Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
ObamaCare: Our Very Own Titanic
At the time Nancy Pelosi famously remarked that the Affordable Care Act would have to be passed before we knew what was in it, I didn't realize that by "we," she was including Barack Obama. I should have guessed, though. After all, this guy is as lazy as that kid who always tried to hide out in the eighth grade by sitting in the last seat in the back row, praying never to be called on. It's only right that it's referred to as his signature piece of legislation because the only role this goofus played in creating this monster was signing it.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
The DOJ’s Curious Foray Into the 'Knockout Game' Fray
The first assailant worthy of federal hate crime charges is a white Texan?
Obama Regs Disenfranchise Minority, Low-Income College Students
Education is the great equalizer. Yet, while President Obama was talking earlier this month about how minority and underprivileged Americans need a "decent education," his Department of Education (ED) was pushing more onerous regulations that would have the opposite effect. ED is finalizing the administration's second attempt at passing "gainful employment" standards that place restrictions on institutions that can receive government funding for its students. In short, the new rules would require programs that receive government funding to students graduate with less than a 12 percent debt-to-income ratio or a debt-to-discretionary-income ratio of less than 30 percent.
From The Comedy Store
Nancy Pelosi told Democrats to back the bi-partisan budget deal last week although she said she realized that it sucks. She asked them to embrace the suck. Shocked listeners quickly realized Nancy just had a memory lapse and confused Obamacare with Clintoncare.
2013 Cultural Winners and Losers
Let's assess the winners and losers in American culture for 2013. Our first obvious winner is "Duck Dynasty" and its Phil Robertson. He's a winner for standing by his Christian principles after some offensive remarks about homosexuality. A&E suspended him and put out the usual statement that they are "champions" of the gay agenda -- and proceeded to start running "Duck Dynasty" marathons. Mark Steyn put it just right: The gay-left blacklisters insist "espousing conventional Christian morality, even off air, is incompatible with American celebrity." Robertson has successfully shattered intolerance of the anti-Christian left.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Rocky Mountain High
With days to go before recreational pot use becomes legal in Colorado, those of us who live in Boulder are wondering what will change. Marijuana use is already ubiquitous. Open up the free newspapers on campus at the University of Colorado, and ads for "medical" marijuana fill the pages. Funny how a "medicine" whose primary benefits are restricted to glaucoma, chemotherapy-induced nausea and peripheral neuropathy -- conditions far more likely to afflict the elderly -- is being marketed to college kids. But, come January 1, pot entrepreneurs will be able to push Purple Haze, Blue Rhino and Sour Diesel without the fig leaf.
Relating to Christ Through His Humanity
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, whom we Christians believe is the second person of the divine Trinity, who took on human form to experience our sufferings, die for us and make our salvation possible. The idea of God becoming man strikes us as a bit odd, at the very least. How could a perfect spiritual being -- omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, omnibenevolent -- become for a while a human being, much less a helpless baby wholly dependent on his mother?
Obamacare Whac-A-Mole
The wheels began to come off Obamacare in 2011 when the administration announced that the "CLASS Act," a provision to provide long-term disability care, was, in the words of Kathleen Sebelius, "totally unsustainable," and would be discontinued. What was the problem? The White House website had boasted: "No taxpayer funds will be used to pay benefits under this provision ... Safeguards will be put in place to ensure its premiums are enough to cover its costs." "Safeguards." Sounds quaint now, doesn't it? A bit like "If you like your plan ... "
Christmastime and the Family Structure
Christmastime is an occasion for families to come together. But the family is not what it used to be, as my former American Enterprise Institute colleague Nick Schulz argues in his short AEI book "Home Economics: The Consequences of Changing Family Structure." It's a subject that many people are uncomfortable with. "Everyone either is or knows and has a deep personal connection to someone who is divorced, cohabiting, or gay," Schulz writes. "Great numbers of people simply want to avoid awkward talk of what are seen as primarily personal issues or issues of individual morality."
Mandela, MLK & Obama
I think we can all agree that when major world leaders die, we all die a little bit ourselves. In my case, I generally come down with a terminal case of boredom because the media bombards us with tributes from people who labor under the delusion that a little bit of glory rubs off on them if they utter the requisite number of laudatory clichés. In Mandela's case, he was apparently as good and bad as any figure of our time. Nobody can deny that he was exactly what his nation needed -- a leader who not only didn't seek revenge on those who had kept him in prison for 27 years, but who had handed over the presidency after a few short years when every other African leader hangs on for as long as he can, generally murdering countless thousands in order to do so.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Kwanzaa: The Holiday Brought to You by the FBI
I had hoped to write about "Duck Dynasty" this week, but that will have to wait. I have too much Kwanzaa shopping left to do. (Is it just me, or is Kwanzaa getting way too commercialized?) Contrary to pundits sniping about Ted Cruz's campaign to repeal Obamacare, even the most boneheaded liberal ideas never "collapse on their own," which is why we still have public schools and President Obama. If nothing is done, Kwanzaa will join these horrors in the firmament of American life.
There's Nothing New Under the Sun
As winter gets ready to crank up over the coming weeks -- which, I must confess, given our Weatherbell.com cold winter forecast and the affect on our clients who heeded our advice, I have no qualms about -- I thought I would bring back a golden oldie to counter the revisionist history that is being pushed in the climate debate today. The same outlet that is now actively touting man-made global warming (which one isn't?) was not singing the same tune in the 1970s, and this Time magazine cover from April 9, 1977 proves it.
The Radical Dream of 'Peace on Earth'
Christians regard Jesus as the "prince of peace," and the dream of a world at peace is woven into the story and meaning of the holiday celebrating his birth. As an angel shared good tidings of great joy with the shepherds abiding in the field, the Gospel of Luke recounts, the heavenly host sang of "glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Two millennia later, what could be more familiar than Christmas cards sharing a wish for peace on earth, or the tender carol "Silent Night," with its image of a mother and her newborn sleeping "in heavenly peace"?
Sledgehammer Justice
Federal Judge John Gleeson of the Eastern District of New York says documents called "statements of reasons" are an optional way for a judge to express "views that might be of interest." The one he issued two months ago is still reverberating. It expresses his dismay that although his vocation is the administration of justice, his function frequently is the infliction of injustice. The policy of mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses has empowered the government to effectively nullify the constitutional right to a trial. As Lulzim Kupa learned.
The Orphaned Middle Class
On almost every left-right issue that divides Democrats and Republicans -- as well as Republicans themselves -- there is a neglected populist constituency. The result is that populist politics are largely caricatured as Tea Party extremism -- and a voice for the middle class is largely absent. The problem with Obamacare is that its well-connected and influential supporters -- pet businesses, unions and congressional insiders -- have already won exemption from it. The rich will always have their concierge doctors and Cadillac health plans. The poor can usually find low-cost care through Medicaid, federal clinics and emergency rooms.
Taking Tolerance Too Far
In a recent and very good book, John L. Allen comes to the judgment that "Christians today indisputably are the most persecuted religious body on the planet," and he concludes that "the transcendent human rights concern of our time is this rarely noted persecution." In the affluent and comfortable West, we take for granted a tolerance that is not shown Christians in Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria or Eritrea, much less North Korea. Yet the war against Christians exists here at home, too. It is not as ugly, but it exists and with it Americans have witnessed an amazing reversal in our history. After all, this country was originally a Christian country. It was a refuge for all Christians, and, as the years passed, all Western faiths -- eventually all humane faiths. America became a land of religious tolerance. Given the intolerance toward Christianity that we see in America today, possibly it is time for Christians to rethink this tolerance. Possibly, tolerance can go too far.
A Duck Dynasty Checklist
The outrage industry was in high dudgeon just before Christmas over remarks "Duck Dynasty" family patriarch, Phil Robertson, made to GQ magazine about homosexuality. Outrage is the primary ingredient for political fundraising and political power. One must always have an enemy. Let's go down the "I Take Offense" checklist and make sure all the boxes were "ticked" before considering a larger point.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Awaiting a Season for Civility
The left and right owe each other the gift of mutual respect
5 Lessons From the 'Duck Dynasty' Controversy
A&E's indefinite suspension of "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson over his comments regarding homosexuality, and the subsequent backlash, is an important cultural moment in American life. For the first time in decades, traditionally religious Americans have come out of the closet en masse to speak out against anti-religious bigotry from proponents of gay rights. This, in turn, has made many on both the right and left uncomfortable: uncomfortable with a loud and proud segment of religious believers standing up for the expression of Biblical views, and uncomfortable with the notion of such religious believers being allotted a seat at the political and cultural table.