Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
An Unusual Economy?
Many in the media are saying how unusual it is for our economy to be so sluggish for so long, after we have officially emerged from a recession. In a sense, they are right. But, in another sense, they are profoundly wrong. The American economy usually rebounds a lot faster than it is doing today. After a recession passes, consumers usually increase their spending. And when businesses see demand picking up, they usually start hiring workers to produce the additional output required to meet that demand.
Who Are the Real Religious Bigots?
As the 2012 presidential race gears up, leftist Christophobes are showing some signs of hysteria -- or political opportunism; it's sometimes difficult to tell. The New York Times' executive editor, Bill Keller, in a piece in The New York Times Magazine, argues that presidential candidates should be asked tough questions about their faith. Keller wants to know whether a candidate will place "fealty to the Bible, the Book of Mormon ... or some other authority higher than the Constitution and laws of this country" and "whether a president respects serious science and verifiable history." He wants to make sure "religious doctrine" does not become "an excuse to exclude my fellow citizens from the rights and protections our country promises." His colleague, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, followed up with a hit piece on "Republicans Against Science."
The Tide and Marco Rubio
In my high school days before sex and environmental education and the general dumbing down of the population, memorization of some Shakespeare was expected in Miss Kauffman's 12th-grade English class. A favorite I still recall is this line spoken by Brutus in "Julius Caesar": "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries..." Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) repeatedly says in various ways it is too soon, or he isn't ready, for higher office, such as vice president. He's been in the Senate for a little more than seven months and has delivered only two major speeches -- his maiden speech on the Senate floor and one last week at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
The Holier-Than Thou Billionaire
Whenever anyone wants to prove that millions of Americans are either dumb or just plain nuts, they mention that 12% of the population is convinced that a badly scarred James Dean is living as a hermit and a 450-pound Elvis Presley is working at a 7/11 outside Nashville. I say that doesn't prove anything beyond wishful thinking. A far more convincing case can be made by pointing out that even now 40% of Americans believe that Barack Obama is doing a bang-up job. In a saner world, it's Obama who would be a hermit or working at a 7/11 in Chicago.
Obama and His Rivals Duck the Entitlement Crisis
Some of society's most intractable problems come not from its failures but from its successes. Often you can't get a good thing without paying a bad price. A prime example is our public old-age pension system, Social Security. It has been completely successful in wiping out poverty among the elderly. Old ladies no longer have to eat cat food to survive.
School Choice in Colorado
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- The red stone outcropping that gives this community its name is just a facet of the histrionic geology of Douglas County that sprawls prettily along the front range of the Rockies south of Denver. The county is named, Lord knows why, for Stephen Douglas, who defeated Abraham Lincoln in Illinois' 1858 U.S. Senate election. Lincoln opposed Douglas' repugnant "popular sovereignty" plan for allowing territories to vote for or against accepting slavery. Today, Douglas County has an admirable plan for popular sovereignty in education -- school choice.
Perry Delivers on Texas Death Penalty
As Texas governor, GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry has presided over 234 executions. It's a record number, which, The Washington Post reported last week, bestows on Perry "a law-and-order credential that none of his competitors can match -- even if they wanted to." Watch how pundits will try to turn that statistic into a political negative -- and paint Perry as the governor with blood on his spurs -- even though American voters overwhelmingly support the death penalty.
Obama and the Muslim Question
A while back, a friend who's convinced that Barack Obama is a Muslim sent me an email in which he informed me that followers of Islam must refrain from wearing jewelry during Ramadan, which runs through August this year, and that Obama hasn't worn his watch or his wedding ring since the start of the holiday. I wrote back to say that I don't know where or when Muslims are allowed to wear jewelry and that I tend not to notice jewelry, no matter who is or isn't wearing it, unless it's a guy in a poker game wearing a pinky ring. In which case, I cash in and go home.
Socialist Realism on the Mall
Martin Luther King Jr., now has his Washington memorial just where it should be: on the National Mall. But that's about all that's good about it. Because everything else about it raises misgivings. The deepest misgivings. To judge by the photographs, any resemblance between this monolith and Martin Luther King is purely coincidental. It fails even to hint, let alone capture, the essence of the man -- his Southern, his American, his Christian core.
Disaster Isn't a Stimulus Package
Columnists make predictions at their peril, but I'll go out on a limb: If Hurricane Irene turns out to have wrought the havoc some forecasters have predicted, some expert will quickly reassure us that all the destruction is good for the economy. "One of the most reliable results of any natural disaster," remarks economist Russell Roberts, "is the spreading of bad economics." And few fallacies are more enduring than the belief that disasters are really a net benefit to society, since the money spent on recovery stimulates new jobs and construction.
The Year of School Choice
We're used to hearing bad news from the education front -- poor test scores, falling literacy, slipping standards. But the new academic year brings a welcome change: school-choice programs have expanded significantly in recent months. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal has already dubbed 2011 "The Year of School Choice." As of this month, 18 states and Washington, D.C., have policies that support private-school choice. But public-school choice options are also continuing to grow. On top of that, there are millions of children participating in K–12 courses online. Meanwhile, homeschooling and charter schools are becoming more widespread.
From The Comedy Store
Washington D.C.'s earthquake prompted an immediate evacuation of all federal office buildings. No one's hurt. The government came to a complete halt at twelve o'clock noon and by sundown the United States was debt-free and the budget was balanced.
King, in Word and Stone
WASHINGTON -- It is one of the enduring mysteries of American history -- so near-providential as to give the most hardened atheist pause -- that it should have produced, at every hinge point, great men who matched the moment. A roiling, revolutionary 18th-century British colony gives birth to the greatest cohort of political thinkers ever: Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, Washington, Franklin, Jay. The crisis of the 19th century brings forth Lincoln; the 20th, FDR.
The Spirit of Liberty
It was a small victory, but in a great cause: freedom of speech. And any victory in such a cause should be noted. And celebrated. It happened in Little Rock. A group of atheists wanted to advertise on the side of local buses, just as a church might. But the public bus line wanted an unprecedented $36,000 deposit--in addition to $5,200 for the ads--before it would allow this opinion to be voiced on the side of its buses: "Are you good without God? Millions are."
My Rick Perry Problem -- and Ours
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination now, at least in the national polls. Undoubtedly that's the main reason so many East Coast pundits and Beltway wags are making fun of him. He likes guns! He's from Texas! He talks funny! He's a -- gird yourself now -- Christian! New York magazine and others mock his harmless, Bush-like pronunciation of nuclear ("nuke-ular"). They're scandalized that he doesn't go to a golf course to relax, but a shooting range. It's already a cliche among liberals to describe him as the sort of cartoonish, ignorant cowboy they thought George W. Bush was (though to date, nobody feels the need to apologize to Bush for misinterpreting him).
Back to School: Helping Boys Man-up in Reading
Once upon a time, women complained that everything in the culture favored men, that it began when men and women were boys and girls. Boys got the advantage in kindergarten and kept it through high school and into their college years. Boys were more active than girls, and teachers called on them for recitation more often than girls. That was in the long ago. Teachers usually call on girls first now because they're more likely to have the answer. Girls typically score higher on reading tests.
Biden's Moral Obtuseness
This was not a gaffe. This was a disgrace. In a speech at Sichuan University, Vice President Joe Biden said "Your policy has been one which I fully understand -- I'm not second-guessing -- of one child per family . . ." But, he continued, this policy is creating demographic difficulties, such that "one wage earner will be taking care of four retired people. Not sustainable." Following criticism, Biden's spokesperson, Kendra Barkoff, insisted that Biden, along with the entire Obama administration, finds the Chinese government's population control regime "repugnant." But she seemed confused as to what the fuss was about. "He also pointed out, in China, that the policy is, as a practical matter, unsustainable. He was arguing against the one-child policy to a Chinese audience."
Irrational Behavior
WASHINGTON -- For most of the year, irrational behavior is a natural state in our nation's capital. This is a place where potentates and politicians, lobbyists and legislators and the elite and the lowly routinely say and do completely irrational things. We also have come to expect that irrational behavior takes a brief hiatus when Congress goes home on recess and the president of the United States heads out of town on vacation. This year is the exception that proves the rule. POTUS may be playing golf on Martha's Vineyard and Congress may be out of town, but this week, irrational behavior disorder -- "IBD" for short -- went viral, here and around the globe.
Bravo's Plan: Exploit Suicide for Ratings
The ratings-hungry producers/exploiters of "reality" TV are in an ongoing search for "edgy" people who are combustibly watchable and whose lust for fame overrides any sense of moral judgment. Then they act shocked when their "characters" self-destruct. The latest, exhibit A: the suicide by hanging of Russell Armstrong, the husband of one of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." His death came just weeks before Bravo planned to begin airing its second season, in which he would be ridiculed before millions.
The Job Wrecker in Chief
President Obama often tells us that his No. 1 focus is creating jobs, but his record makes you wonder what he might have done differently if his goal were to destroy jobs. Those who've examined Congressional Budget Office data have calculated that each job allegedly created by Obama's stimulus -- and this is if you accept the fantastically generous guesstimates -- cost between $225,000 and $600,000. But that's not the only way in which the administration has shown its virtual contempt for efficient job creation and its callousness concerning job destruction.