Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, August 21, 2015
The Immigration Swamp
For years, immigration has been the subject of near-constant, often bitter argument within the GOP. But it is true that Trump has brought the debate to a new place — first, with his announcement speech, about whether Mexican migrants are really rapists, and now with the somewhat more nuanced Trump plan. Much of it — visa tracking, E-Verify, withholding funds from sanctuary cities — predates Trump. Even building the Great Wall is not particularly new. (I, for one, have been advocating that in this space since 2006.) Dominating the discussion, however, are his two policy innovations: (a) abolition of birthright citizenship and (b) mass deportation.
Inspection Scam, Another Video, Another Cyber Scandal
Remember those secret side agreements that are part of the Iran nuclear deal? Members of Congress haven't read them. In fact, Secretary of State John Kerry testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he had not read them nor, to the best of his knowledge, had anyone else in the government. The Associated Press revealed the contents of one of the secret agreements late [Wednesday] afternoon. According to the AP report, "Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site [Parchin] it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such [inspection] work."
Taking Our Country Back: From Whom?
Let's assume, for fun, that Donald Trump's supporters are thinking with their brains, not their viscera. If so, they will want to know that the issue he has lassoed for self-aggrandizement has been utterly demagogued. Trump is playing them for chumps. A young woman was murdered by an illegal alien in a so-called "sanctuary city." Awful, of course. San Francisco's officials bear some of the blame for Kate Steinle's death by declining to enforce the law. But Trump has abused the trust of his audiences by suggesting that an illegal immigrant crime spree is the great threat to our nation. Trump admirers yearn to "take our country back." From whom? From Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Al Sharpton, The New York Times, Jon Stewart and Hillary Clinton? Or from Mexican illegals?
This Is What Tourette Syndrome Looks Like
Veronica is profoundly grateful for all the prayers, kindness and advice from strangers, friends and family alike that she received earlier this summer when I first told you about her plight. We hope sharing the rest of her story can help pay it forward in some way. In May, she stopped breathing normally. Describing the condition in words cannot adequately capture how torturous it was: She felt "air hunger" with every inhalation. At first, it looked and sounded like a gentle sigh. But the small gasps soon morphed into a horrible "stridor," up to 30 to 40 times a minute, every minute, every hour, every day.
Our Politicians Are Broken, Not Our Immigration System
"Today, our immigration system is broken, and everybody knows it," President Barack Obama declared in a speech last November. "Our nation's immigration system is broken, and I think we need to work together to fix it," House Speaker John Boehner said the same month. They are wrong. Some laws that regulate legal immigration may need adjustment. But our immigration system is not broken. The politicians charged with enforcing it are.
The Beginning of the End of Religious Freedom
Just in case you need a refresher: Back in 2012, a baker in the Denver suburb of Lakewood was asked by a gay couple to make them a wedding cake — two years before gay marriage was even legalized in Colorado. The owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Jack Phillips, declined to participate in Charlie Craig and David Mullins' celebration because such an event conflicted with his Christian faith. Here are a few things Phillips didn't do: He didn't query consumers about their sexual preferences. He didn't bar same-sex couples from purchasing a cake at a place of public accommodation. He didn't ask consumers traveling in same-sex pairs to leave his shop. He didn't hang a "No Gays Allowed" sign in his window.
It's Time to Take on Trump
Is Donald Trump the Republican Party's "Music Man"? Is he the celebrity con man who's going to lead the GOP's parade of candidates from now all the way until next November? I hope not, but so far that's exactly what the 2016 script is looking like. Trump — a political novice — has been leading the Republican's presidential marching band all over the political landscape. His campaign's theme song should be "Seventy-Six Trombones." Trump — a political novice — has been leading the Republican's presidential marching band all over the political landscape. His campaign's theme song should be "Seventy-Six Trombones."
Hypocrites Line Up on Sesame Street
The churning of market forces in television are once again forcing the question of why Americans are spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars a year on public broadcasting. On August 13, HBO announced it was buying all-new episodes of the iconic PBS show "Sesame Street," delaying their debut on PBS for nine months. Decades of liberal mockery of Republicans for wanting to "kill Big Bird" just collapsed in an ugly pile. The show that was supposedly dedicated to poor kids in "underserved" communities was just sold to the highest-bidding paywall in Yuppie Land. Before that they were negotiating with Amazon and Netflix as well.
Peter Schramm: 'You Americans Invented Freedom'
Peter Schramm has died. I knew it was coming. He'd been struggling with cancer. But it felt particularly poignant given that I was in Europe, a place Peter had little patience for. It was an attitude he inherited from his father. During World War II, before Peter was born, William Schramm had been conscripted by the Nazis to work in a munitions factory. The Allies dropped leaflets warning that a bombing run was imminent. The Nazis demanded that everyone report for work anyway. William refused.
Liberal Double Standards and Planned Parenthood
Liberals are famous for shaming conservatives for their past associations with questionable characters, while they exempt themselves from the same standards. What a shocker! Every other week, a liberal Twitter troll cites a Republican politician's innocent appearance at some long-forgotten political event with the likes of a Ku Klux Klan member, hoping to besmirch his reputation. Better yet, sometimes one of them will post a black-and-white photo of such an appearance, as if it's a smoking gun that will end the hapless Republican's career.
Donald Trump's Half-Serious, Half-Fantasy Immigration Plan
Donald Trump's six-page platform on immigration may not be, as Ann Coulter wrote, "the greatest political document since the Magna Carta." But given the issue's role in elevating the candidate to leading Republican polls, it merits serious attention. And at least some of the platform's planks are serious. Trump calls for nationwide use, presumably mandatory, of E-Verify, the government system that is supposed to enable prospective employers to verify a job applicant's immigration status.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Fox News Anchored in Stupidity on 14th Amendment
Based on the hysterical flailing at Donald Trump — *He's a buffoon! He's a clown! He calls people names! He's too conservative! He's not conservative enough! He won't give details! His details won't work!* — I gather certain Republicans are determined to drive him from the race. These same Republicans never object to other candidates who lack traditional presidential resumes — Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain, to name a few. I'm beginning to suspect it's all about Trump's opposition to mass immigration from the Third World. Amid the hysteria, Trump is the only one speaking clearly and logically, while his detractors keep making utter asses of themselves.
Immigration Excuses
One of the most lame excuses for doing nothing is that we can't do everything. Such excuses have been repeated endlessly, even by some conservatives, when it comes to illegal immigration. We can't deport millions of illegal immigrants already living in the country, some say, so the wise thing is to just learn to live with them, according to the supposedly sophisticated crowd.
Harding and Clinton and History
That 1920s predecessor of President Bill Clinton has again been in the news and in a big way. Last week, the media resounded anew with delightful reports of President Warren Gamaliel Harding's nigh unto maniacal attraction to women, or at least to *some* women, during that period of American history that became known as the Roaring Twenties. According to reports, these women pursued him with the utmost ardor, and last week the media brought forth irrefutable scientific evidence that one of these gals, Nan Britton, had her way with him for years.
Trump Accused of Trashing GOP 'Brand' — By GOP Brand-Trashers
Donald Trump stands accused of "trashing the GOP brand" by many of the same GOP politicians and pundits who have no reluctance in "trashing" the most consequential recent decision made by a Republican president — the decision to go to war in Iraq. When asked a few months ago whether he would have authorized the 2003 war in Iraq, as his brother President George W. Bush did, Republican candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush first said yes, "I would have." Then, when criticized days later, the younger Bush did a 180: "So here's the deal. If we're all supposed to answer hypothetical questions, knowing what we know now, I would not have engaged. I would not have gone into Iraq." Other Republican candidates — with the exception of Sen. Lindsey Graham — quickly jumped on board the "I wouldn't have gone into Iraq" bus.
Boot Camp Not Benefits
Since his party's impressive election victory in May, Prime Minister David Cameron is moving quickly to fulfill his campaign promise to ensure welfare benefits are no longer a way of life for many of his fellow citizens. Instead of open-ended benefits for the unemployed, the government, beginning in April 2017, will require young people between 18 and 21 who don't have jobs, but are collecting welfare, to attend three-week "boot camps" to prepare them for work in a rapidly improving economy. If they refuse, they will be denied benefits if they are unemployed for six months.
Big Government as the New Terminator
Social observers from Aristotle and Juvenal to James Madison and George Orwell have all warned of the dangers of out-of-control government. Lately, we have seen plenty of proof that they were frighteningly correct. The Environmental Protection Agency spilled 3 million gallons of toxic sludge into a tributary of the Animas River in Colorado. The stinky yellow flume of old mine waste — rife with cancer-causing mercury and arsenic — threatens to pollute the drinking and recreational water of three states.
Honoring Ike With a Monstrosity
We could wearily shrug, say "Oh, well," and economize waste and annoyance by just building the proposed $142 million Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. But long after its perpetrators are gone, it would squat there, representing Washington at its worst and proving that we have forgotten how to nurture our national memory with intelligent memorials. This saga of arrogance and celebrity worship began in 1999 when Congress created the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission (EMC). Sixteen years later, and eight years after the project's 2007 scheduled completion, scores of millions have been squandered and there is no memorial and no immediate prospect of building one.
Democrat Denounces Deal, Obama AWOL
[Tuesday], Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced his opposition to President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. So too did Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), the previous chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Easing the Strains Between Japan and South Korea
As world attention has recently been focused elsewhere, longstanding tensions between two critical U.S. allies, Japan and South Korea, have quietly been easing. This is the result of initiatives by the leaders of both countries, as well as the concerted efforts of diplomats. That's good news for Washington, since together the three nations can better address common security challenges and achieve shared diplomatic and economic objectives.