Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, December 21, 2012
What's the Mayan Word for 'Cliff?'
Boy, I'm good. I finished Wednesday's column with, "Plan B might not pass, but Plan C or D, or Q will find its way to the floors of the two Chambers before December 31 and will pass." Plan B is not going to pass as last night the House Republican Conference ...
Fiscal Cliff: Democrats Fiddle While Nation Burns
Even if a deal is reached, the entitlement fix is already in.
Tilting the Newtown 'Conversation'
It's too hard to try and make sense of a senseless event. Adam Lanza's merciless slaughter in Connecticut has forced everyone with a microphone to insist we have a "national conversation" about why this happens. But this urgent need to talk is not an excuse for a reckless discussion. Sadly, that is where we're headed, with pundits hysterical, naive or both. Predictably most in the media went straight to the Left's Alpha and Omega: blaming excessive "access" to guns. It was also an excuse to open fire on the National Rifle Association. For example, author Joyce Carol Oates spewed on Twitter, "If sizable numbers of NRA members become gun-victims themselves, maybe hope for legislation of firearms?" Actress Marg Helgenberger, semi-famous for playing a cop on "CSI," concurred, "One can only hope, but sadly I don't think anything would change."
What the Looming Port Strike Is Really About
It's not about jobs. It's not about safety. It's not about improving dockworkers' living standards. The looming, long-planned East and Gulf Coast port strikes are about protecting Big Labor's archaic work practices and corrupt waterfront rackets. Are you ready for a fiscal cliff? The union bosses of an estimated 14,500 workers at 15 ports are preparing to send the economy plunging back into recession over productivity and efficiency rules changes. You read that right. Much more on that in a moment. But first, here's what's at stake. The International Longshoremen's Association's (ILA) grip extends from Boston to Texas to Florida and all points across the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The New York-New Jersey ports -- which handle cargo valued at $208 billion -- could come to a standstill. National Retail Federation executive Jonathan Gold issued a desperate statement: "The last thing the economy needs right now is another strike, which would impact all international trade and commerce at the nation's East and Gulf Coast container ports. This is truly a 'container cliff' in the making."
Liberal Obsession With Race Is Growing Old
When will liberals stop living in the past? Specifically, when will they accept that they aren't all that stands between a wonderful, tolerant America and Jim Crow? I was in the room when, during the Democratic convention, civil rights hero John Lewis suggested that Republicans wanted to "go back" to the days when black men like him could be beaten in the street by the enforcers of Jim Crow. I thought it an outrageous and disgusting bit of demagoguery. The audience of Democratic delegates cheered in a riot of self-congratulation. It's bizarre. I spend most of my time talking or listening to fellow conservatives, and I never hear anybody talk about wanting anything of the sort. But to listen to liberals, that's all we care about.
The Resurrection
At the very core of Christianity is the historical authenticity of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. But for His resurrection, we would not be celebrating His birth. The Apostle Paul said, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." Christian apologist Josh McDowell spent more than 700 hours studying the subject of the resurrection and concluded that it "is one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted upon the minds of men, or it is the most amazing fact of history." When a university student asked him why he was unable to refute Christianity, McDowell responded, "For a very simple reason: I am not able to explain away an event in history -- the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
The Roots of Mass Murder
WASHINGTON -- Every mass shooting has three elements: the killer, the weapon and the cultural climate. As soon as the shooting stops, partisans immediately pick their preferred root cause with corresponding pet panacea. Names are hurled, scapegoats paraded, prejudices vented. The argument goes nowhere.
Robert Bork: More Influential Off the Court
The last time I saw Bob Bork was the Sunday before Election Day. His familiar baritone was faint. You had to sit close to hear him, and he seemed to have a little difficulty following the conversation. At one point, his son Bob directed his attention to an Obama ad that was running on the Internet. It warned darkly that if Romney was elected, he would nominate Robert Bork for the Supreme Court! Bob, who has inherited his father's wry sense of humor (as well as his intellect), played the ad on an iPad. Bob Sr. didn't react at first, and we wondered whether he'd even gotten the drift. But then, eyeing it with the mischievous look he so often wore, he gestured toward the 25-year-old photo of himself. "Awful picture, as you'd expect," he said. That was the Bob we knew and loved!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Obama Administration Impedes Ukraine Murder Investigation
Is Hillary Clinton standing in the way?
One Night in Bangkok
BANGKOK -- Most of us can read about sex trafficking with a sense of detachment. It is only when we see its results up close that we are forced to confront the full extent of its horror. Nana Plaza is one of several "red light" districts in Bangkok. It is less than two blocks from my upscale hotel, but worlds away from it, a distance, you could say, separating Heaven from Hell. Girls -- and that's what many of them are -- wear almost nothing. They are there to please. My guide points out a three-story structure. "The higher you go," he says, "the raunchier it gets." It looks raunchy enough on the ground floor. In the song "One Night in Bangkok," a line describes my feeling: "I can feel the devil walking next to me."
We Know How to Stop School Shootings
In the wake of a monstrous crime like a madman's mass murder of defenseless women and children at the Newtown, Conn., elementary school, the nation's attention is riveted on what could have been done to prevent such a massacre. Luckily, some years ago, two famed economists, William Landes at the University of Chicago and John Lott at Yale, conducted a massive study of multiple victim public shootings in the United States between 1977 and 1995 to see how various legal changes affected their frequency and death toll. Landes and Lott examined many of the very policies being proposed right now in response to the Connecticut massacre: waiting periods and background checks for guns, the death penalty and increased penalties for committing a crime with a gun.
The New Racial Derangement Syndrome
There is a different sort of racialist derangement spreading in the country -- and it is getting ugly. Here is actor Jamie Foxx joking recently about his new movie role: "I kill all the white people in the movie. How great is that?" Reverse white and black in the relevant ways and even a comedian would hear national outrage. Instead, his hip "Saturday Night Live" audience even gave Foxx applause. Race-obsessed comedian Chris Rock tweeted on the Fourth of July, "Happy white peoples (sic) independence day ..." Actor Samuel L. Jackson, in a recent interview, sounded about as unapologetically reactionary as you can get: "I voted for Barack because he was black. ... I hope Obama gets scary in the next four years."
Gun Violence -- Let's Shift the Odds in Favor of the Good Guys!
The unimaginable horror of Sandy Hook jumpstarts another "national conversation" about firearm violence. President Barack Obama, promising "meaningful action," said: "We will have to change. ... We can't tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end." Let's examine four of the "commonsense" measures frequently proposed by "gun control advocates": One, closing the "gun show loophole." What gun show loophole? Restricted from selling at guns shows prior to 1986, a licensed dealer today requires a background check whether he sells guns at a store, a gun show or the back of his SUV.
Mountain Out of a Molehill
WASHINGTON -- The poet Carl Sandburg supposedly was asked by a young playwright to attend a rehearsal. Sandburg did but fell asleep. The playwright exclaimed, "How could you sleep when you knew I wanted your opinion?" Sandburg replied, "Sleep *is* an opinion." So is nonvoting. Remember this as the Obama administration mounts a drive to federalize voter registration, a step toward making voting mandatory. Attorney General Eric Holder considers it self-evidently alarming that 60 million adult citizens were not registered in 2008. He wants Washington to register everyone automatically. "The arc of American history," he says, "has bent towards expanding the franchise." But the fact many people do not register to vote is not evidence that the franchise is restricted other than by voters' inertia.
The Jewish Grinch Who Stole Christmas
I never thought I'd live to see the day that Christmas would become a dirty word. You think it hasn't? Then why is it that people are being prevented from saying it in polite society for fear that it will offend? Why, after 60 years, is the city of Santa Monica, California, no longer allowed to erect its traditional crèche in the palisades overlooking the Pacific Ocean and why is the governor of Rhode Island insisting on calling the state's Christmas tree a holiday tree? Schools are being forced to replace "Christmas vacation" with "winter break" in their printed schedules. At some major retail chains, the word is verboten, replaced as a matter of policy by the generic Happy Holidays. Carols, even instrumental versions, are verboten in certain locales. All across the country, grammar schools are banning Christmas pageants.
Hillary Takes a Fall
Washington -- Think back. Have we not experienced all this before, say in the 1990s? Since October, we have known the defense measures at our Benghazi diplomatic installation were inadequate. Then there was the controversy over whether the assault on our diplomatic compound was caused by a peaceful demonstration that went haywire. It turned out there was no peaceful demonstration, contrary to the State Department's early account. But that was lost in the next controversy over security at the installation. Officials from State appeared before Congress. Some testified there was sufficient security. Some said there was not sufficient security. Some State Department officials contradicted themselves. Ultimately the entire question was wrapped in chaos as still other questions became incomprehensible. Let us move on.
Gun Control Won't Prevent Tragedy
It's not tougher gun control, stupid. No matter how much tougher we make our gun laws we'll never prevent future tragedies like last week's murder of those innocents in Newtown, Conn. We won't stop future Newtowns if we outlaw every military-style assault weapon in America. We won't stop future Auroras if we outlaw semi-automatic pistols or rifles, or mandate that no magazine clip can ever hold more than 10 rounds. We won't stop future Virginia Techs if we make it tougher to buy a gun legally or if we shut down all gun shows on the continent for the rest of time.
Tim Scott and Daniel Inouye Show a Better America
On Monday, the U.S. Senate got its newest member and lost its most senior member. The newest senator is South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott, whom Gov. Nikki Haley said she would appoint to fill the vacancy caused by the pending resignation of Jim DeMint. The most senior senator was Hawaii's Daniel Inouye, who died at 88 just a few hours after Haley's announcement. Much has been made of the fact that Scott will be the only black senator and the first black Republican senator since Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, who was elected in 1966 and 1978.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Good Laws Will Never Abolish All Evil
It is remarkable how confident so many people are that they know what causes -- and just how to prevent -- horrific massacres like Friday's bloodbath at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. In a TV interview over the weekend, one observer insisted that the mass-murder in Newtown was all too predictable, given America's failure to implement an obvious and desperately overdue reform. "Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?" this individual demanded, showing no hint of uncertainty about exactly what needs to be fixed. Who was that?
Plan B
We're now within 10 legislative days 'til the Fiscal Cliff -- assuming the Members won't be decking the Halls of Congress with boughs of holly on Christmas Eve and Day. There is movement in the positions coming from either end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The President campaigned successfully on the idea of raising taxes on the wealthy -- with the wealthy being defined as any family earning $250,000 or more annually. This is an untenable position with many union workers as with most government employees -- two huge portions of President Obama's coalition. In the modern era of two working adults in a typical household, that $250,000 threshold isn't as lofty in major cities like Our Nation's Capital as it might be in places like Marietta, Ohio 45750.