Cal Thomas's blog

Radical Islam’s ‘Manchurian Candidate’?

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:51:47 -0500

President Obama’s appointment of Rashad Hussain, his deputy associate counsel, as special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, charged with safeguarding and protecting “the interests of the Muslim world,” should be of serious concern to Congress and the American public.

Taxing history’s unlearned lessons

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:16:05 -0500

“What experience and history teach is this — that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.” (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, “The Philosophy of History,” 1837)

The President and the Republicans

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:21:36 -0500

President Obama was right to converse with congressional Republicans last Friday in Baltimore. Cynics may label it as political theater, but I suspect the public appreciated the give-and-take.

Personhood

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:11:23 -0500

Among the interesting arguments in last week’s 5-4 Supreme Court decision granting corporations First Amendment protections when making campaign contributions was the majority’s decision to effectively treat corporations as persons.

Something about that name . . .

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:35:06 -0500

The secular left — and some self-described Christians — criticize Brit Hume, the Fox News commentator, for suggesting that the solution to Tiger Woods’ problems is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Hume made his remarks on “Fox News Sunday.” Disclosure: I also appear on Fox News.

A war by any other name

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:18:39 -0500

Suppose Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the Christmas Day underwear bomber, had succeeded and blown up Northwest Airlines flight 253, killing nearly 300 people on board and perhaps others on the ground? Would the response of the Obama administration have been different?

Malfunctions

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:23:23 -0500

Had it not been for a malfunctioning detonator, nearly 300 people traveling on a Christmas Day flight might have perished. Only the faulty device, along with some fast-acting passengers, prevented a disaster.

The perfect gift this Christmas

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:01:31 -0500

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.

Tiger Woods and the culture’s loss of shame

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:34:04 -0500

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?”

How to create jobs without really trying

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:54:53 -0500

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.

Debatable healthcare bill

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:54:57 -0500

Assuming a rock-solid 40 Republicans stand against the healthcare reform bill now being debated in the Senate, it will take just one Democrat or independent to derail this monstrosity, which along with its House companion, may be the most disastrous piece of legislation ever to be this close to enactment by Congress.

Sarah Palin and the Future of Conservatism

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:57:34 -0500

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.

Welcome to the U.S.S.A.

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:20:15 -0500

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.

E. Pluribus Diversity?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:18:08 -0500

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.

Can 10th Amendment save us?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:20:38 -0500

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?