Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Is Rand Paul a Racist for Opposing Loretta Lynch?
The Congressional Black Caucus will forgo no opportunity to retard black progress in America and undermine the ideals that were once understood to be the goals of the civil rights movement. In the latest example, the caucus has issued a press release calling Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) a racist for opposing confirmation of Loretta Lynch as the next U.S. Attorney General. Paul earlier issued a press release stating three reasons for his opposition to Lynch. The caucus ignored two and called the third, her support for civil asset forfeiture, "…nothing but an excuse to keep an African American legal scholar from holding this high position…"
Obama Routinely Breaches Bipartisan Deals
Among so many of President Obama's flaws, near the top of the list is that he has never understood the art of the deal. Every successful president has cut deals with the other party to strategically advance his own agenda. Give a little, get a little. Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Reagan and Clinton were masters at this aspect of politics. Obama rejected the convention of reaching across the aisle from the very start. In his first two years in office this White House never moved an inch in the GOP's direction and passed his major bills on stimulus and Obamacare without a single Republican vote. Those bills were written with zero input from Republicans and when asked why, he haughtily lectured "we won the election." Then he pouts the Republicans were no help.
Un-Manning Manning
Bradley Manning is in prison for treason -- and now the Obama administration wants to help him break another law: nature's. The national security leaker, whose espionage put countless Americans at risk, is demanding that the U.S. Army -- not just recognize, but *finance* -- his gender transition. Since 2013, when he officially changed his name to Chelsea, he's fought to put taxpayers on the hook for his transgenderism. Now, two years later, it seems the Army is more than willing to cater to the traitor's whims, including footing the bill for thousands of dollars in radical hormone therapy. Col. Eric Nelson, Commandant of Fort Leavenworth finally caved to the convict's demands after pressure from the ACLU and others. "After carefully considering the recommendation that (hormone treatment) is medically appropriate and necessary... I approve adding (it) to Inmate Manning's treatment plan." Of course, one of the problems with that decision (and there are several) is that it violates the Defense Department's own policy, which bars funding for this kind of "treatment."
Holocausts & Other Horrors
Just when you think every actor is a narcissistic nincompoop along comes Sir Ben ("Gandhi," "Schindler's List") Kingsley, who sadly observed that Europe never grieved over the Holocaust. Asked if he thought it could ever happen again, he said, "Of course," noting that Hitler once asked "Who remembers the Armenians?" referencing the first holocaust of the 20th century when 1.5 million Armenian Christians were slaughtered by the Islamic Turks. Relating a personal anecdote, Kingsley reports that he was on the set of a Holocaust-related film being shot in Budapest when an elderly Hungarian passing by said, "It never happened, and if you don't shut up it will happen again."
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Curb Your Pessimism
Barack Obama's tone of mild exasperation when tutoring the public often makes his pronouncements grating even when they are sensible. As was his recent suggestion that Americans, misled by media, are exaggerating the threat of terrorism. The world might currently seem unusually disorderly, but it can be so without being unusually dangerous. If we measure danger by the risk of violence, the world is unusually safe. For this and other reasons, Americans should curb their pessimism. The Washington Post's Anne Applebaum recently reminded readers that in three decades of terror the Irish Republican Army murdered more than 2,000. And Italy's Red Brigades committed many attacks, killings and kidnappings. Both groups had foreign support. The Islamic State is dangerous, but the West has faced, and surmounted, worse. The Islamic State poses neither an existential threat nor even a serious threat to the social cohesion or functioning of any developed nation.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
SPLC -- Sliming Ben Carson, Smearing Pro-Life Christians
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has taken Dr. Ben Carson's name off their "list" of extremists. Isn't that charitable? The idea that SPLC gets to sit in its comfortable offices and make lists of Americans to smear ought to be offensive. Liberals are forever re-living the horrors of Joe McCarthy's "list-making," but seem to have little problem with SPLC. Maybe that acronym for that outfit, SPLC, should stand for "Smearing Pro-Life Christians." Dr. Carson is the very kind of person for whom SPLC was founded, or claims to have been founded. They originally wanted to Southerners who were black and poor and constantly being intimidated and harassed by the Ku Klux Klan. There's no argument with defending those fellow Americans whose rights are being threatened by terrorists.
From The Comedy Store
NBC News anchor Brian Williams admitted he wasn't in a U.S. Army helicopter in Iraq that was shot down by enemy fire twelve years ago as he's claimed. It wasn't true at all. NBC is considering improving the credibility of the NBC Nightly News by replacing Brian Williams with Lance Armstrong.
Pinheads & Primaries
Taking a page from Obama's playbook, Al Jazeera America (and how is that for an oxymoron?) has banned such words as "extremist," "Islamist" and "jihad" from its broadcasts, suggesting it may soon be an all-music network. In explaining the rationale for all this pandering to terrorists, an AJA executive said, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." I didn't catch the fellow's name, but it might have been Michael Moore, Bill Maher or Josh Earnest. Speaking of the sleazy, slick-haired Maher, he has declared Chris Kyle, the legendary American Sniper, a psychopath. But Bill Maher, who has never failed to live up to his initials, has always been something of a joke. But for someone who bills himself as comedian, he's never been a funny one.
Presidents' Day Musings
Let me begin with Presidents' Day. It's a nice long weekend. But it says nothing about the greatness of certain American presidents. Whatever happened to Washington's Birthday? Or Lincoln's Birthday? Of course, I could go for Reagan's Birthday. And I'll bet my pal Amity Shlaes would pull for Coolidge's Birthday. Whatever your favorite president's birthday might be, you must admit that not all presidents were made the same. I still believe Founding Father George Washington was our greatest president, with Lincoln a close second. But Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan, James Garfield and Jimmy Carter aren't in the running. I knew Millard Fillmore, and Millard Fillmore was no Abe Lincoln.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Lemmings Over the Cliff
Republicans won big in November on the hopes that a GOP-led Congress could counterbalance President Obama's imperial presidency. But as the deadline approaches to fund the Department of Homeland Security (Feb. 27), it looks like Republicans would rather play chicken with Democrats than actually get something accomplished. The House has passed a bill funding DHS that includes provisions to undo the president's actions on immigration. Even many of us who support comprehensive immigration reform, including giving some illegal immigrants the ability to earn legal status, have grave reservations about the president's approach. His decision to use executive action to circumvent Congress is a dangerous precedent -- but this is something the courts should decide. A suit filed by 26 states is before a district court in Texas at the moment, and a decision could be handed down any day.
Cui Bono?
"Cui bono?" Who benefits? It was the question ancient Romans asked when hoping to cut through a fog of possible causes for a problem. As of this morning, U.S. Marines were evacuating Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. We've seen this movie before: the bonfires of documents, the hammer blows to equipment, the disabling of weapons, the rush to the helicopters. Think Saigon 1973 or Tehran 1979. Only five months ago, President Obama touted his policy toward Yemen as a success: "This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen..." Well.
NBC's Ridiculous Williams Suspension
Brian Williams' six-month suspension has fallen flat. His critics aren't mollified. His supporters are clearly dispirited. Everyone knows this one is not over -- though his tenure at NBC may very well be done. The suspension isn't going to work for the same reason his apology went nowhere. It resolves nothing. Hubris. So many celebrities -- be they politicians, journalists, artists -- refuse to accept that the cover-up and obfuscation is always worse than the crime. Time and again, when honesty and humility beckon, they are nowhere to be found. So it was with Richard Nixon. Had he accepted personal responsibility, immediately, and then taken the steps, immediately, to investigate and resolve the matter, there would have been no Watergate scandal marring his legacy.
Obama Is a Good BS'er, but He's a Terrible Liar
It's pretty simple. If you lie, lie about the right things. It's not difficult to imagine a pro-choice candidate winning the presidency. But imagine, if you can, a president whose position on abortion "evolves" after the election. Imagine this president advocating that all innocent human life is worth protecting. Imagine that she appoints judges to solidify her new pro-life attitude. And then imagine that the president's top adviser informs us that the president was a pro-lifer all along. I imagine that would be a pretty big story. Politicians break their promises and modify their positions all the time, of course. They BS us about their opinions and carefully craft identities that are palatable to the average voter. When a person enters this political universe, we need to accept that most of the things we hear are, at best, poetic truths.
Conservatives Face Bad-Faith Question of Faith
At an event in London on trade policy, Scott Walker was asked about evolution. "It's almost a tradition now," the moderator said, to ask "senior Republicans" if they are "comfortable with the idea of evolution." "I'm going to punt on that one as well," the Wisconsin governor replied. "That's a question a politician shouldn't be involved in one way or another." It wasn't a great answer, though there have been worse ones. But it was also a bad question, even though it's a favorite among liberal journalists in the U.S., and apparently across the pond, too.
Obama's Cynical Web of Deceit on Same-Sex Marriage
I am not surprised that President Obama lied to the nation in 2008 when he told us he opposed same-sex marriage, but I confess that I didn't expect his insiders to be so brazen as to come right out and admit it. How could I be surprised about Obama's lie? He has lied about so many things -- things that can't be flippantly dismissed as the typical politician's puffing -- including, to name a few, energy, entitlements, "flexibility" on missile defense, his support for Israel, Operation Fast and Furious, Benghazi, transparency, earmarks, lobbyists, the budget, unemployment, single-payer health insurance, the public option, keeping your plans and doctors, and bipartisanship. In my book "The Great Destroyer," I wrote about Obama's deceitful history on same-sex marriage, and it didn't begin in 2008. He signed a questionnaire in 1996 indicating his support for it and then later denied it was his signature. Years later, however, his then press secretary, Jay Carney, admitted it was in fact Obama's signature.
Rotherham Victim: We Were 'Sacrificed' by British Left
The horrific story of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, England has taken another tawdry turn. "Jessica," who was victimized as a child, insists local politicians "buried the truth to suit their own ends." "I've said all along that this has been about two things – money and power," she explained. "Girls like me were sacrificed because no one wanted the boat rocked because they knew it'd cost them votes if the finger of blame was pointed and because they thought we were worthless." The votes to which Jessica refers are those of the Asian community that Britain's Labour Party needed to maintain its power base in Rotherham. "There was an echelon of people who scratched each other's backs," revealed Solicitor Dave Greenwood, who is representing 38 victims in this burgeoning scandal. "But I think there's an 'X Factor' at play here. It's quite apparent there was a feeling of the need to maintain the Asian vote to preserve Labour's majority in the town," he added.
REPORT: Home Is Where the Hurt Is
There are times when no one wants to be right. And FRC's fifth annual "Index of Family Belonging and Rejection" is one of them. With marriage rates in a freefall and liberals tinkering with the recipe for the family, experts warned that there were bleak days ahead for our country. [Thursday], one of those experts -- FRC's Dr. Pat Fagan -- explains why in an alarming new report on the health of the family in America. After combing through U.S. census data, the results are stunning. Dr. Fagan's team tracked the number of 15 to 17-year-olds who grew up with their married biological parents, and found the intact family in a full-blown meltdown. Only 46% of these teenagers lived in an intact home (down 20% since 1950). And while the number is slightly higher for white teenagers (54%), jaws dropped at the data for the African-American community.
Crusaders and Appeasers
His secretary of defense says "the world is exploding all over." His attorney general says that the threat of terror "keeps me up at night." The world bears them out. On Tuesday, American hostage Kayla Mueller is confirmed dead. On Wednesday, the U.S. evacuates its embassy in Yemen, cited by President Obama last September as an American success in fighting terrorism. Yet Obama's reaction to, shall we say, turmoil abroad has been one of alarming lassitude and passivity. Not to worry, says his national security adviser: This is not World War II. As if one should be reassured because the current chaos has yet to achieve the level of the most devastating conflict in human history. Indeed, insists the president, the real source of our metastasizing anxiety is ... the news media.
Attention, San Fran Nan: Government Dependency Kills Jobs
Being a San Francisco liberal means never having to say you're sorry. Or wrong. Take Nancy Pelosi, please. Five years ago, California's genius Bay Area Democrat declared that government unemployment checks generate job growth. Yes, really. "Let me say about unemployment insurance," she told reporters, "this is one of the biggest stimuluses (sic) to our economy. Economists will tell you, this money is spent quickly. It injects demand into the economy and is job creating." She babbled on: "It creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name, because, again, it is money that is needed for families to survive, and it is spent. So it has a double benefit. It helps those who've lost their jobs, but it also is a job creator."
Obama's Quest for a Grand Bargain With Iran Seems Unwise
"We will extend a hand if you are unwilling to unclench your fist," President Obama proclaimed in his inaugural address in January 2009. He characterized those to whom this was addressed in negative terms, but the implication was that this president, unlike his predecessor, would be willing to negotiate with and make concessions to unfriendly nations. It is a promise he has striven to keep, with Russia initially and Cuba more recently, but most of all to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The hand has been extended, more than once. But has the fist come unclenched? That question has become increasingly uncomfortable and pressing as negotiations over nuclear weapons drag on. In a 9,000-word article in Mosaic magazine, former Bush staffer Michael Doran makes a powerful case that the answer is no -- and that "a grand bargain with Iran" has been and remains the central goal of Obama's foreign policy.