Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Obama Ramps Up America's Destruction
If people aren't extremely concerned about what's going on in this country now, you might want to check them for a pulse. Frankly, I am having a hard time getting my mind around the rapidity of the nation's decline. I have written two books chronicling President Obama's nightmarish path of destruction, but since the second one was published, events have been happening at an even more explosive pace. Who would have ever imagined that Ronald Reagan's famous statement that "freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction" would turn out to be a gross understatement?
Was the Iraq War a Complete Waste?
Let's just say that the Iraq army isn't exactly anchoring a democratic awakening in the Middle East. Earlier this week, Iraq's armed forces in Mosul -- trained and supplied by the United States to secure the well-being of its people and institutions -- reportedly dropped their guns, shed their uniforms and surrendered to black-flag-waving Sunni insurgents in a mere four days. No Thermopylae here. And about a half-million civilians have left the second-largest city in Iraq to flee what is surely going to become a hotbed of beheadings and other assorted acts of jihad. And now, according to CNN, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria also has almost complete control of Tikrit. Al-Qaida (or something very much like it) is definitely on the run -- right toward our allies.
Hillary, Barack and Bowe
I can't quite decide which recent news item aggravated me the most. First there was Obama's latest salvo in his war on coal, followed by Mrs. Clinton's clumsy attempt to put Benghazi behind her and, finally, the swap of five Islamic terrorists for one Army prisoner. Even though Obama's plan to finish off the coal industry through the use of EPA regulations are expected to cost America 224,000 jobs each year for the next 16 years and send energy costs soaring across the board, the Democrats are all on board for it. It is amazing to me that so many Americans, the very people it will hurt the most, continue paying lip service to the hoax known as global-warming.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Does the Hockey Stick Belong in the Penalty Box?
My wife is a big Rangers fan and I have been watching some of the Stanley Cup playoffs. I am a bigger fan of hockey in person. The game is as fast paced and tough as one can possibly get. Of course I like boxing too, and I remember once I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out. Snare shot please. Actually, I do understand the reason for fighting in hockey. I once met someone who lead the NHL in penalties when he played, and he explained it to me. It has to do with protecting people -- except in hockey you don't pay for protection; you have someone that makes the other guy pay by protecting your guy.
Cantor Loses by 11 Million Voters
Economics professor Dave Brat crushed House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Republican primary Tuesday night, in a campaign that was mostly about Cantor's supporting amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens. This marks the first time a U.S. House majority leader has ever lost a primary election. His crushing defeat reinforces a central point: Whenever the voters know an election is about immigration, they will always vote against more immigration -- especially amnesty.
David Brat, Right on Free-Market Economics
Listening to David Brat on election night, following his upset win over Eric Cantor in Virginia's seventh congressional district, I heard a principled, free-market, pro-growth individual who is going to make an excellent Republican House member. Mr. Brat, the Randolph-Macon economics professor, talked about pro-growth tax reform, spending limits and entitlement reform. He wants to end the congressional bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and return them to the private sector. He opposes corporate cronyism in Washington. He'll have no more special favors for the K Street crowd. He emphasizes the importance of the rule of law and property rights, which are so essential to our free-market system.
For GOP, Re-Evaluation Time
The morning after, at breakfast at the Republicans' Capitol Hill Club, Virginia Rep. Robert Goodlatte was, as befits one of Washington's grown-ups, measured in his reaction to what 36,120 Virginia voters did the day before. It would, he says, be wise "to take a step back and a deep breath until we find out how everyone" -- meaning, especially, House Republicans -- "reacts to this." By "this" he indicates, with a wave of a hand, the one-word headline on Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Congress: "Stunner."
Bergdahl and the U.S. Departure From Afghanistan
Soon we shall get to the bottom of the swap of five Taliban kingpins from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for one Sgt. (sic) Bowe Bergdahl. In time we will learn whether Bergdahl really served with "honor and distinction" and was "captured on the battlefield," as National Security Adviser Susan Rice has stated. Or whether, as fellow soldiers of his platoon insist, he was a deserter who left his comrades to seek out the Taliban.
Peace? When Palestinians Accept Jews as Neighbors
Israel's response to the renewed partnership between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas was admirably, and literally, constructive: It advanced plans to build 1,500 housing units in so-called Jewish "settlements" -- i.e., burgeoning Jerusalem neighborhoods and several nearby West Bank communities. The Israeli housing minister, Uri Ariel, described the decision as "an appropriate Zionist response to the establishment of the Palestinian terror government." Hamas and its allies aim at uprooting the Jewish state; Israel's answer is to send those roots down a little deeper.
Brat Wins, GOP Fears the Wurst
Dave Brat may teach economics, but he gave Republicans a lesson in civics. The longtime conservative professor, whose Wikipedia entry was just two sentences before Tuesday, made history Tuesday night, knocking out the House Majority Leader in a primary for the first time in American history. It was a Dave versus Goliath moment for the relative unknown, who was responsible for once of the greatest upsets in generations. And for seven-term Congressman Eric Cantor (R-Va.), it was a defeat he never saw coming.
Dear Hillary: Run
Hillary, you go girl. Run as hard as you can for president. Play hardball to get your party's nomination. Do whatever dirty party tricks it takes to knock off what's-her-name up in Massachusetts, or what's-his-name out in Montana. Compared to you, they're a pair of minor league batboys — two lefty Democrats who can't hit to every field or duck Monica Lewinsky fastballs like you can.
ObamaCare and the CBO – No Longer 'Giddy'
How critical to the passage of Obamacare was the 2010 "score" given the legislation by the Congressional Budget Office? Recall the President's signature legislation barely passed, and squeaked by along party lines -- without a single Republican vote. Before the vote, congressional Democrats waited for the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office to "score" the legislation. How much, per the CBO, will Obamacare cost? Will Obamacare, as President Barack Obama promised, truly *reduce* the deficit, the gap between what the government takes in and what it spends
Father's Day
In honor of all the fathers reading my column today, I diverge from my normal format to share a brief story that my daughter, Kristin Rebecca Carey, recently wrote about her dad -- my wonderful husband. My prayer is that it reminds you of your unending, tremendous influence on your own children.
Ready for Hillary?
I expected nothing but effusive praise from major media for Hillary Clinton's new book, "Hard Choices," much like the mass exaltation it showered on Barack Obama, America's first African-American president. Initially that seemed where the reviews were headed. Prior to the book's official release June 10, the "journalists" on CBS "This Morning" spent nine minutes of barely restrained excitement promoting Clinton's book. Host Charlie Rose called it "a portrait of doggedness." CBS News political director John Dickerson said the book portrays "a hardworking person who flew all around the world grinding it out."
Amazon Throwing the Book at Publishers
There is lurking in the land a very treacherous threat to American freedoms, and only a handful of citizens seem to care. Perhaps I should say that only a handful of citizens are willing to make bold their concern. For the threat is camouflaged in the garb of "high-tech gadgetry" and the promise of instant response to the customer. Who could oppose that? Amazon, the country's largest bookseller, controlling 40 percent of book sales in the country, wants to cap the price of e-books at $9.99. Publishers say they cannot cover their costs at $9.99 and want to charge more. If Amazon wins, then it comes a step closer to controlling publishing in America, both the production and the distribution of books. Think of that. One source controlling an area as vital to free thought as books.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Education Victory in California: Teacher Tenure Ruled Unconstitutional
The court decision sending teachers unions across the country into a tailspin.
Military Bases: Obama's New Illegal Alien Dumping Grounds
A source tipped me off last week to a curious occurrence: It seems that two planeloads of illegal aliens were recently shipped to Massachusetts. The first reportedly landed at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford. According to my tipster, approximately 160 illegal immigrants arrived on that flight and stayed nearly a week before being transferred to a Department of Homeland Security site and then released. The second flight reportedly was diverted from Hanscom to Boston's Logan Airport this past weekend. I am told that both Massachusetts and New Hampshire officials were on hand. I reached out to Hanscom AFB for confirmation, but did not receive a call back by my deadline. Question: How many other military bases are stealthily being used to redistribute, house, process and release illegal border crossers?
Did Al-Qaida Win the Iraq War?
A dozen years ago, Congress authorized President George W. Bush to invade Iraq to prevent the regime of then-dictator Saddam Hussein from posing a threat to this country with weapons of mass destruction we later discovered he did not have. In his second inaugural address in 2005, Bush described the broader utopian vision motivating his foreign policy. "So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world," Bush said.
How to Interview Hillary Clinton
There are two ways to interview potential presidents. You can pepper them with tough questions, and why not? They're going to apply for the job of Leader of the Free World. Hillary Clinton is used to the other way: Shameless pap. Softballs to be knocked out of the park. She has been a media darling since forever. This is a typical soft pitch offered to Clinton on national television. It came just the other day: "Mitch McConnell said at one point that 2016 will be the return of 'The Golden Girls.'" This was designed to make the Senate Republican leader look like a jerk and allowed Clinton to shoot back, "That was a very popular, long-running TV series." Cue laughter. This softball interviewer, like every other, pushed Clinton to announce her candidacy for president and pampered her with grandmother questions.
Prosecute the President
President Barack Obama believes he is above the law. That's because he is. This week alone, Obama announced that he would unilaterally change student loan rules, allowing borrowers to avoid paying off more of their debt; he signaled that he would continue his non-enforcement of immigration law, even as thousands of children cross the border; he defended his non-disclosure of a terrorist swap to Congress. And, he said, more such actions were in the offing. "I will keep doing whatever I can without Congress," Obama explained.