Right Opinion

Communism's Forgotten Victims

Three summers ago I witnessed the dancing eyes and exuberant smiles of fellow humans who were tasting freedom for the very first time. I was on a Florida barrier island when some three dozen very lucky Cubans escaped their captors, beat the odds in dangerous seas, and finally stepped into freedom on America’s shore. It seemed that they came from another time – almost like characters from an old black-and-white movie about war and oppression. As I processed what I was witnessing, I began to realize that they were flesh-and-blood representatives of millions like them who have suffered in the clutches of communist regimes. From the Soviet Gulags, to China’s Tiananmen Square, to North Korea, to the tiny island of Cuba and other places in-between, 100 million men, women and children around the world have been victimized by communist thugs. Just 90 miles from our own border a third generation of Cuban people remains captive to the same brutal regime that terrorized their grandparents.

A Letter from a Child

Recent videos of American children in school singing songs of praise for Barack Obama were a little much, especially for those of us old enough to remember pictures of children singing the praises of dictators like Hitler, Stalin and Mao. But you don't need a dictator to make you feel queasy about the manipulation of children. The mindset that sees children in school as an opportunity for teachers to impose their own notions, instead of developing the child's ability to think for himself or herself, is a dangerous distortion of education. Parents send their children to school to acquire the knowledge that has come down to us as a legacy of our culture-- whether it is mathematics, science, or whatever-- so that those children can grow up and go out into the world equipped to face life's challenges.

And You Say Conservatism Is Dying?

Strangely, chatter about the "death of conservatism" is circulating this fall. I say "strangely" because we are in the midst of the greatest left/liberal moment in living memory. Liberal policies are careening out of Washington and mowing down innocent bystanders. This is the greatest opportunity since the Carter administration to illustrate to voters why conservatism is to be preferred. So it's downright weird that at this moment, we are being asked to ponder how far we have fallen from the glory days of William F. Buckley and Milton Friedman. "How awful for you," say those who never sympathized with conservatism, "that you have been reduced to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity."

Creepy Behavior

In olden days when "a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking" there was a morals clause written into an actor's film contract. The purpose was to restrain an actor from engaging in public behavior that might offend the audience and harm ticket sales. Today, lewd and crude behavior can boost ticket sales and TV ratings and what passes for a morals clause deals with sexual harassment in the workplace.

The Second City Becomes Fourth City

If you want to understand why some conservatives were gleeful over Chicago's fourth-place finish in its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games -- after President Obama and the first lady flew to Copenhagen to pitch the American city to the International Olympic Committee -- consider this quote in the New York Times from Anita DeFrantz, an IOC member from the United States: "I hate the fact that these elegant people were here, and then our country got treated that way."

Unhappy 60th in Beijing

What an impressive picture that was in Thursday's paper. It showed rank upon serried rank of goose-stepping troops in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, formerly Peking. There were also drone missiles and amphibious assault vehicles and the kind of mass formations the most populous power on Earth can arrange for special occasions, or even ordinary ones. The grand parade was being staged in honor of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, which of course is neither the people's nor a republic. Nor, lest we forget, does it represent all of China -- not so long as freedom reigns just offshore on Taiwan.

A War of Necessity Turns Out Not So Necessary

"This is not a war of choice," Barack Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Aug. 17. "This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9-11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al-Qaida would plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting. This is fundamental to the defense of our people." But that was nearly seven weeks ago.

Newsom's Nanny Problem

It's been a long, strange trip since Gavin Newsom became San Francisco's mayor. When he first ran for City Hall's top job, Newsom led with a campaign to do something about the city's homeless population. Well, the homeless are still here, but Newsom has moved on to a new target -- he is running to be the next governor of California by picking on the personal habits of people who for the most part work hard and pay taxes. Example: Ask some out-of-towners to walk Market Street from the Ferry Building to City Hall. They'll tell you how beautiful San Francisco is, but it's too bad that the farther they traveled from the waterfront, the grungier, smellier and scarier Ess Eff's Main Street became. The problem? Too many panhandlers and crazy people living on the streets. Halfway through the walk, the visitors were hugging their purses and hesitating before looking passers-by in the eye. It's simply not a sunny walking experience when you're trying to dodge people who want to scam you, hit you up for money so they can self-medicate or peddle the kind of sex that you suspect will require penicillin.

Enter the White Queen

WASHINGTON -- Last Thursday, the president's "engagement" with Iran began. This Wednesday, the U.S. war in Afghanistan will enter its ninth year. And U.S. foreign policy is entering a White Queen phase. In "Through the Looking Glass," Alice says she is unable to believe the White Queen's claim to be 101. The Queen responds, "Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes." Alice: "There's no use trying, one can't believe impossible things." Queen: "Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Common Sense Not Sex Discrimination

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts hardly seems a likely setting for rampant sex discrimination in state hiring, but apparently the Obama administration doesn't agree. The Justice Department this week filed suit against the state and its Department of Corrections, alleging they have engaged in a "pattern or practice of discrimination against female applicants for entry-level correctional officer positions." So what exactly constitutes this discrimination? Apparently, female prison guard applicants have a more difficult time passing a required physical abilities test (PAT) than their male counterparts, which is unacceptable to the Obama Justice Department. "Bringing an end to practices that have a discriminatory impact on the basis of sex," says the press release touting the suit, "is a major priority of the Justice Department and Civil Rights Division."

An Indefensible Decision on Missile Defense

When Tom DeLay is Dancing, You Know the World is in Trouble

It's my genuine belief that when the ball in Times Square dropped and displayed the year "2000" nine years ago, something must have occurred to transform our nation and the world into a permanent version of "Alice in Wonderland." Early in the decade, America sustained an unimaginably devastating attack on our soil, and yet the media refuse to do more than mention in seeming embarrassment that Islamic terrorists were responsible -- and are probably trying to it again. We quickly came to recognize that the hiding place for those who want to kill us was Afghanistan. So we went there in force and cleaned it up a bit. Later, we let it simmer. Now we have a president who once declared this the necessary war, and yet who now isn't sure he wants to send the additional troops there to try to keep this breeding ground of evil from becoming a permanent base for future attacks on America.

Words Without Action

"Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow, endangering the global nonproliferation regime, denying its own people access to the opportunity they deserve, and threatening the stability and security of the region and the world." No, that wasn't Israel's tough-talking prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu, warning against Iran's aggressive tendencies again. It was Barack Obama addressing the UN Security Council last week.

A Revolution Too Far

Austin, age 13, is touching and familiar. With his helmet of short brown hair, biggish ears and sensitive eyes, he's typical of a tender age almost on the cusp of manhood. So little time behind him, so much time ahead of him. If he were Jewish, he might be preparing for his bar mitzvah, thanking his parents for giving him life, expressing his hopes to live up to the respect they place in him. Tender age notwithstanding, Austin has another agenda. He's on the cover of The New York Times Magazine last Sunday, telling the world what he earlier told his parents and his classmates. He's gay. Not cheerful, happy and carefree in the original meaning of that word, but as how the untender times have redefined the word.

Repeat After Me: Mothers Belong at Work

There is nothing that makes some members of the chattering class more jumpy than the idea that women may be choosing to stay at home with their children. Still evidently shaken by a 2003 New York Times piece on female Princeton grads who elected to stay home and raise children, the Washington Post let out a nearly audible sigh of relief as it headlined a story on Census Bureau data "Most Stay-at-Home Moms Start That Way, Study Finds: Many Are Younger, Less Educated, Hispanic."

Polanski Controversy Shouldn't Be Controversial

I am delighted by the Roman Polanski controversy. Don't get me wrong: I am horrified and disgusted by what the acclaimed director did -- and admitted to -- but there is an upside. Just to recap, Polanski drugged a child put in his care for the purposes of a photo shoot. He tried to bully her into sex. She said no. He raped her anyway. He pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse but fled the country before sentencing, allegedly for fear the judge wouldn't keep his end of the plea bargain. He spent the subsequent three decades living the life of a revered celebrity in Europe. He never returned to America because there was a warrant for his arrest. In a bit of ironic justice, he was apprehended en route to Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award. That ceremony will apparently go on without him.

The Noble 'Sacrifice' of Michelle Obama

It's hard out there for a first lady of the United States. Take it from travel-weary Michelle Obama. On Tuesday night, she boarded a luxury 757 for Copenhagen. Think of the stairs she had to climb. Oh, the agony of the feet!

Big 'D' Democrats thwart small 'd' democracy

The signature of Obama's (uppercase "D") Democrats is their systematic betrayal of (small "d") democratic principles. Just look at today's news for a flavor of their pattern of flagrantly ignoring the popular will to cram down our throats policies we clearly reject. As much as Obama pretends to be a man of the people, he is a man for himself -- a man who will get his way, the will of the people be damned. The same is true of many of his congressional lieutenants, including Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who recently said that Congress will pass Obamacare despite the public's objections, because it is so important. Important to whom? To Democrats -- that's who.

Obama's French Lesson

When France chides you for appeasement, you know you're scraping bottom. Just how low we've sunk was demonstrated by the Obama administration's satisfaction when Russia's president said of Iran, after meeting President Obama at the U.N., that "sanctions are seldom productive, but they are sometimes inevitable."

Hollywood's Favorite Rapist

Something wildly unexpected happened the other day: Film director Roman Polanski was taken into custody in Switzerland for his rape of a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson's house in 1977. The grand jury transcript is stomach-turning. His victim, Samantha Gailey, said the director plied her with champagne and drugs and asked her to remove her clothes for pictures in a hot tub. Polanski then had sex with her despite her resistance and requests to be taken home. He pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of sex with a minor, but fearing a prison term, he fled the country.