Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Who'll Be Looking Down on Baker?
Governor Deval Patrick will be leaving his office on the third floor of the State House in a few weeks. It's a good bet that Governor John Andrew will be leaving at the same time. Patrick, the Commonwealth's 71st chief executive, will be succeeded in January by Charlie Baker, and by tradition each incoming governor chooses the portrait of a predecessor to hang in the corner office. Patrick's choice was John Albion Andrew, the Bay State's 25th governor and an ardent abolitionist best known today for his role in creating the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. It was a fitting salute to the 19th-century Republican who said with conviction that whatever earthly sins he might have to account for, "this I know: that I was never mean enough to despise any man because he was black."
From The Comedy Store
Ferguson looters played to the TV cameras and microphones held by reporters Monday as they tore up the town. The TV reporters refused to ridicule the rioters for their crazy and over-the top behavior. The general rule in journalism is, never make fun of an idiot, he may have friends in Congress.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Ferguson, the 'Local Crime Story'
Last year, Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell stood trial in Philadelphia for the deaths of one woman and seven babies who had their throats slit, but national reporters didn't want to cover it. It's a "local crime story," they said. Washington Post media blogger Erik Wemple said that when he asked national reporters about avoiding the Gosnell story, the typical response was "Get out of my face with this agenda-driven stuff, and come back when you have a real story." Ferguson, Missouri, is merely the latest proof that a "local crime story" can be elevated to national news -- when it's the liberal media's favorite kind of "agenda-driven stuff." A local story about a white cop fatally shooting an unarmed young black man in one St. Louis suburb has dominated the national news, to the point that the networks interrupted primetime TV for an announcement on whether the policeman would be indicted.
Pelosi's Grip Seems to Have Weakened
No one in Washington much cares what House Democrats do these days. House rules tend to ensure that the main job of members of the minority is to show up, vote "no" and lose. And in the next Congress, Democrats will have fewer seats in the House than they've had since 1929 and 1930. So not too much notice was directed last week at Nancy Pelosi's first major intraparty defeat since she became House Democratic leader in 2003. She won that post by defeating colleague Steny Hoyer (they worked as interns in the same Maryland senator's office in the early 1960s) and has been winning fights ever since. Until now.
A Survival Plan for the GOP
Although England has its own problems, there are things about their political system that I'd like us to adopt. First of all, I wish we, too, had a clear delineation between the royal family and the world of politics. In the U.S., we have combined the two so that the President and his family live like royalty while the President simultaneously serves as the Commander-in-chief and the very partisan head of his Party. It's simply too much to expect of any one man. Another aspect of the English system that I prefer is that when the Prime Minister's policies seem unpopular and he wants to guarantee that he is still leading the nation in the direction it wishes to be led, they conduct a vote of confidence. If the opposition then wins a majority of the seats in Parliament, that party selects a new Prime Minister. After the midterm election results, if we had a similar system in place, there is no way that Obama would remain in power for an additional two years.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
14 Things to Be Thankful for in 2014
Every poll of recent months shows Americans in a foul mood when it comes to the economy, their personal finances and the general direction of the nation. Most Americans think the great American Dream -- the idea that our children will achieve a standard of living higher than our own -- is dead. Others say that the environment is on a crash course with planetary devastation due to global warming. And if that doesn't do us in, the deadly virus Ebola may spread like a great plague over the earth. Not a lot to be thankful for. Or is there?
Illegal Alien Benefit Free-for-All
Apparently President Obama's unilateral decision to grant de facto amnesty to five million illegal aliens was insufficiently outrageous. On Tuesday, a White House official told the Washington Post that many illegals now protected from deportation will be eligible to receive a "wide array" of government benefits, including Social Security and Medicare. The admission verifies that, once again, Americans are forced to endure another lie perpetrated by the president. When he announced his executive action last Thursday, Obama was adamant. "It does not grant citizenship, or the right to stay here permanently, or offer the same benefits that citizens receive -- only Congress can do that. All we're saying is we're not going to deport you," he insisted.
The Joy of Sex Is Over
So this is how the Sexual Revolution is ending. It is not ending with the Sexual Utopians of yesteryear shouting "Oh, Joy" and extolling the therapeutic orgasm, which was to bring happiness to Americans from every walk of life. It is ending with gangs of angry women -- some well into their 70s, some with grandchildren -- recalling sexual assaults that allegedly took place up to half a century ago. They are aggrieved. They are angry. Some still burst into tears. And their alleged assailant, in this case the avuncular 77-year-old Bill Cosby, is pictured on the front page of the Washington Post in sullen denial. Also on the front page of the Post is more evidence of the Sexual Revolution's unanticipated expiry. The University of Virginia is suspending all fraternities, even sororities, because of libidinous excess among its students. Specifically, an alleged gang rape in the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house from two years ago.
This Thanksgiving, Have an Attitude of Gratitude
If Thomas Jefferson could be faulted for one thing in composing the Declaration of Independence, it might be his inclusion of the words "the pursuit of happiness" in the text. Happiness is a vapor that cannot be grasped; a temporary feeling based on transitory circumstances akin to the euphoria of a full-on sugar rush. Happiness is good for a time, but it cannot last. Life invariably intervenes. So many seem so unthankful about so much these days. Turn on the TV or read a newspaper and you will find complainers. Democrats complain about Republicans and the reverse. The poor complain about the rich and the rich complain that they are being taxed too much. Citizens complain about illegal immigrants. Whites complain about people of color and people of color complain right back.
Ferguson Obscures Much Bigger Problems in the 'Black Community'
From the very beginning, this was much ado about an aberration, a tragic aberration to be sure, but an aberration nonetheless. Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014. Immediately, according to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch, witnesses began to give different versions of what happened. The apparent would-be star witness, Dorian Johnson, was with Brown when the shooting occurred. He gave a dramatic account of a trigger-happy bigoted cop who shot "my friend" in the back and gunned him down despite the victim attempting to surrender by placing his hands up. Other alleged eyewitnesses came forward with similar, if not identical, descriptions of an aggressive, out-of-control cop.
Liberals Willing to Fight to the Last Drop of Black Blood
The riot in Ferguson reminds me, I hate criminals, but I hate liberals more. They planned this riot. They stoked the fire, lied about the evidence and produced a made-to-order riot. Every other riot I've ever heard of was touched off by some spontaneous event that exploded into mob violence long before any media trucks arrived. This time, the networks gave us a countdown to the riot, as if it were a Super Bowl kickoff. From the beginning, Officer Darren Wilson's shooting of Michael Brown wasn't reported like news. It was reported like a cause.
Thanks, or Something
Before the tryptophan in the turkey induces somnolence, give thanks for living in such an entertaining country. This year, for example, we learned that California's Legislature includes 93 persons who seem never to have had sex. They enacted the "affirmative consent" law directing college administrators to tell students that sexual consent cannot be silence but must be "affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement" and "ongoing throughout a sexual activity." Claremont McKenna College requires "all" -- not "both," which would discriminate against groups -- participants in a sexual engagement to understand that withdrawal of consent can be any behavior conveying "that an individual is hesitant, confused, uncertain."
Elite Contempt for Ordinary Americans
Jonathan Gruber, MIT economist and paid architect of Obamacare, has shocked and disgusted many Americans. In 2013, he explained to a University of Pennsylvania audience: "This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure (the Congressional Budget Office) did not score the mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies." He added that the "lack of transparency is a huge political advantage." Most insulting were his previous statements that "the American voter is too stupid to understand" and his boast of Obamacare's "exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter." We recall that back in 2010, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi infamously said, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."
Sorry, but the Grand Jury Got It Right
For many in the media, the St. Louis County grand jury's decision was going to confirm the existence of deep American injustice one way or another. If it found there was insufficient evidence for an indictment against Darren Wilson -- the white police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, a black teenager, in August in Ferguson, Missouri -- it would mean that the American justice system is corrupt, unjust and rife with racism. If the grand jury decided to move forward with an indictment, it could only mean that American law enforcement is corrupt, unjust and rife with racism. Even if many of your grievances are legitimate, "justice" doesn't exist to soothe your anger. In the end, there wasn't probable cause to file charges against Wilson. And after all the intense coverage and buildup, the predictable happened. Even taking a cursory look at the evidence the grand jury saw and heard, the details of Brown's death were far more complex than what we heard when the incident first broke. Lawyers will, no doubt, analyze every morsel of evidence in the coming days. But if Wilson's testimony is corroborated by forensic evidence -- and much of it seems to be -- it seems unlikely that any jury would be able to convict him.
An Inconvenient Law
There is a humane, transparent, truthful -- and constitutional -- way to address illegal immigration. Unfortunately, President Obama's unilateral plan to exempt millions of residents from federal immigration law is none of those things. Obama said he had to move now because of a dawdling Congress. He forgot to mention that there were Democratic majorities in Congress in 2009 and 2010, yet he did nothing, in fear of punishment at the polls. Nor did Obama push amnesty in 2011 or 2012, afraid of hurting his own re-election chances.
Ferguson Too Complicated for Easy Allegory
On Tuesday, the day after it was announced that Officer Darren Wilson would not be charged in the slaying of Michael Brown, the president for a second time called for calm. His statement was measured, careful and responsible. He condemned violence and looting while acknowledging the legitimate concerns animating the protestors. He wasn't all that moving or eloquent, but this might have been one of those times when swinging for the rhetorical fences wasn't what the moment needed. One theme he hit repeatedly, and correctly, was that the passions of many protestors are rooted in something very real. The "frustrations that we've seen are not just about a particular incident," Obama said. "They have deep roots in many communities of color who have a sense that our laws are not always being enforced uniformly or fairly."
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Obama and the Roots of the Ferguson Rage
The lynch mob politics embraced by the Obama administration hit the streets of America.
A 'Do-Nothing' Plan for Republicans
The fight over immigration reform was wiped off our TV screens by the fires and tear gas clouds in Ferguson Monday night. CNN and the other networks will milk the grand jury's decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown for as long as there's a single ratings point to be gained. But by Tuesday afternoon President Obama was already back on the road plugging the alleged merits of his executive actions on immigration and explaining why they were not constitutionally bogus.
America's $12 Trillion House of Cards
What is the price tag for the audacious Obamanomics experiment? How much has it all cost -- the bailouts, the debt, the stimulus plans, the printing of cheap money, Obamacare and all the rest? The answer to that question is just shy of $12 trillion. That's the sum of the $8.3 trillion added to the national debt since Sept. 15, 2008 (the day Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy) for all the government spending and the $3.5 trillion of easy money flushed into the economy by the Federal Reserve through the initial monetary expansion -- QE1, QE2 and QE3. That's nearly $12,000,000,000,000. There's 12 zeroes in 12 trillion in case you're counting.
U.S. Spent 7x as Much on Food Stamps as Customs and Border Protection
Take a look at an American family's budget and you can tell what that family values. Many of the nation's most solid and self-sufficient citizens spend a large share of the earnings the government allows them to keep paying down their own mortgages, maintaining their own households and sending their own children to school. What can we tell about the priorities of the people who run our current federal government by looking at the federal budget?