Author: Cal Thomas

Credit President Obama for finally using the words he has desperately tried to avoid during his presidency. He correctly called the mass shooting in an Orlando gay nightclub Sunday morning, which killed 49 and injured 53, “an act of terror.” It was, writes The New York Times, the “deadliest attack on a gay target in […]

CT: My grandparents used to play a parlor game. It went like this: Tell me who you are without telling me your name or what you do. We have seen your tough exterior, but who are you at your core and what is your basic philosophy and worldview? DT: I am a person who grew […]

If there is one explanation for Donald Trump’s success it is this: Unlike most Republicans, he fights back. He may not have the late Muhammad Ali’s finesse, but he sees himself as more than capable of dealing a “knockout” punch to Hillary Clinton in November. That ought to be the goal of any GOP presidential […]

Some believe that soon after Tuesday’s final presidential primaries the FBI will interview Hillary Clinton about her handling of emails while she was secretary of state. What comes next is the subject of much speculation. One of the better speculators is Bradley Blakeman, who served as a member of President George W. Bush’s White House […]

My musical tastes do not include rap and hip-hop, but when Snoop Dogg comments on the “Roots” remake, saying he is tired of movies about slavery and would prefer a series “about the success that black folks are having,” he is singing my song. The original “Roots” drew a phenomenal 130 million viewers when it […]

“Rules are made to be broken” is a saying that has many variations, but perhaps no one has summed up Hillary Clinton’s attitude (and Bill’s, too) about rules more than the late science-fiction writer, Robert A. Heinlein, who said: “I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate […]

The frustration of many voters over the way presidential candidates are selected has come to a head with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the presumptive nominees of their respective parties. If this is the best we can do, maybe we should consider a better way. As of May 3, according to fairvote.org, while some states […]

In releasing his list of potential Supreme Court nominees, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has begun to solidify his support among conservatives as perhaps no other announcement could do. The record of any of the 11 judges currently serving on federal or state benches may calm the fears of those who are not […]

The popularity of the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” offers us all an opportunity to consider the wisdom of one of our most prolific Founding Fathers — while we wait in line for tickets. Alexander Hamilton, like the rest of our Founders, provided the solution to dysfunctional, overreaching and costly government, long before it became dysfunctional, […]

Standing on principle, not to mention common sense, is so rare these days that when someone does it they make headlines. That’s because you can quickly be labeled a “bigot” if you oppose a lot of the sludge dumped on us by the secular left, and few can withstand the onslaught. North Carolina’s Republican governor, […]

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has broken just about every political rule and precedent this election cycle, so what difference would it make if he broke one more? If Trump wants to gain credibility with voters who are either wary of or vehemently opposed to him becoming president, he should borrow from the […]

Given its track record, one wonders why socialism is gaining in popularity in the U.S. and what appeal it has to a generation that, apparently, knows little about it. A recent survey from Harvard University has found that 51 percent of young people between the ages of 18 and 29 do not support capitalism. Just […]

Dr. Frankenstein created the monster that bore his name and if Dr. Jekyll had not conducted those experiments in his laboratory, Mr. Hyde would never have emerged to terrorize London. In literature, we know whom to blame for the monsters, but who is to blame for the rise of Donald Trump? Is he the “monster” […]

Religion and politics are again at the forefront of this year’s presidential race. Yet, in this campaign, self-described evangelicals don’t seem as concerned as they once were about a candidate’s personal faith. Otherwise, more of them might support the openly Christian candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, rather than Donald Trump, whose familiarity with the Bible, not […]

Thanks to Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-Va.) 200,000 convicted felons in the state of Virginia may now register to vote. Writes The Washington Post, “The change applies to all felons who have completed their sentences and been released from supervised probation or parole. The Democratic governor’s decision particularly affects black residents of Virginia: 1 in 4 […]

DUBLIN — They called it the Celtic Tiger, a period of prosperity between 1995 and 2008, during which everything in Ireland appeared to come up shamrocks. According to Wikipedia, between 1995 and 2000, the long-dormant Irish economy took off, expanding by a startling 9.4 percent. There was a building boom; roads were widened to accommodate […]

The Mafia, in its heyday, ran lucrative protection rackets. Pay them and your business would be kept safe from “unforeseen” threats. Don’t pay them and your business might go up in smoke with you inside. Today, things are more sophisticated. The New York Times reports that Saudi Arabia, playing the role of Mafia extortionist, has […]

As the tax deadline approaches it’s once again time to consider how the federal government wastes our money. Remember the spending caps that were supposed to keep Congress from overspending? Gone with the wind. How about the promise Republicans made about no more earmarks on spending bills? It disappeared almost as fast as a gold […]

It’s called Frontex and, according to its website, the agency “promotes, coordinates and develops European border management in line with the (European Union) fundamental rights charter applying the concept of Integrated Border Management.” Except that it isn’t. As reported by the UK Daily Mail, “Mass immigration is allowing terrorists to sneak into the EU.” In […]

In a recent interview for the BBC2 series “Inside Obama’s White House,” President Obama sounded somewhat wistful as he spoke to an interviewer about how he has tried to use his voice “to move things toward a more ethical and moral outcome.” The question of morals and ethics has been debated since the dawn of […]

Occasionally I am asked if I ever considered running for political office. My response: “I did once, but I took two aspirin, lay down for a while and the feeling went away.” Besides not wanting to accept a pay cut, why would I want to put myself through the agony of exposing the smallest misdeed […]

Neither political party can lay claim to purity when it comes to hypocrisy, but Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, as well as others in her party, has taken hypocrisy to new depths. While campaigning in Wisconsin before next week’s presidential primary, Clinton said that as president she would have a litmus test for any Supreme […]

Are the increasing incidents of terrorist attacks in Europe the “new normal”? Must Europeans and Americans become resigned to the inevitability of regular jihadist assaults? Must we endure more meaningless bromides about not “overreacting” because we might offend the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, playing into the hands of terrorists who promote the notion that the […]

At the beginning of his presidency, Barack Obama traveled to Cairo, Europe and the United Nations to “apologize” for past American actions and attitudes, which he claimed helped create divisions between countries. At a town hall meeting before a mix of French and German citizens in Strasbourg, France on April 3, 2009, the president said […]

It seems like only yesterday — and in diplomatic terms it was — that the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress were assuring us the nuclear deal with Iran was something to celebrate, as one might laud the winning of a Nobel Peace Prize. More sober thinkers, fearing Tehran would never comply with the agreement, […]

Why does it take death to bring us together? Why not life? Watching Nancy Reagan’s funeral on television, the front-row tableau was a picture of unity, in form, if not in substance. There was Gov. Jerry Brown of California, a Democrat, Michelle Obama (D), former President George Bush (R), Laura Bush (R), Hillary Clinton (D), […]

In his continuing effort to pit races and classes against each other, Democratic presidential candidate and socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) has said that if you are white, “you don’t know what it’s like to be poor.” He should drive some of the roads I’ve driven in West Virginia, among other places. Some of the […]

“Give ’em the old razzle dazzle Razzle Dazzle ’em Give ’em an act with lots of flash in it And the reaction will be passionate Give ’em the old hocus pocus Bead and feather ’em How can they see with sequins in their eyes?” (“Chicago: The Musical”) Looking for someone — anyone — to blame […]

In the film “Girl, Interrupted,” the character played by Winona Ryder is watching TV in a psychiatric hospital. There is a news report about a demonstration and the narrator says: “We live in troubled times. The institutions we once trusted no longer seem reliable.” As I begin the laborious process of doing my income taxes, […]

I was going to write about how the Republican presidential campaign has become gutter politics, but given Donald Trump’s horrid statements, the gutter would be a step up, because things have descended into the sewer. Never in modern times has there been a presidential candidate who has hurled more personal insults and hurtful accusations at […]