Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Free Clarence Aaron
"658 days into his administration, President Obama has shown no sign that he is aware that the Constitution gives the president clemency powers," political science professor P.S. Ruckman Jr. wrote on his blog, "Pardon Power," Tuesday. That's a sorry comment to throw at a former constitutional law professor who, in less than two weeks, "will pass Bill Clinton and become the slowest Democratic president in history to exercise the pardon power."
The Politics of Budget-Cutting
The voters just spoke. They think they want no more gargantuan deficits, massive public spending and exponential growth in government -- or the specter of higher taxes to pay for all of it. No wonder: We are on pace to soon owe 100 percent of our annual gross domestic product in national debt, while compiling the largest annual peacetime deficits in our history.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Worry Over Trade Deficits
At the recent Group of 20 (G 20) meeting, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner called upon the largest industrialized economies to get their current account balance -- whether a surplus or a deficit -- below 4 percent of their gross domestic product by 2015. Four countries have current account surpluses exceeding 4 percent: Saudi Arabia (6.7 percent), Germany (6.1 percent), China (4.7 percent) and Russia (4.7 percent.) Countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia that are "structurally large exporters of raw materials" would be exempt from the 4 percent limit, so the pressure of the U.S. proposal falls mainly on China and Germany. Our annual trade deficit of $500 billion is less than 4 percent of our GDP.
2011: More of the Same
Liberal Democrats show no signs of reading their washout at the polls as a reason to shift to the center. President Obama told "60 Minutes" his only mistake was he passed some major legislation, but he didn't focus enough on the messy "how" -- as in "how it's risky to pass an ObamaCare bill that a majority says it doesn't want."
Barack Obama's Secret History
Young Barry Obama spent the ages from 6 to 10 attending school in Indonesia after his mother married Lolo Soetoro. During that time, according to Obama's third-grade teacher, the "fat, curly-haired, curious" Barry studied Quran and went to Islamic classes over the protestations of his mother, Ann. Ann apparently showed up at the school demanding to know why the religious teacher had accepted young Barry into class. "But," said Barry's teacher, "he kept going to the classes because he was interested in Islam. He would also join the other pupils for Muslim prayers."
The 'Gridlock' Bogeyman
Whenever the party that controls the White House does not also control Capitol Hill, political pundits worry that there will be "gridlock" in Washington, so that the government cannot solve the nation's problems. Almost never is that fear based on what actually happens when there is divided government, compared to what happens when one party has a monopoly of both legislative and executive branches.
I'm Politically Incorrect
This week, I held a bake sale -- a racist bake sale. I stood in midtown Manhattan shouting, "Cupcakes for sale." My price list read: Asians -- $1.50 Whites -- $1.00 Blacks/Latinos -- 50 cents People stared. One yelled, "What is funny to you about people who are less privileged?" A black woman said, angrily, "It's very offensive, very demeaning!" One black man accused me of poisoning the cupcakes. I understand why people got angry. What I did was hurtful to some. My bake sale mimicked what some conservative college students did at Bucknell University. The students wanted to satirize their school's affirmative action policy, which makes it easier for blacks and Hispanics to get admitted.
The Bashing of American Exceptionalism
In 2008, when asked if he believed in American exceptionalism, President Obama responded, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." This reminded me of the wonderful scene in Pixar's "The Incredibles" in which the mom says, "Everyone's special," and her son replies, "Which is another way of saying no one is."
No Illegal Alien Pilot Left Behind
Chalk up another Code Red Elmo moment for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. While Islamic terrorists groom suicide bombers starting in kindergarten, the grownups in charge of protecting America can't seem to reach an elementary level of competence.
CIA Predator versus ACLU Subpoena: Warfare and Lawfare in the War on Terror
Last April, President Barack Obama placed al-Qaida terrorist and unabashed American traitor Anwar al-Awlaki on the CIA's "capture or kill" list. Obama's authorization means Awlaki can be killed by U.S. security agencies, with the likely bullet a laser-guided Hellfire missile fired by a CIA Predator as it flies over Awlaki's hideout somewhere in Yemen.
Obama to Visit Mosque Where Crowd Cheered Ahmadinejad
President Barack Obama was scheduled to spend his Wednesday in Indonesia visiting Jakarta's massive Istiqlal Mosque and then giving a speech on the "pluralism and tolerance" of his host country at the University of Indonesia. It is both ironic and instructive that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not only made the same stops on a trip to Indonesia four years ago, but was greeted, according to press reports, as a "rock star."
Can't Buy You Love: The Essential Yet Limited Role of Money in Politics
Two months ago, The New York Times reported that "Democratic officials" believed "corporate interests, newly emboldened by regulatory changes," were trying to "buy the election." But it turned out the election was not for sale -- at least, not to the highest bidder.
From Hawks and Doves to Owls and Vultures in Foreign Policy
Last weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tried his hand at dissecting GOP foreign policy attitudes. I commend the senator for trying to come to grips with this vital question that is getting so little, if any, national discussion. As foreign events grow ever more threatening, the view of the now both culturally and congressionally dominant party -- the GOP -- becomes central to the range of political options that President Obama has, as a practical matter.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Arkansas Makeover
What a difference a day makes. You go to sleep in a blue state and, next morning, wake up in a red one, or at least one that looks decidedly purplish by dawn's early light. It didn't happen just in Arkansas -- as the midterm election returns poured in, the whole United States map looked like a sea of red between the coasts. But the change was particularly dramatic here in this last Democratic bastion south of the Mason-Dixon. Till now, Arkansas had stuck out of Dixie like a sore thumb, but by Wednesday morning, its political complexion had changed. Markedly.
How Do California and the Titanic Differ?
OK, riddle fans, here's a toughie: What's the difference between California voters and the passengers on the Titanic? The passengers on the Titanic didn't vote to hit the iceberg. Most Americans understand that California is sinking. What is almost incredible is that it has voted to sink.
Pelosi's House With No Center
Imagine if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were a Republican. Imagine that the Republicans, including many moderates, just lost more than 60 House seats in the worst rout a party has experienced since 1938. Yet the hard-core conservative speaker -- of whom, polls show, a majority of voters have a decidedly unfavorable opinion -- decides to run for the step-down position of minority leader.
Is Obama Trapped?
It's almost enough to evoke sympathy: the entire journalistic world poring over President Obama's post-election comments and applying a humility meter to his words, his facial expressions, and his mood. Does he get it? Is he sufficiently abashed by the voters' rebuke?
Bush Bounces Back
"Miss me yet?" ask the ubiquitous billboards and T-shirts featuring George W. Bush's cheerful countenance. It seems maybe the answer is yes. The World Series crowd cheered as the retired but reinvigorated Bush threw the first pitch of the fourth game. This week come the tour and the TV appearances connected with Bush's newly published account of his big decisions in life, from giving up booze to invading Iraq. Next week at Southern Methodist University, it's ground breaking time for the Bush Center. Not a bad comeback for a president whom his successor keeps deriding as the source of America's present problems.
Political Judges
Results of the recent elections showed that growing numbers of Americans are fed up with "public servants" who act as if they are public masters. This went beyond the usual objections to particular policies. It was the fact that policies were crammed down our throats, whether we liked them or not. In fact, laws were passed so fast that nobody had time to read them.
A Freshman, Not a Rookie
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Rep.-elect Bill Huizenga, is a freshman Republican congressman who will assume the seat held for 18 years by Rep. Peter Hoekstra. Their Western Michigan district is mostly Republican, white, and Protestant. In an interview, I asked Huizenga what he thinks of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's intention to run for minority leader. "I guess we can only hope she wins, because it's going to cement our majority," he says with some delight.