Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Office
The office is a kind of second family for those of us who work in one, with just as wide a range of characters.
Ad Rage: Democrats Blame the First Amendment for Their Impending Losses
As Democrats head for what promises to be a midterm election fiasco of historic proportions, a pre-emptive excuse has begun to circulate: It's all because of Citizens United. Team Donkey fans claim the Jan. 21 decision, in which the Supreme Court overturned restrictions on the political speech of corporations, triggered a flood of negative advertising by what President Obama calls "shadowy groups with harmless-sounding names."
Still More Carter-Coddling
Jimmy Carter is out with his 26th book, so that means he is on his 26th round of slavish liberal-media interviews hailing him as a genius and a peacemaker. No wonder we're so tired of him.
The Five Most Annoying Republicans in the World
In writing my weekly column, I often get a lot of flack for being so pro-Republican. "BEN," writes one reader this week, using liberals' favorite key, the CAPS LOCK, "YOU ARE A SCHILL [sic] FOR THE REPUBLICANS!! I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL!!" Another reader, upset that I dared to castigate esteemed intellect Michael Moore in last week's column, wrote, "I dont [sic] know how you went to Harvard, but your [sic] a dumbass."
GOP Civil War? Think Again
Civil war! That was the talk on the Sunday shows and blogosphere last week. The conservative "establishment" had backed Mike Castle in the Delaware primary over the "tea party" favorite, Christine O'Donnell. O'Donnell won, but only after being wounded by the likes of Karl Rove, Charles Krauthammer and the folks at the Weekly Standard and my own stomping ground, National Review.
Penny-Wise on Crime
For more than 200 years, the political left has been coming up with reasons why criminals should not be punished as much, or at all. The latest gambit in Missouri is providing judges with the costs of incarcerating the criminals they sentence.
Defeating Militant Islamist Ideology
Al-Qaida has always been a propaganda power. Its dark genius has been to connect the Muslim world's angry, humiliated and isolated young men with a utopian fantasy preaching the virtue of violence. That utopian fantasy seeks to explain and then redress roughly 800 years of Muslim decline.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Get Excited About Recycling? Not Me
"Get excited about Single Stream!" trills the flyer that comes from Brookline Town Hall. A letter from the commissioner of public works hails the "exciting change" beginning next month, when town residents will no longer be required to sort their recyclable trash into separate blue bins — one for paper, the other for cans, bottles, and plastic containers. Instead recyclables will all go into 64-gallon "toters," which will be emptied at curbside on trash day.
Will Colin Powell Give Obama a General Discharge?
"If I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost Middle America," said President Lyndon B. Johnson at the time of the Communist Tet Offensive in Vietnam in 1968. Walter Cronkite was then the CBS News anchor man, often described as 'the most trusted man in America.' Just a few weeks after he said that, LBJ withdrew from his party's nomination contest.
The Politics of Resentment
Few things have captured in microcosm what has gone so painfully wrong, where racial issues are concerned, like the recent election for mayor of Washington, D.C.
Atheism: What a Joke
Assuming, no doubt, our anxious world could use a good laugh, Stephen Hawking undertakes to provide one. He says the universe created itself.
Paradigm Shift in Politics Lost on Establishment
My immediate response to liberals who emerge from their Ouija boards to denounce Christine O'Donnell as a one-time dabbler in witchcraft is: At this point in our history, I'd vote for Elmira Gulch before I'd vote for another statist masquerading as a Republican.
And Now Government Press
It had to happen. At a time when we've seen the birth of Government Motors and even Government Hedge Fund, aka AIG, it was only a matter of time before it was seriously proposed that we have a Government Press, too. This time the idea came from the distinguished president of an Ivy League university, another well-cushioned part of the American establishment.
What I Would Do If I Were Governor
I agreed to be on a panel at UC Berkeley's Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service Monday night, where we addressed the question "California's Next Governor: What Should the Agenda Be?" Here's my agenda for her or him.
Spiritual Indifference and the Importance of Worshipping Together
"I don't take my children to church," the young woman said. "I'll let them choose for themselves what to believe in, when they're older." Her casual approach to her children's religious involvement will surely affect her children's lives. Even more so, decisions like hers have unintended consequences for our moral culture and political future.
Democrats Chose Wrong Moment for Big Government
As a social conservative who has written extensively about abortion, stem cell research, family structure, failing schools, the degradation of popular culture, and abstinence education, I submit, without fear of misinterpretation, that the next two elections are not going to be about those issues.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Musings About Israel and Obama
I believe that eventually there will be peace in the Middle East. It will probably only take a few more of these "peace process" sessions before Israel cedes so much land to its enemies that it will simply disappear from the face of the earth.
Dems at War: Public Unions vs. Gentry Liberals
My subject today is the civil war raging in one of our great political parties, as highlighted in recent primary elections. No, I'm not talking about the split between the tea partiers and the Republican establishment (is there a Republican establishment anymore?). I'm talking about the split between two of the core groups of the Democratic Party, as witnessed in the Sept. 14 primaries in heavily Democratic New York (63 percent for Barack Obama in 2008), Maryland (62 percent Obama) and the District of Columbia (92 percent Obama).
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Castro's Reality Check
WASHINGTON -- Fidel Castro, 84, may have failing eyesight but he has noticed something: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore." So, the secret is out. And there is no joy among the alumni, if any still live, of the golden days of Les Deux Magots.
A Lesson in Sales
At one time I sold houses for a living and, believe this, that has developed into a tough profession in this economy. The market is flat and not many people are buying and a lot of my buddies are having to scramble.