Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Monday, March 23, 2015
A Time for Clarity
Freedom House, which publishes an annual report measuring freedom around the world, rating nations based on political rights and civil liberties, has recently issued its 2015 report. According to this report, there is only one free nation in the Middle East region. It so happens that it is the one nation that seems to trouble our American president the most – Israel. Freedom House rates on a scale of 1-7, "1" being the most free and "7" the least. Israel is rated 1.5, receiving a grade of 1 on political rights and 2 on civil liberties. The Israeli democracy just held free elections and gave a sound victory to current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The $7.2 Trillion Difference Between Obama’s Budget and House GOP Budget
Sometimes in Washington it seems as George Wallace used to grouse: "There ain't a dime's worth of difference between the two parties." Well when it comes to the latest budgets of the two parties, the difference is closer to $2.6 trillion over the next 5 years or $7.2 trillion over the next 10 years. On Tuesday Tom Price, the new chairman of the House Budget Committee, released the GOP budget blueprint for the years ahead. It's the anti-Obama budget. It repeals Obamacare. It eliminates scores of wasteful programs. It makes room for tax reform, a needed ingredient to growth. It block grants many of the welfare programs back to the states. It balances the budget by 2024. Oh and it sticks to the budget caps and saves the sequester process which, as we pointed out on Monday, is critical to preserving fiscal discipline in Washington. Bravo.
It's Election 'Day' for a Reason
Except for diplomats posted abroad, early voting isn't an option in Israeli elections. So when Israel's election day dawned on Tuesday, with impressions of the campaign's home stretch fresh in voters' minds, no one in the country had yet cast a ballot. The giant pre-election rallies in Tel Aviv, the final flurry of ads, the polls showing the main opposition party in the lead, the prime minister's unexpected repudiation of a Palestinian state: Together Israelis had taken it all in, and together Israelis would put it all to a vote. That experience of a collective Election Day is one that voters in the United States used to take for granted. No longer.
Videographers Fast-Forward to Marriage Fight
A pair of Ohio videographers are getting a close-up of religious intolerance, thanks to a clash with local activists. Like a growing number of Americans, Courtney Schmackers is finding out firsthand what's really behind the redefinition of marriage. Last month, the owner of Next Door Stories got what most Christian wedding vendors are starting to dread: an inquiry from a same-sex couple. The email asked if they could schedule an appointment to talk with the videographers about filming their upcoming same-sex "wedding." In a scene that's played out all across the country, Courtney sent a polite response suggesting that they try another production company. "Thank you for reaching out about wedding videography... Unfortunately at this time, I do not offer services for same-sex weddings, but thank you for your inquiry!"
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Social Inequality's Deepening Roots
The rate of dog ownership is rising ominously. How can a profusion of puppies be worrisome? A report from the Raymond James financial services firm concerning trends in the housing market explains: Increasing numbers of women "are adopting dogs for security and/or companionship," partly because of "the great education divide." Since 1979, the report says, the number of women going to college has accelerated relative to male enrollments. By 2012, there were 2.8 million more women than men in college, and by 2020 this "enrollment gap" is projected to grow to 4.4 million as women account for 74 percent of enrollment growth. In 2000, the adult populations of college-educated men and women were approximately equal. By 2013, there were 4.9 million more women 25 or older with college degrees than men in that age group. This means a shortage of suitable male partners for a growing cohort of young women, who are postponing family formation. The report says millions of female-led households are being established by women who, being focused on their careers, are delaying motherhood, partly because of a shortage of suitable partners. More about suitability anon.
Playing Hide-and-Seek With Common Sense
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Although I understood that when George W. Bush was in the White House and the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress, America did not enter the state of Nirvana. Far from it. Bush banned incandescent bulbs; wasted fifteen billion dollars fighting AIDS on a continent where those suffering from the disease were convinced that the surest cure was having sex with a young virgin; and micromanaged the war in Iraq by insisting that we re-build every structure a minute after either we or the enemy had knocked it down. In the meantime, Republican senators fluttered their collective eyelashes at Ted Kennedy, hoping in their girlish hearts that he would invite them to the senior prom. I had assumed that after the shellacking they took over the next few years, they had learned their lesson. But, obviously, I was mistaken. Mea culpa.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
From The Comedy Store
UCLA law professors said the SAE's at OU have the same free speech right to sing the N-word in their fraternity songs as rap artists have to sing the N-word in their rap songs. It's so exhausting. Today Rodney King would look into the TV camera and ask Americans why can't we all just sing along.
Netanyahu in Tall Cotton
The foreign policy clerisy in this country was loud in its denunciation of Arkansas freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R) when he circulated a Round Robin letter with the signatures of 47 GOP senators. Sen. Cotton's letter simply states the obvious truth that no "executive agreement" with Iran can be guaranteed past the expiration of Mr. Obama's constitutionally limited term of office. Election returns from Israel show that Sen. Cotton was right. Israeli voters appreciated the strong support given to a realistic policy toward Iran and its dangerous drive for nuclear weapons. Israeli voters have to take seriously the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon. Mr. Obama's feckless Sec. of State, John Kerry, is paving Iran's pathway to a nuclear weapon. Many of the same chin pulling graybeards who tut-tutted over the Cotton letter also protested Prime Minister Netanyahu's acceptance of Speaker Boehner's invitation to address Congress. They and their Democratic Party-aligned flacks and hacks objected that it was "a violation of protocol" for the Prime Minister to speak to Americans and the world from the rostrum of the House of Representatives.
Petraeus Puts the Icing on Bibi's Iran Cake
Don't just rely on Benjamin Netanyahu's passionate advice to Congress on his way to reelection that Iran is our archenemy. Now we have the counsel of retired general David Petraeus, who gave a remarkable interview this week to the Washington Post. Petraeus agrees with Netanhayhu: Iran, not ISIS, is the real enemy. His message: "I would argue that the foremost threat to Iraq's long-term stability and the broader regional equilibrium is not the Islamic State; rather, it is Shiite militias, many backed by -- and some guided by -- Iran." The general adds, "Longer-term, Iranian-backed Shia militia could emerge as the preeminent power in the country, one that is outside the control of the government and instead answerable to Tehran."
Friday, March 20, 2015
Abandoning Our Friends
The Obama administration seems to have taken the old adage about keeping friends close but enemies closer to new extremes, judging from the reaction to the Israeli elections. The United States has no real friends in the Middle East, save Israel. Our strategic relationships with other governments, from Saudi Arabia to Jordan to Egypt and others, are not true friendships but are based on mutual self-interest. They can and do change depending on circumstances and players. We were allied with Egypt under Hosni Mubarak, but abandoned him when the Arab Spring promised new, democratic leadership. Then -- thankfully -- we restrained our support for his successor, Mohammed Morsi, who turned out to be no democrat, despite being elected.
Forbidden 'Diversity' at The New York Times
Sound the trumpets. The New York Times announced on March 18 that is bringing in 20 new online-focused writers as contributors for its op-ed and Sunday Review sections. In an interview, Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal claimed, "We were looking for a broad range of viewpoints and subjects and backgrounds and geographical locations and every kind of form of diversity that you can think of." Lower the trumpets. Bring in the fact checker. It seems viewpoint-diverse Times can't seem to locate a conservative acceptable to executives prowling the halls in the snooty Times offices in midtown Manhattan. Some names on the list are easily identified as radical-left. Start with Michael Eric Dyson, MSNBC contributor known for comparing Obama to God and suggesting Rush Limbaugh "is trying to foment a universe of bigotocracy."
Does Starbucks Want an Honest Conversation?
Starbucks is hoping to lead a national conversation about race. According to a video released by founder Howard Schultz, Starbucks baristas are encouraged to scrawl "race together" on coffee cups before placing them in the hands of customers. This hollow bit of moral exhibitionism is supposed to encourage "compassion," "honesty," "empathy" and "love." Does Starbucks sell caffeine-free compassion? Each and every time we're hectored to engage in an "honest conversation" about race, it's a sham. What's wanted is not honesty, but confession of sin by white people and expressions of pain from blacks and others. Decade after decade, despite vastly diminishing levels of white racism (and the rapid growth of non-white populations), we are told that the old stain of racism continues to poison the lives of minorities. By encouraging that fiction, Starbucks is subtracting from racial understanding.
Obama Takes His Rage to World Stage
Why is The New York Times lamenting the souring of the personal relationship between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead of assuming Obama will subordinate his personal feelings to America's national interest? Well, probably because they know he won't. He's a man scorned -- and he's getting more and more dangerous. Scorned? Yes, because when you don't bow to the wishes of a man with his personality, he apparently takes it as a personal affront. That's why we read in Politico, "In the wake of Netanyahu's decisive reelection, the Obama administration is revisiting longtime assumptions about America's role as a shield for Israel against international pressure."
Obama's 'Signature Achievement' Will Be Bypassing the Constitution
For a guy who's not a fan of certain foreign leaders, Barack Obama sure does place a tremendous amount of trust in the good will of other nations. For legacy-building purposes, for example, the administration trusts that Iran will police its own nuclear ambitions -- or, as John Kerry might put it, we've entered into a nonbinding agreement that is also not based on trust. The same goes for the Chinese government, whom we will soon have to trust so the president can get his legacy-building global-warming deal. As it's been reported, Obama is working hard to nail down what he hopes will be one of his "signature achievements": a wide-ranging global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If all things go according to plan, the agreement will be signed in December. And as with most of the president's triumphs since 2010, this one will be nonbinding and unenforceable, accomplished with unprecedented executive fiat. If he keeps this up, Obama's single most notable achievement will be circumventing checks and balances with more regularity than any president in history.
Coffee, Tea, or a Frank Discussion on Race?
Starbucks is easy to make fun of on its best days, what with the pretentious names for everyday items, never mind the ridiculously high prices for those same everyday items. Even the cashiers have fancy monikers -- "barista." The snootiness is by design, of course. And you can make fun of it all you want; it's worked. Using many of the same techniques realtors have employed to hawk borderline tenements as unique gateways to the urban experience, Starbucks has managed to educate the consumer that it's OK to pay through the nose for what used to be a "cuppa joe." Even that slightly burnt taste is spun as a feature, not a bug. We're subtly informed, "That's the way it's supposed to taste, you philistine."
Will Hispanics Fire Up America?
"Firing up America" is the cover line on the March 20 issue of The Economist, heralding a 16-page special report on America's Latinos. Its tone is resolutely upbeat -- perhaps a bit too much so. "America is lucky to have millions of energetic young people filling its schools with kids who will eventually pay taxes and fund pensions and health care for the old," The Economist writes. "Like other immigrants, they talk a lot about the American Dream. By that they mean the baby boomers' hopes of home ownership, a college education and upward mobility." Unfortunately, it's not clear how many young Hispanics will achieve those elements of the American dream or whether they'll provide quite as bounteous a source of funding for Social Security and Medicare as The Economist's cheery summary suggests.
The Challenge: Pruning Our Lives
Jesus often taught through metaphors and parables, using tangible truths to shed light on spiritual matters. It makes sense that he taught this way, not simply because physical things are easier to understand, but because God patterned the world so we can look for and discover His truth everywhere we turn. One of Jesus' most recognizable metaphors is one he shared with his disciples at the last supper, on the eve of his crucifixion. His image of a gardener at work can be found in John 15. It begins, "I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener…" A vinedresser constantly watches over his vineyard, cutting away and pruning branches as they grow and decay and harvesting the fruit as it ripens. But though his care is constant, the dormant season just before spring is reserved for heavy pruning -- when the gardener cuts away drastically to ready the vine for new growth. Just before Jesus goes to the cross, he tells them about this; this cutting away that is necessary if believers are to grow in the new life he is about to die to offer them.
At NJ School, Chalk It Up to Intolerance
Is it possible to be *too Catholic* to teach at Catholic school? New Jersey's Immaculata High School thinks so. In a story that would be shocking even for a public school, Immaculata suspended a long-time teacher for defending what its own church espouses about marriage! Patricia Jannuzzi didn't make the comments in class -- or even during school time. But when she used her personal Facebook to express her personal views, the attack quickly turned personal too. Like Dr. Ben Carson (and science!), Patricia believes homosexual behavior is a choice. So when the popular Republican came under fire for saying as much, Jannuzzi backed him up in a post. "They (advocates of same-sex marriage)," she wrote, "want to reengineer western civ into a slow extinction. We need healthy families with a mother and a father for the sake of the children and humanity!" Furious that Dan Savage lived up to his name with another disgusting tweet, Patricia shared an article about his rant (so vile we can't repeat it) against Carson.
Bibi for President
I wonder how many million Americans were fantasizing Netanyahu in the Oval Office as he spoke sense from the same podium used by Obama to spew left-wing baby talk just six weeks earlier. Besides the content of their remarks, the major difference is that Obama spoke to a full house, whereas Netanyahu addressed a chamber from which a great many Democrats and one Republican pinhead, Walter Jones of North Carolina, had excused themselves. The absentees included Joe Biden, Sens. Al Franken (MN), Elizabeth Warren (MA), Tim Caine (VA), Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders (VT), Martin Heinrich (NMex), Steve Cohen (TN), Brian Schatz (HI), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI); nearly the entire Congressional Black Caucus (although Charley Rangel at the last minute decided to attend); and the two Muslim members of the House, Andre Carson (Ind) and Keith Ellison (MN).
No Peace in Our Time
Of all the idiocies uttered in reaction to Benjamin Netanyahu's stunning election victory, none is more ubiquitous than the idea that peace prospects are now dead because Netanyahu has declared that there will be no Palestinian state while he is Israel's prime minister. I have news for the lowing herds: There would be no peace and no Palestinian state if Isaac Herzog were prime minister either. Or Ehud Barak or Ehud Olmert for that matter. The latter two were (non-Likud) prime ministers who offered the Palestinians their own state -- with its capital in Jerusalem and every Israeli settlement in the new Palestine uprooted -- only to be rudely rejected. This is not ancient history. This is 2000, 2001 and 2008 -- three astonishingly concessionary peace offers within the last 15 years. Every one rejected.