Right Opinion

Frowning Upon Jesse

When Shelby Steele recently wrote about "The Decline of the Civil Rights Leadership," he put his finger on a serious problem for our country. Professor Steele noted that there has been a corruption of moral authority at the top of the media-selected Civil Rights elite.

Paper Tiger

I am writing this at shortly after 8 PM on Monday. By the time you read this, we might have dropped a hell fire missile on Bashir al-Assad's head. Not really, but there are some interesting ironies about the Syrian situation. Secretary of State John Kerry famously -- or infamously -- pretended to throw his Vietnam-era medals over the White House fence in 1971.

Obama Could Learn From FDR on How to Get Things Done

Evidence of the astonishing incompetence of the Obama administration continues to roll in. It started with the stimulus package. One-third of the money went to public employee union members -- a political payoff not very stimulating to anyone else. Billions went to green energy loans, like the $500 million that the government lost in backing the obviously hapless Solyndra. Infrastructure projects, which the president continues to tout, never seem to get built. He's been talking about dredging the port of Charleston, for example, to accommodate the big container ships coming in when the Panama Canal is widened.

A Poignant Anniversary

The 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, and of the Reverend Martin Luther King's memorable "I have a dream" speech, is a time for reflections -- some inspiring, and some painful and ominous. At the core of Dr. King's speech was his dream of a world in which people would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by "the content of their character." Judging individuals by their individual character is at the opposite pole from judging how groups are statistically represented among employees, college students or political figures.

Obama Cannot Rise Above Politics

It's ironic that President Obama so often carps about politics -- blaming "politics as usual" or "hyperpartisanship" for everything from the lack of economic growth to joblessness to climate change -- when he is the most relentlessly partisan president in recent memory. Obama is a staunch left/liberal who finds it very difficult to rise above politics and attempt to unite the country. Arguably, his very best speech, the one delivered in Tucson after the Gabby Giffords shooting, did transcend partisanship. It was an outlier.

Ashton Kutcher's Message

Ashton Kutcher, the 35-year-old actor and ex-husband of actress Demi Moore, has never been considered a poster child for the "family values crowd," but at the Teen Choice Awards two weeks ago, he could have easily passed for one. Following screams from young female fans in the audience, Kutcher silenced them with a motivational message that bordered on inspiration. He told them: "I believe that opportunity looks a lot like hard work. ... I've never had a job in my life that I was better than. I was always just lucky to have a job. And every job I had was a steppingstone to my next job, and I never quit my job until I had my next job."

Obama Scapegoating Rush Again

Once again, President Obama is personally attacking my brother, Rush, this time to shamelessly blame him for congressional gridlock. Nice try, Mr. President, but what really bothers you is that Rush has your number and daily shares it with his vast audience. In an interview last week with CNN's Chris Cuomo, Obama charged that most congressional Republicans oppose the move to defund Obamacare but are afraid of saying so publicly for fear of Rush's public condemnation. Obama made the same type of charge prior to the 2012 elections.

The New 'Equality' Principle

A news story out of New Mexico reminds us how hard it has lately become to be an American: a traditional American, I should say, concerned with trivial stuff like conscience and faith and personal integrity. New Mexico's Supreme Court last week declared a mom and pop business, called Elane Photography, had violated the state human rights act by declining to photograph a lesbian commitment ceremony seven years ago. Why did the owners decline? On account of their belief in the ancient norm of heterosexual marriage.

Tolerance, Health and Fascism

I cannot count the number of times I heard liberal professors and liberal writers quote the phrase: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." The phrase is brilliant. There is actually no threat to America of fascism coming from the right. The essence of the American right, after all, is less government; and fascism, by definition, demands ever larger government.

Crimes & Misdemeanors

If I were a time traveler from an earlier age, I'm sure that along with our music, manners and clothing, the thing that would mystify me the most is our legal system. For openers, I would not understand why rapists and pedophiles are not executed, or at the very least locked away in dungeons to be gnawed on by rats. What possible excuse could there be for keeping these creatures alive? Some crimes can be explained, if not excused. People sometimes kill in self-defense or in a jealous rage. People sometimes steal food when they're starving. But rape and child molestation are cold, calculated atrocities, and anybody who commits them has allowed his membership in the human race to lapse.

March on Washington 2013 Brings Liberal Distortion

Looking over the program for the festivities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the civil rights March on Washington, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech, it's hard to not feel sober about the whole thing. I say sober because there is good news and bad news. What's the good news? There has been monumental progress in the quality of life, on average, that black Americans lead today.

Filner and Weiner: Victims of Unreasonable Standards of Behavior

Do you voters ever get tired of your cruel and capricious standards? I know you probably answered, "No! We're the voters! We put the average random number generator to shame with our unpredictability!" Still, I have to call you out on this, because I see Bob Filner and Anthony Weiner acting like puppies who just received beatings and have no idea why. Suddenly, everyone wants them to go away, and they can't figure out the reason.

Does a Police Officer's Race Matter?

Can you judge a police officer's abilities by the color of his skin? When Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis earlier this month promoted five officers to sergeant, the commotion it generated had everything to do with the officers' race. All five happened to be white, even though the pool of 21 officers eligible for promotion on the basis of their Civil Service test scores had included nine nonwhite candidates. The commissioner was blasted by a minority officers' advocacy group, which accused him of making a "conscious effort" to keep minorities from moving up.

One Brainy Idea

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Fifty years from now, when Malia and Sasha are grandmothers, their father's presidency might seem most consequential because of a small sum -- $100 million -- for studying something small. "As humans," Barack Obama said when announcing the initiative to study the brain, "we can identify galaxies light-years away ... but we still haven't unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears."

Geithner to the Rescue?

When it comes to Fed policy, one of the hottest topics on Wall Street is the next Fed chair. Who will replace Ben Bernanke? And believe it or not, Timothy Geithner's name may be resurfacing. Is it possible that the former treasury secretary will come to the rescue of a leaderless and hopelessly divided central bank that has no real clue where it's going or how fast it should get there? Wait a second ... *Geithner?* Did someone say *Geithner?* We thought he retired from government to go home to New York. Well yes, but not exactly.

Stop Foolish Ethanol Mandates

The problems continue at President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency. Under fire for their leadership using private email addresses to illegally conduct official business and enacting new regulations through coordinated lawsuit settlements with outside environmental groups, the EPA shows no sign of slowing down in Obama's second term. Last month, in an attempt to deflect attention from scandals at the IRS, the NSA and the embassy in Benghazi, the Administration has turned its attention to the issue of climate change.

Liberal Bigotry

It would be a lie to say that bigotry doesn't exist in this country. The lie is in the media's insistence on attributing it to white conservatives. If you believed these people who lie for a living, everyone who isn't black, Muslim, homosexual, a Democrat, an illegal alien, a single woman or a member of the left-wing media, can safely be assumed to be a bigot. If you only believed what you read in your local newspaper or hear from anchors and reporters for the major TV networks, you would think that white conservatives spend 24/7 pondering how best to oppress everyone who isn't one of them. As a white conservative, I also stand accused of waging endless war on women.

From The Comedy Store

Egypt spiraled out of control as Muslim Brotherhood rioters sacked Coptic Christian churches and looted stores. This time the White House didn't blame it on an ant- Muslim video. This uprising has Muslim outrage over a rodeo clown written all over it.

Martin Luther King's Dream and the Declaration of Independence

ObamaCare Pushes Big Medical Practice Changes

The Affordable Care Act will have a profound influence on how doctors practice medicine; and the way hospitals care for patients. The clearest explanation of the Obama administration's vision for health care reform comes from Harvard Medical School Professor Atul Gawande, who says medicine should be more like engineering, with all doctors following the same script rather than exercising their individual judgments.