell you what the squawking is really all about: It's a distraction, a feint, a mile-high smokescreen. Spiteful Democrats claim they are upholding progressive "Denver values" by delaying approval of an airport concession contract with the Christian-owned restaurant chain. But the politically correct storm over same-sex marriage (which Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy personally opposes) is convenient cover for the local government's serial mismanagement, bloated spending and shady contracting practices. Denver International Airport concessionaires raked in more than $322 million in gross revenue last year amid longstanding complaints of political favoritism and dirty dealing that date back to the facility's construction in the mid-1990s.
The Next Front in the War on Religious Freedom
Stop bellyaching about Washington. All the country's best fascists are on your local city council. Not long ago, Colorado became a leader in the fight against religious freedom, when its Civil Rights Commission, self-appointed ministers of justice and theology, decided that a shopkeeper who refuses to participate in a gay wedding ceremony must be smeared and fined out of business. A Colorado appeals court says this is kosher, finding that the brittle sensitivities of a cakeless couple outweigh the constitutional rights of Christian business owners. Now, in an effort to save everyone some time, the cultural imperialists at the Denver City Council have decided to skip the pretense of some trumped-up injustice and jumped right to discriminating against a business solely because of the beliefs of its CEO.
It Depends on What the Meaning of 'Crazies' Is
Yeah, I get President Obama's point. He wants to disarm law-abiding Americans but entrust the Iranian Islamist theocracy to police itself on nuclear arms and subsidize its funding of global terrorism. But we're the "crazies." Recently, Obama dissed opponents of his Iran nuclear deal for "making common cause" with Iranian hard-liners who chant "death to America," and now he's calling us crazy. But he's the one playing footsie with those America haters. Projection is a beautiful thing. It gets old pointing out that Obama uses Saul Alinsky tactics to demonize conservatives and avoid defending his positions, but it's true.
Military Brass Oppose Deal
Two weeks ago, Big Media and the left made a big deal over the fact that three dozen retired admirals and generals signed a joint letter supporting the president's nuclear deal with Iran. [Wednesday], more than five times that number sent a letter to Congress urging opposition to the deal. One hundred and ninety retired admirals and generals told congressional leaders that removing sanctions on Iran threatened Middle East peace. They warned that far from cutting off all pathways to a bomb, the deal "allows all the infrastructure the Iranians need for a nuclear bomb." They wrote that the agreement, with its secret side deals, was "unverifiable."
Caesarism Comes to the Republican Party
Among a very long list of harms inflicted upon the United States by Barack Obama and his party, perhaps the worst was Caesarism. Obama relished the worship of millions in 2008. From his star turn at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he was treated not as a political candidate, but as a savior. Progressives fell into a swoon, typified by Newsweek editor Evan Thomas' 2008 comment, "I mean in a way Obama's standing above the country, above — above the world; he's sort of God." Now, a similar kind of unreasoning adulation is greeting (improbably enough) Donald Trump. Fred Barnes reports that a focus group of Trump supporters is swept up in a kind of worship, too: "He's not just their favorite candidate. Their tie to him is almost mystical. He's a kind of political savior, someone who says what they think."
What Six Years of 'Reset' Have Wrought
On September 5, 2014, Russian agents crossed into Estonia and kidnapped an Estonian security official. Last week, after a closed trial, Russia sentenced him to 15 years. The reaction? The State Department issued a statement. The NATO secretary-general issued a tweet. Neither did anything. The European Union (reports The Wall Street Journal) said it was too early to discuss any possible action. The timing of this brazen violation of NATO territory — two days after President Obama visited Estonia to symbolize America's commitment to its security — is testimony to Vladimir Putin's contempt for the American president. He knows Obama will do nothing. Why should he think otherwise?
Trump Is All Talk
Donald Trump is the first talk radio candidate. Everything he says on the primary trail sounds just like what you can hear on conservative talk radio every day. When he's riffing about the failures of the political class in Washington, calling for an end to birthright citizenship or handling a media heckler like Jorge Ramos at a press conference, Trump is talking straight to the hearts and minds of the talk radio demographic. He's not much of a conservative, or much of a Republican, for that matter.
Two Impossible Things That Could Happen in 2016
"One can't believe impossible things," Alice objected. "I daresay you haven't had much practice," the Red Queen replied. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." You may be reading this sometime after breakfast, and six is a pretty large number of impossible things. But looking at developments in the 2016 campaign, I can see two impossible things — impossible in the sense that almost every pundit (including me) ruled them out — that might happen in the weeks and months ahead.
An Unhealthy Dependence on Food Stamps
Good news: The number of Americans using food stamps in 2014 declined slightly from the previous year. So why does the 2015 Index of Culture and Opportunity say this indicator is headed in the "wrong direction"? There are a couple of reasons. For one, the food-stamp program (officially known now as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) is still much larger today than it was a decade ago — or, indeed, just a few years ago. In 2008, it was below 30 million. By 2013, it had hit 47.6 million.