Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Airport 'Security'?
No country has better airport security than Israel-- and no country needs it more, since Israel is the most hated target of Islamic extremist terrorists. Yet, somehow, Israeli airport security people don't have to strip passengers naked electronically or have strangers feeling their private parts.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Our FDA Turns Repulsive
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a government entity presumably that works for the betterment of all of us, has now stooped to the very slime and filth it is charged with protecting us against. Earlier last week it was announced the government -- our government -- would soon require pictures of corpses, cancer patients, and diseased teeth be placed on cigarette packages and cigarette advertising.
A Certain Slant of Light
In the middle of the car wreck or the plunge down the mountainside, or in the mind of the drowning, time slows, then stops -- the way it does for some Americans every year when the page of the calendar is torn away and today's date revealed: November 22.
Lamentations From La-La Land
I continue to receive condolences from friends around the country. They're worried about how I'm holding up after the mid-term elections in my home state. While they've been celebrating the results in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida and so many other places, they realize that what took place in California has to depress any true conservative.
Ways to Come to Grips With American's Fiscal Mess
Is there any chance we can come to grips with our short-term and long-term fiscal problems -- the huge current federal budget deficit and the huge looming increases in entitlement spending? Maybe so. Or at least the chances seem a little better after the release of two sets of proposals in the weeks after the election.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Life in the T.S. of A.
WASHINGTON -- Fifty years ago William F. Buckley wrote a memorable complaint about the fact that Americans do not complain enough. His point, like most of the points he made during his well-lived life, is, unfortunately, more pertinent than ever. Were he still with us he would favor awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he received in 1991, to John Tyner, who, when attempting to board a plane in San Diego, was provoked by some Transportation Security Administration personnel.
Those Coppola Boys
I want to tell you about three Cappola boys. They are brothers, triplets actually, who love to play football. Two weeks ago, one of them, Tyler, ran for a school record 346 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-35 victory. His team, St. John's Prep, was actually behind, 21-0, at the half but Tyler's five colossal TDs triggered the huge comeback. He also added another 135 yards in receiving and kick returns to finish with 486 yards of total offense in the come-from-behind giant-slaying.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
A Once Golden, Now Tarnished, California
My more compassionate readers often write to me, wondering how I can stand to live in California. Believe me, I feel very shallow when I start describing the weather, but 320 really pleasant days a year mean a lot at my age. It means I can expect to play tennis just about any day I feel like it. It means I don't have to worry about putting up and taking down storm windows, driving on icy roads, concern myself with cyclones and tornadoes or deal with humidity or condor-sized mosquitoes.
From The Comedy Store
President Obama refused to reduce Health Care Reform benefits. The U.S. government is giving out free mammograms, free testicular and cervical screenings and free prostate exams. All you have to do is walk through the airport like you're going somewhere.
We've Now Gone Too Far
Having just traveled to Washington and back, I'll be the first to say the officers who were at work with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the airports were polite, business-like, and unobtrusive. I also believe, very strongly, that America has grossly over-reacted to the threat of air-travel safety since 9/11 and that nobody needs to "touch your junk" in order for you to fly on a passenger airplane.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Why Sarah Palin Shouldn't Run
By telling Barbara Walters that she thinks she can defeat President Obama, Sarah Palin has dimmed hopes cherished by sensible Republicans that she might decide against a run for the White House in 2012. Here are just some of the reasons she should not run. The Republican nominee should be someone with vast and impressive experience in government and the private sector -- and a proven record. Voters chose a novice with plenty of star power in 2008 and will be inclined to swing strongly in the other direction in 2012. Americans will be looking for sober competence, managerial skill, and maturity, not sizzle and flash.
Ray LaHood: Obama's Power-Mad Cell Phone Czar
America is in debt past its eyeballs. Unemployment remains stuck near double digits. Small and large businesses, unions and insurers are clamoring for Obamacare waivers in droves. Jihadists are making a mockery of homeland security. And border chaos reigns. So, what's one of the Obama administration's top domestic policy agenda items this month? Combating distracted drivers.
Just Say No to START
While we focus our scrutiny on President Obama's domestic agenda nightmare, we'd best not take our eyes off another big ball: Obama's frantic effort to get the New START ratified during the Senate's lame-duck session. As usual, Obama is engaged in a full-court press, pretending that there is some urgency to formalizing this ill-conceived nuclear arms treaty with Russia, when the sole urgency is the upcoming change in the Senate's partisan composition.
The Only Sure Cure for 'Obamacare'
Ask any 10 voters what motivated them to go to the polls, and you'll probably get 10 different answers. Taxes, unemployment, government spending -- Americans had a lot on their minds as they approached the ballot box. But one issue continues to surface, the more voters you talk to: health care. More than perhaps any other single issue, the law Congress passed last spring transferring vast new powers to Washington bureaucrats -- and out of the hands of patients and families -- galvanized many concerned Americans.
Don't Touch My Junk
WASHINGTON -- Ah, the airport, where modern folk heroes are made. The airport, where that inspired flight attendant did what everyone who's ever been in the spam-in-a-can crush of a flying aluminum tube -- where we collectively pretend that a clutch of peanuts is a meal and a seat cushion is a "flotation device" -- has always dreamed of doing: pull the lever, blow the door, explode the chute, grab a beer, slide to the tarmac and walk through the gates to the sanity that lies beyond. Not since Rick and Louis disappeared into the Casablanca fog headed for the Free French garrison in Brazzaville has a stroll on the tarmac thrilled so many.
No Dancing, Please
Radical feminists are fussy, as usual, and now they're fidgety, too. They don't know how to enjoy success. They're restless, like combat veterans who, having returned home to peace, keep fighting old battles.
New Gadgets, New Worries
Mike Elgan of PC World magazine is predicting that the Christmas season will prove his contention that Apple's iPad is the "Children's Toy of the Year." "Have you ever seen a 4-year-old play with an iPhone? It's actually kind of shocking," he reported. "Kids take to the iPhone's multitouch user interface like they do trucks or dolls. They instinctively know that the iPhone is a toy, and they nag, cajole and harass their parents into letting them play with it."
What Are They Thinking?
MIDLAND, Texas -- A decade ago, I was hunting not far from here with my now-departed friend Joe Foss, the World War II Marine fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient. I made an impatient long-range shot at a fast-moving deer -- and missed the target. Joe shook his head, looked at me and said, "What were you thinking?"
The Fed's Dual Mandate Trap
WASHINGTON -- This lame-duck Congress -- its mandate exhausted, many of its members repudiated -- should merely fund the government for a few months at current spending levels with a "continuing resolution," then apologize for almost everything else it has done, and depart. If, however, the 111th Congress wants to make amends, it should repeal something the 95th did. The Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act of 1978 gave the Federal Reserve a "dual mandate." Although the central bank is a creature of Congress, it is, in trying to fulfill this mandate, becoming a fourth branch of government.
The George W. Bush Fixation
Barack Obama remains fixated by George W. Bush. For nearly two years, President Obama and his team have prefaced their explanations for the tough economy, tough finances and tough situation abroad with a "Bush did it" chorus. Apparently, they believed that most of our problems, here and abroad, either started with George W. Bush, or at least would not transcend him.