Cal Thomas

It can be useful and instructive to observe the turning of a decade by looking back on what life was like in America a mere 100 years ago. On Jan. 2, 1920, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 108.76. Today it is over 28,000 points. In 1920, the U.S. had become an economic power, which is remarkable considering the bloody “war to end all wars” that ended just two years earlier. Republican…

The battle between church and state is as old as church and state, as is the conflict within religious circles over who supposedly speaks for God. The latest dustup occurred after the departing editor of Christianity Today magazine, Mark Galli, wrote an editorial in which he said President Trump is an immoral man and his impeachment by the House is cause for his immediate removal from office.

“Blowout” was how one UK newspaper described the decisive victory of Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party in last week's election. How decisive was it? Not only did conservatives win an 80-seat majority in Parliament, a constituency in Blythe Valley in Northeast England elected a conservative member for the first time since its creation 40 years ago. Pundits leading up to the election were…

Apologies to Elton John, but in Washington and throughout so much of the country, can you feel the hate tonight? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked by reporter James Rosen if she hates President Trump. She responded with an “if looks could kill ” fire in her eyes and denounced Rosen for his question while claiming she doesn't hate Trump. Former Vice President Joe Biden verbally attacked and…

Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to come earlier each year. Though the dates remain the same, the promotions from advertisers don't. Christmas decorations are appearing before Halloween. Merchants can't wait for Thanksgiving to end so they can promote “Black Friday,” itself beginning days and even weeks before the day after Thanksgiving.

According to a report by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the teaching of U.S. history to American students lags behind all other subject matters. The latest NAEP survey finds that proficiency levels for fourth-, eighth- and 12th-grade students are in the 20, 18 and 12th percentile, respectively. Part of this, I suspect, is the way the subject is taught. History is boring to…

As far as I can tell from a reading of history, while some presidents were friends of clergy, who sometimes advised them, to my knowledge, none hired them as staff members. Until the presidency of Richard Nixon. It was during Nixon's administration that Charles Colson began mobilizing the evangelical community to support the president's policies and programs, seeing evangelicals as just another…

Only extreme partisans intent on denying President Trump any credit for any success would be critical of the operation he ordered that resulted in the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. These extreme partisans include Speaker Nancy Pelosi who, while praising the “heroism” of the special unit that conducted the raid on al-Baghdadi's location in Northern Syria, could not bring…

A new wrestling league is being promoted during TV coverage of Major League Baseball's post-season. The ad promises more action, more spectacle and includes women as well as men grappling with each other. I have two candidates for their consideration: Hillary Clinton and presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii). Last week Clinton accused Gabbard of being a “Russian asset” as she…

Since America's colonial days the press has been a target of those who believe journalists have a point of view that shapes their reporting. There have been numerous articles and studies revealing a journalistic predisposition to opinions and subjects that reinforce liberal points of view. Now comes an excellent critique from World Magazine editor Marvin Olasky. His latest book, “Reforming…

The debate about political power and authority among those who profess the Christian faith has raged since the 1st century. In modern America, the debate raged throughout Jimmy Carter's presidency and more recently through the presidencies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. The debate now looms large for Donald Trump. Newsweek magazine labeled 1976 “The Year of the Evangelical” because of Carter's…

Back when reruns were a staple of summer programming, television networks aired repeats of their programs, giving viewers another opportunity to see what they had already seen. Democratic politicians are now conducting their own version of reruns. The same bunch who brought us the failed Russian “collusion” story, the sliming of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and charges that President Trump is a…

How much credibility should we give to a 16-year-old when considering her qualifications to lecture adults about science and an end-of-the-world scenario? Greta Thunberg has been dubbed by the media as a “climate change activist” and a teen “eco-warrior.” She was at the United Nations in New York on Monday to appear before diplomats and others at a “climate action summit.” Only the UN has less…

They are all gone now; the men (and one woman) who were major influences in my early journalism career. The last two died within weeks of each other. They were Jack Perkins and Sander Vanocur, both veterans of NBC News where I started as a copyboy. My list of mentors is long. They were famous then, but most likely unknown to younger people today. Their signed pictures hang on my office wall,…