Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Why Does Barack Obama Sound Like Ahmadinejad?
Here are two quotes from two world leaders. See if you can guess the speakers. Leader #1: "Any action that is provocative [and] offends the religious thoughts and feelings of any people, we condemn. Likewise, we condemn any type of extremism. Of course, what took place was ugly; offending the Holy Prophet is quite ugly." Leader #2: "The future must not belong to those who target Coptic Christians in Egypt ... The future must not belong to those who bully women ... The future must not belong to those corrupt few who steal a country's resources ... The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."
Investigate 9/11 Libyan Debacle Now
Upon hearing that there had been an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans had been killed there and that this murderous assault had been carried out on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a rational mind might find it difficult to avoid formulating the working hypothesis that this had been a premeditated act of terror. The Obama White House and State Department did resist that temptation. On Sept. 12, the day after the attack, White House press secretary Jay Carney judiciously answered the obvious inquiry.
Who Is White House Visitor Hisham Altalib?
On Friday, March 30, 2012, Hisham Y. Altalib visited the White House. According to visitor logs, Altalib was received by Joshua DuBois, the director of President Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Four days later, White House officials welcomed a foreign delegation of the radical Sharia-enforcing Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt. The White House meeting with overseas Muslim Brotherhood leaders was reported in April by a few mainstream journalists and questioned loudly by conservative media. But the White House confab in March with U.S.-based Altalib -- which appears to be a prep session with the global Muslim Brotherhood's American advance team -- has received no attention until now.
What Has Obama Learned?
The Oval Office isn't the place to learn on the job. That was the line from both Hillary Clinton and John McCain in 2008. In fairness, that's always the argument the more experienced candidate uses against the less experienced candidate (just ask Mitt Romney). But Barack Obama seemed a special case, easily among the least experienced major-party nominees in U.S. history. A Pew poll in August 2008 found that the biggest concern voters had with Obama fell under the category of "personal abilities and experience." In a "change" year, Americans swallowed those concerns and voted for the change candidate.
The Marijuana Rebellion
By the time the 21st Amendment ended national alcohol prohibition in December 1933, more than a dozen states had already opted out. Maryland never passed its own version of the Volstead Act, while New York repealed its alcohol prohibition law in 1923. Eleven other states eliminated their statutes by referendum in November 1932. We could see the beginning of a similar rebellion against marijuana prohibition this year as voters in three states -- Washington, Colorado and Oregon -- decide whether to legalize the drug's production and sale for recreational use. If any of these ballot initiatives pass, it might be the most consequential election result this fall, forcing both major parties to confront an unjust, irrational policy that Americans increasingly oppose.
Obama Versus Obama: Part II
Nowhere is the contrast between Barack Obama, as defined by his rhetoric ("Obama 1") and Barack Obama as defined by his actions ("Obama 2") greater than in his foreign policy -- and especially his policy toward Israel. What if we put aside Barack Obama's rhetoric, and instead look exclusively at his documented record over a period of decades, up to and including the present? The first thing that is most striking about that record is the long string of his mentors and allies who were marked by hatred of the United States, and a vision of the world in which the white, Western nations have become prosperous by oppressing and exploiting the non-white, non-Western nations.
Strangulation by Union
The Chicago teachers strike is over, but the public didn't win. Schools will still transfer bad teachers to other schools because it's nearly impossible to fire them. When bad teachers go from school to school, principals call it "the dance of the lemons." It would be funny if those teachers didn't slowly wreck children's lives. The basic issue is: Who decides how to manage a workplace? Unions say it's good that they protect American workers from arbitrary dismissal and make sure everyone is treated equally. But it's not good. Rules that "protect" government workers from arbitrary dismissal and require everyone be treated equally are bad for taxpayers and "customers" -- and even union workers themselves.
Understanding Economics
Here's a question: If there's a disaster, a war, a severe drought or some other calamity that restricts future supplies of a commodity -- such as oil, coffee or corn -- what is the intelligent thing for people to do right away? If you said "use less now and try to produce more," you'd be absolutely correct. That's not rocket science, but understanding the machinery involved in getting people to do so is a bit more challenging. The best way to get people to use less and produce more is to allow prices to rise. For example, say a Middle East conflict restricts oil supplies and causes prices to rise. The effect of higher prices for oil is that it gives individuals incentive to eliminate or reduce the low-valued uses of oil. For example, a low-valued use of oil is for homeowners to allow the heat that it generates to seep through walls and leaky windows. Higher oil prices create incentives to homeowners to install insulation. Higher gasoline prices force motorists to economize by taking measures such as carpooling and taking fewer low-valued trips.
Americans Don't Trust the Media
A Gallup Poll reveals three-in-five Americans have little faith in the Fourth Estate.
It's Not Just the Economy, Stupid!
Given the awful state of the American economy, featuring a four-year high unemployment rate and an increasingly crushing national debt ... Given that America is at least as hated in the Muslim world as it was when George W. Bush was president -- despite the Obama policy of obsequious rhetoric directed toward that world ... Given the virtually unprecedented tension between the United States and Israel, its closest ally in the Middle East ... Given the complete failure of sanctions to stop Iran from its pursuit of an atom bomb ...
10 Reasons Mitt Will Win
Call me Pollyannaish, but I believe Mitt Romney will defeat Barack Obama in November. Let me give you some of my reasons: 1) Romney's campaign message is essentially positive; Obama's is overwhelmingly negative. People always prefer promises of something better, but Americans are especially hungry now because times are very tough. Romney is offering concrete and realistic plans to help America grow again and create millions of new jobs. Romney's message and agenda appeal to all Americans, not just certain groups, and tell them they are not imprisoned in their current economic "station" as Obama would have them believe. Though Obama's promises of "hope and change" in 2008 were vague, at least he presented them as something positive. Today he tells us we must accept an America in decline both internationally and domestically. He insists that 8 percent unemployment is the new normal and that we must adjust to the malaise because it is going to take a long time to make a dent in it.
Obama Versus Obama
Many voters will be comparing Mitt Romney with Barack Obama between now and election day. But what might be even more revealing would be comparing Obama with Obama. There is a big contrast between Obama based on his rhetoric ("Obama 1") and Obama based on his record ("Obama 2"). For example, during the 2008 election campaign, Obama 1 spoke of "opening up and creating more transparency in government," so that government spending plans would be posted on the Internet for days before they passed into legislation. After he was elected president, Obama said, "My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government." This Obama 1 sounds like a very good fellow. No wonder so many people voted for him.
Woodrow Wilson Obama
Thus far, we know what the Obama administration won't do in response to the obvious decay of U.S. standing in the Middle East. It won't stop deploring the video for which it originally blamed attacks on our diplomatic facilities in the region, worsened by the murders of our ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. It won't schedule a meeting this week between Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and the president, who seems to need more time on the campaign trail. And so on. What the administration *will* do to make its attitudes and responses feared throughout the region isn't likely to take up much space in public communications inasmuch as the administration seems generally bent on the projection of softness -- softness of manner and of tongue; softness, if truth be told, of the brain cells.
The Obama Press Votes Early
*"Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring." --Ann Romney* Mrs. Romney's exasperation with conservative critics is understandable. The mainstream press has been like a school of piranhas swarming around her husband. To receive fire from her own side as well -- even constructive advice -- may seem too much to bear. Mitt Romney is facing perhaps the most corrupt and tendentious coverage in presidential history, as members of the fourth estate eschew any semblance of integrity in their attempt to skew interpretations in favor of their pinup, Mr. Obama.
Romney's Taxes: Who Cares?
Did anyone think the release of Mitt Romney's tax returns would satisfy Democrats and make them focus on the real issues in this campaign, including President Obama's failed domestic and foreign policy record and approaching massive tax increases? If so, please call me for a great deal on Arizona swampland. The Obama campaign's deputy manager, Stephanie Cutter, accused Romney of taking advantage of lower tax rates for capital gains available only to "those at the top." Is Cutter saying Romney is wrong to obey tax law? The tax code is a mess. It, not Romney, should be the object of scorn. And by the way, Americans who make average incomes can benefit from lower capital gains taxes if they build sufficient wealth by making good investments.
Congress Shall Make No Law
This is the full text of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; the first of the Bill of Rights. Note the first clause, of the First Amendment: >Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. I wanted to get the specific language of what we generally refer to as the "Freedom of Religion" on the table, because it appears that we may be on the brink of the worst sectarian violence since the end of the Third Crusade, over 800 years ago. The flash point appears to be between Christianity (33 percent of the world's population) and Islam (about 21 percent) which rank 1 and 2 among the number of adherents worldwide; 2.1 billion and 1.5 billion respectively.
The Ghosts of Jimmy Carter
One of the more piquant details in the tale of Mitt Romney's damning "47 percent" video is that it was unearthed online by James Earl Carter IV, a grandson and namesake of the 39th president. The self-described "oppo researcher [and] political junkie" told NBC News that he tracked down the person who recorded Romney's remarks at a May fundraiser, then put him in touch with Mother Jones, the left-wing magazine that publicized the video last Monday. Carter's "research assistance" was credited in a terse endnote, but the reaction from his grandfather was more effusive: "James," the former president emailed, "This is extraordinary. Congratulations! Papa." The younger Carter wasn't coy about why he facilitated the leak. "I'm a partisan Democrat," he said. "My motivation is to help Democrats get elected."
The Lovers' Quarrel Between CNN and the State Department
It's not often one gets the pleasure of seeing two detestable and duplicitous entities square off against each other. Thus it was more than enjoyable watching that nest of vipers known as the U.S. State Department square off their fellow vipers at CNN. It seems the network obtained the personal journal of slain Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, and used it to broadcast news reports based on it contents, despite requests by Stevens' family that they not do so. CNN's rationale? "CNN did not initially report on the existence of a journal out of respect for the family, but we felt there were issues raised in the journal which required full reporting, which we did," the network said in a statement. Got that? We didn't tell you we have a journal, or that we a broke a promise to Stevens' family not to use it, but there was too much juicy stuff in it to resist, so we decided to use it anyway -- and all of these machinations constitute "full reporting."
Why My Head Is Spinning
I understand why liberals want to get elected to political office. After all, not everyone can be a millionaire, but at least if you're elected to Congress, you get to live like one. You get to receive all sorts of perks, including a bevy of aides and interns whom you don't have to pay out of your own pocket, but who are nevertheless ready at a moment's notice to gas up your car, drive you to the airport and pick up your dry cleaning. The part I don't get is why anyone would want to vote for them. For one thing, they all lie. And not only do they lie, but they lie so badly that they simultaneously insult our intelligence. The most blatant example took place recently when Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who is not only a member of Congress, but the head of the Democratic National Committee, said that she had no idea if the folks who produced the disgusting ad accusing Mitt Romney of playing a role in killing a cancer victim were Democrats or Republicans.
Obama's Unfulfilled Promise Change
"The most important lesson I've learned is that you can't change Washington from the inside," Barack Obama said in an interview Thursday on the Spanish-language Univision network. "You can only change it from the outside." A better way to put it is that Barack Obama has proved he can't change Washington from the inside. One case in point is the comprehensive immigration legislation Obama promised to steer to passage in his first term. The Univision interviewers, who asked tougher questions than the president has been getting from David Letterman or various rappers, zeroed in on this issue.