Cal Thomas

We’ve heard it all before. In fact, a recording of last year’s State of the Union could have been replayed, saving President Biden a trip to Capitol Hill. Numbers can be selectively used to hide reality and advance one’s political agenda. Both parties do this, but Democrats and their media allies do it better. It’s important to go beyond the claims of success. For example, at the time of Biden…

Say the words “espionage” and “communism” to a younger generation and they might think you’re talking about spy novels and Cold War history. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thinks both words describe contemporary threats. During a visit to a town made famous by the 1948 film starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore and Lauren Bacall, Pompeo told me he believes the…

No adjective is sufficient to describe the reaction one gets from watching five Memphis police officers beat 29-year-old Tyre Nichols to within an inch of his life. He later died of his injuries in a local hospital. “Inhumane” and “senseless” are as close as it comes. While Nichols was accused of “reckless driving,” it was an insufficient charge to cause such a violent reaction by the five…

In our relativistic age in which everyone has his or her own “truth” and none is to be preferred over another so long as the individual feels good about it, why should anything be considered scandalous? If truth is subjective rather than objective, who is to say what is right and what is wrong? And if one does make such a claim, is that not an affirmation that a standard exists by which truth…

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Like Halley’s Comet that only comes around every 75 years, the resignation of a top politician from office is a rare occurrence. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has quit and not for the usual reasons of scandal or the all-purpose excuse “to spend more time with my family.” In a burst of honesty worthy of emulation by other leaders, Ardern has resigned because she says…

“I’m gonna live forever, baby, remember my name” – (from “Fame”) The death at age 54 of Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis, got me thinking again about the two-edged sword that is fame. Poems, books, even movies have addressed fame, how some people even lust after it and how it seems to ruin more lives than it helps. Once you have attained fame you can never live as normal people…

SYDNEY – Last July, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley, visited Jakarta where he said China’s military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the past five years. While the U.S. has seemed fixated on China’s growing verbal threats and military maneuvers around Taiwan, Milley and others, including some in Australia, are concerned that China’s…

HONOLULU – If one discounts Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Hawaii is about as far – geographically and politically – from Washington, D.C., as one can get. There are just six Republicans out of 51 in the State House of Representatives and two out of 25 in the Senate. One of them is Rep. Gene Ward, who has spent a total of 24 years in the legislative minority. A mark of his effectiveness is that in…

After months of ignoring the problem and demonstrably false claims by his Homeland Security secretary that the southern border is “secure,” President Biden is finally visiting the area this week as part of a trip to Mexico. Last week, the administration announced it would immediately begin turning away Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Why are laws…

Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt.” – Herbert Hoover. “Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt.” – Benjamin Franklin Eighteen Republican senators voted for the monstrosity known as the $1.7 trillion Omnibus spending bill, thus forever relinquishing their claim to belong to a party committed to less spending, smaller government, and…

In a theatrical performance the worst thing that can happen is to have a predictable outcome. That is precisely what occurred with the Jan. 6 Committee, which has referred former President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution on four counts – “influencing or impeding an official proceeding of the U.S. government”, “conspiring to defraud the U.S”, “unlawfully,…

When King David ruled over all of Israel, one of the many Psalms he wrote included this verse: “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.” (Psalm 146:3-4 NIV) On Election Night last month, some TV anchors and commentators were already speculating over who would run for…

If you like cream in your coffee (if not, the analogy works with any other drink), keep pouring after you have reached what you would normally drink. If you pour the cream long enough it will replace the coffee. That is what is happening at what used to be our southern border before the Biden administration virtually eliminated any barriers to keep migrants and fentanyl from pouring in. It is…

NEW YORK – I was a teenager when I first visited New York. The flight cost $15 on the Eastern Airlines Shuttle from Washington, D.C. You could buy your ticket from a flight attendant on board. She (and it was always a she back then) would roll a cart down the aisle with a credit card device on top. New York in the ’60s was THE place to visit. There was Greenwich Village with folk music.…