Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The Republican Philosophy
All public policy is founded on an underlying philosophy about humanity and the world. Some call it a "worldview," but whatever it is called, everything government does (or does not do) derives from a philosophical foundation on which it is constructed.
If You Are Not a Leftist, Why Are You Voting Democrat?
All Americans, including conservatives, understand why any leftist would vote Democrat this year. The Democratic Party is now America's version of a European Social Democratic or even Green Party. In domestic policy, there is no significant difference between the American and European parties.
Monday, September 27, 2010
The Fifth Season
We are all aware of the four seasons, but every election year provides us with a fifth. Thanks to politicians and those who rely on politicians for their daily bread, we find ourselves in the silly season. It seems that you can't turn around without finding yourself bombarded with so many political platitudes and inanities that, were they only bricks, you could use them to build a 30-foot wall at our southern border.
Justice Delayed -- Again
Once again the kind of fearful politicians who try to keep both ears to the ground, lest they miss the slightest tremor in ever-fickle public opinion, have shied away from doing the right thing. In favor of, well, not doing much of anything about a continuing source of confusion and contention.
GOP Battle Cry: Repeal Obamacare, Cut Spending
On Sept. 27, 1994, 367 Republican House members and candidates stood on the steps of the Capitol and endorsed what they called the Contract With America. On Sept. 23 last week, 12 Republican House members stood in a hardware store in Sterling, Va., and issued a Pledge to America.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Are Men the Weaker Sex?
I'm not one of those guys who took umbrage at the Women's Movement. If the ladies wanted to have careers, it was okay with me. If they wanted to be paid the same as men for doing the same job, that seemed fair to me. I admit I did get my back up when they started talking about comparable jobs, as if being a waitress were the same as, say, being a fireman. Jobs are not comparable. They are either the same or they're different. But that's a minor matter.
'Welcome To Holland'
I am blessed with a wonderful friend who lives in Texas named Sandy Pofahl. He and I adore great stories and, as he does with many people around the country, he shares his warmth with a weekly mailing called "52Best." I'm lucky enough to be on his list.
Fixing the Primary Elections
WASHINGTON -- Although a Niagara of vitriol is drenching politics, the two parties are acting sensibly and in tandem about something once considered a matter of constitutional significance -- the process by which presidential nominations are won.
Race Pits Dream Prosecutor Against S.F.'s Nightmare DA
I don't understand why San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris wants to be California's next attorney general. Then again, it's hard to understand why she even ran for DA -- other than because she has a yen for elective office.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
From The Comedy Store
The L.A. Controller's office issued a report on how the city spent its federal stimulus money. Los Angeles spent seventy million dollars and created seven jobs. No one knows where the money went, but Arnold Schwarzenegger has financing for his next seven pictures and shooting begins in December.
A Contrarian Comes Clean
By this time, I don't think it will shock anyone if I come right out and admit that I'm not a bleeding heart. When I read about a lava flow or an earthquake taking 500 theoretically innocent lives on the other side of the world, my first reaction is to ask myself if I knew anyone who might be visiting Sumatra or Mongolia. If the answer is no, my second reaction is to get on with my life.
So Long, Coach Skinner
To any hot-blooded man who has ever nestled in the bucket seat of a flying "rag top" Corvette or upped the throttle to full on a pan-head Harley-Davidson, the song "Free Bird" is the anthem of the open road. Back in the '70s, when singer Ronnie Van Zant would scream at the end of some raucous concert, "What song you wanna' hear?" that really meant, "Grab two more two long-necks because we're fixing to play Free Bird long and hot!"
Friday, September 24, 2010
Reading the Tea Leaves
What do women want? That was Sigmund Freud's endearing, if naive, question, asked when "Freudian" still meant a deep look into the unconscious. But the good Viennese doctor, as we've learned since, had not a clue to what he was talking about. He posed various notions, like envy of you-know-what, that anatomy is destiny. Some were cute, but no cigar.
GOP Pledge Is a Step in the Right Direction
The Republicans' "Pledge to America" is an encouraging step on the road back to recapturing America. It's not enough for Republicans merely to stop Obama's disastrously destructive agenda in its tracks. This pledge is their acknowledgment that they have heard the grass roots, too -- that they are not exempt from scrutiny or accountability merely because they are the anti-Obamas.
A Failure to Communicate
Dear Movie Fan, Thank you so much for your e-mail "pointing out" that the oft-cited quote I attributed to Cool Hand Luke in the movie by that name ("What we've got here is a failure to communicate") is actually spoken by the camp captain played by Strother Martin.
How Privileged Democrats Pay for Their Houses
Like millions of Americans, Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell has had trouble covering her mortgage and other bills over the years. Her opponents consider this a scandal of disqualifying proportions. But there's a bigger disgrace: It's all the sanctimonious Democrats who have exploited their entrenched political incumbency to pay for multiple manses and vacation homes -- while posing as vox populi.
And Now for the News
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Last week, our "War Stories" team was on the U.S.-Mexico border documenting the tidal wave of violence and illegal activity on America's "southern front." This week, we're back in Afghanistan to detail what's happening in the shadows of the Hindu Kush. The outcomes of both these fights are of vital importance to the American people. But it's hard to get the facts on the fights from the way these stories are being covered by the so-called mainstream media.
Vietnam Sneaks Up on Obama
At the CNBC town hall meeting, President Obama responded appropriately to a supporter who mentioned, in passing, that his son had just been commissioned as a U.S. army officer. Before turning to the questioner's principal query, the president made it a point to thank the man's son for "his service to our country."
Polymorphous Propaganda
The sexual revolution always seems to have another frontier. Indeed, the very idea of a "revolution" would be negated were there no frontiers to conquer. So deeper, ever deeper, we plumb the depths. Look at television: Every new frontier is just another titillating, initially shocking plot for a fictional or "reality" show, until there's a "new normal" and the novelty and naughtiness wears off.
Visigoths at the Gate?
WASHINGTON -- When facing a tsunami, what do you do? Pray, and tell yourself stories. I am not privy to the Democrats' private prayers, but I do hear the stories they're telling themselves. The new meme is that there's a civil war raging in the Republican Party. The tea party will wreck it from within and prove to be the Democrats' salvation.