Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Paul Krugman's Late Obama Valentine
Knowing the way our political press works, it's easy to predict that Barack Obama's presidency is just about over. Journalists will soon treat him as the lamest of lame ducks, and suggest nothing consequential will happen in the last two years of his presidency. Instead, they'll obsess over who will come next. So the timing is perfect for Rolling Stone magazine to reassert itself as Obama's most shameless house organ. They've published a 4,000-word tribute by liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman insisting that "Obama has emerged as one of the most consequential and, yes, successful presidents in American history."
Ebola and the CDC's Dangerous Mission Drift
Controlling Contagious Diseases Is Just One of Many Items on the Agency's To-Do List
The Hunter Biden Chronicles
Everything you need to know about Beltway nepotism, corporate cronyism and corruption can be found in the biography of Robert Hunter Biden. Where are the Occupy Wall Street rabble-rousers and enemies of elitist privilege when you need them? Straining their neck muscles to look the other way. The youngest son of Vice President Joe Biden made news last week after The Wall Street Journal revealed he had been booted from the Navy Reserve for cocaine use. His drug abuse was certainly no surprise to the Navy, which issued him a waiver for a *previous* drug offense before commissioning him as a public affairs officer at the age of 43. The Navy also bent over backward a *second* time with an age waiver so he could secure the cushy part-time job.
Why Republicans Don't Get It
The Republican Party simply doesn't get it. A new poll this week shows 2012 presidential nominee and 2008 primary candidate Mitt Romney leading the field of potential 2016 Republican candidates. According to ABC News/Washington Post, 21 percent of Republican voters would vote for Romney in the primaries; Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee tie at 10 percent, followed by Rand Paul, Chris Christie and Paul Ryan. Altogether, some 44 percent of Republican primary voters want an "establishment" candidate -- by which we mean a candidate for whom social issues are secondary, immigration reform is primary and economics dominates.
The Good News About Offshore Oil Rigs
Never let it be said that Mother Nature doesn't appreciate irony. A new study led by researchers at Occidental College and the University of California at Santa Barbara has found that the oil platforms dotting the California coast are fantastic for sea life. In a 15-year study, researchers found that the ecosystems that build up around artificial rigs host 1,000 percent more fish and other sea life than natural habitats such as reefs and estuaries. The California rigs outstripped even famously rich ecosystems such as the coral reefs of French Polynesia. Now, as a big fan of artificial reefs, I think this is exciting news. There are many who oppose the idea of improving on God's -- or, if you prefer, Gaia's -- design. This strikes me as crazy, given the fact that virtually all of the food we eat and the clothes we wear are the products of human innovation. When humans ran out of gazelles or bison to hunt, they had the great idea of catching a few and raising a renewable supply. When picking wild seeds and berries no longer fed the tribe, it dawned on humans to plant their own.
Federal Persecutors
A group of Washington overlords -- federal prosecutors -- sometimes break rules and wreck people's lives. President Obama may soon appoint one of them to be America's next Attorney General. The prosecutorial bullying is detailed in a new book by Sidney Powell, "Licensed to Lie." She reports that the Department of Justice's narcissistic and dishonest prosecutors destroy people by doing things like deliberately withholding evidence. Remember the Arthur Andersen accounting firm?
Embarrassing Economists
So as to give some perspective, I'm going to ask readers for their guesses about human behavior before explaining my embarrassment by some of my fellow economists. Suppose the prices of ladies jewelry rose by 100 percent. What would you predict would happen to sales? What about a 25 or 50 percent price increase? I'm going to guess that the average person would predict that sales would fall. Would you make the same prediction about auto sales if cars' prices rose by 100 percent or 25 or 50 percent? Suppose that you're the CEO of General Motors and your sales manager tells you the company could increase auto sales by advertising a 100 percent or 50 percent price increase. I'm guessing that you'd fire the sales manager for both lunacy and incompetency.
Houston’s Mayor: Endangering Civil Rights
Tavis Smiley raised a lot of eyebrows this weekend when he spoke on ABC-TV's "This Week" news show, hosted by George Stephanopoulos. Smiley pointed to double-digit unemployment in the Black community under President Obama and said: "If you're Black or Brown, other than saving the Democrats' hide, what inspires you to go out and vote?" Economic empowerment for minority families is surely a vital issue, a hardy perennial in off-year elections. But it's not the only issue. Minority voters have always been concerned with Civil Rights. And this year is no exception.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Natural Marriage in Idaho: Give It Arrest!
If homosexuals get their way, Pastor Donald Knapp won't be behind the pulpit -- he'll be behind bars. That's the stunning development in Idaho, where the day liberals promised would never come is already here. Two ministers -- a husband and wife team -- have been told by their city government that refusing to "marry" a same-sex couple will send them straight to jail. After 25 years of owning The Hitching Post wedding chapel, Donald and Evelyn are being faced with a situation neither of them thought possible: being imprisoned for their faith. Like the flood of state amendments steamrolled by activist judges, Idaho's fell earlier this month. And with it, religious liberty. Fearing the worst, the Knapps reached out to Alliance Defending Freedom, concerned that their chapel would be targeted. Less than a week later, the battle was at their front door.
Does Obama Care About People?
Can you walk out on the messiah? Appearing at a campaign rally for gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown in Maryland on Sunday, President Obama sought to capture the magic that had electrified audiences in 2008 and, to some considerable degree, even in 2012. Obama isn't doing much stumping this year. He limits his campaigning mostly to fundraisers. This is the year, after all, when Democratic candidates are announcing how important it is in our system of government to have honest disagreements with the president. They're hastening to say that they would be tougher than he is on ISIS. They are declaring that a travel ban from West Africa is only common sense. It's the year when some have discovered a sacred Constitutional right to keep silent about whom they voted for in 2008 and 2012.
Americans Are Angry, Not Hysterical
"This is a serious disease, but we can't give in to hysteria or fear -- because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need. We have to be guided by the science. We have to remember the basic facts."—President Barack Obama CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden apparently didn't get the memo. Here's his breathtaking response to a question about whether one could contract Ebola by sitting next to someone on a bus. "I think there are two different parts of that equation," he answered. "The first is, if you're a member of the traveling public and are healthy, should you be worried that you might have gotten it by sitting next to someone? And the answer is no. Second, if you are sick and you may have Ebola, should you get on a bus? And the answer to that is also no. You might become ill, you might have a problem that exposes someone around you."
The Media Are Much Scarier Than Ebola
Why do some things scare people more than others? One reason is that people engage in a rational assessment of risk and conclude the appropriate level of fear. For example, people feel free to walk alone at midnight in Times Square but not in Central Park because they have made a rational assessment: Times Square, which at midnight is almost as bright as day and filled with people -- usually tourists -- is safer than Central Park. A second reason is that emotions rather than reason cause people to fear something. Some years ago I was a guest on the television show "Politically Incorrect," the Bill Maher-hosted predecessor to his current HBO show, "Real Time with Bill Maher." One of the other guests was the late Christopher Hitchens. At one point, he lit up a cigarette. There were some negative reactions, so I looked at the audience, and asked: "If you think the smoke from this cigarette is endangering your health, clap."
Why Wendy Can't Win
"(Wendy) Davis is running (for governor) against Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is heavily favored to win in a state that remains strongly Republican." --Katie Glueck, in "Wendy Davis and the ever-longer odds," Politico, Oct. 19. Yes, yes, lady, fine; you got it. But this is barely to scratch the surface of the thing. Why does Texas, a pulsating, change-oriented state, full of young people, full of minorities, full of those women the Republicans are alleged (by Democrats) to be running a "war" against -- how come Texas "remains strongly Republican"? Which it does and probably will for a while longer, barring divine intervention.
Houston Pastors Fight Censorship Challenge
Houston recently passed an ordinance through its city council that has sparked quite a bit of controversy amongst conservative evangelicals. The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), a broad-sweeping, left-leaning law trumpeted by the City of Houston and its openly gay mayor, Annise Parker, is supposed to protect gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination. All well and good, but according to the Independent Journal Review, the ordinance to ensure nondiscrimination, discriminates against those of faith who oppose it. Five pastors, members of Houston's conservative, evangelical base, oppose HERO, as does the liberal Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the pastors aren't being too quiet about it. They're circulating petitions and gathering signatures in an attempt to get the law repealed. The City of Houston came up with a way to get them to stop. It issued subpoenas for pastors to turn over "All speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by your or in your possession," so that it could, according to Time.com, "determine how the preachers instructed their congregants in their push to get the law repealed."
Predatory Journalism
The New York Times is again on the warpath against what it calls "predatory lending." Just what is predatory lending? It is lending that charges a higher interest rate than people like those at the New York Times approve of. According to such thinking -- or lack of thinking -- the answer is to have the government set an interest rate ceiling at a level that will be acceptable to third parties like the New York Times. People who believe in government-set price controls -- whether on interest rates charged for loans, rents charged for housing or wages paid under minimum wage laws -- seem to think that this is the end of the story. Yet there is a vast literature on the economic repercussions of price controls.
Criminalizing Innocent Christian Behavior
Where are all the atheist freedom lovers we always hear about? It's time for them to start standing up for religious liberty. The left and militant gay movement are getting bolder and bolder, and too many Christians are stewing in their apathy. It seems that with each passing month, this senseless tyranny advances. The latest is that two Christian ministers in Idaho, Donald and Evelyn Knapp, have allegedly been ordered to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies at their chapel or face fines or jail sentences.
Politically Correct Insanity
It is my contention that political correctness has so deeply infiltrated American society that it has affected our approach to defending ourselves against Islamic terrorism, deadly epidemics and even presidential assassins. In the past, AIDS, which, in spite of the massive publicity campaign waged by the homosexual community, was never a great threat to heterosexuals -- unless, of course, they were the really cheap and stupid drug addicts who shared hypodermic needles -- nobody in public life ever had the guts to suggest that those with the disease be quarantined.
Does the End of History Result in Political Decay?
Francis Fukuyama picked an auspicious publication date for his latest book, "Political Order and Political Decay." The news is full of stories of political decay: the Centers for Disease Control and Ebola; the Department of Veterans Affairs' health service; the Internal Revenue Service political targeting. Europe gives us the dysfunctional euro and no-growth welfare states. Not to mention failed states in the Middle East and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Critics have lambasted Fukuyama for proclaiming, in the title of his 1992 book, "The End of History." That's not entirely fair. His argument there was that the battle of ideas was over since no one had advanced convincingly a superior alternative to capitalism and democracy. Challengers have emerged in recent years -- Islamist terrorists, Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's capitalist Communists. But their regimes lack broad appeal beyond the reach of their arms. Most of the world is still bent on "getting to Denmark" -- Fukuyama's shorthand phrase for an effective, accountable, tolerant and law-bound society.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Fossil-Fueled Fiction
It's been a heck of a week for hysteria in the so-called Climate War. Apparently, with all the other things going on in the world, the hysteria has to be whipped up so people actually pay attention to this trumped-up agenda. Look at this, an inconvenient truth if hysteria is your agenda: "World Disasters Report for 2013 -- lowest number of catastrophies and deaths in 10 years." That's right. All this screaming and yelling about how bad it is, and we find that we are at a decade low in terms of catastrophes and deaths.