Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Government by Intimidation
U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa, revolted by the police-state arrogance of some elected prosecutors, has stopped a partisan abuse of law enforcement that was masquerading as political hygiene. Last Tuesday, Randa halted the corruption being committed by persons pretending to administer campaign regulations -- regulations ostensibly enacted to prevent corruption or the appearance thereof. The prosecutors' cynical manipulation of Wisconsin's campaign laws is more than the mere appearance of corruption. Eric O'Keefe's refusal to be intimidated by lawless law enforcement officials produced Randa's remarkably emphatic ruling against an especially egregious example of Democrats using government power to suppress conservatives' political speech.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
From The Comedy Store
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was reported suffering from prostate cancer on top of his public disgrace. He had a bad week. He got banned from the NBA for life for saying something really stupid, which makes everybody wonder why Joe Biden still has a job.
Reid, Steyer & Other Leftist Slugs
I know that a lot of people continue to call for Obama's impeachment, but it's an exercise in futility. The Republicans can't, even though Obama has treated the Constitution as if it was an old rag, and the Democrats won't. We had a great opportunity to dump him in 2012 and replace him with Mitt Romney, and we blew it. That doesn't mean that we have to sit back and patiently count off the hours until Harry Reid decides to retire. I have suggested that Nevadans recall him in the past and I continue to urge them to take action. I have heard that Reid's entire career is based on the support of the unions and the owners of Vegas casinos, and, quite frankly, I don't get it. What is it that Nevada's unions like about Reid? Is it his to-die-for impression of a zombie? Do they find his charm and wit so beguiling that they are willing to overlook the highest rate of unemployment in the United States?
Friday, May 9, 2014
She's Baaack...
Monica Lewinsky is back in the news, this time complaining of her treatment by the liberal media, feminists and the Clinton Machine. In a long essay in the latest edition of Vanity Fair, Lewinsky blames all three for making her unemployable. Sorry, I'm not buying her sob story. Nearly 20 years after her stroll down the walk of shame, she's a far less sympathetic character than she was originally. Lewinsky claims that her affair with President Bill Clinton was entirely consensual -- no sexual harassment here, she says. Nonetheless, she complains that the media frenzy that attended the public airing of what sexual antics took place in and around the Oval Office in the mid-1990s hurt her far more than it did him. Maybe.
Media Yawn at Hollywood Child Abuse
In August of 2011, the former child actor Corey Feldman made a stunning assertion to ABC News: "I can tell you that the No. 1 problem in Hollywood was and is and always will be pedophilia. That's the biggest problem for children in this industry ... It's the big secret." The rest of the media said nothing. Almost three years later, it's happening again. The Los Angeles Times reported on April 18 that "X-Men" director Bryan Singer "has been accused in a federal lawsuit of drugging and sexually assaulting an aspiring teenage actor in the 1990s." Michael Egan III claims that he was forced into a "sordid sex ring" in the entertainment industry in which underage boys were supplied alcohol and drugs. Egan alleges that the assaults took place at wild parties in California and Hawaii when he was 17.
Supreme Court Rules on Public Prayer – but Should It?
The notion that something can simultaneously be wrong and constitutional really seems to bother a lot of people. Consider the Supreme Court's recent decision on public prayer. In Greece v. Galloway the court ruled, 5-4, that the little town of Greece, New York, could have predominantly Christian clergy deliver prayers at the beginning of city council meetings. As a constitutional matter, the majority's decision seems like a no-brainer to me. The authors of the Constitution permitted -- and required! -- prayer at similar civic gatherings when they were writing the document and for years afterward, when many served as congressmen, senators, judges and presidents.
Who Created the Rape Culture?
"Two, four, six, eight. Stop the violence. Stop the rape," so chanted a group of Ohio University students calling themselves "f---rapeculture" at a protest a couple of years ago. Rape culture activists have become a fixture on campuses throughout the country, and now, 55 colleges -- including Harvard, Princeton and Berkeley -- are under federal investigation for mishandling sexual assault complaints. Some of my conservative/libertarian sisters have pointed out that the statistics on sexual assault are wildly inflated. Christina Hoff Sommers notes that the "one in five women are victims of rape" statistic that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention popularized (and that has been cited as justification for drastically diminishing the due process rights of those accused) is wildly at odds with Department of Justice crime victimization surveys, and is based on poorly worded questions and unrepresentative samples.
Baseball Bros Not Safe at Home and Garden TV
As major league baseball players, David and Jason Benham were used to a level playing field. In Hollywood, they're finding out that for Christians, there's no such thing. The twin brothers, who were set to launch a home-flipping show on HGTV in October, found out this week that their program is being canceled before it even started! The network had jumped at the concept of two siblings helping families buy homes they never thought they could afford. In fact, the project was so far along that the Benhams had already filmed several episodes in preparation for the series. Then, in a story eerily similar to Craig James's and the Robertsons', the twins got the news that they'd been dumped by the network for subscribing to a faith that three-quarters of Americans supposedly share.
Benghazi: How to Do the Hearings Right
The Democrats are portraying the not-yet-even constituted House Select Committee on Benghazi as nothing but a partisan exercise. They are even considering boycotting the hearings to delegitimize them. Fine. Although this would give the Obama-protective media a further reason to ignore Benghazi, it doesn't matter. All that matters is whether the committee produces new, important facts. If it does, it will be impossible to ignore. We've already seen what a single piece of new evidence can do in reviving interest in a story that many (including me) thought the administration had successfully stonewalled.
Republican Primary Voters Seem Determined to Nominate Candidates Who Can Win
Results of Tuesday's primaries, particularly the victory of state House Speaker Thom Tillis in North Carolina's Republican Senate primary, are being hailed -- or decried -- as a victory for the Republican establishment over the Tea Party movement. There's something to that. Tillis benefited from support from Karl Rove's American Crossroads and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and endorsements by Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush. In contrast, Sen. Rand Paul flew in on the day before the election to campaign for second-place finisher and fellow physician Greg Bannon, who was also endorsed by Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks. Mike Huckabee campaigned for the third-place candidate, minister Mark Harris.
Good Riddance: Common Core Backlash Claims New Political Casualties
All politics is local. So Republican politicians with national ambitions better pay attention to what grassroots parents are saying and doing about the federal education racket known as Common Core. In bellwether Indiana this week, anti-Common Core activists won a pair of pivotal electoral victories against GOP Gov. Mike Pence. Pence's attempt to mollify critics by rebranding and repackaging shoddy Common Core standards is fooling no one. Tuesday's Republican primary elections in the Hoosier state resulted in the landslide defeat of two establishment incumbents running for statewide re-election. Pence had endorsed GOP State Rep. Kathy Heuer over challenger Christopher Judy. Pence's Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann had endorsed GOP State Rep. Rebecca Kubacki over challenger Curt Nisly. The incumbents enjoyed the support of the Common Core-promoting U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Where Are the Freedom-Loving Democrats? Why the Silence?
Are we moving toward an America in which only one worldview is socially -- and, God forbid, legally -- acceptable? Are the proponents of "tolerance" truly as intolerant and tyrannical as they seem to be? It's not just the political and cultural left's increasingly totalitarian mindset in demanding that only its views be permitted that bothers me; it's that more and more people aligned with the left politically, i.e., rank-and-file Democrats, are outright supporting this trend or willingly looking the other way. This is Barack Obama's America. He has established a climate wherein dissent from his and the left's "values" is reason for ostracism -- and worse. Just a few short years ago, he professed to be opposed to same-sex marriage. Students of Obama's tortured history on this issue and his proclivity for deceit and political opportunism knew he wasn't sincere.
Environmentalists Have Lost the Climate Change Debate
The bloodcurdling National Climate Assessment is here, and it portends catastrophe; floods, clouds and other assorted weather events are imminent! But, says the report, "there is still time to act to limit the amount of climate change and the extent of damaging impacts." Have you noticed that we're always at the cusp of a cataclysm yet the deadline to act always moves to a politically convenient not-too-distant future? I guess that when the time to act runs out -- it will at some point, right? -- we can begin thinking about defunding all these panels and reinvesting in something more productive, such as figuring out how we can adapt to the future.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Judge Blocks Anti-Conservative Witch-Hunt in Wisconsin
Conservative advocacy groups win key court battle -- but the Left vows to keep up the fight.
Will Scotland Go the Way of Slovakia?
What do you think of the September vote in Great Britain to decide whether Scotland shall be free of London's rule? Scotland has been part of the United Kingdom since 1707. Yet, in September, Britain will go to the polls to vote "yes" or "no" as to the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?" If a majority vote "yes," Great Britain will be great no more. The Act of Union in 1707 was a long time ago. It ushered in over 300 years of uniting -- dare I say it -- two great people, the Scots and the English. The Scots may have been portrayed as a junior partner, but they held their own. Edinburgh in the 1770s came to be called "the Athens of the North," the home for a brilliant enlightenment with great thinkers such as David Hume and Adam Smith. Over the past 300 years, the Scots have made splendid contributions to philosophy, science, the arts, commerce, warfare and -- forget not -- drink. To this day, its leading export is whisky, and it is very good whisky, on par with Tennessee bourbon, maybe even better.
UCLA Professor Blows Whistle on Illegal Admissions Practices at University
In 1996 California voters passed Proposition 209, which prohibited discrimination or preferential treatment based on race, ethnicity or sex in admissions to public college and universities. But the moment 209 passed, UCLA, according to a new book, set about figuring ways around it. "Cheating: An Insider's Report on the Use of Race in Admissions at UCLA," by Professor Tim Groseclose, describes what the author insists are illegal admissions practices that he witnessed at UCLA. Groseclose's story begins in 2008 when, as a member of a faculty oversight committee for admissions, he asked for a random set of application files. He suspected that UCLA was using racial preferences in its admissions decisions -- in violation of Prop 209. When UCLA refused to give him the files, he grew even more suspicious. In response, he resigned from the committee and alerted the press.
Lockett & Load
The next time liberals get indignant when we say they care more about criminals than the victims of crime, remember their hysterical weeping over Clayton Lockett. I refer, of course, to the vile rapist-murderer, whose execution last week is getting more press than Chris Christie's bridge scandal. This week we will review some facts about the case that The New York Times edited out of its capacious articles on Lockett. This is the information that was not fit to print. Next week, we'll discuss the death penalty, with particular reference to Clayton Lockett. The main category of facts you won't read about Lockett in the Times, or elsewhere in the NFM (Non-Fox Media), is what he did to his victims -- which is to say, his last four victims. It may surprise you to learn that Locket had a long felony record.
Saving the Children – for Real
President Obama -- three weeks late -- has done something to help rescue those Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by extremist Islamist terrorists. He's sending a team of military officials and hostage negotiators to help the hapless Nigerian government track down and retrieve the 223 girls. The girls will almost certainly be sold to sex traffickers or kept as sex slaves by the militant terrorist group known as Boko Haram, whose name translates as "Western education is sinful."
At Ballot Box, Marriage of Primary Importance
Supporting marriage might cost you a job in broadcasting, but in Republican politics, it's the best decision you can make. Indiana voters made that crystal clear in Tuesday night's primary, refusing to "hold their peace" on two GOP House members who helped sink the state's chance at a marriage protection amendment. Kathy Heuer (R) and Rebecca Kubacki (R) probably regret their decision to undercut the state's marriage amendment now, after losing in a landslide rebuke of their liberal social positions. The women, who both lost to pro-marriage challengers, flip-flopped on the issue when the state was debating a November referendum -- betraying the GOP platform and ultimately costing Hoosiers the chance to vote their values.
A Nation of Flaws
We like to think of ourselves as a nation of laws, but, increasingly, it has become a meaningless term. For one thing, there is nothing great about obeying laws that are indecent. Slavery, after all, was perfectly legal for several decades in the United States, as was Jim Crow. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had just as many laws as we did. So it's high time we quit mouthing the cliché as if it were Holy Scripture. In recent years, the whole notion of our being a nation of laws has been turned completely on its head by the current administration. Whether the laws deal with the definition of marriage, illegal immigration, drug dealers or health care, Barack Obama and Eric Holder have taken it entirely upon themselves to determine which laws are to be enforced and which are to be ignored.