Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Brian Williams vs. the Tea Party
You can tell the liberals are really sweating the politics of the debt-ceiling talks when NBC puts on a special "Dateline NBC" devoted to politics. This is normally a time slot devoted to "news" topics like Casey Anthony or Lindsay Lohan. But last week, viewers were "treated" to anchorman Brian Williams actually covering a real news topic. It's just too bad he forgot he was supposed to be a reporter, not an editorialist, spinning furiously against conservatives trying to rein in President Obama's incredibly reckless flood of new spending. The last time Brian Williams showed up in primetime for a splashy special on public policy was an enormous tribute to the then new president, Barack Obama -- making a run for hamburgers with him, hailing how he displayed apples everywhere, and bowing to him and wishing him a pleasant evening after NBC chronicled his glorious day of saving America from recession. You know, just like Williams treated Bush.
Turkey's Military Resigns
In a democracy, when senior military officers can no longer support the policies of the elected civilian government they serve, they are supposed to resign their posts and retire -- not launch a coup. This is one way to initially frame the complex circumstances surrounding last week's mass resignation by the most senior armed forces commanders in Turkey, the culturally Islamic nation bridging Europe and Asia and possessing NATO's second-largest military establishment. It is a frame, however, with both encouragingly optimistic and oppressively pessimistic interpretations.
Apocalyptic Thinking Leads to the Apocalypse
We were told over and over again that if America didn't raise her debt-ceiling, the financial roof would come tumbling down about our ears. We were told that the consequences for our credit rating would be disastrous. We were told that the stock market would crash. So, our elected representatives passed a debt-ceiling increase. Democrats complained that the increase didn't raise taxes; Republicans complained that the increase kicked the proverbial can down the road on spending. Democrats claimed victory for having forced Republicans to raise the ceiling at all; Republicans claimed victory for having forced Democrats to offset increased spending with certain cuts.
Boehner's Next Bad Deal
When Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama cut their deal in April on a continuing resolution to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal 2011 at a level only $78.3 billion below what Obama had originally requested for the year, it should have been obvious Boehner would come back and cut a similarly bad deal to increase the debt limit. In the April CR, Boehner agreed to a level of federal spending that predictably required running a massive deficit in this fiscal year -- which ends on Sept. 30.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Misleading Words
Many years ago, the Saturday Evening Post was one of the best-known magazines in America. But somehow I learned that the Saturday Evening Post was actually published on Wednesday morning. That was a little disconcerting at first. But it was one of the most valuable lessons, that words do not necessarily reflect reality. Recent statistics on the average wealth or net worth of blacks are a painful reminder that rhetoric favoring blacks does not mean that politicians using such rhetoric are actually helping blacks. The media seized upon the statistics published by the Pew Research Center to show that whites averaged far more net worth than blacks, and that this disparity was now greater than it was in years past. But what is even more revealing is that the net worth of blacks in 2009 was less than half of what it was in 2005.
The Reluctant Presidential Candidate
DENVER -- Some wives don't want their husbands to run for president -- Alma Powell (Colin Powell) and Cheri Daniels (Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels). Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry doesn't have that problem. In an interview with me following a well-received address to the Western Conservative Summit in Denver, said, "My wife is a nurse and the daughter of a country doctor. She sees Obamacare with the potential to devastate this country. ... She basically said, 'Listen, I know you love your job and you're comfortable there, but your country is in trouble and you need to get off the sideline and get in this game, serve your country and do your duty.' When someone you've known and been married to for 42-plus years (says that), it had a real impact on me. I had to go back and re-evaluate my consistent message that I don't want to be president of the United States."
Why Obama's Economy Won't Improve
There are some on the right who believe that Barack Obama is intentionally steering the United States into disaster -- that he privately rejoices in the dismal economy because it partially fulfills his objective to bring the country down. This strikes me as, at the very least, overwrought. One would have to accept the idea that Gene Sperling, Timothy Geithner and the president clapped one another on the back when the latest GDP figures arrived. ".04 percent growth in the first quarter. 1.3 percent last quarter. Way to go! We'll be in recession again in no time."
Marital Criticism and Pessimism
"He's a good dad to our kids, but was always criticizing me," Terry complained. "I couldn't do anything right, in his mind at least. Thirteen years was enough. I figured it would only get worse, so I left." Like most marriages that end in divorce, Terry's marriage began happily enough. And it ended not because of a serious transgression like adultery, abuse, or substance use, but because the couple's personal relationship deteriorated and they gave up. They gave in to two marriage-killing habits: criticism and pessimism.
Democracy at Work (for Better or Worse)
A little perspective on the debt-ceiling fracas might not be amiss. And so... Whoever said it first spoke a mouthful: Rome wasn't built in a day. To which I would add: congressmen didn't build it either. Members of Congress bicker, bellow and throw nails under each other's pickup tires seemingly trying to block meaningful action like the enactment of legislation authorizing payment of national obligations.
What Really Is Poverty?
More than 35 million Americans live in poverty, according to the Census Bureau. Imagine what kind of life they must have. Actually, you don't have to imagine. Their federal government conducts numerous surveys that contain detailed information about the living conditions of those classified as poor -- information that comes directly from those in poverty. Are they experiencing significant hardship? Do they just barely scrape by, with no modern conveniences and hardly any food? Some do, unfortunately. But for most, it's a different story.
Obama Is Fresh Out of Ideas
One of the most striking facts about the course of the Obama presidency so far is that Obama has no constructive solutions for anything, which is one reason he campaigned on vague promises. It's why he established bogus metrics, such as "saved or created jobs." It's also why he's always pointing the finger of blame on others for his policy failures. Everyone knows by now that Obama's reckless and corrupt stimulus package failed to restrain unemployment as he had promised and that instead of accepting responsibility for it, he blamed Bush.
The End of Books
The robotic voice, recorded on an endless loop, droned on in the C Level cafetorium, explaining the dangers represented by that dangerous artifact of an earlier civilization, the book. The bored work crews filed in and out of the bare hall for their prefabricated rations, pausing now and then to use their OCDs, or Online Communications Devices. Each of the small accessories, just the right size to fit into a pocket of their government-issue coveralls, was licensed, limited, and certified to have no more links than necessary to barracks, work station, National Public Agitprop, and the current Top Ten beatmusiks.
Can Islam Be Reformed?
Can Islam be reformed? The question is in no way meant to be provocative, let alone insulting. But the world, including vast numbers of Muslims, needs this question answered. After having studied Arabic at college and lectured on comparative religion for decades, and having devoted years to writing my upcoming book comparing American values with leftist and Islamist values, I have become convinced of two things regarding Islam: It must be reformed, and it can be reformed.
House Raises the Ceiling
White House spokesman Jay Carney called the debt ceiling deal "a victory for the American people." There are days when I feel sorry for Carney. At Monday's press briefing, CBS reporter Norah O'Donnell challenged Carney's happy-face view of the deal when she observed that President Barack Obama had failed to push Republicans to accept a deal with $1 in tax increases for every $3 in spending cuts. O'Donnell continued, "You have Democrats saying, 'You gave them everything they wanted, and we got nothing.'"
Monday, August 1, 2011
Republicans Win When the Fight Is Over Cuts Not More Taxes
Everyone seems pretty cross at this juncture in the fight over raising the debt limit. As this is written, the House has just passed the bill that Speaker John Boehner yanked from the floor Thursday night and then revised with a balanced-budget amendment on Friday. The Senate has yet to pass Majority Leader Harry Reid's measure that in many but not all respects is not that much different. It looks like the Senate will approve Reid's measure and that the two bills, framed in a way that makes compromise relatively easy, will be melded into one version that could be passed by bipartisan majorities of both houses in time to meet the supposedly hard deadline of Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Avoiding the Danger of a 'Clean' BBA
Liberals are trying to kill the prospect of a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) in the ongoing battle over the debt ceiling. Some on the Right respond that they might settle for a "clean" BBA. But there are two types of a clean BBA, one of which would be even worse than the terrible mess we have today. Some advocate that the BBA should require only that federal outlays cannot exceed federal tax revenues. They see it as two numbers, where the former must be less than the latter.
Slaughtering the Left's Sacred Cows
One of the great mysteries of our age is how it is that those on the Left, who aren't even on speaking terms with logic and rationality, continue to regard themselves as the intellectual elite. But, then, how is it that America's youth, who can barely read, write or add 5 and 6 without removing their shoes and socks, lead the world when it comes to self-esteem? I assume that whatever the answer is, it also explains why liberals continue to feel tingles running up their legs whenever they hear Obama's voice, even when he's lying about his mother's illness or his grandfather's military service.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Declaration of Independents'
WASHINGTON -- August is upon us, beaches beckon, and Michele Bachmann has set the self-improvement bar high. She recently told The Wall Street Journal, "When I go on vacation and I lay on the beach, I bring von Mises." The congresswoman may be the first person ever to dribble sun lotion on the section of Ludwig von Mises' "Human Action" wherein the Austrian economist (1881-1973) discussed "the formal and aprioristic character of praxeology." Autodidacts less exacting than Bachmann should spill sand on the pages of "The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America" by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch. These incurably upbeat journalists with Reason magazine believe that not even government, try as it will, can prevent onrushing social improvement.
In This Brave New World, 160 Million Girls Are 'Missing'
The world is becoming unbalanced. In pockets across the globe, women are giving birth to too many boys. In China, the sex ratio is 121 boys to 100 girls. In India, it's 112-to-100. Sex selection also is a force in the Balkans, Armenia and Georgia. In her eye-opening book, "Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men," journalist Mara Hvistendahl estimates that ultrasound and abortion have "claimed over 160 million potential women and girls -- in Asia alone." That's more than the entire female population of the United States. If you think that scarcity makes women more valuable, you are right -- but that does not mean females benefit. As "surplus men" have trouble finding mates, young girls are forced into prostitution. Others are forced into arranged marriages. On Taiwan's eBay, Hvistendahl finds three Vietnamese women for sale for $5,400.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Heretical Thought: The System Is Working
Walking by the bank of television sets out in the old-fashioned, wide-open, sunlit newsroom here in Little Rock, I just had to stop for a minute to see what the panel of distinguished commentators were saying about the latest capital-C Crisis. That's how it is in Teeveeland. No broadcast out of Washington or anywhere else is complete without a Crisis of the day, maybe hour. The talking heads were wearing expressions even more solemn than usual. When I turned up the sound, it took only a ponderous phrase or two to realize they weren't being authoritative in the old Walter Cronkite, Brinkley-Huntley style at all. They were in their Sincerely Mystified mode.