Cal Thomas
Columns by Cal Thomas
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
Michelle Obama did not learn hope and humility as first lady
Former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming once said, "Those who travel the high road of humility will not be troubled by heavy traffic." Published December 19, 2016
Faking the news
Mainstream media are suddenly concerned about "fake news." It used to be that phony stories were easy to spot. They usually focused on space aliens or mysterious creatures found wandering deep in the woods. My personal favorite in this genre was a 1992 "story" in the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News that claimed the bones of Adam and Eve had been discovered in Colorado. Published December 14, 2016
Mike Pence’s take on the Trump mandate
When Mike Pence becomes the 48th vice president of the United States next month, he will take on the role of a political lobbyist for Donald Trump's activist agenda. Published December 12, 2016
U.S.-Israel relations on the mend
The consensus in Israel is that the relationship between the Jewish state and the United States is going to improve in a Trump administration, says former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Zalman Shoval. Published December 7, 2016
Remembering Pearl Harbor at 75
Only five of the 335 men who survived the unprovoked attack that sunk the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941 remain alive. Donald Stratton, 94, is one of them. He has added to the historical knowledge of that day and the beginning of America's entry into World War II in a new book, "All the Gallant Men: The First Memoir by a USS Arizona Survivor." Published December 5, 2016
John Bolton should be secretary of state
President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering seriously at least two men for the critical position of secretary of state. One, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, has divided the Trump team between those who think it is a good idea and those who think Mr. Romney's severe criticism of Mr. Trump during the campaign disqualifies him. Published November 30, 2016
The left’s love affair with Fidel Castro
In a statement following the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, President Obama spoke of "the countless ways in which [Castro] altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation." Published November 28, 2016
‘Hamilton,’ Donald Trump and diversity
President-elect Donald Trump says Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who currently plays Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical "Hamilton," should apologize for his tacky lecturing of Vice-President-elect Mike Pence about diversity and the "fear" of people like himself, an African-American, about a Trump-Pence administration. Published November 23, 2016
‘Black America Since MLK’
That race continues to be a major source of anxiety and division in America is an undeniable fact. While some politicians continue to use race to divide, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is trying again to bridge the gap in his latest Public Broadcasting Service documentary series "Black America Since MLK." Published November 21, 2016
Democrats must deal with Donald Trump’s victory
Three years ago when Republicans were battling President Obama over the debt ceiling and a government shutdown, the president said, "You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election." Published November 16, 2016
