ActRight

Thanks in part to Bill Bennett, the knives have come out for Never Trump conservatives. It’s personal now. Gone is the always-fantastical claim that we would hand the election to Hillary, replaced with the notion that we’re simply exhibiting a “terrible case of moral superiority” and putting “our own vanity and taste above the interests of the country.” Echoing Bennett, the Huffington Post interviewed a number of “establishment” figures who’ve thrown in with Trump, and their words about anti-Trump holdouts are scathing. It’s “slick moral preening,” said one anonymous critic. “These are mostly self-serving political hacks,” said another. We have a “desperate need to be accepted in the liberals’ putative morally superior universe.” Look, this was bound to get ugly. It’s been ugly for a long time. Because Trump represents such a radical departure from decades of Republican leadership, the choice to support him involves a host of moral compromises that are atypical for a Republican primary, much less the general election. And since most of us in the conservative movement scorn notions of moral relativism, we’re simply not going to be content with reasoning that says, “My choice is right for me; your choice is right for you.” But this isn’t “moral preening.” It’s moral argument. It comes not from a place of “moral superiority” but from a deep anguish, especially as concerns the fate of Trump’s alleged base, the struggling working-class and middle-class voters who so need positive change. As I’ve written many times before, I grew up in a small town in Kentucky, not far from the communities J. D. Vance describes in his remarkable book, Hillbilly Elegy. My wife’s family is from the mountains outside of Chattanooga, Tenn. When I talk about this segment of Trump voters, I’m talking about people I’ve lived around and worked with almost my entire life. I’ve seen the unraveling of communities, the rise of substance abuse, and the splintering of families first-hand. I’ve watched it happen to friends. Working with church ministries, my wife and I spent years of our lives laboring mightily to reach some of the most vulnerable kids in our town. As a result of my own life experiences, I’ve emerged with a number of deep convictions. First, the crisis afflicting working-class communities goes far, far beyond politics, so the more we sell a political solution to a spiritual crisis, the more we sell a lie. Second, these problems aren’t always near-term artifacts of closed factories and mills, but instead — especially in the South — often reflect cultural habits that have developed over centuries. Third, the last thing these communities need is more family instability, more drug abuse, more sexual libertinism, and less church. Like the snake-oil salesmen of years past, he promises the cure as he exacerbates the disease. What’s staggering, infuriating, and ultimately upsetting, then, is watching Donald Trump stride into their lives, and — helped considerably by billions in free media and a spineless GOP establishment — capture their hearts and minds with lies and outright nonsense. Like the snake-oil salesmen of years past, he promises the cure as he exacerbates the disease. There are few things in life more frustrating than watching your friends become victims before your very eyes and being powerless to stop it. The Kentucky church my wife and I frequented early in our marriage was one of the best churches I’ve ever attended. Never before or since have I seen such zeal for the Gospel or such a desire to reach the most desperate and vulnerable members of society. It wasn’t a wealthy church. I was the only lawyer in the congregation, and there was only one doctor. Many people struggled to make ends meet. Sadly, that rendered them vulnerable to scams, and when a diet-pill pyramid scheme started racing through the congregation, I was aghast. People were spending money they didn’t have to join networks and create “down lines,” firmly believing that economic salvation was at hand. The sales pitch was slick, but the pills scarcely disguised the pyramid. One presenter even said, “You can get rich without even selling any pills.” I’d worked on consumer fraud cases before, and I thought that I could help stop the madness. I went to the presentations, I researched the materials, and then I started talking to friends. Some listened, but most got mad and a few got furious. To this day, those are some of the most painful conversations I’ve ever had, and I realize now why: My friends were hearing two voices. One of them was speaking authoritatively about numbers and dollars and selling hope. The other was speaking with the same degree of assurance about numbers and dollars but was instead trying to extinguish hope. I never stood a chance. #related#Yes, voters have a responsibility to exercise good judgment. But the greatest responsibility lies with the con artist and his knowing enablers. Trump — like Obama before him — is selling hope. But that hope is a false hope, and all those “establishment” figures who scorn the alleged “moral preening” of Never Trump know it. They’re aware of the pyramid scheme, and they choose to further it anyway, like the minions who circulate to cheap hotels across the land, pitching scams in meeting rooms. They’re co-conspirators. No one likes to be told they’re wrong. But it is, in fact, wrong to support Trump, and when I see a member of the GOP establishment selling the Trump brand, I’m transported back to Kentucky, watching a huckster exploit people I love. There is nothing this political season that gives me satisfaction. And the saddest reality of all is that the cost of the GOP’s failure will be borne — as it always is — by the people who can afford it the least. So, no, I’m not preening. I’m mourning. — David French is an attorney, and a staff writer at National Review.

The massive coal-fired plant in Boardman, Ore., is just four years away from being shut down for good – at that point, Oregon coal production will be no more, after the state became the first in the nation to completely ban coal power.

We know and despise Debbie Wasserman Schultz for many things, but possibly the most idiotic are her beliefs concerning medical and legalized marijuana. In January of this year, the disgraced former chair and current (hopefully not for long) congresswoman Wasserman Schultz said that she doesn’t believe that we should be legalizing cannabis in any more states

Appearing as a panel member on Wednesday's New Day, liberal CNN political commentator and New York Times columnist Charles Blow ranted about Donald Trump's recent appeals to black voters as being "the most horrible type of bigotry," as he hyperbolically asserted that "It is the kind of bigotry that says, 'I will knock you down while I pretend to pick you up.' It says that 'I am not talking to you, I'm talking to the guy behind you or over your shoulder.' It is the kind of bigotry that says, 'I am urinating on you and telling you to dance in the rain.'"

President Obama recently commuted or shortened the sentences of 214 nonviolent federal prisoners, and a few conservative scholars and activists pounced on what they saw as the president’s inconsiste

Many park patrons and neighbors are complaining of parking, litter and congestion issues since the debut of the popular augmented reality game.

Megyn Kelly?s ongoing misrepresentation of Donald Trump and his millions of supporters continued this week as she returned to the Fox News airwaves following a lengthy summer hiatus.  And just last night, Ms. Kelly repeated the claim to a panel of guests that Donald Trump was doing ?horribly? among Black voters in America, despite numerous ?

The Land of Lincoln’s job-killing policies are hurting minority communities increasingly hard, while black unemployment in pro-growth states remains significantly lower.

(via Twitter) I take no joy in writing this post. I personally interviewed Gov. Gary Johnson just months ago, and I believe him to be an honest man. He was certainly a capable governor. But at this point, he isn’t the most libertarian candidate for president. Here are the three big knocks...

As one of the leading antagonists of the so-called alt-right, I’m often asked to define the movement. Like all movements, the alt-right actually has several strains – they’re an agglomeration of self-appointed radical culture warriors, disenchanted paleoconservatives, and open anti-Semites and white supremacists.

The Indiana governor is putting his entire economic record in jeopardy.

As the Russian atomic energy agency gradually took charge of a company that controls one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States, a stream of cash made its way to the former president’s charitable organization.

UNREAL.

At least one student died and 14 others were hurt Wednesday after a complex attack involving bombs and gunfire at American University of Afghanistan in western Kabul, police and the head of the city's hospitals reported.

If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor was President Barack Obama's signature catchphrase he used to sell the Affordable Care Act to the American people. Now Obamacare's flagship website, healthcare.gov, no longer even addresses the issue. Ironically, the section in question was the first public (if indirect) admission by the Obama administration that the president's promise was less than a guarantee. As THE WEEKLY STANDARD first reported in July 2013, the website told consumers that they may be able to keep your current doctor, in contrast to the president's unequivocal statement: Here is a guarantee that I've made. If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance. If you've got a doctor that you like, you will be able to keep your doctor.

We found out the problem!

Incumbent GOP senators facing bitter re-election battles faced a choice once Donald Trump became the Republican nominee: endorse their party’s standard-bearer, play coy with noncommittal support, or staunchly refuse to back the party’s presidential nominee. The endangered GOP senators who have stiff-armed Trump are now suffering the political consequences, while those who got behind Trump and moved on are riding high. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, one of the Senate’s most heavily targeted GOP incumbents, has been performing well in recent polls, notching an 8-point lead over ousted former Gov. Ted Strickland, according to a Monday survey from Monmouth University. Portman, who officially endorsed Trump for president after Ohio Gov. John Kasich dropped out of the race, has refrained from hammering Trump during the Republican nominee’s controversial low points. That’s not to say Portman has been an enthusiastic champion for Trump — but he endorsed the nominee and hasn’t jumped at easy opportunities to criticize him. “Ayotte has done it in a way that can invite criticism

The State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton is now offering a course called “#StopWhitePeople2K16” as part of routine training for residential assistants. The university’s residential assistant training schedule lists “#StopWhitePeople2016” on its roster, with the mission of giving RA’s an “overview of disabilities in Higher Education.”

OPINION | Trump is a crony capitalist, while Johnson offers transparent policies.

The State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY-Binghamton) is offering a training class titled "StopWhitePeople2k16," to instruct residential assistants (RAs) on how to deal with "uneducated"

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize-winning economist and advisor to Hillary Clinton tells CNN it's 'absolutely wrong' for President Obama to try to push through the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal.

"If Trump was doing the same thing Clinton was doing, he’d be in a lot more trouble."

One of the liberal media’s favorite Hollywood actors, Leonardo DiCaprio, intended to host a fundraiser in his home for Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton. However, he backed out and the fundraiser was moved to Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel’s house, according to The Hollywood Reporter. THR reported that multiple sources blamed DiCaprio’s work schedule, but the publication reminded readers of recent reports of an international money scandal that the actor and his foundation “may have benefited” from.

On Thursday Dr. Kelli Ward, the U.S. Senate candidate challenging Sen. John McCain, addressed a room full of veterans to lay out her vision for a better health care plan for military veterans that is driven by the needs of those service members and for a better Veterans Administration.

Last week, a trove of hacked documents was released detailing the international operations of billionaire George Soros. The leak's contents offered a window into the activism of one of the world's most powerful liberal elites. Among the many items revealed in the tranche was the substantial web of ...