Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
'Jackals Snarling Over a Dried Well'
In the spirit of the Christmas season, let me highlight from last week's confusing Washington rhetoric a statement by the president that was shrewd -- even wise. On behalf of the spirit of compromise, he pointed out that even though, under the original constitutional compromise, he (implicitly, as a black man) "could not have walked through the front door" -- it was worth it because otherwise we would not have gained a union.
The Great Domestic Battle of Our Time
This week, President Obama and the last-gasp Democratic Congress parlayed on whether to allow Americans to keep their own money (no), considered whether to pay unemployed people with the money of those who have jobs (yes), and proposed a new budget topping $1.1 trillion. Meanwhile, Congress' last major "achievement," the nationalization of health care, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in Virginia on the grounds that it forces Americans to buy a particular product -- and Democrats went ballistic.
I Must Change My Life
Dear Diary-- Went to the second of the season's chamber music concerts the other night at the Clinton Library here in Little Rock. Just to see if it would be any better than the first. It was. I didn't think I could spare the time on a weeknight -- deadlines loomed -- but time was never better spent. For the music met the test of any true work of art, which is that it send out Rilke's imperative: You must change your life.
In Tax Deal, They Reveal Their Envy
Liberals and Democrats have been melting down, blowing up, and freaking out over President Obama’s agreement with Republican leaders to extend Bush-era tax rates for another two years. "An absolute disaster," fumes Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in an interview on MSNBC. "Anger of House Dems boils over," Politico reports. "An Odious Tax Deal," editorializes The New York Times. "Moral corruptness," seethes Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Kevin Cooper Is Guilty of Murder
Federal judge William A. Fletcher recently told the Gonzaga University School of Law that Kevin Cooper, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the brutal 1983 slaying of Chino Hills, Calif., chiropractors Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter Jessica and 11-year-old house guest Christopher Hughes, is "probably" innocent. Cooper, Fletcher added, is "on Death Row because the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department framed him."
Are Democrats Delusional?
By any standard, the fury directed at President Obama by his own party this week has been jaw-dropping. Forget that the object of their rage was "The One" who just two years ago sent thrills down the legs of everyone to the left of Michael Bloomberg. Forget that he was the leader who was going to usher in a new golden age of liberal gigantism. Consider only that Barack Obama is the sitting president and leader of the Democratic Party.
He Called Sarah Palin an 'Idiot'?
On CNN recently, Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin ("The Social Network," "West Wing") called Sarah Palin an "idiot." Let's see to whom that label applies. Last week in the Huffington Post, Sorkin wrote a column attacking the ex-governor of Alaska and her TLC mini-series reality TV show, "Sarah Palin's Alaska."
Hillary's Bad Hair Week
Even the Washington Post's Chris Cilizza noticed. He designated Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as having "the worst week in Washington" a week ago. This is something of a comedown among liberals, who have been fawning over Hillary. Cilizza noted it was an unusual slip. "She has traveled the world, winning kudos everywhere she goes for her grace and, um, diplomacy." He notes the damage done to Hillary's image by the WikiLeaks revelations. Those leaked cables -- those undiplomatic diplomatic documents -- show what he calls "a chatty and at times petty State Department offering strikingly candid assessments of the relative strengths and weaknesses of various world leaders."
The Judge Says 'No'
The new federal health care scheme, conventionally called Obamacare, is premised on the government's right, as the government sees it, to turn the existing health care arrangement inside out and decree a new system -- as Kublai Khan decreed his stately pleasure dome. The goodness or badness of the federal approach is not the issue here -- not in the abstract terms of would-it-work. The issue is, has Congress the constitutional power to do all this? That's to say, without an amendment conferring that power. Judge Hudson says no.
Language and Its Discontents
Dear Foreign Student, It was wholly a pleasure to get your letter asking for the definition of a word that mystified you in one of my columns: bloviation. What the heck does that mean, you asked -- in the politest way, of course, as befits a visitor. Sometimes the manners of foreigners puts ours to shame here in the land of the free, the home of the brazen.
Christmas Books
It is hard to come up with Christmas gifts for people who already seem to have everything. But there are few -- if any -- people who can keep up with the flood of books coming off the presses. Books can be good gifts for such people. Among the books I read this year, the one that made the biggest impact on me was "New Deal or Raw Deal" by Burton Folsom, Jr., a professor at Hillsdale College. It was that rare kind of book, one thoroughly researched by a scholar and yet written in plain language, readily understood by anyone.
Culture Challenge of the Week: Parental Rejection
Tom is a highly successful physician with social connections that are the envy of even the most ambitious politician. He is unflappable in any circumstance and carries himself with certainty. Yet, bring up the subject of his son, and the light in the eyes of this confident man suddenly disappears. He looks beyond you at some ghost from his past and then speaks with a quiet, broken voice, "My son has very little to do with me." After dark silence, fire quickly consumes his gaze and anger contorts his face, "He doesn't appreciate everything -- or anything -- I've done for him!"
Language Problems
Even Rosetta Stone, the language-learning software that promises individuals they'll soon "dream in French," would be hard-pressed to translate the language of Washington. The etymology surrounding the tax debate would stymie someone with a Ph.D. in linguistics. Just following the numbers, not to mention the assertions, is enough to produce blank stares of incomprehension. There is a debate about whether the estate tax should jump from zero to 35 percent, or 55 percent. Some liberal congressional Democrats claim they won't consider voting for the "compromise" unless it is 55 percent. As The Wall Street Journal noted last weekend, the estate tax was 55 percent in 2001, with a $675,000 exemption. In 2009, the top rate was 45 percent with a $3.5 million exemption. This year it has been zero percent with no exemption.
Memo to Conservatives: Quit Apologizing for Capitalism
Everywhere we turn these days, it seems, leftists are undermining and attacking capitalism on moral grounds. Their criticisms are directed not at merely certain corrupt corporations or individuals who abuse the system, but at the system itself. Sadly, few conservatives, even conservative Christians, are willing or prepared to defend capitalism's virtues. Rather than tout it in terms of liberty, they sheepishly apologize for its allegedly inherent greed.
Monday, December 13, 2010
A Lady's Goodbye
It's not an easy thing to do but with grace, goodness and beautiful aplomb, Elizabeth Edwards softly said goodbye last Monday afternoon. Little did she know her words would bring tears to thousands … no, millions … who have watched her triumphantly vanquish each and every demon that has confronted her in an all too-public way.
Obama Riles Dems by Spurning New Deal Complacency
"The single most important jobs program we can put in place is a growing economy." So said Barack Obama at his surly press conference last week defending the tax deal he made with Republicans. "The single most important anti-poverty program we can put in place is making sure folks have jobs and the economy is growing. We can do a whole bunch of other stuff, but if the economy is not growing, if the private sector is not hiring faster than it's currently hiring, then we are going to continue to have problems no matter how many programs we put in place."
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Bush v. Gore, 10 Years On
WASHINGTON -- The passions that swirled around Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court case that ended 10 years ago Sunday, dissipated quickly. And remarkably little damage was done by the institutional collisions that resulted when control of the nation's supreme political office turned on 537 votes out of 5,963,110 cast in Florida.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
It's How You Finish
If ever there was a man who needed a peek at heaven, California's Jim Tracy would fit the bill. For the past five years, he has felt his body slowly and cruelly slip away as Lou Gehrig's disease has strengthened its hold but two weeks ago the good Lord gave him a glimpse of what may await in eternity. Tracy, a tremendously-successful cross country coach at a small private high school in San Francisco, first lost the muscle motion in his thumb and then, three years ago, Jim -- an accomplished runner -- could no longer keep stride with the adoring kids he coaches at University High. He has since been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The 'Islamophobia' Myth
"Is America Islamophobic?" When that provocative question appeared on the cover of Time in August, the accompanying story strained to imply, on the basis of some anecdotal evidence, that the answer might be yes. The FBI's latest compendium of US hate-crimes data suggests far more plausibly that the answer is no.
Our Infantile Society
In the wake of the Ghailani debacle with a civilian jury, we were told that even a military tribunal wouldn't have found him guilty on those 284 other charges because "enhanced interrogation" had been used on the main witness. Frankly, that seemed insane to me. No matter what was done to make the witness come clean, what does that have to do with Ghailani's involvement in blowing up American embassies and murdering hundreds of innocent people? It is at such times that I find myself wondering if Sharia law could be any more ludicrous than the legal system we already have.