Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Honoring All Our WWI Heroes
President Obama and Vice President Biden this week paid an unannounced visit to Arlington National Cemetery. They went there to offer the thanks of a grateful nation for the service of Frank Buckles, the last known survivor of the American "Doughboys" of World War I. Buckles was barely 16 when he fibbed about his age to get into uniform. It is altogether fitting and proper that they should do this. That Great War was America's baptism by fire on the world scene. Although France and Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand had already been fighting in Flanders field and Northeast France for three long, bloody years when the U.S. came into the war against Germany, the Americans were welcomed most heartily, especially by the exhausted French.
From The Comedy Store
Japan's earthquake was upgraded to nine points on the Richter Scale by Cal Tech seismologists Thursday. It moved the whole country eight feet to the west. Now Republicans can never refute Obama if he claims that Japan and China came closer together during his administration.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Blue Over Green Energy Promises
The promises of pie-in-the-sky liberal environmentalists that we can convert to "clean" energy sources and stimulate our economy are based on dubious environmental and economic assumptions, fantastic notions about alternative energy, and a disturbing acceptance of the tyrannies inherent in command-control economies. It would be bad enough if President Obama and his Democratic allies were pushing budget-busting green energy solutions during an economic boom and times of a manageable national debt. But it's inconceivable that they would do so under the current dire fiscal circumstances.
President Takes a Bogey in a Time of Crisis
I've figured out Obama. He's not a Muslim, he's a golfer! That's a reference to Russell Kirk's semi-famous retort to the conspiratorial nuts who insisted that Dwight Eisenhower was a secret Commie. The revered conservative intellectual responded disdainfully, "Ike's not a Communist, he's a golfer." For the record, while I think the media's special standard for Democratic presidents' recreation is outrageous, I really don't care that Obama plays a lot of golf.
The Media are the Messages
Conservatives love to hate Frank Rich, the New York Times columnist who wrote his last political column on Sunday. But they owe him an accolade or two for recognizing what the relentless production of opinion was doing to his writing. (Other pundits, please copy.) "That routine can push you to have stronger opinions than you actually have, or contrived opinions about subjects you may not care deeply about, or to run roughshod over nuance to reach an unambitious conclusion," he wrote in his farewell to rage and all that. He's moving to fresh adventures at New York magazine, where he hopes to rediscover nuance, which he displayed in thoughtful abundance in "Ghost Light," his memoir about growing up in Washington, D.C.
Leadership From Gov. Kasich
Once in a blue moon, you find a politician willing to do the right thing even if it means his popularity will plummet. Recently elected Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, has announced a new budget for his cash-strapped state, and voters are none too happy. Polls show his approval rating at 40 percent, less than three months after he assumed office. Ohio's budget is more than $8 billion in the red, thanks to a poor economy, overspending by Kasich's predecessor, and an unfriendly business environment that has pushed jobs out of state. Ohio has lost 400,000 jobs in the last four years alone. And, like other states that received money from the 2009 federal stimulus, that money saved mostly public-sector jobs -- and on a temporary basis only. Now, school districts and other state and local agencies propped up by federal dollars will have to make do on their own.
Japan: Just Not Funny
Watching video clips of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the aftermath are, well, shocking, even to a media-overstimulated world. It almost needs a disclaimer. "These are not disaster-movie special effects. This is real." For everyone in public life, the reaction should be one of horror and sorrow. But in recent years, the definition of "public life" has expanded dramatically with the rise of social and electronic media. It now includes a class of people that has no class.
Obama's Selective Anger
President Obama is known for his cool. He's been called "No drama Obama" by some of his associates. And certainly in the realm of foreign policy, his response to events has been phlegmatic. The Iranian government sent its thugs into the streets to beat and murder democracy demonstrators, and Obama stayed aloof. The Iranians arrested three American hikers, held them for months in prison, and now accuse two of spying -- and Obama remained calm. A Muslim American opened fire on U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood, and the president initially warned the nation not to jump to conclusions. But there was one outrage that provoked the president's ire -- when Israel announced a permit for the construction of 1,600 new apartments on Jewish-owned land in a Jerusalem neighborhood. Though Prime Minister Netanyahu immediately apologized to the visiting Vice President Biden about the timing of the announcement (by which Netanyahu was apparently blindsided), the reportedly "livid" Obama was unsatisfied.
It's Still an Empty Lockbox
WASHINGTON -- Last week, President Obama's budget chief, Jack Lew, took to his White House blog to repeat his claim that the Social Security trust fund is solvent through 2037. And to chide me for suggesting otherwise. I had argued in my last column that the trust fund is empty, indeed fictional. If Lew's claim were just wrong, that would be one thing. But it provides the intellectual justification for precisely the kind of debt denial and entitlement complacency that his boss is now engaged in. Therefore, once more unto the breach.
Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey: Capitol Hill's Lindsay Lohan
A grown woman in public office who acts like Lindsay Lohan has no business comparing one of America's finest generals to Charlie Sheen. But anti-war Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey has never shown any restraint when it comes to trashing America's military leaders before the world. That's because being a Code Pink liberal -- like being a Hollywood brat -- means never having to apologize for your reckless words and deeds. Woolsey took to the House floor on Wednesday to report on her "Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Task Force" hearing with critics of the Afghanistan war. She parroted Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings (he'd be labeled an "activist," of course, if he supported the surge), who said: "Gen. Petraeus is giving us the Charlie Sheen counter-insurgency strategy, which is to give exclusive interviews to every major network, and to keep saying 'we're winning' and hope the public actually agrees with you."
POTUS' Attention-Deficit Disorder
WASHINGTON -- Try this for a timeline of recent events that affect Americans, and see whether you can determine whether the leader of the Free World suffers from presidential attention-deficit disorder: Wednesday, March 9: The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune, N.C., is alerted to deploy with all possible haste for the Mediterranean Sea and be prepared for military and humanitarian contingency operations off the coast of Libya. That night, President Barack Obama hosted a "TV party" at the White House to watch a basketball game: the Chicago Bulls vs. the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bulls won.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Obama: On the Wrong Side of History?
"I don't think anybody disputes that Gaddafi has more firepower than the opposition," President Obama said at a recent White House news conference. "I believe that Gaddafi is on the wrong side of history [emphasis added]. I believe that the Libyan people are anxious for freedom and the removal of somebody who has suppressed them for decades now. We are going to be in contact with the opposition, as well as in consultation with the international community, to try to achieve the goal of Mr Gaddafi being removed from power," the president offered in response to journalists' questions.
Barbour Out on the Hustings
WASHINGTON -- There are finally some rustlings on the hustings; you will pardon my attempt at poetry. Republican presidential hopefuls are moving about in Iowa and New Hampshire; does that clarify my admittedly amateur attempt at rhyme? I simply could not resist. It was rather quiet out on the hustings a few weeks ago, and frankly, for me, it was a little gloomy. I have been saying for months that President Barack Obama is dead in the water. He will lose in 2012. He has no experience as a chief executive, and every day in every way, he is proving it. He is the most left-wing president in our history, and he is sedulously engaged in proving that left-wing politics are ill-suited for America or for any country that wants to prosper. Our president was a perfect inspirational speaker when there was something to be inspired about -- for instance, the prospect of his presidency -- but Americans have experienced it. He will lose in 2012 if the Republicans put up a plausible candidate. But even an implausible candidate has a chance, which, I suppose, is why Newt Gingrich is running.
Japanese Earthquake Looters -- MIA
"Why no video of looters in Japan?" Japan's prime minister calls the 9.0 earthquake and the following tsunami the greatest crisis in Japan since World War II. Ten thousand people are feared dead. Millions are without power, and millions sleep outdoors in cold weather. But we haven't seen looting. So I posted this question on Facebook and Twitter.
The Japan Syndrome
In the 1979 movie "The China Syndrome," reporter Kimberly Wells (played by Jane Fonda) witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant and then uncovers a plot to keep it a secret in order to protect the power company's billion-dollar investment. The film was a gift to the political left, which at the time opposed the pursuit of nuclear energy to reduce our addiction to foreign oil. In some liberal circles, that opposition remains strong. The film, along with real-life accidents such as Three Mile Island (also in 1979), in which no one was killed, and Chernobyl (1986), which, according to the World Nuclear Association, "killed two Chernobyl plant workers on the night of the accident, and a further 28 people within a few weeks, as a result of acute radiation poisoning," account for much of our modern thinking about all things nuclear.
Golf, Cocaine and Budget Talk
Grover Norquist, the affable head of the Washington-based Americans for Tax Reform, doesn't want Republicans to negotiate with Democrats to solve Washington's deficit problems or to cut a deal to solve California's budget shortfall. "I think golf and cocaine would (be) more constructive ways to spend one's free time than negotiating with Democrats on spending restraint," Norquist recently told The Washington Post's Ezra Klein.
A Glowing Report on Radiation
With the terrible earthquake and resulting tsunami that have devastated Japan, the only good news is that anyone exposed to excess radiation from the nuclear power plants is now probably much less likely to get cancer. This only seems counterintuitive because of media hysteria for the past 20 years trying to convince Americans that radiation at any dose is bad. There is, however, burgeoning evidence that excess radiation operates as a sort of cancer vaccine.
A Columnist's Manifesto
One of the many things that confounds me about liberals is how united they are in their opinions and in recognizing the perfection of their various heroes. I find such unity of thought mind-boggling, and more than a little scary. On occasion, even though I'm a proud conservative -- and at times because I am a proud conservative -- I have taken such people as George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Ann Coulter, John McCain, Bill O'Reilly, Newt Gingrich, Dick Morris, Sean Hannity and even my friend Michael Medved, to task for one thing or another. But when have you ever heard the likes of Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Frank Rich, Rachel Maddow, Leslie Marshall, Ellis Henican, Paul Krugman or Maureen Dowd, utter or write a single critical word about the Obamas, the Clintons, John Kerry, Al Gore, Jerry Brown, Harry Reid, Charles Schumer, Maxine Waters, Pat Leahy, Rahm Emanuel, Anthony Weiner or even that easiest and most obvious of targets, the Wicked Witch of the West, herself, Nancy Pelosi?
President Hamlet
More than 400 years ago, William Shakespeare wrote a riveting tragedy about a young, charismatic Danish prince who vowed to do the right thing in avenging his murdered father. That soon proved easier said than done. As a result, Hamlet couldn't quite ever act in time -- given all the ambiguities that such a sensitive prince first had to sort out. In the meantime, a lot of bodies piled up through his indecision and hesitancy. President Obama wanted to give us all universal health care. But then he discovered that the country was broke and that most people did not like his massive federal takeover. So we got both his health care and so far more than 1,000 exemptions from his landmark plan for unions, corporations and entire states.
The Framers Never Imagined a New Hampshire Primary
The weakest part of our political system is the presidential nomination process. And it's not coincidental that it's the part of the federal system that finds least guidance in the Constitution. There is no provision in the Constitution that says that Iowa and New Hampshire vote first. The idea of giving any two states a preferred position in the process of choosing a president would surely have struck the Framers as unfair. But we are stuck with Iowa and New Hampshire voting first because no politician who contemplates ever running for president -- i.e., most politicians -- wants to arouse the ire of the political and journalistic establishments of Des Moines and Manchester.