October 19, 2010
Cal Thomas
Stories this photo appears in:
THOMAS: Marco Rubio: A Hispanic Reagan?
Conservatives have been dreaming that a political reincarnation of Ronald Reagan would lead them to an electoral promised land.
THOMAS: Suppose Michele Bachmann is right?
The specter of the late commie-hunting congressman from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, is summoned up today by some on the left who use it as a tool to thwart legitimate questions about people and ideologies that seek to destroy America.
Cal Thomas: Egg on Face(book)
The old maxim "There's a sucker born every minute" can be amended in the Internet age. Today, there's a sucker born every second.
THOMAS: The media's religion deficit
Evidence of big media's bias against religion that doesn't advance the secular and liberal agenda of the Democratic Party is beyond dispute. Any faith attached to a conservative agenda is to be ridiculed, stereotyped and misrepresented.
THOMAS: In actual Titanic disaster, the powerful sacrificed for powerless
In Titanic's demise, acts of self-sacrifice that shattered stereotypes about "the rich" were revealed.
THOMAS: Rush's sincere apology and the left's double standard
The first apology by Rush Limbaugh, posted on his website over the weekend, sounded forced, qualified, almost defensive. The second, broadcast live on his Monday show, sounded sincere and heartfelt.
THOMAS: Time to cut our losses and leave Afghanistan
Most wars have a turning point that either signals the road to victory or the ditch of defeat. In Afghanistan, we may have met ours.
THOMAS: Losing liberty little by little, law by law
Liberty is always tenuous. Those who enjoy it seem to be a minority in the world. That's why liberty must not only be preserved by those who currently benefit from it; it must also be fought for and constantly renewed for future generations, because there are always those who wish to restrict or eliminate our freedoms.
CAL THOMAS: It's complicated
As America grows more secular, less religious and less married, appeals to "morality" will increasingly fall on deaf ears.
CAL THOMAS: Not by sight, but by faith
The blessing of what was once called the "Religious Right" fell on the once-married Rick Santorum and not the thrice married and more recent convert to Catholicism, Newt Gingrich. The endorsement came on the same weekend when Tebow-mania was at its height...
CAL THOMAS: Conservatives need a media option play
Clearly the questions by ABC's George Stephanopoulos and Diane Sawyer about contraception and same-sex marriage were asked to trap the GOP candidates into delivering sound bites that the Obama re-election campaign could use against the eventual nominee and the party at large. These were the types of accusatory questions that would never be asked of a Democratic president.
CAL THOMAS: Threat of radical Islam spreads to TV
LISBON, Portugal — Next door in Spain, two new satellite TV stations recently signed on. They won't be airing "Judge Judy," but instead are broadcasting Islamic theology and political propaganda.
CAL THOMAS: China's JFK moment
China has announced an ambitious five-year plan that includes the launch of space laboratories, a manned spaceship to the moon and the creation of its own global satellite navigation system that will almost certainly be used for military purposes.. The announcement comes six months after the United States ended
CAL THOMAS: Increasingly idiotic pop culture leads to dumb voters
Evidence of the dumbing-down of America is everywhere.
CAL THOMAS: Justice Dept's take on voter photo ID laws discriminatory
Is there, or should there ever be, a point when a state is no longer penalized for its discriminatory past? Not according to the Department of Justice, which last Friday rejected a South Carolina law that would have required voters show a valid photo ID before casting their ballots.
THOMAS: Certain prediction for 2012 — government waste
It's time for taxpayers to put bloated governments on a diet.
CAL THOMAS: Grieving our fallen troops at Christmas
“There’s a grief that can’t be spoken. There's a pain goes on and on. Empty chairs at empty tables. Now my friends are dead and gone." -- Marius, from the musical "Les Miserables". "It's the most wonderful time of the year," Andy Williams reminds us over tinny speakers in crowded shopping malls. It may be
CAL THOMAS: Death of an atheist
I have always found atheists to be interesting people because they just may be the world's smallest minority group, one that gets smaller still as its members pass on and meet God face to face.
CAL THOMAS: By his own words, Obama shouldn't get second term
In his latest in a series of interviews on "60 Minutes" last Sunday night, the president took positions that are the polar opposite of what he was saying as recently as last spring.
THOMAS: Romney out in front
Romney in front. For weeks the media has complained that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been shielded from probing interviews. The criticism is valid. With the exception of a recent Bret Baier interview on Fox News Channel, Romney's staffers have tried to preserve what they believe to be his
THOMAS: It's a tough time for Jews
It's a tough time for Jews. In a season in which there is very little "peace on Earth" and even less "good will towards men," it is a particularly tough time for Jews, who may be finding it more and more difficult to tell who their real friends are
THOMAS: Adultery no longer the political kiss of death?
In our not too distant past, a feeling of shame made people go into hiding after an adulterous relationship was exposed. Now they go on television to talk about the sleazy details. They either deny it (Herman Cain), admit it and say they've asked God for forgiveness (Newt Gingrich), or
THOMAS: 1941 was a December to remember
In his masterful new book "December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World," Craig Shirley takes readers back to a very different America. Through hundreds of stories and advertisements culled from newspapers, Shirley not only transports us back to that tumultuous time, but reminds this generation
THOMAS: Compassionate conservatism: The sequel?
Those who come into the U.S. illegally should not escape the consequences of our laws.
THOMAS: If Israel disappears, shame on us
Israel -- like the Jewish people for centuries -- has become the fall guy for people who prefer their anti-Semitism cloaked in diplomatic niceties. The Palestinians could have peace any time they wish and probably a state, too, if they acknowledged Israel's right to exist and practiced verbal, religious
THOMAS: Norway joins unsafe world
When parents send their children off to summer camp, they reasonably expect them to return refreshed and more attuned with the world than when they left home.
THOMAS: Keeping hope alive for real
Robert Woodson would probably wince if you called him a ‘‘community organizer.’’ That’s because for the last 30 years as president of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, he has not spent time organizing the poor around ineffective government programs and other addictions he has been helping them become self-sufficient.
THOMAS: Solution to the debt menace
Here’s a safe prediction: The ‘‘bipartisan’’ group of congressmen led by Vice President Joe Biden will fail to solve the $14 trillion debt crisis.
THOMAS: What are you worth?
Back in the American Wild West, federal and state governments often put a price on the heads of infamous outlaws like Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Sam Bass, Belle Star and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
THOMAS: Walker may emerge as GOP leader
When three-fourths of the Boston Police Department went on strike in 1919, leading to broken shop windows and looting, then-Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge called out the state militia and broke the strike. Coolidge declared, ‘‘There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.’’
THOMAS: Faith in liberty is Reagan legacy
On the centenary of Ronald Reagan’s birth, I pause for another historic event: agreement with President Obama, who says of his predecessor in USA Today, ‘‘Ronald Wilson Reagan was a believer ... he recognized that each of us has the power — as individuals and as a nation — to shape our own destiny. He had faith in the American promise; in the importance of reaffirming values like hard work and personal responsibility; and in his own unique ability to inspire others to greatness.’’
THOMAS: The Liberal Empire strikes back
The left apparently has taken to heart the admonition of former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to ‘‘never let a serious crisis go to waste.’’
THOMAS: Probes can save money, possibly lives
Given the Democrats’ track record of investigating Republican administrations, they will lack credibility when they protest Republicans investigating actions by the Obama administration. Oversight is a primary function of any Congress.
THOMAS: Battle of Constitutionalists vs. the 'Interpretationists'
The new House Republican leadership is smart to inaugurate their return to power by reading aloud the U.S. Constitution on the House floor. Recalling America’s founding principles is never a bad idea. To some on the left, though, the Constitution doesn’t mean what it says, but is to be interpreted by judges and politicians. To liberals, this means the document is useful only when it advances a ‘‘progressive’’ economic, political and social agenda. Otherwise, it must be considered a relic of a bygone era.
A prediction you can count on
You don’t have to be a psychic who forecasts future events for supermarket tabloids to accurately predict what awaits the new congressional Republican class of 2011. The writing is already on the computer screens and in the TV teleprompters.
THOMAS: We need an ounce of prevention
Which do you think is less expensive, not to mention preferable: a cure for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes, or caring for people with these diseases? Wouldn’t it be better medical and public policy to direct more resources toward finding a cure for diseases that cost a lot to treat than to rely on a government insurance program, such as Obamacare, which seeks mainly to help pay the bills for people after they become ill?
THOMAS: Big government needs diet advice from Brits
Thirty-six years ago when he first ran for Congress, Lake Jackson, Texas, obstetrician Ron Paul rented billboards depicting a seriously obese Uncle Sam with the caption, ‘‘Put Big Government on a Diet.’’
THOMAS: Obama can't get enough of himself
President Barack Obama reminds me of the type of man so many single women complain about on a date. He only wants to talk about himself: ‘‘But enough about me, now what do you think about me?’’
THOMAS: Where to cut spending from the budget?
In the last two years, spending by the current Congress has increased 21.4 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
THOMAS: Slippery slope from stem cells to much worse
Researchers announced Monday they had injected embryonic stem cells into a patient suffering from a spinal cord injury. It marked the world’s first human clinical trial of a procedure developed from such a source. The procedure took place at Shepherd Center, a spinal cord injury facility in Atlanta. The use of embryonic stem cells for such purposes had been banned under the Bush administration, but allowed under the Obama administration.
THOMAS: 'Secretariat' a movie of a another caliber
In 1977, things were similarly gloomy. The misery index under President Jimmy Carter reflected the mood of many Americans. The president would come to speak of an America that had seen its best days and he told us we were going to have to cut back on everything, including our vision of a greater America.
THOMAS: Superman has departed the school building
“Waiting for Superman’’ is the new film by documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, director of ‘‘An Inconvenient Truth,’’ and it should be mandatory viewing for every member of Congress.
THOMAS: Republicans strike a good note with pledge
All public policy is founded on an underlying philosophy about humanity and the world. Some call it a ‘‘worldview,’’ but whatever it is called, everything government does (or does not do) derives from a philosophical foundation on which it is constructed.
THOMAS: The Obama edition of academic freedom
Raise your hand if you believe government has too little involvement in our lives. Put down your hands, members of the Obama administration.
THOMAS: Establishment in the crosshairs of tea party
Forty-four years ago, Bob Dylan released an album with the incendiary title “While the Establishment Burns.” That could serve as a metaphor for what seems to be happening to the Washington establishment in general and the Republican Party establishment in particular.
THOMAS: America, follow the lead of Cuba
In arguing against extending the Bush-era tax cuts for ‘‘the wealthy,’’ President Barack Obama claims the government can’t afford to ‘‘borrow’’ the estimated $700 billion he says it will ‘‘cost government.’’ What about the cost of tax increases for those earning the money? It’s funny how the president doesn’t mind borrowing money that has put us on a trajectory for a national debt exceeding $13 trillion.
THOMAS: Evil must be purged before it destroys us
Terry Jones, the Florida ‘‘minister’’ who threatened to burn the Quran on the anniversary of Sept. 11, is as much a distraction from the real challenge facing America as was Sen. Joseph McCarthy when it came to communism. Communism was — and remains in its Chinese incarnation — a real threat. But radical Islam — rabid, advancing, intolerant, subjugating — is potentially a bigger one and must be conquered.
THOMAS: With Obama's policies, just send in the clowns
It is important to understand the plot line in the tragedy called Washington politics before one can appreciate the play, or not.
THOMAS: Reviewing the 'book' on Iraq combat mission
In his Oval Office address Tuesday night announcing the end of combat operations in Iraq, President Obama said ‘‘It’s time to turn the page’’ and start focusing on rebuilding the American economy.
THOMAS: Liberals begin to turn against Obamanomics
President Barack Obama may have experienced his Walter Cronkite moment over the economy.
THOMAS: Our big-spending ways must come to an end
In 2008, ‘‘60 Minutes’’ visited Denmark to report on a survey of international happiness conducted by Leicester University in England that concluded Danes are among the happiest people on Earth. The reason? They have low expectations and thus, as Morley Safer noted, ‘‘are rarely disappointed.’’
THOMAS: West not learning much from Middle East history
“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’’
THOMAS: Outsourcing: A solution to public debt
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — British Prime Minister David Cameron is calling for reinforcements to help him deal with the country’s massive debt, which has been caused by nonstop spending, severe recession and declining tax revenue. According to the UK’s Centre for Policy Studies, at the end of 2008, the national debt was 1,340 billion pounds ($2,090 billion US), which was 103.5 percent of GDP. This figure includes all the public sector pension liabilities such as pensions, and Private Finance Initiative contracts. It’s likely that figures for last year will be even more alarming.
THOMAS: Mosque part of Islam's plan to import radicals
After months of dithering by the White House about the ‘‘ground zero mosque’’ in lower Manhattan, President Barack Obama endorsed the project at an Iftar dinner Friday night. The president said, ‘‘... as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.’’
THOMAS: Downsizing defense
As Republicans take their case to the voters in November about the Obama administration's massive overspending and record debt, they should seriously consider what could be a rare bipartisan objective: cutting defense spending
THOMAS: One judge negates the will of 7 million voters
SAN DIEGO — A nation that does not see in law a right to life for its unborn children and a court that allows more than 50 million of them to be killed claiming a nonexistent ‘‘penumbra’’ in the Constitution is not about to acquire a moral — much less a constitutional — backbone when it comes to same-sex ‘‘marriage.’’
THOMAS: Radical Islam keeps up efforts on invading US
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich may be the most notable public figure in some time to state the obvious: radical Islam is a clear and present danger to America.
THOMAS: Ready or not, rationed care is in our future
PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told a group of liberal activists meeting in Las Vegas they shouldn’t worry about not getting the single-payer provision in the new health care law. ‘‘We’re going to have a public option,’’ Reid said. ‘‘It’s just a question of when.’’
THOMAS: Cleaning up Washington is no easy task
Given what members of Congress get away with these days, it takes a lot to break House ethics rules. But that’s what a House ethics subcommittee has accused 20-term Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., of doing. Rangel might have avoided a trial had he admitted to any of the charges against him, but after 40 years in Congress, it’s as if he sees himself as invincible. Rangel will face a jury of his congressional peers, which, to some, might look a lot like organized crime members trying one of their own.
THOMAS: Government waste gets outsourced
In another country also called America, there were no credit cards and excessive debt was seen as a character flaw. In that America, my grandparents and their parents had discussions when they wanted to buy almost anything. The conversations focused on two questions: Can we afford it and do we need it? If the answer to either question was ‘‘no,’’ they didn’t buy it.
THOMAS: America is realizing its big mistake
The latest Washington Post/ABC News Poll tells the story: Nearly six in 10 voters say they have ‘‘just some’’ or no confidence in President Obama to make the right decisions for the country.
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