Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
From The Comedy Store
Germany's Supreme Court ruled it's legal for German police to racially profile people as suspects. We know where this ends. Jesse Jackson just issued a travel warning for Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, France and, if nothing is done to stop it, England.
Why Not Junk the Nobel Peace Prizes?
When the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Barack Obama, many, myself included, felt that the Norwegian committee had so embarrassed itself as to devalue the prize permanently. A Dallas service station sign, at the time, captured the sentiment precisely: "Free Nobel Peace Prize with Oil Change." Jay Nordlinger's masterful new book "Peace, They Say" has changed my mind. Not that Nordlinger dissents from the skeptical view of the 2009 prize or many others. But in his careful review of every prize and every recipient since 1901, he builds a case that the capacity of the prize to do good outweighs its mischief.
Network News Shapers
NBC has an ongoing "omissions" problem. The latest scandal involving the network centers around its selective editing of the taped conversation between George Zimmerman and the 911 operator on the night when Zimmerman allegedly shot and killed Trayvon Martin. The unabridged tape of the conversation goes like this...
Keeping Score
On Wednesday I was invited by the former national political reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Dick Polman, who is now the "Writer-in-Residence" at the University of Pennsylvania which is the best title in the history of titles. Now that I know that the title "Writer-in-Residence" actually exists in academe I am going to petition Marietta College Marietta, Ohio 45750 to appoint me "Writer-in-Residence" so long as the "Residence" in question is a bar I tend to frequent when I visit there, and not some stuffy classroom filled with teenagers who think modern music is ... music.
Americans by Any Name
A new report from the Pew Hispanic Center says a lot about the assimilation of the nation's largest minority group -- both good and bad. Hispanics -- those 50 million people who trace their ancestry to a Spanish-speaking country -- have become both more numerous and more diverse in the past 40 years. In 1970, Hispanics were primarily U.S.-born Mexican-Americans and Puerto Ricans -- who are U.S. citizens, whether born in Puerto Rico or on the mainland. But the adult population of Hispanics today is almost equally divided between those who were born in the U.S., 48 percent, and those who are foreign-born, 52 percent.
Marion Barry and the Left's Hatred of Asian Entrepreneursm
Marion Barry's mouth set him up. The disgraced former mayor of Washington, D.C., who was caught on tape in a 1987 crack cocaine sting, made an even bigger disgrace of himself and his city on Tuesday. Celebrating a Democratic primary victory, the city councilman attacked small businesses owned by "Asians" in his district. Then the race-baiting clown doubled down. Barry told supporters in D.C.'s Ward 8: "We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops. They ought to go." Once pushed out, Barry promised, he would replace the foreign invaders with "African-American business people." Barry then took to the social networking platform Twitter to expound on the perils of "dirty" Asian shops in his neighborhood.
Obama Energy Policy: Very Few of the Above
In his speech before the Newspapers Association of America/American Society of News Editors Wednesday, likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney accused the president of changing positions to get re-elected. For instance, Romney charged that, "As president," Obama "delayed the development of our oil and coal and natural gas. Now, as candidate Obama, he says he favors an energy policy that adopts an all-of-the-above approach." That's not exactly right.
The Passover-Easter Sellout
WASHINGTON -- Passover and Easter -- intrinsically linked in the Jewish and Christian traditions -- are being celebrated this weekend. For observant Jews, Passover commemorates the Hebrews' liberation from slavery under Egypt's Pharaoh. For faithful Christians, Easter is a celebration of Jesus' resurrection from the grave and the fulfillment of a new covenant between God and man. Biblical passages in Exodus 12, Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 and John 20 describe these historical events and the reasons for festivities among people of faith. But this year, these holidays are a time of extraordinary anxiety for Christians and Jews in the Middle East.
Mr. President: 'Take Care!'
President Obama took the oath of office on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. In that Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial year, Mr. Obama sought to stress his admiration for the only other president from Illinois. Millions of people watched as he placed his left hand on the Lincoln Bible and raised his right hand. Around the world, billions viewed the event on television. On the National Mall, army howitzers of the Presidential Salute Battery fired off a 21-gun salute to honor the new commander-in-chief.
A Whispering Campaign
We've come a long way from President Theodore Roosevelt's famous saying "Speak softly and carry a big stick." President Barack Obama's policy apparently is to whisper slyly and compromise our security. What else are we to conclude of his notorious open-mic moment with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev? Why would he think it's okay to send a message to President-elect Vladimir Putin that "all these issues, but particularly missile defense ... can be solved" if Putin will "give me space" until after the U.S. presidential election?
Obama v. SCOTUS
"I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress." -- Barack Obama, on the constitutional challenge to his health care law, April 2 WASHINGTON -- "Unprecedented"? Judicial review has been the centerpiece of the American constitutional system since Marbury v. Madison in 1803. "Strong majority"? The House has 435 members. In March 2010, Democrats held a 75-seat majority. Obamacare passed by seven votes.
This Is Why He Came and Died: Reflections on Good Friday
Can it really be just three months ago we gathered with loved ones to celebrate Christmas? What joy we felt as we celebrated the birth of the baby Jesus. Emmanuel. God with us. But today, on Good Friday, we reflect on how that beautiful babe in the manger came to fulfill a mission. A terrible and glorious mission! God invaded planet Earth. He became a human child, to live as one of us, to call us to repent, to love God with our whole heart, minds, and souls, and our neighbors as ourselves.
MTV's 'Savage' Schoolyard
MTV is now trying to lure young viewers with a saucy sex show in the "advice" category. They didn't reach for Dr. Drew or God forbid Dr. Ruth or an actual doctor of anything. They turned to filthy sex columnist and gay activist Dan Savage. The new show is called "Savage U," and it documents Savage touring college campuses to offer snarky/smutty advice to college students. This is MTV's libertine ideology pitched right at children, and Savage is blunt about how he'll be going around the parents.
Obama Has It Backward; Striking Down Obamacare Would Protect Our Republic
Is President Obama such a die-hard leftist ideologue that he can't get it right on judicial review, despite having time to reflect and regroup after his impertinent comments designed to intimidate the court? As everyone knows, Obama said Monday, "Ultimately, I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress." That, he said, would be "judicial activism."
Colleges Skimp on Science, Spend Big on Diversity
How many times have you heard Barack Obama talk about "investing" in education? Quite a few, if you've been listening to the president at all. In fact, Americans have been investing more and more in education over the years, led by presidents Democratic and Republican. But it's become glaringly clear that we're getting pretty lousy return on these investments. That's been evident at the K-12 level for a long time. Teacher unions and education-school types have had custody of most of our public schools for more than three decades, during which test results and high school graduation rates have been mostly stagnant.
Freedom or Fairness in 2012?
2012 should prove to be an ideological election about the economy. Not all campaigns are so clear cut. Sometimes moderate Republicans raise taxes (like George H.W. Bush did); at other times, pragmatic Democrats cut spending (like Bill Clinton did). But this year, Mitt Romney, the likely Republican nominee, will run an ideological campaign calling for smaller government and fewer taxes against an equally ideological President Obama, who wants more government and higher taxes. In this divided red state/blue state era, the supporters of each candidate demand no less and will have a clear choice.
Verrilli Not Administration's Worst Lawyer, After All
The reason tea partiers carried signs saying "Read the Constitution!" was that we were hoping people would read the Constitution. Alas, we still have Rick Santorum saying Obamacare is the same as what he calls "Romneycare"; the otherwise brilliant Mickey Kaus sniffing that if states can mandate insurance purchases, then we're "not talking about some basic individual liberty to not purchase stuff" (no, just the nation's founding document, which protects "basic individual liberties" by putting constraints on Congress); and the former law professor, Barack Obama, alleging that a "good example" of judicial activism would be the Supreme Court (in his words, "a group of people") overturning "a duly constituted and passed law."
Peeling the Onion Known as Trayvon Martin
In the beginning, we were told that Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, was a model student and a credit to his race. We were told that he had been suspended from school for tardiness. And we were constantly shown his photo, in which he looked almost cherub-like. Then we heard that it wasn't tardiness, but truancy. Finally, we got the news that his suspension was drug-related. Later, we learned that the photo of the smiling Trayvon was five years old. We then got to see a photo of 17-year-old Trayvon looking like a thug. We also learned that he was 6'3" and that his twitter comments hardly paint a picture of a choir boy. We also learned that he had been found to have stolen jewelry, a screwdriver and graffiti paraphernalia, in his backpack.
President Obama's Bullying Pulpit
President Obama this week took advantage of the fine spring weather and a meeting with Canada's and Mexico's leaders to make an extraordinary statement in the White House Rose Garden. He responded to questions about his health care takeover. ObamaCare is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The nine Justices are expected to rule on the measure by this June. Their ruling could come right in the middle of a heated presidential election campaign.
Resurrection Hope: Jesus and Scripture
As we've talked about the last few days on BreakPoint, Christian hope is not wide-eyed optimism or emotions. Christian hope is based on the certainty of God's promises and His character. And it is evidenced by the fruits of joy, sacrificial love, boldness, and endurance. We see no better example of this kind of hope than in the life of our Savior, especially in the days and hours before His death. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus certainly had cause to abandon hope. His closest friends fell asleep in the time when, as he said, His soul was "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." He pled with His Father to take the cup away from Him if it was possible. But there was no other way.