Cal Thomas
Columns by Cal Thomas
Stuffing the health care sack
There were two snow jobs in Washington over the weekend. One came from the sky as a record December snowfall blanketed the city. The other came from Capitol Hill where the Senate labored to cover up the real effects of its massive health care "reform" bill. Published December 22, 2009
The perfect gift
Most people who haven't finished (or even begun) their shopping are starting to worry about what gifts to give a friend, relative or spouse. Quick, what did you give or receive last year? How about two years ago? Most of us can't remember, unless it was a big-ticket item. Published December 17, 2009
Loss of a sense of shame
Early in my column-writing career I took note of comments by the singer Madonna. A skin magazine had published nude photos of her, taken when she was a teenager. An interviewer asked if she was ashamed about having posed for them. She threw the question back, saying something like, "What have I got to be ashamed of?" Published December 15, 2009
Creating jobs without really trying
In 1952, Shepherd Mead wrote a little book called "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." In 1961, it became an award-winning Broadway musical. It's an instruction book about how a young man with lots of drive and cunning can rise from the mailroom to the top of the company. One of the songs from the musical, sung by the main character, J. Pierrepont Finch, is "I Believe in You." Finch sings it to a mirror. Published December 10, 2009
The flat-head society
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has taken the route of many who would rather call names than have a serious debate about "climate change." He characterizes those who question "settled science" members of the "flat-earth"society. When people resort to name-calling, it is a sign they have lost an argument. Published December 8, 2009
New face for the GOP
Virginia's governor-elect, Robert F. McDonnell, may be the future of the Republican Party if he can translate his substantial electoral victory into policy victories after his Jan. 16, 2010, inauguration as the state's first Republican governor in eight years. Mr. McDonnell's quiet demeanor is the polar opposite of the tub-thumping, angry conservative that has characterized much of Republican politics for more than 30 years, but he possesses solid convictions on matters of policy. Published December 4, 2009
Forward on Afghanistan
President Obama should be commended for committing 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to root out al Qaeda and stabilize major portions of the country. I am far less certain about establishing a timetable, though the president did say it depended on conditions on the ground. Published December 3, 2009
Life for children
The U.S. Supreme Court this month heard arguments in a case that could decide whether a child who commits a crime should be sentenced, in some circumstances, to life without parole. Published November 26, 2009
The United Socialist States of America
Not all revolutions begin in the streets with tanks and guns. Some advance slowly, almost imperceptibly, until a nation is transformed and the public realizes too late that their freedoms are gone. Published November 24, 2009
Future of conservatism?
I'm sure I would like Sarah Palin if I got the chance to meet her. We share many things in common. She is still married to her first spouse, as am I. She has a Down syndrome son. I have a brother with Down syndrome. We share the same faith and we both like the outdoors. She is conservative on economic and social issues, and so am I. Published November 19, 2009
Risky business Stateside
The Obama administration has chosen the wrong New York venue to try five co-conspirators in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Instead of a Manhattan courtroom less than a mile from the site of where the World Trade Center stood, the government should have chosen the Bronx Zoo, because a zoo is what will be created when this terrorist trial is held. Published November 17, 2009
E pluribus diversity?
Government and military officials have issued statements since last week's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that have nothing to do with the reality of what occurred, what is occurring and what our enemies would still like to have occur all over the United States. Listening to them leads to the conclusion that these people were handed talking points because they are all saying pretty much the same thing: that we shouldn't jump to conclusions, stereotype or give in to paranoia. Published November 12, 2009
Jihadists in the military
By now, the script should be disturbingly familiar. Whether in the Middle East or, increasingly, in America, a fanatical Muslim blows up or goes on a shooting spree, killing many. This is followed quickly by "condemnations" from "Muslim civil rights groups," such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations. We are then warned by the president and some newspaper editorials not to jump to conclusions or to stereotype. Yasser Arafat wrote this script, which he used with great success throughout his bloody career as a terrorist. Published November 10, 2009
Communism’s enablers and excusers
On Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was pulled down to the consternation of leftists, who still had faith socialism could work with the right leaders, and to the delight of conservatives, who believed that socialism and communism guaranteed mutually shared poverty. Published November 5, 2009
Can the 10th Amendment save us?
Does the U.S. Constitution stand for anything in an era of government excess? Can that founding document, which is supposed to restrain the power and reach of a centralized federal government, slow down the juggernaut of czars, health insurance overhaul and anything else this administration and Congress wish to do that is not in the Constitution? Published November 3, 2009
Democrats worth hearing
Does anyone in Washington tell the truth? Why should Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid be believed when he promises that states can "opt out" of a public option on health care? Published October 29, 2009
Liberation from liberalism
Some conservatives are salivating prematurely over President Obama's declining poll numbers, According to a recent Gallup daily tracking poll, "the nine-point drop in the most recent quarter is the largest Gallup has ever measured for an elected president between the second and third quarters of his term, dating back to 1953." That may comfort some Obama opponents, but three years is a long time until the next presidential election, so conservatives and Republicans (not always the same) had better think of a long-range strategy if they want to save the country from the long-term consequences of what many call "socialism." Published October 27, 2009
‘Radio Free America’
During the Cold War, the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe were among the broadcast entities that effectively penetrated the Iron Curtain to deliver truth to the "captive nations" that were being fed a steady dose of propaganda by their communist rulers. Those dictators did everything they could to jam the signals so that their people would only hear what their unelected overseers wanted them to hear. Contemporary versions of jamming and other forms of censorship occur today in Venezuela, Cuba and many other places where dictators believe public ignorance is essential to their unchallenged rule. Published October 22, 2009
‘That’s just the way it is’
The Washington Post headline sounds as if a comedy writer, or someone fluent in George Orwell's "newspeak" wrote it: "Record-High Deficit May Dash Big Plans," it said. Published October 20, 2009
Don’t ask, tell or legitimize
I am sympathetic to the story told by Joseph Rocha, who claims in a Washington Post opinion column that he was discharged from the Navy because he is gay, though he says he never told anyone. Mr. Rocha says his male colleagues concluded he was gay when he wouldn't laugh at their dirty jokes about women or visit prostitutes with them. Published October 15, 2009
