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Wesley Pruden

Wesley Pruden

wpruden@washingtontimes.com

Wesley Pruden would have wanted to spend his final hours at his keyboard, deftly deflating the pompous, entitled and arrogant of the political establishment, and he came awfully close. The venerable Washington Times editor, columnist and journalism institution was found dead July 17, 2019, at his home, after putting in a full day at the newsroom on New York Avenue in Northeast D.C., where he had worked since 1982, four months after the newspaper's founding. He was 83.
His remarkable career began 67 years ago as a teenage copy boy in Arkansas, making him among the few old-school newsmen whose sharp political acumen, elegant writing style, and keen sense of the absurd allowed him to remain as relevant in the digital age as he was in the days when the rumpled shirts of reporters were splattered with ink.
To read his obituary, please CLICK HERE

Articles by Wesley Pruden

Gen. James Conway            Associated Press photo

PRUDEN: Obama’s all-American show in Iraq

Several American presidents have had quarrels with their generals, sometimes for reluctance to take the fight to the enemy, occasionally for wanting to take too much fight to the foe.

September 22, 2014
George Washington    Portrait by Gilbert Stuart

PRUDEN: Scotland the brave, on the brink

Old Blighty and Scotland the Brave have a lot of friends in places where it won't do the kingdom much good this week. The vote on whether to break up the United Kingdom, which seems unbelievable to outsiders, is so close that even the queen is getting into it.

September 15, 2014
Douglas MacArthur      Associated Press photo

PRUDEN: Off to a war, maybe

Douglas MacArthur got it right, two or so generations ago. "In war," he said after he was sacked by President Truman for wanting to spend the blood and muscle of young Americans for something greater than stalemate in Korea, "there is no substitute for victory."

September 11, 2014
In this Sept. 6, 2014 image released by NBC, Chuck Todd, left, speaks with President Barack Obama prior to an interview for "Meet the Press" at the White House in Washington. Todd debuted as moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," Sunday, Sept. 7, bringing a low-key style and surrounding himself with fellow pundits as NBC turns to him to erase a slide that has taken the long-running Sunday morning political affairs program from first to third in the ratings. (AP Photo/NBC, William B. Plowman)

PRUDEN: When presidential boredom is not an option

President Obama's hair, like the locks of most of the presidents in their second terms, has turned white. He says he doesn't get enough sleep, but he's nevertheless energized, not exhausted. Bored is more like it.

September 8, 2014
Both President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron (right) have stepped up their rhetoric on the Islamic State group this week, and are hoping to rally international support for defeating the terrorist organization while attending the NATO summit. (Associated Press)

PRUDEN: Obama gets a booster shot in Britain

Barack Obama spent Thursday in Wales, surrounded by NATO allies, and he borrowed a little courage from David Cameron, the prime minister of Britain, who is fed up with the barbarism of rogue Muslims who have established a thriving nest in his country, incubating terrorists.

September 4, 2014
Mitt Romney

PRUDEN: Another look at a savvy loser

Mitt Romney would defeat Barack Obama if they were matched again today. One or two polls say so. But they're not matched today and a poll like that is only for a friendly conversation over a cup of coffee.

August 28, 2014
Sen. Rand Paul said former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's war record is likely to give independents and even some Democrats pause at the thought of supporting her in 2016.

PRUDEN: No naps for the war-weary

It's a little early for the candidates of '16 to start calling each other names, but they're loosening tongues, limbering voices and auditioning invective, anyway.

August 25, 2014
Paul Ryan, inspiring Democrats

PRUDEN: Democrats swimming in a sea turning red

Nobody reckons that election returns from Hawaii, stuck thousands of miles off the California coast in the vast reaches of the Pacific, have much to say about national political trends. Nevertheless, disappointment and disgust with the established order has reached across the waves.

August 11, 2014
Mao Zedong

PRUDEN: Something heroic for Obama’s legacy

Unless he can find something and find it quickly, Barack Obama isn't going to like his legacy. The man who once walked on water may soon find himself at the bottom of the lake.

August 7, 2014
Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first Treasury secretary

PRUDEN: Cooling the manufactured impeachment panic

Manufacturing a crisis is what pundits and politicians do best, and the media mills are running three shifts daily now to manufacture panic over what the Democrats want the public to think is the impending impeachment of President Obama.

July 31, 2014
Elizabeth Warren (Associated Press)

PRUDEN: The Democratic-wannabe mice under Hillary Clinton’s feet

If Hillary Clinton is inevitable, why are so many mice scurrying about under her feet? Hillary is supposed to be the juggernaut of the ages, awash in money, feminist adulation and nostalgia for the security and serenity of the Clinton years, when nothing much happened beyond Bubba's Oval Office pantry.

July 24, 2014