Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
The Challenge of Easter: How Will You Respond?
What does it take to put your life on the line for others? As Americans, we're fascinated by sacrificial heroism, and rightfully so. Our country's history unfolds in the tales of its heroes -- and in the ten plus years since 9-11, Americans have witnessed countless acts of heroism. From the courage of first responders who plunged into the World Trade Center's burning corridors on 9-11 to the bravery of Seal Team Six, which delivered America from Osama Bin Laden's malevolence, the selfless acts of others are the stories that we remember and retell.
Romney Is Coming on Strong
WASHINGTON -- There are some campaign advisers who would counsel former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to jog on the campaign trail tirelessly, probably in short pants and with a catchy T-shirt emblazoned with some memorable phrase, say, "Fred Fna Ate Here," a la Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Jimmy Carter started the presidential candidates' jogging craze, and since him there have been a horde of presidential joggers, all wearing little boys' outfits, the notable exception being Ronald Reagan -- possibly because, as he campaigned from 1976 on, he was considered too old to be president. On the other hand, the old cowboy had a sense of dignity that all other would-be presidents in recent years have lacked. Perhaps Romney should be photographed windsurfing as John Kerry was in 2004 and downing shots of firewater as Hillary Clinton did in 2008. Or he could filch a page from President-elect Vladimir Putin and campaign shirtless. Adopt the he-man look, Mitt!
An Uncivil Income Tax System
Each year in the United States, an estimated 6.1 billion hours are spent complying with the federal tax code. I'm pretty sure at least half of those hours are spent by me. With less than two weeks remaining before this year's tax returns are due, I've barely made a dent in my stack of forms, receipts, and instructions. Each year the prospect of doing my taxes looms more daunting and dismal than the year before. Each year I wonder where I'll find the time, never mind the patience, to get it done. Each year's tax ordeal seems to require more mental energy, more double-checking of math, more scouring of check registers and credit-card statements and brokerage records. And yet when I finally hit that "Send" button, I'm less certain than ever that I haven't inadvertently screwed something up. And if that's true for someone like me, whose financial arrangements are not especially abstruse, how much more miserable tax season must be for taxpayers whose circumstances are more elaborate.
Inspiration Plus Perspiration Equals Success
Next week the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans (www.horatioalger.org) will celebrate its 65th anniversary. I confess I did not know of its existence until I read their ad in an airline magazine. I am familiar with Horatio Alger, the man, who inspired generations of boys, and later girls, with stories of people overcoming difficult circumstances to succeed, but I was ignorant of the association that carries on his vision.
The Media Downplay Murder When It's Black-on-White and Black-on-Black
Why did the Trayvon Martin case become such a huge national story? Is it because an innocent black teenager lost his life at the hands of a man, George Zimmerman, who "racially profiled" him? Is it that the victim is black and the shooter was not? Is it because the major media push the narrative that white anti-black racism remains an "unresolved" national issue? Is it because "civil rights activist" and MSNBC host Al Sharpton demands the shooter's arrest, threatening peaceful civil disobedience and "economic sanctions"?
The Drug Legalization Dilemma
WASHINGTON -- The human nervous system interacts in pleasing and addictive ways with certain molecules derived from some plants, which is why humans may have developed beer before they developed bread. Psychoactive -- consciousness-altering -- and addictive drugs are natural, a fact that should immunize policymakers against extravagant hopes as they cope with America's drug problem, which is convulsing some nations to our south. The costs -- human, financial and social -- of combating (most) drugs are prompting calls for decriminalization or legalization. America should, however, learn from the psychoactive drug used by a majority of American adults -- alcohol.
His Royal Imperial Highness, Barack Obama II
America's constitutional structure is built on checks and balances. The idea behind these checks and balances is simple: We want interest counteracting interest, ego counteracting ego. We don't want any one person to gain too much power -- or any one faction or any one way of thought. Gridlock, for lack of a better word, is good. President Barack Obama, however, has a different idea. He believes that America must be fundamentally transformed. That fundamental transformation cannot be effectuated without a fundamental transformation of the system of American government.
Let’s Give the Fed Some Competition
Pssst. Want to buy some Stossels? They're my own currency with my face on them. Why should you trust them? Because I promise to redeem them for gold. And I'm reliable. I have money in the bank and a job that brings in more than I spend. By contrast, the politicians who back American currency run an unsustainable deficit. The Federal Reserve prints so much money that since it opened its doors in 1914, the dollar has lost more than 90 percent of its value.
Obama v. The Constitution
President Barack Obama does not like the U.S. Supreme Court. Ok, that's an overstatement. This one is closer to the truth: President Barack Obama does not like the U.S. Supreme Court as led by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts. Remember a couple of years ago during his State of the Union address when he wagged a rhetorical finger in the face of the Justices sitting about 20 feet from him because he didn't like their ruling in the Citizens United case which has had the effect of establishing Super PACs?
Shooting in the Dark
People who are convinced that George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin for no good reason frequently say it's absurd to suggest that an unarmed 17-year-old could have posed a deadly threat to a 28-year-old man who outweighed him by 100 pounds. According to a story in Monday's New York Times, however, Zimmerman is only 20 pounds heavier than Martin, who was 4 inches taller.
Romney's Royal 'We' -- and 'Personal Responsibility'
When Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts, he saw a problem he believed government should solve. Ninety-three percent of the people in the state had health insurance -- including private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid -- but 7 percent did not. Romney wanted to do something about this 7 percent -- some 460,000 people. "Because right now in my state, and probably in your states, as well," Romney explained in a Jan. 26, 2006, presentation at the Heritage Foundation, "part of your insurance premium is paying for the people who don't have insurance, because when they get sick, they do go to the hospital for treatment, they just go well after the disease has become very acute, it's very expensive to treat, the hospital provides care, somebody has to pay for that, and it is built into your hospital costs and into your insurance premiums."
Maddow and the NPR-MSNBC Alliance
Anyone who clicks around on the National Public Radio website is often bombarded with ads for MSNBC. Naturally, if you love one hard-left network, you'll love the other. But the promotion isn't just in advertisements. Yes, conservatives: You're being forced to underwrite with your tax dollars what you're about to read. And you're not going to like it. On March 27, the NPR-distributed show "Fresh Air" with host Terry Gross devoted its entire hour to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. Gross honored her at the start as "the host of MSNBC's top-rated show." That's like applauding the tallest pygmy. Sean Hannity crushes her nightly in the ratings and always has. But Gross is clearly a fan: "Each weekday night, she talks about issues in the news and important issues that she thinks most of the media have underplayed or overlooked."
Obamacare Will Be Romney's Savior
It looks as if it's going to be Mitt Romney after all. With Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush endorsing the former Massachusetts governor last week, there aren't any white knights left to play the role of GOP savior. But that news hasn't reached his competitors yet.
Dupes for the State
Public misunderstanding, ignorance and possibly contempt for liberty play into the hands of people who want to control our lives. Responses to my recent column "Compliant Americans" brought this home to me. In it, I argued that the anti-tobacco movement became the template and inspiration for other forms of government intrusion, such as bans on restaurants serving foie gras, McDonald's giving Happy Meals with toys, and confiscating a child's home-prepared lunch because it didn't meet Department of Agriculture guidelines. A few responses read like this: "Smoking is different because that actually affects other people. We should be living by the notion that you should be able to do whatever you want as long as you don't hurt other people. Smoking hurts other people."
Political Word Games
One of the highly developed talents of President Barack Obama is the ability to say things that are demonstrably false, and make them sound not only plausible but inspiring. That talent was displayed just this week when he was asked whether he thought the Supreme Court would uphold ObamaCare as constitutional or strike it down as unconstitutional. He replied: "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."
The Halls of Hope: Lives Worth Emulating
Yesterday, I talked about a Christian ethic of hope -- a hope not based on wishful thinking, but on the reality of God's promises. It's this Christian hope that gives us the joy, the self-sacrificial love, the boldness, and the endurance to carry on -- even in tough times. You often see these fruits in the lives of devout believers. For example: Justin Martyr, born around 100 AD to pagan parents; he grew up studying philosophy. But while in Ephesus he was impressed by the steadfastness of Christians under persecution and he converted to Christianity. He is known for his "Apologies," defenses of the faith addressed to those in highest power: the Roman Emperor and the Roman Senate.
The Democrats' Election Forgery Racket
A few weeks ago, Obama senior adviser and seasoned Chicago operative David Axelrod joked on MSNBC about election corruption. Asked whether "vote early and often" scams had come to an end in his shady hometown, Axelrod snarked: "Well, certainly on the air." Yuk, yuk, yuk. Behind the scenes, Democrats have been busy faking petition signatures, forging ballots and enlisting medical professionals to authorize fraudulent doctors' notes for liberal teachers-union operatives protesting Republican opponents. It's no laughing matter.
Care or cure?
The debate isn't new, but as the country awaits the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, suppose the conversation switched from a health care system devoted primarily to caring for the sick to one that gives top priority to finding cures for disease? A healthier public would sharply reduce expenses associated with catastrophic illness. There is also the issue of prevention so that while cures are pursued through research, people might order their lives in ways that give them the best chance of avoiding sickness altogether.
Obama Touts His Record
In his excellent daily Web news summary, "The Transom," Ben Domenech says that President Obama's speech at the Portland Museum of Art on Saturday "is likely to be Obama's campaign speech from here on out." He's probably correct, so let's take a look, with an eye to whether it's likely to work. Obama's template is nothing new. He first repeats his claim as to the catastrophic conditions he inherited from President Bush. "It's hard to remember sometimes how perilous things were when I was sworn in."
A ‘Titanic’ Obsession
What remains to be said concerning Royal Mail Ship Titanic and her icy end, just 100 years ago? What hasn't been thought, said or filmed already? Why, then, the ongoing fascination with Titanic -- as alive at our own end of the catastrophe's century mark as at the start of it, which was April 14-15, 1912? You could say memories of Titanic haunt us -- as maybe they should.