Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Progress Gets Canceled
The annual network list of canceled primetime shows cannot be pleasing to the progressives who measure shows based on their cultural and political usefulness. "TV Will Be a Lot Less Gay Next Year," the commissars complained at Slate.com. They counted 11 canceled shows that featured regular gay characters. That bothersome thing called the market: why must it get in the way! CBS's gay sitcom "Partners" lasted six episodes and was canceled shortly after Barack Obama's victory. NBC's "Smash" only featured four regular gay characters, but it couldn't keep anyone watching. The most prominent victim was "The New Normal," Ryan Murphy's NBC sitcom credited by many leftists with paving the way for America's growing support for the gay agenda -- and helping with Obama's reelection.
Do the Right Thing
In my experience, many who plead most passionately for bipartisanship do so because they hope to persuade those on the other side of the aisle to cave in on their principles. But there are times when bipartisanship is not only desirable, but also absolutely necessary. Partisan bickering and finger pointing have no place when national security is at stake. Unfortunately, both parties seem to ignore this rule when it suits them. Democrats did so routinely during the Bush years; now Republicans seem to be playing the same game over the Obama administration's investigation into national security leaks last May.
Obama's Emptiest Benghazi Talking Point
On Sept. 12, 2012, President Barack Obama vowed to "bring to justice" the perpetrators of the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya. On Oct. 26, 2012, Obama said his "biggest priority" was bringing the "folks" in Libya responsible for murdering four Americans to "justice." Tick, tock, tick, tock. While White House press secretary Jay Carney sneers at the GOP's "obsession" with what went wrong at the besieged Libyan consulate, Obama continues to ply his emptiest talking point. On May 13, 2013, more than eight months after the bloody disaster, Obama snippily reminded reporters that he had told us all back in September that "we would find out what happened, we would make sure that it did not happen again, and we would make sure that we held accountable those who had perpetrated this terrible crime."
Redacted Truth, Subjunctive Outrage
WASHINGTON -- Note to GOP re Benghazi: Stop calling it Watergate, Iran-contra, bigger than both, etc. First, it might well be, but we don't know. History will judge. Second, overhyping will only diminish the importance of the scandal if it doesn't meet presidency-breaking standards. Third, focusing on the political effects simply plays into the hands of Democrats desperately claiming that this is nothing but partisan politics. Let the facts speak for themselves. They are damning enough. Let Gregory Hicks, the honorable, apolitical second-in-command that night in Libya, movingly and grippingly demolish the president's Benghazi mantra that "what I have always tried to do is just get all the facts" and "every piece of information that we got, as we got it, we laid it out for the American people."
IRS Follows Obama's Lead
Of course the president deserves some of the blame. Yes, it's extremely unlikely he ordered the IRS to discriminate against tea party, pro-life or Jewish groups opposed to his agenda (though why anyone should take his word for it is beyond me). And his outrage now -- however convenient -- is appreciated. But when people he views as his "enemies" complained about a politicized IRS, what did he do? Nothing. Imagine for a moment if black civil rights organizations, gay groups or teachers unions loudly complained to members of Congress and the press that the IRS was discriminating against them. How long would it take for the White House to investigate? Answer honestly: Minutes? Hours? OK, maybe days if there was an attack on one of our embassies that the administration was busy ignoring.
The Loss of Trust
WASHINGTON -- Leaving aside the seriousness of lawlessness, and the corruption of our civic culture by the professionally pious, this past week has been amusing. There was the spectacle of advocates of an ever-larger regulatory government expressing shock about such government's large capacity for misbehavior. And, entertainingly, the answer to the question "Will Barack Obama's scandals derail his second-term agenda?" was a question: What agenda? The scandals are interlocking and overlapping in ways that drain his authority. Everything he advocates requires Americans to lavish on government something his administration, and big government generally, undermines -- trust.
Fight the Power
Speaking at Ohio State just a few days before abuse of power and dishonesty scandals swept over his administration, President Obama sang one of his trademark odes to the benevolence of government: Unfortunately you've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all of our problems. ... They'll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our ... experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted. It was vintage Obama -- caricaturing his opponents' views (who believes government is at the root of "all" our problems?), and implying that concern about government overreach is equivalent to rejecting self-rule.
Obama Not Outraged; He Adores the IRS
So, we are to believe that it is just a coincidence that tea party groups oppose the Obama administration and for 27 months, beginning in March 2010, the Internal Revenue Service didn't approve even one tea party application for tax-exempt status? Is it also a coincidence that during the same time period, dozens of liberal organizations involved in political advocacy practically saw their applications fast-tracked? Do you now want to pause and consider whether I'm exaggerating? Feel free, but be advised that USA Today, no conservative rag, reported that "as applications from conservative groups sat in limbo, groups with liberal-sounding names had their applications approved in as little as nine months."
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Desperate Holder Throws Underlings Under the Bus
How long can the embattled Attorney General hang on?
Imagine
Remember the 1996 movie, "A Time to Kill"? An adaptation of John Grisham's 1989 legal thriller, it stars Matthew McConaughey as a small-town lawyer in Mississippi who defends a black man who killed the two white racists who had raped his 10-year-old daughter. In his closing arguments McConaughey asks the jury to close their eyes and listen to the painful details of a story about the brutal rape of an innocent little girl. Then he ends his gripping story with a powerful request to the jury -- "Now imagine she's white."
Here's That 'Dynamic Scoring' You Asked for, Senator
The Heritage Foundation recently issued a comprehensive report showing that Sen. Marco Rubio's plan to instantly legalize 11.5 million illegal immigrants would add $6.3 trillion to the nation's budget deficits over the next 50 years. Heritage assumed there are 11.5 million illegals, but other estimates put the number at 33 million, which would mean adding another $18 trillion to the deficit. To put that in perspective, the largest U.S. budget deficit in history was $1.4 trillion in 2009. Currently, the average illegal alien gets about $24,721 in taxpayer-funded benefits and pays about $10,334 in taxes. After full legalization, they will be eligible for a whole new panoply of government benefits such as direct welfare payments, Obamacare, Social Security and Medicare. Heritage concludes that the total government benefits to these former illegal aliens will then rise to about $43,900 per household, while the taxes paid by them will increase only modestly to around $16,000.
Get the IRS Out of Speech Business
So, the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups (or, more precisely, groups displaying a bit too much gusto for limited government) was far more widespread than its initial apology would have led Americans to imagine. Yes, it is disturbing -- a dangerous abuse of power, no doubt. What's more disturbing -- or should be, at least -- is the fact that the IRS has the capacity to undermine free speech in the first place. Despite President Barack Obama's assurances, there are no safeguards that can be put into place to stop abuses of power.
Koch Brothers: Please Buy the L.A. Times!
Hearing rumors that the billionaire, libertarian Koch brothers might buy the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. City Council sprung into action. Three members proposed a motion to oppose the sale of the Times to any owner seeking to turn "L.A.'s metropolitan daily into an ideological mouthpiece." Cue the laugh track. UCLA professor Tim Groseclose wrote "Left Turns: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind." Of 20 major news outlets, he found 18 were left-wing. Only two tilted to the right -- The Washington Times and "Fox News Special Report." Groseclose argues that media bias gives Democrats an 8- to 10-point electoral advantage. Take away the leftist bias, he says, and states would vote like Texas. A powerful pulpit like the Times in non-liberal hands could chip into that advantage.
Gosnell's 'Clinic of Horrors'
It was the pictures and riveting testimony that convinced a Philadelphia jury that abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was guilty of murdering three infants born alive following botched late-term abortions and also guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Karnamaya Mongar, who overdosed on Demerol during an abortion at Gosnell's clinic. How ironic that the Gosnell decision was delivered the day after Mother's Day. The two-month trial has reignited the abortion debate. But while many states have managed to impose some restrictions on abortion clinics and establish informed consent laws and in some cases require a woman to view a sonogram before aborting an unborn child, abortion on demand for almost any reason and at almost any stage of pregnancy remains legal in every state.
Venting
A while back, it occurred to me that while the glamour magazines are constantly telling American women that 60 is the new 50, and 50 is the new 40, and 40 is the new 30, in Hollywood, 60 is the new 30, and 50 is the new 15. For instance, if you consider the movie roles they play, you might get the idea that most leading men are in their teens or early 20s. So it may come as a shock to you that Matt Damon is 42, Will Ferrell is 45, Adam Sandler is 46, Ben Stiller is 47, David Spade is 48 and Jim Carrey is a ripe old 51. Even more surprising to me is that in spite of his boyish ways and his collegiate haircut, Jay Carney is 48. But I guess it takes time and experience to learn how to lie on Obama's behalf with such ease and, apparently, without the slightest bit of embarrassment.
Strange Encounters as the Obama Administration Blows Up
WASHINGTON -- How odd! There I was, Saturday evening in the Windy City at a fundraising event for the Chicago Rowing Foundation, and who do I encounter but the mayor of Chicago, His Honor Rahm Emanuel? You might recall that back in 2010 I was encouraged by conservative Chicagoans and doubtless by the good government lobby to run against Rahm for mayor, claiming, quite properly, that I had a more legitimate claim to residency in Chicago than did he. What is more, I had a friend on the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and, it being more important in Chicago whom you know than the merits of your case, I am pretty sure the Republican nomination was mine. In the end, I took a pass on the race, but now I am not so sure I will pass it up in 2015. Rahm's problems mount, and I would relish debating him on the issues. He seemed like a likable fellow when he stopped me for a picture and presumably my autograph. Alas, ushers hastened us to our seats.
It's 1973 All Over Again
In Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, he ran to the left of Hillary Clinton as a moral reformer. Obama promised to transcend the old politics and bring a new era of hope-and-change transparency to Washington. Five years later, those vows are in shambles. True, the murder of four Americans in Benghazi has become a mess of partisan bickering. But the disturbing facts now transcend politics. The Obama administration -- the president himself, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney -- all at various times blamed an obscure video maker for the "spontaneous violence" that killed Americans last September.
Benghazi and IRS Targeting: Politics by Other Means
What do the Benghazi cover-up and the IRS scandal have in common? They were both about winning elections, under false pretenses. Winning elections, after all, is something Barack Obama is good at. He obviously loves campaigning and delivering grand orations to enormous adoring crowds. He loves it so much that he flew off to Las Vegas to campaign the day after the first murder of a U.S. ambassador in 33 years. What actually happened in Benghazi was out of sync with the Obama campaign line. Osama bin Laden was dead. Al-Qaida was on the run. The global war on terror -- well, don't call it that anymore.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Eric Holder: The Culture of Corruption Enforcer
The Attorney General adds another item to the growing list of reasons why he should be impeached.
Insult Laws
An important part of the ONE Campaign's effort to involve young men and women in Africa in helping to determine the next round of Millennium Development Goals for 2015 is a project called "You Choose." You Choose involves utilizing mobile phone numbers by large corporations asking users (at no cost) to text a certain message to a certain number if they want to become involved. Then they get to go through a decision-tree and pick out the issues they think should be highlighted. This, as you might imagine, has taken the time and talents of some of the best young organizers in southern Africa and we've had the opportunity to catch of with some of them both in South sAfrica and in Malawi.