Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Censoring the 'Anti-Gay' Viewpoint
The media elites have never been less interested in objectivity than they are right now on "gay marriage." They don't wear rainbow flags on their lapels when they appear on television, but the coverage speaks for itself. Even liberals are admitting the obvious. The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) studied a sample of almost 500 news stories from March to May and admitted "statements of support dominate" the daily narrative. "The study lends credence to conservative charges that the nation's news media have championed the issue of same-sex marriage at the expense of objectivity," media reporter Brian Stelter asserted at The New York Times. "Others have argued that news organizations are right not to overly emphasize opposition to what many see as a core civil rights issue."
America Loses the War on Terror
On Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida terrorists, on orders from their superiors based in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, flew U.S. commercial planes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. They would have targeted the White House or Capitol with a fourth plane if not for the heroism of the passengers on Flight 93. Overall, almost 3,000 Americans were murdered. Nine days later, President George W. Bush told the nation, "We condemn the Taliban regime. ... Our war on terror begins with al-Qaida." Our war on terror is now over. It's over not because President Obama says it is, though he has implied as much over the past several weeks. It is over because we have surrendered. As of this week, the United States of America is allying with the two main forces behind Sept. 11: We are sending guns to al-Qaida in Syria, and we are entering into bilateral negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The President's Ghastly Gun Gaffe
President Obama's gun gaffe was nearly lost in the pre-Christmas flood of TV and internet chatter. But Breitbart's Joel Pollak was right to highlight Mr. Obama's bizarre post-election statement. One of the reasons he ran for re-election, Mr. Obama told Barbara Walters, was so he could have "men with guns around" as his daughters entered their teen years. What a gaffe!
Josh Duggar Accepts a New Role at FRC Action
Josh Duggar has been impressing audiences for his most of his adult life as part of the popular TV show, "19 Kids and Counting." Now, FRC Action is proud to announce that Josh will have another audience: Capitol Hill. Yesterday on "Washington Watch with Tony Perkins," we broke the news that Josh and Anna moved to Washington, D.C. to join FRC Action as its new Executive Director. As head of our action arm, the Arkansas native will bring his pro-life and pro-family passions to the political arena, where he will help expand FRCA's reach as a premier conservative advocacy group.
Unasked and Unanswered Questions
Grutter v. Bollinger was the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the University of Michigan Law School's racial admissions policy. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, writing for the majority, said the U.S. Constitution "does not prohibit the Law School's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body." But what are the educational benefits of a diverse student body? Intellectuals argue that diversity is necessary for academic excellence, but what's the evidence? For example, Japan is a nation bereft of diversity in any activity. Close to 99 percent of its population is of one race. Whose students do you think have higher academic achievement -- theirs or ours? According to the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment, the academic performance of U.S. high-school students in reading, math and science pales in comparison with their diversity-starved counterparts in Japan.
Snowden a Fool, Not a Spy
It would make things so much easier for everyone if Edward Snowden were working for China. And that's certainly a possibility. His decision to flee to Hong Kong -- a Chinese vassal -- was an odd one, given that China is hardly a bulwark of transparency and civil rights. It's a bit like complaining that Boston is too Catholic and then moving to Vatican City in protest. Then there's the nature of the crime itself. Informed sources I've spoken with are generally aghast by what they say is the scope of information Snowden stole, material some believe he couldn't have gotten by himself. That doesn't mean he's the Manchurian IT Guy, but it does cause some to wonder whether he had help -- and from where.
The Red Line to Damascus
"What we're seeing taking place in Syria is heartbreaking," President Barack Obama said during a debate with Mitt Romney last October, "and that's why we are going to do everything we can to make sure that we are helping the opposition." You can't say he didn't warn us -- not only about escalating U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war but also about the lack of a credible argument for it based on anything resembling national defense. Judging from the explanation that deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes gave last week for Obama's decision to start arming the Syrian rebels, the president painted himself into a corner with his own red line. "The president has been clear that the use of chemical weapons ... is a red line for the United States," Rhodes told reporters, "as there has long been an established norm within the international community against the use of chemical weapons."
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The Obama Non-Foreign Policy
Seventy percent of Americans oppose the barely visible military support the Obama administration last week promised the Syrian rebels. Seventy percent! I doubt if such a large figure could quickly be gotten up in favor of free lemonade on the 4th of July. The public, according to Pew, feared the rebels might be no better than the government; in which case, why were we helping them? The New York Times itself -- house organ for the administration -- expressed uneasiness "about getting pulled into yet war in the Middle East," given our dismal appreciation of how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq "sapped the United States" without producing results classed as more than "ambiguous."
Obamacare's Unaffordable Consequences
Predictions of higher costs are starting to come true
A Comprehensive Sellout
One vote on an amendment and one quote by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was all it took to rip the facade away from the so-called comprehensive immigration reform package. The vote? A 57-43 defeat of a proposal by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) that would have prohibited illegal aliens from getting any kind of legal status, until the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could demonstrate it had "effective control" of the border for six months. The quote? "This clearly would undo the entire theme and structure of the immigration bill," said Schumer. "It will take years and years until the border is secure."
Why Some Scientists Embrace the 'Multiverse'
Last week, in Nice, France, I was privileged to participate, along with 30 scholars, mostly scientists and mathematicians, in a conference on the question of whether the universe was designed, or at least fine-tuned, to make life, especially intelligent life. Participants -- from Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Berkeley and Columbia among other American and European universities -- included believers in God, agonistics and atheists. But it was clear that the scientific consensus was that, at the very least, the universe is exquisitely fine-tuned to allow for the possibility of life. It appears that we live in a "Goldilocks Universe," in which both the arrangement of matter at the cosmic beginning and the values of various physical parameters -- such as the speed of light, the strength of gravitational attraction and the expansion rate of the universe - are just right. And unless one is frightened of the term, it also appears the universe is *designed* for biogenesis and human life.
Who Is Being Dishonorable? Dishonest?
Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson attacked my brother, Rush, and my good friend Mark Levin (and former Rep. Ron Paul) in a recent column for their various comments concerning the National Security Agency's surveillance data collection operation and other administration activities. I find it noteworthy that Gerson -- who holds himself out as measured and reasonable, as one who abhors sloppy thinking and expression, and as one who decries the politics of personal destruction -- has gone out of his way to personally attack Limbaugh and Levin. He challenged their conservatism, patriotism, integrity and honor instead of simply registering his disagreement with their opinions. To make his case, he conflated and distorted their statements.
Why Does the Gov't Hate Conservatives?
How did we think they'd react when we threatened to tear down all they know over some concept they've never even heard of -- math?
The Unmentionable Injustice
In the weeks before the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of Obamacare, the country trembled with anticipation. No such eagerness is evident now -- yet the court is again poised to rattle our world. The case of Fisher v. Texas could upend the system of racial preferences in use throughout American higher education. The pursuit of racial justice in education has arguably led to some benefits since its inception in the 1960s. But in the two generations that have elapsed since affirmative action began, evidence of its unintended consequences has accumulated. Criticizing affirmative action (which is code for racial preferences) can be a career-endangering step for anyone and particularly for academics or politicians.
Then What in Syria?
Two recent newspaper editorials illustrate the double-mindedness some feel about President Obama's decision to provide small arms and ammunition to Syrian rebels. The Washington Post headlined an editorial: "No time for half-measures: Syria's rebels need a robust intervention from the Obama administration." The New York Times took a more realistic approach: "After Arming the Rebels, Then What? President Obama should be careful about being dragged into the brutal Syrian war." I'm on the side of the Times.
The Loss of Trust
Amid all the heated cross-currents of debate about the National Security Agency's massive surveillance program, there is a growing distrust of the Obama administration that makes weighing the costs and benefits of the NSA program itself hard to assess. The belated recognition of this administration's contempt for the truth, for the American people and for the Constitution of the United States, has been long overdue. But what if the NSA program has in fact thwarted terrorists and saved many American lives in ways that cannot be revealed publicly?
Monday, June 17, 2013
Reid Keeps Up His ENDA the Bargain
In the midst of so many crises, it's comforting to know that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is focused on what matters: genderless bathrooms. Unfortunately, that's just one effect of a sweeping proposal that could destroy personal freedom in the American workplace. On Flag Day, Reid saluted the rainbow flag instead of Old Glory, becoming the 50th cosponsor of the Senate's latest Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), one of the most anti-business policies this Congress will consider.
Dem-Controlled Detroit Defaults
Where a half century of leftist rule has gotten the residents of the Motor City.
Friends & Enemies
Human beings need enemies. Often for good; sometimes for ill. But having an easily definable enemy is very helpful. Organizations need enemies to send you mail and call your home asking for donations. The March of Dimes was established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to combat the crippling disease of polio. With the advent of the Salk and later the Sabin vaccines, polio was effectively wiped out in the United States and the March of Dimes needed a new cause. It found one in preventing birth defects later expanding into helping women have healthy pregnancies.