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Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas

tcaeditors@tribune.com

Cal Thomas is one of the most widely syndicated political columnists in America. Based in Washington, he is a wide-ranging social commentator, not a "beltway insider," who supports traditional conservative values and the American "can-do spirit." He'll take on virtually any topic, from the decline of the family to growing terrorism worldwide.
A syndicated columnist since 1984, he is the author of “America’s Expiration Date: The Fall of Empires, Superpowers and the United States” (HarperCollins/Zondervan, January 2020). His latest book is “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen in 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books, May 2023). Readers may email Mr. Thomas at tcaeditors@tribune.com.

Columns by Cal Thomas

Illustration on Trump's critics and his success by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

How Trump critics respond to success

President Trump's critics, who include many establishment Republicans, are finding themselves left with few issues given the president's recent string of successes.

March 12, 2018
North Korea's Broken Promises Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

Only fools believe North Korea

To what shall North Korea's latest pronouncement to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for certain "security" guarantees be compared?

March 7, 2018
FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2002 file photo, composer Harvey Schmidt appears at the final performance of "The Fantasticks," at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in New York. Schmidt died Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 at the age of 88. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, File)

Harvey Schmidt was fantastic

You wonder how these things begin. For Harvey Schmidt, co-writer of the longest-running musical in history — who died last week at 88 — and his collaborator, Tom Jones, it began when the two were students at the University of Texas.

March 5, 2018
Donald the Dragon Slayer Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

Boldly going like no president before

Of all the promises candidate Donald Trump made during the 2016 presidential campaign, none will be more difficult to fulfill than cutting the size and cost of the federal government. That's because Congress, which must decide whether to keep a federal agency, has the final word in such matters and spending, especially since spending in one's home state or district, is what keeps so many of them in office. Who doubts that self-preservation is the primary objective of most members of Congress?

February 28, 2018
Illustration on police protection of schools by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

Why deterrence can work

MIAMI — The list of failures in the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, are becoming legion. If any or all of those failures had been addressed, 17 students and teachers might be alive today.

February 26, 2018
Illustration on interference in the voting process by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

Russians are not the only actors in the 2016 election

The indictment of 13 Russians and three companies for allegedly creating a "sophisticated network designed to subvert the 2016 election and to support the Trump campaign" is only half the story. While the Justice Department targeted foreign influence, others could have easily said something about the role U.S. media played in influencing the election's outcome. While not criminal, the U.S. media should at least be shamed for its unrestrained bias for and against both left and right.

February 21, 2018
People participate in a candlelight vigil in memory of the 17 students and faculty who were killed in the Wednesday mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. Nikolas Cruz, a former student, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder on Thursday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Warning signs ignored again

Reaction to the latest school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead and many more wounded begins at the wrong end. It's not about passing more gun laws, which people intent on breaking existing laws will not obey; rather it is about heeding warning signs and doing something before it is too late.

February 19, 2018
Illustration on welfare and poverty by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

The war that never ends

There is a war that has lasted longer than the one in Afghanistan. It is the so-called "war on poverty," launched by President Lyndon Johnson during his State of the Union address on Jan. 8, 1964.

February 14, 2018
ADVANCE FOR RELEASE SUNDAY, DEC. 31, 2017 AND THEREAFTER -FILE - In this Saturday, April 26, 2014 file photo, the sun shines through concertina wire on a fence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La. Nearly two years after the January 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prison inmates who killed as teenagers are capable of change and may deserve eventual freedom, the question remains unresolved: Which ones should get a second chance? (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

American prisons are overcrowded, cost too much and confine many who should not be in jail

It didn't seem to fit in President Trump's State of the Union address, perhaps something tossed in at the last minute, like a garnish. But there it was: "As America regains its strength, opportunity must be extended to all citizens. That is why this year we will embark on reforming our prisons, to help former inmates who have served their time get a second chance at life."

February 7, 2018
Democrat Blinders Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

The memo and the truth

Partisans tend to read, watch and listen only, or mostly, to information and opinions that reinforce their beliefs. If information surfaces that counters those beliefs, it is usually disparaged, excused or ignored. That's human nature.

February 5, 2018
President Donald Trump delivers his first State of the Union address in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 in Washington. (Win McNamee/Pool via AP)

The state of President Trump

President Trump's first State of the Union address set a new standard. For himself. If he lives up to that standard in future speeches, he may go far in changing his image from a blustering, ad-libbing "entertainer," to someone who looks and sounds, shall I say it, more "presidential."

January 31, 2018
Red States Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

How high taxes produce a moving experience

One reason Democrats seem so fixated on importing illegal immigrants and allowing their children to stay and become citizens may be the exodus from high-tax and traditionally Democratic states.

January 24, 2018
Illustration on the need for term limits by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

Blame ‘we the people’ for the shutdown

If we don't like what is happening in Washington — and few do — the blame must be placed squarely where it belongs. It is "we the people" who send these people here.

January 22, 2018
FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump turns to talk to the gathered media during a Christmas Eve video teleconference with members of the military at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump has stormed into 2018 in an exceptionally aggressive mood, picking fresh fights with Pakistan and the Palestinians, and touting the size of his "nuclear button" in a threat to North Korea. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Bret Stephens, New York Times columnist, uncloaked

I do not make it a practice to comment on the work of fellow columnists, though occasionally some care to comment on mine, which is fine. I'm happy to help them make a living. An exception will be made here because of The New York Times "conservative" columnist, Bret Stephens.

January 3, 2018
Illustration on reconciliation between Democrat and Republican by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

Why everyone must stop treating political opposites as a burdensome mother-in-law

DUBLIN, Ireland — "Try a Little Tenderness" is a song written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods. According to Wikipedia, it was first recorded on Dec. 8, 1932, by the Ray Noble Orchestra (with vocals by Val Rosing). Probably these names are as unfamiliar to us today as the demonstration of tenderness is in our modern political culture.

January 1, 2018