Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Congress Goes for Rationing
“Democrats choose Death Panels…” announces the Comedy Channel’s Jon Stewart with mock horror, “…for themselves!” It’s a very funny bit. The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty plays it straight as she reports: “Ultimately, some candidates, including incumbents, will have to be left for dead so that the parties can spend where it might still make a difference.”
Sinking With Obama, Democrats Plan Political Triage
When you spot the word "triage" in a political news story, you know someone is in trouble. Triage is the procedure by which medical personnel screening people injured in combat or disasters separate those who can be saved from those who can't. The first group is given immediate surgery in hopes of recovery. The second is given painkillers to make the end bearable.
Got a Problem? Just Spend More Money You Don't Have
Having plunged the nation into a deep financial crisis with his wild and unrestrained spending of money we do not have -- on things the nation does not need -- President Obama is now proposing to spend even more, claiming that this time it will work.
The Man Out to Topple Barney Frank
"When I was young, I was a Democrat because I wanted to help people," says Sean Bielat, who is running to replace Barney Frank in the US House of Representatives. "Now I’m a conservative because I want to help people."
I Like Tony Blair
WASHINGTON -- I like Tony Blair. The left always is lecturing us conservatives on moderation. It would do us good, the left says. If only we were moderate, we might win the fall elections. Yet we are likely to go for people like Joe Miller in Alaska and the dreaded Sharron Angle in Nevada, and we are going to get clobbered -- or at least not win as thumpingly as expected. For some reason, this troubles sages E.J. Dionne and Sam Tanenhaus. I sense they cry crocodile tears, but maybe I have misperceived them. Maybe they really wish us the best. Is it another manifestation of the Liberal Death Wish? As the liberals approach the Islamofascists, they clearly have it, and as they approach the economy, a death wish is all I see. Maybe they have it with conservatism, too.
South Carolina Go-Getters
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. -- The libretto of this operatic election season, understandably promoted by Democrats and unsurprisingly sung by many in the media, is that Republicans have sown the seeds of November disappointments by nominating candidates other than those the party's supposedly wiser establishment prefers. This theory is inconvenienced by two facts: South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Tim Scott.
Spare the Quran and Save the Woman
A Florida pastor's plan to burn the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11 is a breathtakingly dumb idea. It's bad for the country. As Gen. David Petraeus warned, this illiterate's stunt could incite violence against U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
October Surprises
The Democrats will probably suffer historic losses in both the House and Senate in less than 60 days. The 11th-hour campaigning of the now-unpopular Barack Obama on behalf of endangered congressional candidates will not change much. In fact, most embattled Democratic candidates don't want the president to even set foot in their districts.
Time Magazine: Listen Up, Dummies! Obama's Stimulus 'Clearly Helped'
Americans, says Time magazine, are too dumb to appreciate the wonders of President Barack Obama's $787 billion "stimulus" package. Gobsmacked by polls that show Americans don't believe government is smart enough to take money from taxpayers and give it to those it considers deserving, Time says: Voters tell "pollsters that even programs that have clearly helped (emphasis added) the economy, like the $787 billion stimulus, did no such thing."
Send in the Clowns
When conservatives hold to their convictions about, say, sound economic policy, liberals in the media and in Congress label them "ideologues." Should they refuse to compromise their position when offered the chance to do so by liberal Democrats, they are then referred to as "fanatics" or in today's preferred pejorative word, "tea baggers."
Here We Go Again
We've been here before. Again and again. Mideast peace negotiations are opened with pomp and ceremony. Diplomats talk. And talk. The leaders of Israel and of one Palestinian faction or another are wheeled out to speak of peace. Deadlines are announced for the successful conclusion of the talks. Hands are shaken, sometimes even on the White House lawn. The fabled peace process labors mightily -- till it brings forth another war. And then the whole charade begins again.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
'Dissension in the Ranks?'
With the end of combat in Operation Enduring Freedom presidentially certified, all eyes rivet toward Afghanistan. This is the fight President Obama, when campaigning for office, called our "war of necessity." This is the theater of conflict where Obama, when debating Sen. McCain barely two years ago, promised us victory ending with the killing or capture of Osama bin Laden. Ironically, Afghanistan may also be the only war in American history with a presidential expiration date.
Bullying Busybody for Senate
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal may never have served in Vietnam (despite his recollections to the contrary), but he is a hero in the war on prostitution. Armed with nothing but sternly worded letters, indignant press releases and a seemingly inexhaustible store of self-righteousness, Blumenthal played a key role in pressuring Craigslist to shut down its "adult services" section, which he called a "blatant Internet brothel."
No Drums, No Bugles: None Dare Call It Victory
Not for the first time, a president and commander-in-chief has proclaimed the end of America's combat role in Iraq: "Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country." --George W. Bush, May 1, 2003.
Obama's $50 Billion Union Infrastructure Boondoggle
President Obama calls his latest attempt to revive the economy a "Plan to Renew and Expand America's Roads, Railways and Runways." I'm calling it "The Mother of all Big Dig Boondoggles." Like the infamous "Big Dig" highway spending project in Boston, this latest White House infrastructure spending binge guarantees only two results: Taxpayers lose; unions win.
A Non-Prediction
When people learn that you are an economist, they often want you to predict which way the economy is going. There seem to be more than the usual number of calls for such predictions lately. But an economist should be more aware than others are of how hazardous such predictions can be.
Racial Stupidity and Malevolence
The white liberal's agenda, coupled with that of black race hustlers, has had and continues to have a devastating impact on ordinary black people. Perhaps the most debilitating aspect of this liberal malevolence is in the area of education.
A Conservative Movie Initiative
The midterm elections this fall will feature young people born in 1992 -- in other words, four years after Ronald Reagan left office. What do they know about this man? It's quite likely that many of them have been told of Reagan's firm resolve to win the Cold War. But it's also likely they haven't learned about the Reagan budget policies that led to a historic economic recovery. Instead, liberal revisionists are working overtime to assign to the Gipper's tax cut policies the blame for deficits on his watch. Given the disastrous performance of Barack Obama, it's time to give this man a serious look once again.
Victims on the Road to ‘Peace’
Talia and Yitzhak Ames met as students at Moscow University. They got married in 1985, and had two children by the time they emigrated to Israel in 1991. Four more children followed in the next 19 years, and Talia was nine months' pregnant with their seventh when she and Yitzhak were murdered by Palestinian terrorists last week.
Why We Treat Obama Like a Dog
President Obama certainly has it ruff these days. With his approval ratings plummeting and both the House and the Senate trending Republican, he must feel like he's been put in the doghouse. Even members of his own party are attacking him; Chris Matthews, his designated chew toy, has even come out against the beloved teleprompter. In short, nobody seems willing to throw Obama a bone.