Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
The 'Free Obama Phone Lady' Video Goes Viral
Last week the video of the so-called "free phone lady" went viral. "Everybody in Cleveland know (sic) minority got Obama phone," the woman in the video contended. "Keep Obama in (sic) president, you know? He gave us a phone. He gonna do more." The concept of "going viral" refers to the idea that something people see or hear strikes them in such a visceral way, they feel almost compelled to share it with others. So what struck a national nerve here? Before proceeding, it should be noted that the comment section that usually accompanies YouTube videos has been disabled for this one. That disablement neatly ties into the first and most obvious reason this video has been disseminated far and wide: race. While it is undoubtedly politically incorrect to say so, there is little doubt a black woman who essentially reveals herself to be semi-literate, very likely a ward of the state, and definitely invested in receiving at least one "free" government giveaway, validates a certain racial stereotype in the minds of many who watched the video.
Debate Prep
The first B*I*G* D*E*B*A*T*E takes place in Denver on Wednesday night. A political debate has as much to do with a classical debate as a Formula One race has to do with a Monster Truck show. A classic debate has two teams (or two people) debating an agreed-upon topic for an agreed-upon amount of time. A political debate is a verbal prize-fight with the referee sitting in the second row.
Ahmadinejad at the UN: Sympathy for the Devil?
It is beyond reason. The inmates clearly have control of the asylum. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rant before the UN General Assembly in New York this week would better have been delivered in Stockholm. The famous Stockholm Syndrome was named for the way some hostages began to identify with their terrorist captors. It was offered as a psychological disorder. In New York, at the UN, this psychological *disorder* is the new order of business. Ahmadinejad called for a new world order. Of what? A rule of a UN world body dominated -- or at least held hostage by -- the Terroristans that make up an increasing number of the members of the General Assembly.
The Particulars of Polls
As a recovering pollster (I worked for Democratic pollster Peter Hart from 1974 to 1981), let me weigh in on the controversy over whether the polls are accurate. Many conservatives are claiming that multiple polls have overly Democratic samples, and some charge that media pollsters are trying to discourage Republican voters. First, some points about the limits of polls. Random sample polling is an imprecise instrument. There's an error margin of 3 or 4 percent, and polling theory tells us that one out of 20 polls is wrong, with results outside the margin of error. Sometimes it's easy to spot such an outlier; sometimes not. In addition, it's getting much harder for pollsters to get people to respond to interviews. The Pew Research Center reports that it's getting only 9 percent of the people it contacts to respond to its questions. That's compared to 36 percent in 1997.
Bees and Sons of Bees
When I hear liberals in the media and Congress repeating Obama's lies while doing their best to make Romney appear to be a tax chiseler, a killer of cancer victims, a job destroyer and a candidate doomed to lose, I am reminded that whereas bees give up their lives to protect their queen, liberals are only willing to risk their reputations on behalf of their own. Another lie that everyone on the Left seems dedicated to promoting is that the majority of the world's Muslims are decent and peace-loving. What absolute hogwash! I would first remind everyone that even in the heyday of Hitler and Stalin, not every German or Russian was a Nazi or a Communist. In every society, there are those who lead and those who follow. But once war breaks out, everyone falls into line.
It’s Debatable
The spectacles we persist in dignifying as presidential "debates" -- two-minute regurgitations of rehearsed responses -- often subtract from the nation's understanding. But beginning this Wednesday, these less-than-Lincoln-Douglas episodes might be edifying if the candidates can be inveigled into plowing fresh ground.
How Obama & Allies Are Suppressing News of Economic Disaster Ahead
Even the European Union is delaying key decisions until after November.
The Lesson Obama Was Sent to Teach Us
The way that people carried on in 2008, you would have thought we had elected a messiah and not merely a president. Some people who felt that way can be excused because that's the way Obama was sold to us. After all, he vowed to lower the oceans, heal the planet and unite all Americans, whatever their class, race, gender or nation of origin. That's pretty big talk for someone whose singular accomplishment as a member of the Illinois legislature was to vote in favor of partial-birth abortions, and whose most noteworthy achievement during his two years in Washington was to be named the most liberal member of the Senate, beating out the unholy likes of Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid.
From The Comedy Store
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu tried to speak with President Obama at the U.N. but was rebuffed. He tried another way that didn't work. He put on suspenders and glasses and pretended to be Larry King so the president would think it was a softball interview.
Real World Issues
Living and working in Your Nation's Capital I forget, sometimes, that grand issues are fun to debate on CNN or MSNBC, but real people deal with real issues. At a fundraiser for Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Oh) last night, I heard from a nurse anesthetist that there is a continuing shortage of the basic drug she uses to put people to sleep for surgery. And that when they have the drug it often has a label written in some language other than English, and that the efficacy of the drugs is not constant.
Obama's Abandoned Power Plants
If voters knew how America's economy would look after two terms of President Barack Obama's administration, Mitt Romney would win in a landslide. In the 2008 campaign, President Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle that the "notion of no coal ... is an illusion." He noted that he favors a cap-and-trade system "[s]o if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted." While Obama did not get to implement cap-and-trade, he found other ways to shut down coal burning power plants.
Unintimidable: Boston University's 'Silver Unicorn'
"I've never been intimidated by anyone," John Silber once told me. "I don't know the meaning of the word." I never doubted it. Twice I worked for the former Boston University president, who died Thursday at 86. As a BU law student in the early 1980s I landed a part-time job as a researcher in Silber's office on Bay State Road. Several years later, with both law school and my exceedingly brief legal career behind me, I returned for a full-time job with the exalted title of Assistant to the President.
Meet Nickelodeon's Trash-Mouthed Misogynist Jason Biggs
I am the mom of a 12-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy. They have been huge fans of Nickelodeon TV programming throughout their childhoods. We even took them to the Nick Hotel in Florida, where we stayed in a SpongeBob SquarePants family suite. But enough is enough. Like disgusted parents across the country, I put my foot down and am standing up for decency: No more Nick. This weekend, the Viacom-owned children's network will debut a reboot of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV series. One of the lead characters ("Leonardo") will be voiced by actor Jason Biggs. On August 29, Biggs published vile, lewd messages on his public Twitter account attacking the wives of the GOP presidential ticket during the Republican National Convention.
Obama's 'Change From the Outside' Means Community Organizing
President Obama recently lamented: "You can't change Washington from the inside. You can only change it from the outside." I think this statement reveals more about Obama and his plans for a second term than meets the eye. Elaborating, Obama said, "I got elected and ... big accomplishments like health care got done ... because we mobilized the American people to speak out." Rubbish. Obamacare was not some outside, grass-roots-driven legislative achievement. Obama could never persuade Americans to support his bill or lobby Congress to pass it. He cobbled together his majority in the most inside of insider venues -- the bowels of Congress, in secret rooms, where he twisted arms, made false promises and offered bribes to persuade congressmen to defy their constituents' wishes. He didn't persuade congressmen through reasoned arguments.
Al Gore Versus '2016'
Two weeks ago, Dinesh D'Souza's documentary "2016: Obama's America" passed Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" for second place on the all-time box-office money list for political documentaries. It now has a box office gross of more than $32 million. But if you're an independent or a liberal who's unplugged from conservative websites and talk radio, you'd never know. You didn't see D'Souza on CBS or NBC (although he showed up on ABC's "Nightline" in late night). There were no cover stories in Time or Newsweek. The film opened on just one screen in Houston when it premiered on July 13, and then spread to 10, and eventually to 1,000 theaters in August, and 2,000 theaters in September. A cultural sensation, yes -- but somehow not newsworthy.
Lebanese Reformer Seeks Safe Haven
Pro-Western activist Moustafa Geha lives to tell his story following an assassination attempt.
Obama Versus Obama: Part IV
During the same week when the American ambassador to Libya was murdered and his dead body dragged through the streets by celebrating mobs, the President of the United States found time to go on the David Letterman show to demonstrate his sense of humor and how cool he is. But Barack Obama did not have time to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of a nation repeatedly threatened with annihilation by Iranian leaders, who are working feverishly toward the creation of nuclear bombs. This was an extraordinary thing in itself, something that probably no other President of the United States could have gotten away with, without raising a firestorm of criticisms and denunciations. But much of the media sees no evil, hears no evil and speaks no evil when it comes to Barack Obama -- especially during an election year.
GOP-Style Immigration
Some prominent Republicans, including Mitt Romney, have recently signaled their willingness to consider legal immigration reform -- but it's not clear they understand the magnitude of the problem or the proper solution. Romney told a Univision audience that he supported immigration reform and told a group of Latino elected officials that he'd "staple a green card" to the diploma of every immigrant who earned an advanced degree. Even stalwart immigration foe Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) seemed willing to consider the idea of more visas for highly skilled graduates in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). But the need for more highly skilled workers is only a small part of our immigration problem -- and even in this area, Republicans still appear to be appeasing immigration restriction groups rather than considering what's good for the country.
Advice From the Hindu Kush
EN ROUTE TO AFGHANISTAN -- Dear Gov. Romney, It seems as if every pundit, campaign consultant and professor of political science has been on the air or in print lately, offering advice on how you can "jump-start," "turn around" or "reset" your presidential campaign. Most of them say that your best chance of "regaining momentum" will be during the upcoming presidential debates. Seeing as I will be in Afghanistan keeping company with our American heroes while you're debating their current commander in chief, this seems like a pretty good time to send you some of what I have heard them say.
Go Large, Mitt
WASHINGTON -- In mid-September 2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed and the bottom fell out of the financial system. Barack Obama handled it coolly. John McCain did not. Obama won the presidency. (Given the country's condition, he would have won anyway. But this sealed it.) Four years later, mid-September 2012, the U.S. mission in Benghazi went up in flames, as did Obama's entire Middle East policy of apology and accommodation. Obama once again played it cool, effectively ignoring the attack and the region-wide American humiliation. "Bumps in the road," he said. Nodding tamely were the mainstream media, who would have rained a week of vitriol on Mitt Romney had he so casually dismissed the murder of a U.S. ambassador, the raising of the black Salafist flag over four U.S. embassies and the epidemic of virulent anti-American demonstrations from Tunisia to Sri Lanka (!) to Indonesia.