Cal Thomas
Columns by Cal Thomas
Toward better relations with the press
Before becoming a newspaper columnist I was a broadcast news reporter for local TV stations and occasionally appeared on the NBC radio and television networks. I have some experience at being on the receiving end of hostilities directed at the media. Published February 27, 2017
Milo Yiannopoulos is not Ronald Reagan
I had never heard of Milo Yiannopoulos until recently, perhaps because I don't visit some of the websites where his musings are published. Published February 22, 2017
Trump war with media escalates
The traditional media have decided not to take President Trump's insults lying down. After what may be the strongest -- and to his supporters -- most thrilling takedown of journalists by any president, Editor and Publisher magazine featured this headline: "Newspapers Aim to Ride 'Trump Bump' to Reach Readers, Advertisers." Published February 20, 2017
Betsy DeVos may save U.S. education
American public school students fall well behind students around the world in math and science proficiency. This is not debatable. According to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, both cited in The New York Times in 2012, "Fourth- and eighth-grade students in the United States continue to lag behind students in several East Asian countries and some European nations in math and science, although American fourth-graders are closer to the top performers in reading." Published February 15, 2017
Charlotte Ray Thomas given tribute by columnist husband Cal
My wife of 51 years passed away last Saturday after a long battle against multiple health issues. Published February 13, 2017
Mainstream media blames all except themselves
Since Donald Trump's election, the major media have been trying to figure out what they did wrong, given their fawning coverage of Hillary Clinton and their anti-Trump stories. Didn't they help twice elect Barack Obama? Why didn't the formula work this time? Published February 8, 2017
Repealing Johnson Amendment may be unwise
At the National Prayer Breakfast last week, President Trump promised to "totally destroy" the so-called Johnson Amendment, a law that prohibits churches from endorsing or opposing political candidates at the risk of losing their tax-exempt status. Published February 6, 2017
The left’s narrative
Just days into the Trump administration, the left's narrative is clear. First, it was that Donald Trump is an "illegitimate" president because he didn't win the popular vote, claims about "voter fraud" notwithstanding. Published February 1, 2017
Trump makes good on his promises — all at once
Republican members of Congress met in Philadelphia last weekend for what was called a retreat. It might have been more accurately labeled an advance. Published January 30, 2017
Donald Trump following through on campaign promises
President Trump's critics are finding it difficult to stay focused following a flurry of actions taken by the new American CEO. Published January 25, 2017
Donald Trump’s rhetoric and reality
President Trump's inaugural address may not have risen to the rhetorical level of John F. Kennedy ("The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans" and "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"), or Ronald Reagan's critique of government ("Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem"), or even Barack Obama's in 2009 ("On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord"), but the speech set out large goals, many details of which are yet to be revealed. Published January 23, 2017
Betsy DeVos wants school choice
Some years ago a friend of mine wrote a book titled "The Seven Last Words of the Church, or, We've Never Tried It That Way Before." It is about what he regarded as the entrenched bureaucracies in his denomination that are reluctant -- even hostile -- to change. Published January 18, 2017
Ben Carson as role model
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Dr. Ben Carson, secretary of housing and urban development-designate, told a story. He said his mother was a domestic who cleaned beautiful homes. One day she asked him if he would rather live in those nice houses or the house in which he and his brother lived in Detroit. Published January 16, 2017
Meryl Streep behaves as if elected to office
Meryl Streep has played many roles in her long career and holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations of any actor. Among her portrayals was British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. At the Golden Globe Awards Sunday night, Miss Streep behaved as if she actually had been elected to high office, entitling her to mount a high horse. Published January 11, 2017
Russian hacking and glass houses
Many top U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed a secret intelligence operation for the purpose of discrediting Hillary Clinton, thereby helping Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election. Published January 9, 2017
Chicago residents have nothing to lose by trying something new
Chicago has come a long way from the idealized lyric, "My kind of town, Chicago is," which Frank Sinatra made famous. Published January 4, 2017
John Kerry’s two-faced Israel solution
In his recent speech excoriating Israel for refusing to commit suicide by allowing a sworn enemy to have a state adjoining the Jewish state, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed the U.S. government "did not draft or originate" the U.N. resolution critical of Israeli "settlements." Published January 2, 2017
Obama abandons Israel
A headline that would become famous appeared in the New York Daily News in October 1975 after President Gerald Ford denied federal assistance to spare the city from bankruptcy. It read: "Ford to City: Drop Dead." Published December 28, 2016
More terror, more denial
Recent terrorist attacks in Ankara, Turkey, and Berlin, Germany, add to a growing list of incidents that are becoming increasingly difficult to remember. Does one begin the list with the plane hijackings in the '60s and '70s, or the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, or the USS Cole attack in 2000, or the second World Trade Center attack in 2001, or Ft. Hood, San Bernardino, Orlando, Paris or Nice? And that's not all of them, nor will it be the end of them, if we don't have a better response. Published December 26, 2016
The familiarity of Christmas
Familiarity doesn't always breed contempt. Not if it's a familiarity with Christmas. Published December 21, 2016
