Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
More Scared of History Than Destined to Repeat It
Traumas suffered by a society generations ago can still have a negative effect centuries later. This is something Americans of a certain age should have no difficulty understanding. Half a century ago, we had to grapple with a dysfunctional and unjustifiable system of legally imposed racial segregation. It was a legacy of the Civil War a century before and of slavery before that. Americans managed to reform that system, but it wasn't easy. Getting rid of policies that are the responses to long-ago traumas is a difficult business.
A Golden State Train Wreck
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- State Sen. Joe Simitian's district office near Stanford's campus is nestled among shops sporting excruciatingly cute names ("A Street Bike Named Desire," "Mom's the Word" maternity wear) intended to make the progressive gentry comfortable with upscale consumption by presenting it as whimsical. This community surely has its share of advanced thinkers who believe trains are wonderful because they are not cars (rampant individualism; people going wherever and whenever they want, unsupervised).
Gabby's Hair an Issue of Life and Death?
Gabrielle Douglas became the fourth American -- and first black female -- to win a gold medal in women's individual all-around gymnastics. Effervescent and attractive, Gabby stands to make millions of dollars in endorsements. But she has received criticism -- in the social media, via Twitter, Facebook and, according to The Daily Beast, several "black blogs." It's about her hair...
'Mad Dog' Harry Reid
To call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a "mad dog," as Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank did, is an affront to the canine community and those suffering from legitimate mental illness. Reid was completely sane when he spread hearsay about an anonymous Bain Capital investor who allegedly told him Mitt Romney paid no taxes for 10 years. Doesn't Reid, a Mormon like Romney, subscribe to the prohibition in the Ninth Commandment: "Thou shall not bear false witness"? He appears to pay no political price because he's a Democrat and unlike Joe McCarthy, to whom some are comparing him, no prominent fellow Democrat or top media figure has asked Reid the question put to the commie-hunting McCarthy by attorney Joseph Welch in 1953: "Have you no sense of decency, sir?"
Dealing With All the Baloney
When you're a conservative and you are doing your level best to deal with all the crapola spewed by the Left, you don't really need a newfangled BS detector. You just need one of those large brooms the circus provides the poor guy who walks behind the elephants. In my case, of course, it's a team of donkeys I'm trailing behind. For instance, is every liberal born knowing how to chant inanities or is it something they have to master once they enter college or join a union? And are they totally unaware that once normal people hear chanting in the streets, they know they are in the presence of the great unwashed?
Who Gets a Pass?
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently said of the Chick-fil-A fast-food franchise that "Chick-fil-A's values are not Chicago's values." Why? Because Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy is on record as being opposed to gay marriage -- as is close to half the U.S. population, according to polls. The mayors of Boston and San Francisco also suggested that the company isn't welcome in their cities. Oddly, none of these public officials have lectured President Obama to keep clear of their cities. Yet until recently, Obama was likewise on record as opposing gay marriage. Why the exemption?
Of Democrats and Distractions
WASHINGTON -- Now it can be told. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, despite his lofty position in the United States Senate and despite being married to a very nice woman, has been having sex with a cow for at least three months, maybe more. How he met the cow I cannot say, as it would compromise extremely sensitive sources. Where he met her? Again, my lips are sealed. Nonetheless, it is time for Senator Reid to come clean about that cow. The Senate Majority Leaders said recently of Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, that he "must prove that he has paid his taxes, because he hasn't." Well, Reid must prove he has not had sex with a cow. He must prove that he does not even know the cow. He must because he has, and he does.
New Obama Slogan: From One, Many
President Obama is my president. He's not illegitimate. He's not a usurper. He was duly elected by my fellow citizens -- and as much as I think he's a horrible commander-in-chief with anti-American ideals, that's the choice Americans made in 2008. But by the same token, President Obama isn't *my* president. He isn't doing anything for me, the typical, faceless American citizen. I'm not a member of a minority group -- at least a minority group that counts (being Jewish obviously doesn't count when it comes to Obama's giveaway grab bag). I'm not a welfare case, and I'm employed. I'm not a member of a public sector union.
Meet the Real Workers Obama Screwed Over
Chutzpah overload in full effect: President Obama's sleazy super-PAC, run by his former White House spokesman Bill Burton, just released an ad accusing GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney of causing the cancer death of a steelworker's wife. It's not just a slanderous and false attack. It's a foolish attempt to camouflage the administration's massive jobs death toll, politicized pension plundering and Big Labor bailout cronyism. And it will backfire big time because the thousands and thousands of true victims of Obama's economic wreckage are speaking up and fighting back.
George Will's False Argument Against Football
Those who have convinced themselves that American football is incurably violent and shortens the life expectancy of those who play it -- I am thinking of George Will -- ought to read the study the American Journal of Cardiology published in March on the mortality of former NFL players. Men who played in the NFL for at least five years over a period of three decades, the study demonstrated, had a lower mortality rate than the general population of American males. However, in The Washington Post on Sunday, George Will wrote: "Various unsurprising studies indicate high early mortality rates among linemen resulting from cardiovascular disease. For all players who play five or more years, life expectancy is less than 60; for linemen it is much less." The definitive study says otherwise.
The Media Built That for Obama
On Aug. 5, Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post announced he was playing with a "somewhat controversial idea" that Mitt Romney should be the favorite to win the presidential election. Debatable, maybe. But controversial? Well, yes. It violates the pro-Obama mandate of our national press corps. The usual political measures look terrible for Obama, he noted. "The unemployment rate has been over 8 percent for 42 straight months, a streak unparalleled in American history." Obama must win despite the crippled economy -- the most important issue for the voters. The numbers are political red alerts. The Post's polling in July showed 44 percent approved of how Obama was dealing with the economy, while 54 percent disapproved, and 41 strongly disapproved of the job he is doing on the economy, while only 21 percent strongly approved. Six in 10 said the economy was getting worse, not better, in a Gallup poll.
One Singular Sensation
Marvin Hamlisch, 68, the composer-conductor who died Monday in Los Angeles after a brief illness was a certified genius. From the age of seven, when he became the youngest student ever admitted to New York's Juilliard School of Music, Marvin grew up to win both the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for his 1975 musical "A Chorus Line." He also was awarded three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys and three Golden Globes. Marvin embodied more than an impressive resume and long list of celebrity friends. He may have been the most self-effacing person of great achievement I have ever known.
Harry the Weasel
To paraphrase an old saying, if you're going to accuse someone else of being a weasel, it's probably not a good idea if you're a major weasel yourself. Senator Harry Reid called attention to himself last week, accusing Mitt Romney of not having paid taxes for 10 years. The basis of his allegations? Depending on the day of the week, it was one person: "As I said before, I was told by an extremely credible source that Romney has not paid taxes for ten years...," or more than one: "I am not basing this on some figment of my imagination," Reid said in a telephone call with Nevada reporters. "I have had a number of people tell me that." Asked to elaborate, Reid declined. "No, that's the best you're going to get from me," he said.
Liberals, Progressives and Socialists
In Europe, especially in Germany, hoisting a swastika-emblazoned Nazi flag is a crime. For decades after World War II, people have hunted down and sought punishment for Nazi murderers, who were responsible for the deaths of more than 20 million people. Here's my question: Why are the horrors of Nazism so well-known and widely condemned but not those of socialism and communism? What goes untaught -- and possibly is covered up -- is that socialist and communist ideas have produced the greatest evil in mankind's history. You say, "Williams, what in the world are you talking about? Socialists, communists and their fellow travelers, such as the Wall Street occupiers supported by our president, care about the little guy in his struggle for a fair shake! They're trying to promote social justice." Let's look at some of the history of socialism and communism.
No More Boring White Guys for the GOP
"A friend of mine, a Hispanic entrepreneur, asked me a question some time ago. He said, 'When is the last time you saw a Hispanic panhandler?' I think it's a great question. I'll tell you, in my life I never once have seen a Hispanic panhandler, because in our community it would be viewed as shameful to be out on the street begging." That was Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz of Texas on "Fox News Sunday." He went on to make the case that Latinos are culturally conservative and economically entrepreneurial. Just for the record, I've seen a Latino panhandler or two. Or at least I think they were Latino -- I don't usually quiz panhandlers about their ethnic backgrounds.
Harlem Then and Now
Books about the history of Harlem have long fascinated me -- my favorite being "When Harlem Was in Vogue" by David Levering Lewis. However, a more recent book, titled simply "Harlem" by Jonathan Gill, presents a more comprehensive history -- going all the way back to the time when the Dutch were the first settlers of New York, and named that area for the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Most of us today think of Harlem as a black community, but it was not that for most of its 400-year history. John James Audubon, famed for his studies of birds, was among the many people who at various times organized efforts to keep blacks from moving into Harlem -- efforts that, in the long run, met with what might be called very limited success. Among the many well-known people who were not black who were born in Harlem were Groucho Marx, Milton Berle, Arthur Miller and Bennett Cerf.
Wars to End War
On his recent trip abroad, Mitt Romney observed an American taboo by not criticizing President Obama's military policy. But before his trip, he made his position clear. Obama has "exposed the military to cuts that no one can justify," Romney said. He meant that unless Congress intervenes, Pentagon spending will be cut by more than $500 billion over 10 years under the (bipartisan) budget sequestration scheduled for January. This terrifies those who fear that limiting the growth of the military-industrial complex will leave us less safe. But is that true? Even if $500 billion is actually cut, America still will spend more on defense -- adjusted for inflation -- than we did at the height of the Cold War and the Vietnam War.
Ah, August!
NOTE: Each year, in August, I change the frequency of Mullings from Monday-Wednesday-Friday to Tuesday-Thursday because ... well, because sophisticated people throttle back (or completely off) in August and I wanna be a swell like them. August in Your Nation's Capital slows to a crawl. The Congress is gone -- which is good news for the Republic. In normal years the President and Vice President head for some shore somewhere. Well, George W. didn't. He headed for Crawford, Texas which meant the national press corps got to hang out in Waco for weeks at a time. Compare and contrast that with going to Martha's Vineyard for a Presidential vacation and you can see why political reporters tend to be Democrats.
