Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
From The Comedy Store
Obama slipped his press detail for the second straight day Wednesday and he went to his favorite burger joint. This restaurant may have the world's best security now. That's because the president traded them five Secret Service agents for a full bag of cheese fries.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Just What Is the Perfect Level of CO2?
Ever in an argument with a AGW proponent? I have stopped trying to argue with someone who refuses to look at anything but that which supports his own position. It's pointless. So in an effort to end a debate quickly, I now politely ask individuals to explain how CO2, given how small it is relative to all around it, actually changes the entire system. That usually stops it with most of the crowd. Like many things I see with new age forecasters today, they will jump on one weather factor and not understand its behavior is because of everything around it.
The Naked Self-Interest of the Bureaucratic Class
For understandable reasons, the IRS scandal has largely focused on the political question of whether the White House deliberately targeted opponents. To date there's no evidence that it did. That's good for the president, but it may not be good for the country, because if the administration didn't target opponents, that would mean the IRS has become corrupt all on its own. In 1939, Bruno Rizzi, a largely forgotten communist intellectual, wrote a hugely controversial book, "The Bureaucratization of the World." Rizzi argued that the Soviet Union wasn't communist. Rather, it represented a new kind of system, what Rizzi called "bureaucratic collectivism." What the Soviets had done was get rid of the capitalist and aristocratic ruling classes and replace them with a new, equally self-interested ruling class: bureaucrats.
Questions for Obama
A few questions for President Barack Obama. At your press conference, you said, "It is in our national security interest not to see an all-out civil war in Iraq." If that is the case, why did you withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011? Were you motivated by something other than U.S. national interests? Did no one advise you that the current disaster was possible when you proclaimed in December 2011: "We're leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people. We're building a new partnership between our nations. And we are ending a war, not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home. This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine years in the making."
Patently Absurd Activism on 'Redskins'
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office found its way to the front page by declaring the word "Redskins" was offensive and therefore unworthy of trademark protection under a 1946 law that proscribes trademarks for "immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter." MSNBC anchor Joy-Ann Reid reported this news with an obscenity warning before airing a clip of Sen. Harry Reid: "And I just warn people, he does use the name of the team. So, I'm just going to warn you guys about that in advance." She's not alone. Liberal sports writers refuse to type the word in their columns.
The Redskins Brouhaha Has Nothing to Do With Native Americans
Do you think leftists are the slightest bit troubled by the public's overwhelming opposition to their crusade to force the Washington Redskins to change their name? That was rhetorical; I give you more credit. Despite leftists' ongoing effort to convince Native Americans and the rest of us that Native Americans must be offended by the long-standing name, the polls don't seem to be moving in their direction. But that hardly deters them. They are the final arbiters of who may be (and who is being) offended.
NY-22: Laughable Lies of Liberal Republicans
How do you spell "sidesplitting chutzpah"? In New York's 22nd congressional district, it's spelled: R-I-C-H-A-R-D H-A-N-N-A. He's the liberal GOP incumbent trying to cling to public office by smearing the Marine mom, small-business owner, lawyer and conservative state assemblywoman poised to take his seat next week. Claudia Tenney is as rock-solid of a Republican as they come: pro-life, pro-limited government, pro-Second Amendment, pro-entrepreneur, pro-American worker. As one of New York's top conservative legislators, Tenney has been unafraid to challenge the powers that be in both political parties. As an attorney, she has fought valiantly against cronyism and corruption. She has opposed the New York Democratic machine on everything from in-state tuition discounts for illegal aliens to taxpayer slush funds to dirty casino-government deals.
Abdication Has a Price
Yes, it is true that there was no al-Qaeda in Iraq when George W. Bush took office. But it is equally true that there was essentially no al-Qaeda in Iraq remaining when Barack Obama took office. Which makes Bush responsible for the terrible costs incurred to defeat the 2003-09 jihadist war engendered by his invasion. We can debate forever whether those costs were worth it, but what is not debatable is Obama's responsibility for the return of the Islamist insurgency that had been routed by the time he became president.
March de Triomphe!
Whoever said the marriage debate was over must not have been anywhere near the U.S. Capitol Thursday morning. After months of hearing the courts' opinion on marriage, yesterday America heard from the voters those courts trampled. Thousands of people from states all across the country descended on Washington, D.C. to show the nation that we care about protecting marriage and will do anything to stand up and fight for it. Pro-family groups like FRC, churches, state activists, and cultural leaders gathered on the lawn of the most powerful Congress in the world and sent one resounding message: the fight for marriage is not over.
Let's Stop Kidding Ourselves; Americans Love Their Politicians
Even in the most catastrophic year for congressional incumbents, 90 percent of them will win re-election -- and most of them will do so rather easily. Many of them, in fact, won't even have to run a campaign. This fact might be somewhat obscured lately, what with all the talk of the impending populist insurrection. "Anti-incumbent wave building," says The Detroit News. "Eric Cantor's surprise defeat is a warning to all Republicans," says Slate. "Eric Cantor's Loss Was Like an Earthquake" says FiveThirtyEight. Ron Fournier of the National Journal writes, "Elites Beware: Eric Cantor's Defeat May Signal a Populist Revolution." And so it goes and goes.
A Crisis Born of Inaction
Legislators who've been dragging their feet on immigration reform hardly need another excuse for doing nothing, but the recent influx of young children across our borders is certainly making things more difficult. Anti-reformers claim the sudden increase in illegal border crossings by unaccompanied minors -- about 48,000 so far this fiscal year -- is proof that the border is far from secure. Pro-reformers point to the humanitarian crisis that has developed with thousands of children being held in holding pens not fit for hardened criminals much less kids. But while the two factions engage in finger-pointing, positions in both camps harden and nothing gets done.
Are the Two Political Parties About to Crack Up?
America's two political parties seem to be coming apart. That's in contrast to the relatively stable competition of the last 20 years, when Democrats have won four of six presidential elections and Republicans won House majorities in eight of 10 congressional contests, always by less than landslide margins. The parties' stands on issues have remained familiar from one cycle to the next. That pattern seems likely to hold this year, with Republicans favored to hold their House majority, and with a better than 50 percent chance of gaining the Senate majority that eluded them in 2010 and 2012.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Christian Unity
My daughter told me this week about something she heard a speaker say at her church that really impressed her. When she shared it with me, it really got me thinking too. What he said wasn't particularly profound, but I've taken it to heart and it seems like God is having fun using it to reshape the way I operate. He said, "Churches everywhere are dying for their preferences." Let that sink in for a moment and consider the implications. I think it's safe to say that it isn't just churches that are dying for their preferences, but families and marriages as well.
You Bet This Is Swiftboating
While the Obama administration tortures the Benghazi raid suspect into a false confession that a YouTube video made him attack our embassy, let's review what his "capture" is meant to distract us from: (1) The IRS' Lois Lerner claims her computer crashed, destroying all her emails to the White House, congressional Democrats and the Department of Justice, at the very height of the IRS' targeting of tea party groups. Six other IRS officials now claim their emails are also missing. (Have they tried shutting down their computers and restarting?) Rosemary Woods erased part of a White House tape nearly half a century ago, and Chris Matthews is still talking about it.
Slaughter in Iraq – Bush's Fault?
President Barack Obama, on Dec. 12, 2011, called Iraq "self-reliant and democratic." He praised that country, calling it a "new Iraq that's determining its own destiny -- a country in which people from different religious sects and ethnicities can resolve their differences peacefully through the democratic process." Obama said, "I have no doubt that Iraq can succeed." He campaigned to end the war in Iraq. He did -- at least he ended America's military involvement in the war. He pulled out all the troops, without leaving a residual force behind as we did, for example, in South Korea, where we have stationed troops for over 50 years.
Kicked From Behind
Aha, Mr. Obama, how do you now like "leading from behind"? When you first enunciated this hocus-pocus in 2011, Charles Krauthammer called it neither a theory nor a doctrine. He called it "dithering," a style devoid of ideas. Instead of the implementation of a doctrine, we have seen indecision, hesitancy, delay. In the aftermath of that delay, it is too late to prevent the carnage, a carnage that did not have to take place. Iraq was stable and relatively peaceful before we led from behind. Now the country is quite possibly lost. Cartographers will be presenting the world with a new map of the area once it has been carved up.
Middle East Holds Few Attractive Options for Obama
Two and a half years ago, the U.S. pulled every soldier out of a mostly quiet Iraq. In the void, formerly al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists calling themselves "The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" are now tearing apart the country, leaving medieval savagery in their wake. Obama partisans are blaming the Bush administration for going into Iraq in the first place. But critics counter that Obama wanted out of Iraq before the 2012 election at all costs. The result of that reckless skedaddle is that we have thrown away the hard work of the 2007-2008 surge that finally broke the back of both al-Qaeda and Iranian-backed Shiite terrorists.
The Vanish Inquisition
"Sometimes stuff just happens." Try using that excuse the next time you forget to pay your taxes. Lois Lerner seems to think it's a perfectly reasonable explanation for thousands of missing emails from her IRS server -- emails, Congress points out, that are crucial to the House's investigation. If it's good enough to get the IRS off the hook, then surely the "stuff happens" defense ought to work for taxpayers too. As many as 24,000 messages have vanished in a series of quote-unquote "computer crashes" that -- wouldn't you know it? -- only affected people involved in the conservative targeting scandal. First, it was just Lois Lerner's account that disappeared in this new Bermuda Triangle. Now, administration officials are changing their story, claiming the "hard-drive failure" that wiped Lerner's emails also affected key stuff. "Plot lines in Hollywood are more believable than what we are getting from this White House and the IRS," said a furious Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), who heads up one of three committees demanding answers on the administration's crackdown.