Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Reclaiming Reagan's Economic Voice
Despite a shrinking economy in the first quarter and outright declines for consumer spending and manufacturing in April, the May jobs report delivered the fourth-straight monthly gain above 200,000, with nonfarm payrolls jumping 217,000. This is the best four-month increase since late 1999. And finally -- after five years -- total U.S. payrolls rose above the previous employment peak set in January 2008. (On the 10th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's death, it's worth noting that the Gipper's supply-side policies reclaimed all the lost jobs from the 1981-82 recession in a matter of months.) As for the unemployment rate, it held steady at 6.3 percent. And the underemployment rate (U-6) dropped a tenth to 12.2 percent. So overall, this was a positive report. And it's good to see more Americans working. But there are still some serious warts in the jobs story.
Susan Rice: Fool Us Twice?
It's an old American saying: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!" President Obama's National Security Adviser went on another Sunday show last weekend. She proceeded to tell the nation and the world that the AWOL U.S. Army soldier held for five years by the Taliban, Bowe Bergdahl, had served "honorably, and with distinction." She defended the Obama administration's decision to trade five of the worst detainees at Guantànamo Bay for this soldier. This is not the first time Susan Rice has been dispatched to the Sunday shows. In 2012, she appeared on *five* Sunday talk shows *in one day*. Then, her mission was to spin the story that it was an anti-Muslim video produced in the U.S. that had provoked the deadly attack on our diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
From The Comedy Store
Obama held a meeting on sports concussions with young athletes and parents in the White House East Room. He wants to do everything he can to protect young people from life-threatening injuries. He's putting them on the waiting list to be seen by the VA.
I Used to Be a Democrat
It's true that for a long time, an inexcusably long time, I was a registered Democrat. But even then, I never called myself a liberal. Because I came of age in the 1960s, I associated liberals with the punks I knew who called cops "pigs," called soldiers "baby killers" and used any and all means to dodge the draft, and then had the hypocrisy to announce they did so because they were avowed pacifists. Being in my 20s myself, I knew these people and I knew it was fear of battle or being bossed around by top sergeants, typically tough guys from the South, that motivated them to head off either to Canada or to one of the many left-wing shrinks who were willing to lie about their mental disorders and or verify they were homosexuals.
Friday, June 6, 2014
What Happened to Marine Deserter Wassef Ali Hassoun?
Ten years ago this month, U.S. Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun disappeared from Camp Fallujah in Iraq. After a five-month military investigation, he was charged with desertion and theft, brought back to Virginia's Quantico Marine base and then transferred to North Carolina's Camp Lejeune for trial. Yet, a full decade later, Hassoun is as free as a bird. The accused deserter's whereabouts are unknown. No trial ever began. No punishment ensued. And our leaders in Washington don't seem to be doing a thing about this. Hassoun was born in Lebanon and immigrated with his family to Utah in 1999. A few years later, he joined the Marines as an Arabic translator. On June 20, 2004, Hassoun bailed on guard duty at his base in Fallujah. He took his military-issued gun and his Muslim prayer rug. Military records obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune showed that he was "torn between military loyalty and his Muslim beliefs."
Here Comes the 'Abortion Comedy'
The feminist film critics can exhale now. Someone has finally concocted their dream movie: an "abortion comedy." Because apparently nothing sounds funnier than an unplanned one-night stand and a courageous destruction of God's most beautiful and most innocent creation. It's called "Obvious Child." Feminist lingo sells this monstrosity. Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Jenny Slate plays Donna Stern, a standup comedian who "is forced to face the uncomfortable realities of independent womanhood for the first time." A "drunken hookup -- and epic lapse in prophylactic judgment -- turns out to be the beginning of a hilarious and totally unplanned journey of self-discovery and empowerment."
It Was Probably Never About Bergdahl
Everything about this horrendous Bowe Bergdahl affair reminds us just how out of touch President Obama is with ordinary Americans and American sensibilities. Just look at what we've learned. Obama reportedly expected that the American people would meet his egregiously lopsided deal exchanging five Osama bin Ladens for one Benedict Arnold with a "euphoric" response? That is breathtaking. Even if Bergdahl had been a heroic figure, I dare say the public would have objected to Obama's giving up five of the most dangerous terrorists in the world in exchange for Bergdahl and, in the process, negotiating with terrorists.
Bergdahl's Free, but at What Cost?
There he goes again. At a press conference in Brussels Thursday, President Obama was asked if he was surprised by the controversy over his decision to trade Bowe Bergdahl for five high-ranking Taliban leaders. His response was vintage Obama: "I'm never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington." Thus establishing from the start that he considers the controversy to be a kind of partisan farce, he proceeded to rebut criticisms virtually no one has made. This is Obama's favorite rhetorical trick; he builds and then tears apart a straw man while insisting that the American people are on his side.
Is 'Not Obama' Enough?
Though President Barack Obama's first term was characterized by anemic economic growth, decreasing household income, prolonged joblessness, an unpopular health law, foreign policy blunders and bitter partisanship, the electorate seemed stubbornly unwilling to lay any of it at his feet. As late as July 2013, 35 percent of Americans assigned George W. Bush a "high degree" of blame for the economy versus only 19 percent who named Obama alone. Now the spell appears to have been decidedly broken. The benefit of the doubt Obama enjoyed for more than four years has been depleted. The Benghazi, IRS and Veterans Affairs scandals; the disastrous rollout of Obamacare (and the revelation of presidential dishonesty); the molasses economy; the Syria "red line" fiasco; the feeble response to the Ukraine mess; the new EPA taxes on coal; and the utterly tone-deaf treatment of the Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl trade have combined to convince the country that Obama is out of his depth. A Washington Post poll found that 55 percent of voters believe that Obama has made the country weaker. CNN found that 61 percent disapprove of his handling of the economy, along with 63 percent who disapprove of his handling of the health care law, and 57 percent who disapprove of his management of foreign policy (the poll predated the Bergdahl trade).
The Bible Verses Planned Parenthood
Women are used to Planned Parenthood preying on them -- but *praying* on them? That's a new approach altogether. After a string of celebrity endorsements, Planned Parenthood insists it got the ultimate one: God's. Obviously, Cecile Richards's group is always looking for new ways to justify abortion. But the Bible? That's a step too far, even for them. In a new "[Pastoral Letter to Patients](www.progressivestoday.com/shock-planned-parenthood-points-to-bible-to-justify-abortions/)," America's biggest abortion business (the same one that launched a 40 Days of Prayer for Choice) makes the stunning suggestion that most faiths support the decision to kill an innocent unborn child. "The truth is that abortion is not even mentioned in the Scriptures -- Jewish or Christian -- and there are clergy and people... from all denominations who support women making this complex decision."
Obama's War on the Economy Continues With EPA Coal Rules
Just when you expect President Obama to moderate his domestic economic policies, which have stifled job growth and fostered an anemic recovery following the passage of his two signature pieces of legislation -- the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Affordable Care Act -- it gets worse. Now, after bringing banking and health care -- about 31% of the U.S. economy -- under government heel, Obama wants to further control and transform the energy sector, which represents another 10.5% of the economy. Blocking the Keystone XL pipeline, which could help bust OPEC by transporting abundant Canadian oil into the U.S., was the opening salvo of Obama's war against fossil fuels. The march now is to destroy the coal industry, which employs nearly 800,000 and remains the country's leading fuel source for electricity -- providing nearly 40% of America's electric power.
VA Scandal Further Discredits Obama's Big Gov't Policies
President Obama evidently was caught by surprise by the scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs. So, apparently, was VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who evidently took at face value the corrupt VA statistics -- and who, after a distinguished military career, resigned last week. One who was probably not taken by surprise is longtime Yale Law Professor Peter Schuck, who identified the problems at the VA before the scandal broke in his recently published book, "Why Government Fails So Often and How It Can Do Better." Schuck is no libertarian who wants to do away with government altogether. He says he has voted for every Democratic presidential candidate but one since 1964.
Free Him, Then Try Him
What is it with Susan Rice and the Sunday morning talk shows? This time she said Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl had served in Afghanistan "with honor and distinction" -- the biggest whopper since she insisted the Benghazi attack was caused by a video. There is strong eyewitness evidence that Bergdahl deserted his unit and that the search for him endangered his fellow soldiers. Otherwise, there would be no national uproar over his ransom and some of the widely aired objections to the deal would be as muted as they are flimsy. For example: 1. *America doesn't negotiate with terrorists.* Nonsense. Of course we do. Everyone does, while pretending not to. The Israelis, by necessity the toughest of all anti-terror fighters, in 2011 gave up 1,027 prisoners, some with blood on their hands, for one captured staff sergeant.
Make Them Bake Cake!
The Colorado Civil Rights Commission has ordered a suburban Denver baker named Jack Phillips to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, finding that his religious objections do not supersede the state's anti-discrimination statutes. Because if the Constitution should be subordinate to anything, it's the local thought police, hurt feelings and nuptial pastries. Raju Jaram, one of the reprehensible unelected commissioners -- whose contact information is nowhere to be found on Colorado's government site -- apparently had this to say about the case: "I can believe anything I want, but if I'm going to do business here, I'd ought to not discriminate against people." No, you can't. Because Phillips isn't discriminating against gay Coloradans. Gay customers, as far as all the news stories have suggested, are free to shop in the bakery and purchase (at the same price) any of the cakes, cookies and pastries they like, without ever being asked by anyone whom they love or what the gender equation is in their sex life.
Being Pro-English Is Also Pro-Immigrant
California is home to the largest population of limited English-speaking students in the nation, mostly immigrants and children of immigrants from Latin America and Asia. If these children are to succeed in the United States, they must learn English -- the question is how best to accomplish that aim. In 1998, after decades of failing such students, Californians voted to replace so-called bilingual education, which in practice taught children primarily in their native language, with English immersion programs. By all measures, the shift away from native-language instruction toward English immersion was a success. Not only did kids learn English more quickly, but their reading scores improved, as well, doubling in the first four years after bilingual education was banned. So why are California legislators now trying to reverse course and lift the ban on bilingual education? The move seems primarily aimed at appeasing a powerful bilingual education lobby. If bilingual educators succeed, it will be at the expense not only of the children they claim to want to help, but also of the future of immigration reform.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Terrorist Groups Rise 58% Since 2010
A new report destroys the Obama administration’s claim that terrorism is "on the run."
Bowe Bergdahl, Just Deserts
Death Penalty Month at anncoulter.com has already been interrupted by the psycho in Santa Barbara, and now it's being interrupted by the Buddhist in Bagram. Keeping to the spirit of Death Penalty Month, let's review the execution of Pvt. Eddie Slovik. Slovik's offense: desertion in wartime. (See the tie-in?) Unlike Bowe Bergdahl, who deserted his unit, according to the accounts of his comrades, Slovik never actually deserted. He also didn't call America a "disgusting" country or say he was "ashamed to be an American." Slovik was just a chicken.
D-Day Is Dumb Day for Too Many
Given the numerous studies revealing how American education lags behind instruction in other countries in disciplines once thought to be essential, it should come as no surprise that on the 70th anniversary of D-Day, a lot of people are clueless about central elements of the Allied invasion of the European continent on June 6, 1944. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has released the results of a survey, which finds only slightly more than half (54 percent) of those who took a multiple choice quiz knew that Dwight D. Eisenhower was the supreme commander of Allied forces on D-Day. Fewer than half knew Franklin Roosevelt was president and 15 percent identified the location of the landing as Pearl Harbor, not beaches named Utah and Omaha. One in 10 college students were among those giving the wrong answer.
Return of the Liberal Death Wish
Some 45 years ago, one of the era's great wits and finest writers, the Englishman, Malcolm Muggeridge, wrote about the Great Liberal Death Wish. He saw the Death Wish at work everywhere. In the liberals' appeasement of the Soviets, he saw it. In liberals' extravagant extension of the welfare state, he saw it. For a certitude, he was right. The liberals of the day died off and were replaced by Margaret Thatcher in Britain and by Ronald Reagan in America. Not much was heard of them for years until Tony Blair and Bill Clinton came along, and both men's liberalism was greatly truncated. The Liberal Death Wish was Muggeridge's true insight. By the 1980s, the Death Wish had only killed off the liberals. The rest of us escaped. The West managed to overcome the liberals' instrumentalities of death. In the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan's military buildup, contrary to those who said it was reckless and dangerous, managed to practically bankrupt the Soviet Union.