Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Black Lives Matter Racists Strike Again
Ferguson, MO turned once again into a scene of violent race hatred when a man police authorities say opened fire on them on the anniversary of Michael Brown's death was critically wounded when police returned fire. He released a "remarkable amount of gunfire" against the officers using a stolen handgun, explained St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar. That incident occurred shortly after "an exchange of gunfire between two groups" Belmar described as criminals, not protesters. "There is a small group of people out there that are intent on making sure that peace doesn't prevail," he said.
Monday, August 10, 2015
A Black Skin Privilege Tax?
Citizens sign a petition for a “white privilege" tax — but black privilege is just as pervasive, if not more so.
About Thursday Night...
There were plenty of good lines from Thursday's presidential debate, but Senator Marco Rubio (Fla.) summed it up best: "God has blessed us. He's blessed the GOP with very good candidates. The Democrats can't even find one." Of course, oceans of ink have already been spilled on the dissection of the candidates' performance (or lack thereof), but the senator from Florida is right: if you're looking for losers, Cleveland didn't have a whole lot.
Islam Is Lame
Barack Obama and John Kerry are taking bows for the deal they cut with Iran. I wonder how long it will take before they realize that being compared to Neville Chamberlain isn't a compliment. In an old joke, the president's wife is asked: "Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" Brought up to date, it would read: "But aside from Tel Aviv, Rome, London, Paris and New York, being nuked, President Obama, would you still insist it was a good deal?" It is sometimes said about a deal that the Devil is in the details. In this instance, you will find the Devil on the signature lines.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
What Does It Mean to Be a Democrat?
On ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Matthew Dowd identified four factions that make up the Republican Party: the Tea Party, libertarians, social conservatives and establishment Republicans. Note that three of these groups are identified almost exclusively by how they think. Arguably the fourth is as well. The Republican Party definitely attracts people who take ideas seriously. What about the Democratic Party? It's tempting to say that Democrats are liberal. But did you know that the base of the party — those that are the most reliable supporters of Democratic candidates — are not particularly liberal at all?
When History Books Make History
History books can be historic events, making history by ending important arguments. They can make it impossible for any intellectually honest person to assert certain propositions that once enjoyed considerable currency among people purporting to care about evidence. The author of one such book, Robert Conquest, an Englishman who spent many years at Stanford's Hoover Institution, has died at 98, having outlived the Soviet Union that he helped to kill with information. Historian, poet, journalist and indefatigable controversialist, Conquest was born when Soviet Russia was, in 1917, and in early adulthood he was a communist. Then, combining a convert's zeal and a scholar's meticulousness, he demolished the doctrine that the Soviet regime was a recognizable variant of the European experience and destined to "convergence" toward Western norms.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Who Will Stop the Sanctuary Madness?
Republican candidates for president have fittingly come to Ohio to debate, among other things, immigration policy. In late July, the United States House and Senate heard testimonies from families of Americans murdered by illegal aliens who had been shielded from deportation by sanctuary policies. The consequences of these policies hit home in Ohio just a few days later when Margaret Kostelnik was shot and killed in her home by an illegal alien who later confessed to her murder in addition to the attempted rape of a 14-year-old girl, the shooting of another woman (who thankfully survived) in front of her two young children, and for firing at police officers, all on the same day.
Beggars Shouldn't Be Choosers
The worst thing about our elections is that Democrats win far too often. But the reason they do is because millions of people are voting who, in a sane world, would be disenfranchised. I realize that sounds terribly elitist, but why should people who rely on government handouts rather than their own efforts be allowed to elect those whom they bribe with their votes? Although I am as conservative as they come, I have no idea why we have a defense budget. For one thing, Obama refuses to even consider taking up arms against our existential enemies in the Middle East. For another thing, millions of Americans are quite willing to not only allow Iran to become a nuclear power, but only too happy to fork over $150 billion to help finance their worldwide terrorist activities.
Friday, August 7, 2015
Tracking the Trends
Why do we follow the news? To be informed, of course. We naturally want to be aware of what's happening at home and around the world. In one sense, we've never been better equipped to do that. News is available 24/7/365. We read it, listen to it and watch it. And we do so with ease from the most crowded city street to the most remote mountaintop. But while this constant stream of information is certainly handy, it can also make it difficult to see the big picture. We're always on the ground, seeing what's right in front of us. We have only a vague sense of what's already happened — and what to expect.
No Sale, Mr. Obama
Did you catch President Obama's sales speech for his Iranian nuclear deal at American University? My head is still spinning and I think I did something to my back trying to follow the president's arguments on Wednesday afternoon. Basically, the president said if Congress doesn't approve the treaty that he, John Kerry and his State Department softball team made with the ayatollahs, three bad things are gonna happen.
Obama's Lies About Bush and Iraq
The president's speech on the Iranian deal, delivered at American University on Wednesday, was vintage Obama, as in a compendium of demagoguery, historical revisionism and outright lying. Nothing emphasized that more forcefully than the portion of the Obama's speech addressing the war in Iraq. Obama insisted U.S. involvement there was the result of "a mindset characterized by a preference for military action over diplomacy, a mindset that put a premium on unilateral U.S. action over the painstaking work of building international consensus, a mindset that exaggerated threats beyond what the intelligence supported."
Houston Mayor: Whatever Floats Your Vote
Jesus said, "Let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no' be 'no.'" Unfortunately, that'll be a lot harder for Houston voters in the next election. Thanks to an administration that apparently sees people as a nuisance in their advance of an anti-religious freedom agenda, voters will have to pay extra close attention this November, when the Houston bathroom bill is finally on the ballot. Mayor Annise Parker is up to her old tricks — the most recent being her intentional manipulation of the ballot language. Although she and the rest of the council have no choice but to bring the issue up for a vote, they still plan on using every stunt in the book to protect the measure — including muddying the question's wording.
The Core Dishonesty of Abortion Defenders
For decades, I believed that displaying grisly photographs of aborted babies was the wrong way to make the pro-life case. Disturbing images, I thought, would only repel viewers, not persuade them. I now think I was wrong. There are many ways to make an argument. The Center for Medical Progress has demonstrated that a 2 x 4 has its uses. These videos, precisely because they are graphic, shatter the complacency and denial that are essential for a regime of mass violence to proceed. They undermine the reassuring fiction that birth is a bright moral line. Five seconds before the baby emerges, it has no moral worth. Five seconds after — all moral worth. That is untenable logically and pitiless psychologically.
Just Who Is Helping Iran's Hard-Liners?
The latest Quinnipiac poll shows that the American public rejects the president's Iran deal by more than 2-to-1. This is astonishing. The public generally gives the president deference on major treaties. Just a few weeks ago, a majority supported the deal. What happened? People learned what's in it. And don't be fooled by polls that present, as fact, the administration's position *in the very question*. The Washington Post/ABC poll assures the respondent that, for example, "international inspectors would monitor Iran's facilities, and if Iran is caught breaking the agreement economic sanctions would be imposed again. Do you support or oppose this agreement?"
Obama, Not His Opponents, Is Falsely Advertising His Iran Deal
Am I the only one getting tired of President Obama constantly berating his political opponents and accusing them of being bought? Well, he is doing it again, on his Iran nuke deal. You can always tell when Obama is nervous about a policy proposal, because he won't stop talking about it. As disturbing as Obama's militant partisanship is, what's worse is his delusional perception that anyone who disagrees with him is automatically unreasonable and corrupt.
Katie Couric's Islamophilia
Five years ago, Katie Couric exemplified our secular media's Islamophilia when on an online show at CBS, she proclaimed, "Maybe we need a Muslim version of 'The Cosby Show.' I know that sounds crazy, but 'The Cosby Show' did so much to change attitudes about African-Americans in this country, and I think sometimes people are afraid of what they don't understand." Given what's come to light about Cosby, she probably wishes she'd suggested "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" or maybe "Diff'rent Strokes." No matter. What must Osama bin Laden have thought when briefed that America was preparing a new weapon to defeat him — sitcoms?
TCU Reinstates Conservative Student Punished Over Anti-Islam Tweets
On August 4 I told you about Harry Vincent — a conservative Texas Christian University student who was suspended and severely punished for posting a series of online messages that insulted the Islamic State, the Baltimore rioters and Mexicans. On August 5 the private university had a change of heart and reinstated Harry. "The chancellor called me at my home and told me that he decided my punishment was too harsh and he was going to lessen it to one year of probation," Harry told me.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Drug Cartels' 'Vocabulary of Mutilation'
Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a five-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. Fourteen years ago, Guzman escaped from another "maximum security" prison simply by hiding in a laundry cart. With exquisite understatement, The Wall Street Journal reports that his recent escape raised "new concerns about corruption in Mexican law enforcement."
Joe's Last Race Is About to Begin
In addressing my old friend Vice President Joe Biden as he contemplates a run for the White House, I would ask him what he thinks of Hillary Clinton's chances for the presidency. In fact, what would he think of a Clinton presidency in the unlikely event she is nominated and wins? Do I hear four more years of Whitewaters, Travelgates, campaign finance violations, dubious pardons, Johnny Chungs, Charlie Tries and slutty cuties' feet protruding from behind the curtains? Have we not had enough presentiments of her presidency in the brief months of her candidacy, and are they not sufficiently alarming? Can the country or the Democratic Party go through the Clinton scandals all over again? What we have thus far seen from her State Department scandals are very similar to her White House scandals in the 1990s and, come to think of it, to her years in the Arkansas governor's mansion in the 1980s.