Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Howard Fuller Has the Answer for Ferguson
Eight days before 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri, he received his high school diploma from Normandy High School in the Normandy School District near Ferguson. In January 2013, Normandy district schools lost their accreditation from the Missouri state Board of Education because of poor performance on standardized tests and poor graduation rates. The 2014 evaluations have just been issued from the state board and the Normandy district score has dropped even further from last year. Scores are based on compiling results of a number of different performance measures and in order to remain accredited, a district needs a score of 70. The latest score of the Normandy district was below 10.
Navy Clears the Decks for Bible Regs
This summer, the U.S. Navy made plenty of waves with its decision to pull Gideon Bibles from its lodge room drawers. After the public outcry was too much to ignore, branch leaders walked back the decision, choosing to reinstate the books until they could agree on a final policy. Now, over the next couple of weeks, bases like Patuxent River Naval Air Station are going room by room to put the Bibles back after the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) demanded them purged. At Pax River, a base chaplain had been ordered to box all the books up -- until this month, when the Gideons plan to have a special dedication ceremony.
Our Ongoing Keynesian Calamity
The ostensible 142,000 jobs created in August, well below the 220,000 jobs economic "experts" expected to be created, was pathetic -- as far as Main Street goes. Wall Street? All three major indicators posted nice gains -- based on the assumption that the fiscal crack dealer more familiarly known as the Federal Reserve would be forced to continue its loose money, zero interest rate policies (ZIRP) longer than anticipated. Thus, the greatest economic disconnect in the history of the nation proceeds apace. Trust me, I've known for a long time that, for far too many Americans, one paragraph on the subject of economics is one paragraph too many. It's even worse for the youngest two generations of adults. Unless they possess calculators they are simply innumerate. And when basic math is a total stumper, macro-economics is about as comprehensible as Sanskrit.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Eric Holder & Hiroshima
Attorney General and all around scum-bucket Eric Holder felt it imperative to rush off to Ferguson, MO, to toss in his two cents worth of gas on a burning fire. He could have pointed out that the reason there is 50% unemployment among the black males in town, men who have nothing better to do than cause mischief for the benefit of the TV cameras, was because three-quarters of them never even finish high school. Instead, he took the opportunity to let them know he shared their grievances against the police because twice in his younger days, he, too, had been -- oh, the humanity! -- stopped by traffic cops. The odd thing is that I am a white man roughly 10 years older than Holder, and I was stopped by cops about a dozen times between the ages of 13 and 21. The first couple of times, I was stopped by Beverly Hills cops because we lived in an apartment just outside the city border, and, so, if I were spotted walking or riding my bike at dusk, on my way home from the playground or on my way to a book store, I would find myself being questioned by the guys in blue. Nobody, they would explain, exaggerating only slightly, walked or rode a bicycle in Beverly Hills after sunset.
Why Did We Celebrate Labor Day?
Labor Day was originally concocted by labor unions and the idea was to celebrate the union movement. But unions -- at least in the private sector -- are being replaced by a different form of labor monopoly: occupational licensing. Should we set aside one day a year to celebrate licensing? Or should we celebrate instead the right to work? Membership in labor unions has been nose diving over the last half century. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 11 percent of the workforce belongs to a union today. That's down from about 30 percent during the 1950s. Private sector union membership has dropped to only 6.7 percent.
In a NATO State of Mind
Speaking on Aug. 29 -- at a fundraiser, of course -- Barack Obama applied to a platitude the varnish of smartphone sociology, producing this intellectual sunburst: "The truth of the matter is, is that the world has always been messy. In part, we're just noticing now because of social media and our capacity to see in intimate detail the hardships that people are going through." So, if 14th- century Europeans had had Facebook and Twitter, they would have noticed how *really* disagreeable the Hundred Years' War was. Obama did have a piece of a point: Graphic journalism, now augmented by billions of people with cameras in their pockets, can give an inflammatory immediacy to events.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
'Diversity' Re-education for Rotherham Whistleblower
How U.K. authorities abetted the abuse of hundreds of children by Muslim child rape gangs.
A 'Right' to Recline?
You may not be 100 percent sure what you think about Vladimir Putin's maneuvers in Ukraine, Burger King's tax inversion, the indictment of Texas Governor Rick Perry, or Scotland's independence referendum. But you know exactly where you come down on the Great Airline Reclining Seat Controversy, don't you? Everyone has an opinion on the passenger in Row 12 who caused an uproar on a United flight from Newark to Denver when he used a plastic bracket called the "Knee Defender" to block the woman in front of him from reclining her seat. When a flight attendant told the man to remove the gadget -- which United, like most airlines, prohibits -- he refused. The infuriated woman in Row 11, reported the Associated Press, "then stood up, turned around, and threw a cup of water at him." Whereupon the plane was diverted to Chicago, and the two passengers were ejected.
From The Comedy Store
Barack Obama attended fundraisers in Manhattan and Rhode Island over the weekend and spent Monday in Westchester at a Labor Day picnic. It used to be a day of working class parades. Today Labor Day is a day when Americans take three days off from being unemployed.
A Bold and Optimistic GOP Can Create a Wave Election
If the Republican Party adopts a clear, optimistic, growth-and-reform message to turn America around, it can win big in November. It could still be a wave election. But so far it hasn't done it. The party is essentially asking voters to give it control of both houses of Congress. Yet it hasn't told voters what it would do with such a mandate. That's why the GOP must present a true governing agenda. You can't ask for two-house support without telling voters what you're going to do with it.
No Military Dog Left Behind
We've all heard the expression: "A man's best friend is his equipment." You haven't? Well you must not work for the Pentagon. There, military dogs are considered mere "equipment" and as such can be left behind when the troops come home. It's a bit more complicated than that. Military dogs are enlisted (drafted actually) to identify enemy locations, to seek out bombs and protect bases. It is dangerous, often traumatic work. The dogs are credited with saving countless U.S. and allied lives, which is why the Taliban actively targets our dogs of war. While on active service, each dog is given a higher rank than its handler.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Meriam Ibrahim to Be Honored at Values Voter Summit
In her first public appearance since being freed from Sudanese prison, FRC is proud to announce that Meriam Ibrahim will be the honoree at the Faith, Family & Freedom Gala dinner on Saturday, September 27 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Willing to give up her life rather than deny Jesus Christ, Meriam suffered months of persecution along with her toddler son in a Khartoum prison, even giving birth to her newborn daughter while shackled to her jail cell. With the help of members of Congress, likeminded groups, and the outcry of everyday citizens, Sudanese officials finally overturned her execution sentence and allowed her to leave the country and build a new home in America.
When Child Sex Abuse Isn't News
Five years ago, Pope Benedict arrived in London to erupting controversy. Around 10,000 people took to the capital's streets for a rally against the Holy Father's "intolerance," and as the Guardian reported, against "the child abuse scandal for which so many hold the pontiff personally responsible, for both accelerating it and then covering it up." The abuse in question centered for the most part on incidents that were 40 years old or more. Nevertheless, CBS reporter Mark Phillips described the trip as "A test of whether Pope Benedict can get his message across over the background noise of the Church's child abuse scandal. And that test gets harder as time goes on."
Can Obama Win the Fight Against ISIS?
President Obama, in the past, has demonstrated a way with written words, and he's done so again, this time in a joint op-ed with UK Prime Minister David Cameron for the London Times published on the eve of this week's NATO meeting in Wales. Promising that "we will not be cowed" by ISIS, the Islamist group that has beheaded two American journalists, the president and prime minister declared: "Those who want to adopt an isolationist approach misunderstand the nature of security in the 21st century. Developments in other parts of the world, particularly in Iraq and Syria, threaten our security at home." But the question is whether Obama has the will to live up to those words --even on his own, if our allies, including his co-author, will not join us. But to do so, the president would have to possess characteristics he's shown he lacks over the past five and a half years: an interest in and understanding of foreign policy, the humility to know what he doesn't know and the leadership to forgo partisanship in the national interest.
Joan Rivers and Me
We met by accident. How else could it have been with two people who are so different? Or are we? It was the early 1980s when a tabloid called me. They were doing a story on Joan Rivers and thought I, a conservative, would give them a quote critical of her. I said, "I won't speak to you and I don't want to be quoted as saying I won't speak to you." They made up a quote, claiming I thought she was a terrible person.
A Foreign Legion for Losers
On the Internet, you're never really alone. Name any fad, any cause, any hobby or passion -- Shaker furniture? Dungeons and Dragons, Bolivian tree frogs? -- and you're only a few clicks away from someone who shares your obsession. That's great. It's also horrible. Because while there's no harm in tree frog fans sharing pictures and stories inspiring others to fly to the Andes to take pictures of exotic creatures, the Internet also lets evil people share stories and pictures inspiring others to cut off the heads of various infidels and apostates. Though I'm perfectly comfortable with YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and similar platforms doing what they can to undermine the PR campaigns of fanatical murderers, my point here isn't necessarily that such things should be banned or censored (even if that were technologically feasible). I weary of reflexive responses to barbarism that involve curtailing the freedoms of Americans in order to not offend savages.
Where Is the Nation Building at Home?
The clearest expression of a foreign policy doctrine President Obama has articulated came in 2012 when he announced that the "tide of war in Afghanistan" had "turned" and that this was lucky because it was "now time to focus on nation building here at home." Al-Qaida, defined so narrowly as to exclude everyone save Osama bin Laden and his closest friends, was declared "defeated," and a satisfied commander in chief confidently turned to domestic matters. Obama's assumption that a vigorous foreign policy and a successful domestic agenda are in conflict is wrong. The U.S. experienced high rates of economic growth and development (with occasional recessions) throughout the post-World War II period while also maintaining the world's largest military. In the 19th century, Great Britain's citizens enjoyed among the best living standards in the world even as the nation maintained an empire and ensured freedom of navigation for all. Though many Americans now recoil from the role for themselves, the British served for most of the 19th century as the "world's policeman."
Where in the World Is Jihad Pilot Adnan Shukrijumah?
Black caliphate flags flap in the open air. Islamic head-choppers wreak bloody havoc around the world. Nearly a dozen commercial airliners disappear in Libya. And America's immigration and entrance systems remain in shambles. Now is a good time to ask a question I first posed 10 summers ago: Where is Adnan Shukrijumah? A decade later, the question is still unanswered. The FBI has yet to track down this homicidal plotter. Have you forgotten? Saudi-born Shukrijumah, billed as the "next Mohammed Atta," has been a fugitive since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. His father, Gulshair, was a Wahabi cleric funded by the Saudi government. The elder Shukrijumah headed mosques in New York and Miami, consorted with Israel-bashing black Muslim agitators, and also served as one-time interpreter for convicted 1993 World Trade Center mastermind Omar Abdel Rahman (the Blind Sheik). The radical Muslim apple didn't fall far from the tree.
You Have to See a Threat Before You Can Have a Strategy
Do you remember the left's chants about President George W. Bush: "Have you had enough yet?" Well, I could easily ask that about President Obama, but instead I'll ask: "Do you believe us now?" Some of us have been saying from the beginning that something just isn't right about Obama. Something is very different about this man -- something that distinguishes him from every U.S. president in my lifetime. All the talk about his birth certificate aside, I have long believed he really doesn't think like an American. Before you jump on me for suggesting there is an American way of thinking, let me assure you I'm not referring to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or any of the other identifiers liberals routinely use to bludgeon conservatives into psychological submission. Oh, sorry, I shouldn't have used a metaphor involving violence, as the left also turns those around on us, disingenuously implying we mean them literally.
Ukraine Abandoned
At his first press briefing after the beheading of American James Foley, President Obama stunned the assembled when he admitted that he had no strategy in Syria for confronting the Islamic State. Yet it was not nearly the most egregious, or consequential, thing he said. Idiotic, yes. You're the leader of the free world. Even if you don't have a strategy -- indeed, especially if you don't -- you never admit it publicly. However, if Obama is indeed building a larger strategy, an air campaign coordinated with allies on the ground, this does take time. George W. Bush wisely took a month to respond to 9/11, preparing an unusual special ops-Northern Alliance battle plan that brought down Taliban rule in a hundred days.