Right Opinion

Why Narratives Are More Powerful Than Ideas

There is an enormous amount of whining these days about our ideological debates. This gets the problem wrong. Ideological debates are fought over ideas, but politics is more often about competing stories, or, as the eggheads call them, "narratives." Much has been written about the power of ideas. "The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood," John Maynard Keynes famously wrote. "Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually slaves of some defunct economist."

Barack Obama, Bewildered Bystander

The president is upset. Very upset. Frustrated and angry. Seething about the government's handling of Ebola, said the front-page headline in The New York Times last Saturday. There's only one problem with this pose, so obligingly transcribed for him by the Times. It's *his* government. He's president. Has been for six years. Yet Barack Obama reflexively insists on playing the shocked outsider when something goes wrong within his own administration. IRS? "It's inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," he thundered in May 2013 when the story broke of the agency targeting conservative groups. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS."

Obama Can't Help Throwing His Party Under His Bus

Politically speaking, President Barack Obama is almost as toxic as the ominous viruses he continues to mismanage. Every Democratic candidate fears the contagion and seeks to quarantine himself from his presence and policies. It's hardly unfair to say that Obama has earned his current condition, having squandered more unearned goodwill than any president in recent memory. Despite his fall, during a speech at Northwestern University earlier this month, Obama couldn't resist blurting out: "I'm not on the ballot this fall. Michelle's pretty happy about that. But make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot -- every single one of them."

Why the House Will Stay Republican

You probably haven't read much commentary about this year's elections to the House of Representatives. There's a good reason for that: The majority in the Senate is up for grabs, but it's clear to everyone who follows these things that Republicans will continue to control the House. But there are lessons to be learned from this year's House races, some of them relevant beyond this election cycle. The House math is fairly simple. Republicans won 234 House seats in 2012 and Democrats 201. There are three vacant seats now, but neither party has gained a seat in a special election or by a party switch. Put that together with the fact that we've become a straight-ticket voting nation now, no matter how many voters swear they're Independents. In 2012, 409 of the 435 congressional districts voted for the presidential candidate and House candidate of the same party. Only 26 voted split tickets. That's the lowest number since the election of 1920.

Naive Immigration Policy Is an Existential Threat

With planes being grounded in my home state of Ohio and hospital workers in Texas contracting Ebola, Americans now have stark examples of the danger of President Barack Obama's policies. Obama has refused to impose a travel ban on flights from Ebola-stricken African countries for political reasons. He does not want to quarantine people who have been in those regions during the past month because it would hurt the already fledgling prospects of Democrats during this midterm election. Our Campaigner-in-Chief is now dangerously derelict in his official duties.

Jeanne Shaheen's Ebola Opportunities Team

In this year's midterm elections, New Hampshire's Scott Brown is taking on the slickest Democratic politician since John Edwards. Incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen presents herself as a regular mom who "rearranges the dishes in the dishwasher if it is packed by someone else" -- as she told The Boston Globe when she ran for governor. But then she backs policies that only Fidel Castro's mom would like. (And based on her immigration stance, I think we all know it's her Guatemalan maid who's packing the dishwasher.)

Oil, the Real Economic Stimulus

Judge on Marriage: Isle Stand by You

There's a lot more separating the U.S. and Puerto Rico than the Atlantic. Based on Tuesday's news, the two regions are also oceans apart on judicial activism. [Tuesday], the little island made a big splash in the marriage debate by becoming just the second federal court to uphold the local law. In an opinion that was a breath of fresh air to disenfranchised voters everywhere, Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez shocked everyone by following 40 years of legal precedent. Unlike his peers, who could win awards for their judicial gymnastics, Perez-Gimenez practiced what is becoming a lost art in U.S. courtrooms: self-restraint. After a year and a half of watching courts elevate political correctness above the rule of law, Perez-Gimenez dared to inject a little common sense into his ruling, writing one of the most unflinchingly pro-Constitution opinions on the subject in the last decade. Calling natural marriage "the fundamental unit of the political order," the judge argues that "Ultimately, the very survival of the political order depends on the procreative potential embodied in it."

The Challenge: Harried by Time

"How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog -- it's here a little while, then it's gone." This verse from James 4:14 really cuts to the chase. How is it that even though life is the longest thing we do on earth, it seems so short? In *A Severe Mercy*, an incredible memoir about his own life and love lived and lost, Sheldon Vanauken reflected on the way we humans respond to time: "Not only are we harried by time, we seem unable, despite a thousand generations, even to get used to it. We are always amazed at it -- how fast it goes, how slowly it goes, how much of it is gone. Where we cry, has the time gone? We aren't adapted to it, not at home in it.

Who Needs an Ebola Czar?

"Rabbi, is there a proper blessing for the czar?" He thinks for a moment and responds: "May God bless and keep the czar ... far away from us!" -- "Fiddler on the Roof" Today, "czar" is a term encouraged by the media to describe one who oversees a specific government policy. According to The Atlantic.com, President Franklin Roosevelt "solidified the trend" of using the word czar to identify policy appointees. Some modern presidents appointed several czars. Ronald Reagan named just one, a drug czar. He was Carlton Turner, director of the Drug Abuse Policy Office. How well that worked can be seen in the increasing numbers of states, and the District of Columbia, that have legalized or decriminalized the use of marijuana.

Iraq's WMD: The Shameless NYT Moves the Goalposts

Contrary to the expectations of all 16 of our U.S. intelligence agencies, the "weapons hunters" sent to Iraq by President George W. Bush found no "stockpiles" of WMD. Never mind that there was a 15-month run-up to the war, during which time Saddam was not combing his moustache. A former Iraqi general, Georges Sada, who met with members of Congress, has long claimed Saddam Hussein moved tons of WMD by land and air into Syria during the run-up to the 2003 invasion. James Clapper, the current Director of National Intelligence, has also said publicly that he, too, believes the WMD were there. But Bush's two weapons hunters found no stockpiles.

Our New Missiles of October

In October of 1962, America worried whether an untried young president, John F. Kennedy, could keep us safe from nuclear-tipped missiles from nearby communist Cuba. Today's October worries are more insidious: the Ebola virus, the macabre Islamic State, a tottering stock market, a bellicose Russia, and a crisis of confidence in our government. Much of what the Obama administration and the Centers for Disease Control initially swore about the Ebola virus proved false. The virus really did infect Americans at home, despite assurances that there was "no significant risk." There always was a danger of infected West Africans entering the U.S. The CDC protocols did not protect nurses from infection by Ebola patients.

An American Who Vomited Near the Pentagon

We have now learned what can happen in this Era of Obama when an American who does not have Ebola vomits near the Pentagon. The first clue was a statement put out Friday by Arlington County, Virginia, where the Pentagon sits. "At about 9:10 a.m. today, Pentagon Police officers identified a woman in the Pentagon South Parking Lot, around lanes 17-19, who was ill and vomiting," said the statement. "Arlington County Fire Department was notified and responded immediately with both emergency medical aid and hazmat response team."

Free Speech Victory Vindicates Gov. Scott Walker, Conservatives

A free speech courage award should go to U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa for his recent ruling blocking the enforcement of part of Wisconsin's campaign finance law that prohibits "coordinated issue advocacy" between outside groups and candidates. Liberal, overzealous Badger State prosecutors have tried to use a very subjective interpretation of the law as justification for their four-year, failed witch hunt to try and bring down Governor Scott Walker and his allies. Earlier this year, the same Judge Randa ordered a shut-down of the nefarious so-called "John Doe" investigation -- a secret probe launched in 2012 by partisan Democrat District Attorney John Chisholm against 29 conservative groups for allegedly "coordinating" with political candidates during the 2011 and 2012 Wisconsin recall elections. The investigation, in which witnesses were sworn to secrecy, was carried out in KGB-style fashion, including pre-dawn raids on the private residences of stunned citizens who had their computers and other possessions confiscated.

The Harvard 28 to the Rescue

Mirabile dictu! Fully 28 profs and former profs from the Harvard Law School have taken a stand for freedom and for the rule of law. They are on the side of the Constitution and simple fairness. As Ivy Leaguers go, their stand took courage. No other Ivy League school has had the temerity to buck the bullying of federal government's Department of Education over its threat to punish universities that it adjudges as being lax on allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment. That is right. The Department of Education says it will withhold funding if its ukase is not followed by suspect universities. Harvard is suspected of such laxity by the Department of Education, and so the university hopes to mollify the government bureaucrats by enforcing a draconian policy toward alleged sex offenders. The Harvard 28 responds that this policy is unfair. Furthermore the university has a vast enough endowment to go, if need be, its own way. What is an endowment for anyway, if not to ensure the independence of a university? Raise a toast to Harvard Law.

The Minimum Wage War

Among the issues that the Democrats are trying to run on this year, it's a tie between the minimum wage and the war on women as to which of them is the phonier. The first step in trying to make the case for the minimum wage a campaign issue came years ago when the liberals changed what everyone knew was supposed to be the salary paid to teenagers who were looking to pay for their own movies and tennis shoes to something called "a living wage," which, thanks to the influx of unskilled Hispanics streaming across our border, was suddenly supposed to support entire families.

In Kentucky, a Constitutional Moment

Barack Obama lost Kentucky in 2012 by 23 points, yet the state remains closely divided about re-electing the man whose parliamentary skills uniquely qualify him to restrain Obama's executive overreach. So, Kentucky's Senate contest is a constitutional moment that will determine whether the separation of powers will be reasserted by a Congress revitalized by restoration of the Senate's dignity. Even counting Justice Louis Brandeis as a Kentuckian -- at 18 he defected to Harvard and New England -- Mitch McConnell, 72, is second only to Henry Clay as the state's most consequential public servant. McConnell's skills have been honed through five terms. He is, however -- let us say the worst -- not cuddly. National Review has said he has "an owlish, tight-lipped public demeanor reminiscent of George Will." Harsh. But true.

Paul Krugman Uncovers a Right-Wing Conspiracy at Amazon.com

The Times columnist suggests a government crackdown for selling conservative books too quickly.

How Washington Widens Gap Between the Rich and Poor

Critics of growing inequality who blame the market for distributing wealth unfairly and rewarding the rich at the neglect of the poor have it partially correct. Everyone knows that in competitive markets, as in sports and academics, outcomes are not equal. The problem of flagging upward mobility is rooted in subpar economic growth and lackluster creation of the specific kind of job that leads to more and better opportunity. Those who think government should fix this problem need to first recognize that Washington's current trajectory of regulatory and monetary policies has crimped economic growth and widened the gap between rich and poor.

Viva Law Difference? Obama Cheers Legislating Courts

For a constitutional law professor, President Obama still has a lot to learn about the 14th Amendment. After years of leading Americans on, the former states' rights, natural marriage defender finally came full circle [Monday], publicly defending the courts' activism on an issue that still fiercely divides the country. "Ultimately," the President told the New Yorker, "I think the Equal Protection Clause does guarantee same-sex marriage in all fifty states." The self-styled "gay rights President," Obama insisted that judges are right to trample the 41 million Americans who successfully enacted marriage protection amendments.