Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
The Midas Touch and the Leftist Touch
The Midas touch is named for the mythological Greek King Midas who is said to have been able to turn everything he touched into gold. The left has the opposite ability: to turn virtually everything it touches into rubble. Sometimes it happens quickly; sometimes it takes generations. But it is inevitable. Almost the only time this is not true is when the left takes a position that is shared by non-leftists. But whatever the left transforms in its direction is damaged, and often destroyed.
How Times Have Changed Since 1963!
Would John F. Kennedy have sought to shove national health care down the national gullet? The question takes on poignancy in a week full of Kennedy look-backs and looks all around at the works, the style and the obsessions of Barack Obama. We could put the question another way: Is Obama the spiritual heir to the president slain in Dallas 50 years ago this week?
This Christmas, a Clear and Presents Danger
If you think the malls are busy at Christmas, you should see the atheists! From mangers to tree lightings, America's grinches seem to be on every corner, ready to police the meaning right out of the holiday season. This year, the American Humanist Association (AHA) got an early start on its bah-humbugging by harassing schools that participate in Operation Christmas Child. The goal of the project, which is a long-time outreach of Franklin Graham's Samaritans' Purse, is to fill empty shoeboxes with toys for needy kids around the world. Although the ministry isn't shy about its faith, ministry spokesman Kelly Wells says the real purpose is "to show God's love in a tangible way to disadvantaged children around the world."
The United States of Obama
I know a guy who makes a fortune designing bottles, jars and cans, thus making them more appealing to consumers. But it's still the contents that matter If the consumer is going to purchase a second bottle, jar or can, of the stuff. In the same way, there are those who make fortunes designing the packages known as politicians. If you recall, they sold us Obama as if he were a fine old wine in a new transparent bottle, but he turned out to be the same old bootleg gin Chicago has been peddling since the days of Al Capone.
The War Against Achievement
A friend recently sent me a link to an inspiring video about an upbeat young black man who was born without arms. It showed him going to work -- unlike the record number of people living on government payments for "disabilities" that are far less serious, if not fictitious. How is this young man getting to work? He gets into his car and drives there -- using controls set up so that he can operate the car with his feet.
Obama's Soft Despotism
The talking heads love presidential analogies. Is Obamacare's rollout Obama's Hurricane Katrina or his Iraq? Is Obama's false promise that you could keep your health care plan like George H. W. Bush's "read my lips" pledge, or is it like Bill Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"? Iran-Contra anyone? These comparisons don't take you far. The president's troubles are unique to his particular vanities and blind spots.
A Devastating Poll on Obama -- and Obamacare
"The Affordable Care Act's political position has deteriorated dramatically over the last week." That, coming from longtime Obamacare cheerleader and Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein, was pretty strong language. And it was only Wednesday. That was the day after the release of a devastating Quinnipiac national poll. It showed Barack Obama's approval rating at 39 percent, with his disapproval rating at 54 percent -- sharply down from 45 percent approval and 49 percent disapproval on Oct. 1, the day the government shutdown began and healthcare.gov went into (limited) operation.
Sen. David Long's Bold Play for an Article V Convention
Fed up with Washington? Angry that elections don't seem to matter when it comes time to solving problems? Disgusted by the polarization that puts politicians' careers ahead of taxpayer interests? Frustrated because you don't think anything can be done about it? Indiana State Senator David Long (R-Ft. Wayne) has experienced all of these feelings, but has chosen not to accept the status quo. He has a plan for returning power to the people where the Founders wanted it to reside.
Obama's Obamacare Deception: You May Not Know the Half of It
Just when you think things can't get much worse with Obamacare, another shoe drops. Correction: This thing has enough dropping shoes to fully fit a centipede. That Obama deliberately lied (please excuse the redundancy, but it is apparently necessary to clarify one's meaning in this postmodern age) in telling people they could keep their plans and doctors is now beyond dispute. He and his handlers have tried to obfuscate the issue with further deception but have fallen way short of passing the laugh test.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Haiyan Update
For the record: Haiyan was the *seventh* strongest recorded typhoon to hit the Philippines, which have been hit 58 times by super typhoons.
Health Coverage or Political Coverage?
It is becoming evident that the President's mea culpa press conference was less about insuring the continuance of health care coverage for the hundreds of thousands of families losing their healthcare because of ObamaCare, than it was providing political cover to the Democrats who voted for ObamaCare.
Marketplace Changes Have Made ENDA Superfluous
Apple CEO Tim Cook, writing recently in The Wall Street Journal, urged Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, which would make it illegal under federal law for employers to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Prejudice, Cook insisted, is bad for business. Indeed it is -- as defenders of free markets have pointed out for years, irrational discrimination tends to reduce an employer's profits. Far from strengthening the case for a new federal law, however, it seems to me that Cook's observation cuts the other way.
The Moral, Emotional and Intellectual Bankruptcy of Progressivism
In the end, there is only bankruptcy. Moral, emotional and intellectual bankruptcy. Last Thursday, President Obama did the nation a profound favor, albeit unintentionally. He revealed the utter fraud of a progressive ideology that is about nothing more than the accumulation of power -- by any means necessary. It is an ideology where there are no values, save those that apply to a given moment, right here, right now. If and when the moment changes, progressives like the president are entirely comfortable with taking positions that are completely the opposite of those they previously embraced, even as they remain immune to their own hypocrisy.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
A One-Man Wrecking Crew
It usually requires an actual dictator to destroy a country. It takes a power-crazed lunatic such as Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, Castro or the Ayatollah Khomeini, to turn a nation into a cesspool. That's what makes Barack Obama unique. In his case, it only took one man to, in his own words, radically transform a free republic into a place that would not only be unrecognizable to the likes of Washington, Madison, Franklin and Hamilton, but even to such latecomers as Truman, Kennedy and Reagan.
None Dare Call It Fascism
Here is something that is odd. For the past six years President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have waged a relentless attack on the health insurance industry. In the most recent iteration, the president assures us he is not responsible for the wave of health insurance policy cancellations. The insurance companies are. Okay, so where is the other side?
A Hint of 2016 Excitement
The New Republic magazine was, appropriately, the stimulant that last week gave the Democratic base a frisson of anticipation about a possible Elizabeth Warren presidential candidacy in 2016. Now in her 11th month as a Massachusetts senator, she is suited to carry the progressive torch that was fueled 99 years ago this month by The New Republic's founding.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
From The Comedy Store
France honored French Army soldiers who drove al-Qaeda out of Mali this summer. A century of training paid off. When the French soldiers threw their arms in the air the al-Qaeda terrorists thought they were pointing at drones and ran for their lives.
Friday, November 15, 2013
From Obama, No Assurance on Insurance
People say there is safety in numbers -- but they couldn't have meant the ObamaCare enrollment count. Wednesday, the President's reputation took another tumble when the administration finally pulled back the curtain on the law's miserable debut and admitted how few Americans had signed up for the law's coverage. Let's put it this way, said Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.): more people had lunch at Sonic in Oklahoma City Wednesday than have signed up for ObamaCare in a month and a half.
Take Advantage of Obama's Great Gift
America finally understands Obamacare. Day after day, the president's signature legislative achievement is proving to be the federal fiasco everyone predicted it would be. Every Democrat -- including the president's liberal cheerleaders in the media, the Democrats in Congress and Bill Clinton -- knows it's become a major political disaster for their party.
Hollywood's Favorite Sleazeball Shutterbug
The silence is deafening. A depraved photographer accused of abusing and exploiting young models enjoys access to the entertainment industry's hottest female stars, from Rihanna to Lady Gaga to Beyonce to Miley Cyrus. He counts "progressive" feminist celebs among his most intimate friends. He's even photographed President Obama. But when confronted with his sordid history and career degradation of women, these elite friends of Terry have nothing to say.