Latest from Cal Thomas
President Obama Is Unfaithfully Executing the Law In Service of Goal to 'Transform' America
November 17, 2014, 5:27 PM EST

President Obama is soon expected to issue an executive order that would make it possible for some illegal immigrants, many of whom are the parents of children who are American citizens, to live and work in this country without the threat of deportation, in effect granting amnesty to up to five million people.

Beyond concerns over the constitutionality of a president deciding which laws to uphold and which to ignore in violation of his oath to "faithfully execute" laws passed by Congress, is the effect these unauthorized immigrants will have on what we know as America.

Iran Nuclear Talks Are Like Bargaining with the Devil
November 6, 2014, 5:25 PM EST

Having missed a July deadline for reaching an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, the six world powers party to the talks -- the United States, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom and Germany -- have set November 24 as their new deadline. Iran says there will be no extension if a deal isn't reached.

Given the Obama administration's horrible record in the Middle East -- treating Israel as an enemy and Islamic dictatorships as potential friends -- things don't look good for an agreement that will curtail or reverse Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon

On the Supreme Court's Non-Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage
October 8, 2014, 5:29 PM EDT

Three points need to be made about Monday's decision by the Supreme Courtnot to decide whether the equal protection clause of the Constitution grants people of the same sex the right to marry.

Obama Spreads the Blame Around for Rise of ISIS
October 1, 2014, 9:25 PM EDT

"No one should be ashamed to admit they are wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that they are wiser today than they were yesterday." -- Alexander Pope

President Obama is known for wanting to "spread the wealth around," but he has now gone a step further. He is spreading blame around for his failure to notice the rapid rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

How Parents Can Help Combat Campus Sex Assault
September 30, 2014, 9:43 PM EDT

College freshmen are completing their first month on campus. According to the website The Other Freshman 15, "The first 15 weeks of college can be the riskiest for sexual assault. ... One out of five students experience rape or sexual assault while they are in college, and in the great majority of cases (75-80 percent), the victim knows the attacker."

Hillary's 'Steak' Is Not Well Done
September 16, 2014, 9:36 PM EDT

Prior to his annual steak fry, retiring Sen.Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said this about Hillary Clinton to Dan Balz of The Washington Post: "...she is much more progressive in her thoughts and her inclination than most people may think."

Liberals have embraced the word "progressive" because it sounds more forward-looking than "liberal," which has a track record voters periodically reject when the ideology doesn't live up to its declared goals (think Hubert Humphrey,George McGovern, Michael Dukakis, John Kerry, John Edwards and Al Gore, among others).

The McDonnell Corruption Verdict
September 9, 2014, 6:14 PM EDT

The soap opera that played out in Richmond these last weeks and ended with the convictions of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, on multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy charges is a tragedy for them, their children and the voters of Virginia.

Cal Thomas Column: Joan Rivers and Me
September 9, 2014, 5:39 PM EDT

We met by accident. How else could it have been with two people who are so different? Or are we?

It was the early 1980s when a tabloid called me. They were doing a story on Joan Rivers and thought I, a conservative, would give them a quote critical of her. I said, "I won't speak to you and I don't want to be quoted as saying I won't speak to you."

Cal Thomas Column: Scotland's Future Hangs in the Balance
August 28, 2014, 9:39 PM EDT

"The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry." -- Scottish poet Robert Burns, "To a Mouse" (1786)

CAIRNRYAN, Scotland -- For Americans whose knowledge of this beautiful land is limited to kilts, whiskey, bagpipes and the film "Braveheart," the forthcoming referendum on whether Scotland should remain part of the United Kingdom or become an independent nation will come as a curiosity at best.

Column: Lois Lowry's 'The Giver' a Portent of What Might Be?
July 29, 2014, 9:45 PM EDT

With his approval numbers sinking to 39 percent a week ago, according to the Gallup tracking poll, President Obama isn't alone in having a bad summer. So isHollywood.

Entertainment Weekly calls gross receipts for what should have been a blockbuster July 4-6 weekend "downright terrifying." Writes EW, "Not only were grosses down 45 percent from last year's holiday, according to Boxofficemojo.com, but it was Hollywood's worst July 4weekend since 1999. (And that's not taking into account inflation. In fact, this was the worst July-holiday weekend for ticket sales since the summer of Dragnet in 1987.)"

Cal Thomas Column: Don't Fence Me In
July 16, 2014, 5:50 PM EDT

At last, an Obama administration official has come out in favor of a fence. He promises it will bring security to people on both sides of the border.

Unfortunately, Philip Gordon, National Security Council coordinator for theMiddle East, North Africa and the Gulf, was not speaking of a border fence between the United States and Mexico, but a fence between the West Bank and the 1967 Israeli border. That fence, he said, would be built after Israelrelinquishes the territory in exchange for an empty promise of "peace" with the Palestinians.

Column: Our Arrogant President
July 1, 2014, 8:53 PM EDT

President Obama appears to have forgotten -- or ignored -- why we have elections. One reason is to stop, or slow down, an agenda the public doesn't like.

When polls began reflecting buyer's remorse about Mr. Obama in 2010, voters elected a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and might well have done the same in the Senate in 2012 were it not for some weak GOP candidates, especially in Nevada and Delaware.

Column: It's the Global Warming Alarmists Who Are the Real 'Deniers'
June 27, 2014, 6:08 PM EDT

People who refuse to drink the Kool-Aid known as global warming-climate change are not just "deniers"; we are guilty of a "nihilistic refusal" to address the issue. So says a Washington Post editorial commenting favorably on Monday'sSupreme Court ruling that allows theEnvironmental Protection Agency, under certain limits, to proceed under the Clean Air Act to regulate major sources of greenhouse-gas emissions.

The actual nihilists are those who refuse to accept any scientific information that undermines their claim that the globe is warming and humans are responsible for it. Cults are like that. Regardless of evidence contradicting their beliefs, cultists persist in blind faith.

Column: The Difference Between Republicans and Democrats
June 23, 2014, 6:05 PM EDT

It is a line I have used to open speeches on the lecture circuit for years and it never fails to get a laugh: "I'm happy to be here tonight from Washington, D.C., where the only politicians with convictions are in prison."

That's only partially true. Democrats have convictions. They know what to do with power when they get it and how to isolate, even punish, any member of their party who dares to take a different position on an issue. Republicans seem to constantly react to the policies of Democrats or slam each other instead of making a case for the superiority of their ideas. It doesn't help Republicans that they lack the Democrats' uniformity.

Column: Iraq Is On Its Own!
June 16, 2014, 10:09 PM EDT

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain..." (The Gettysburg Address)

No life is more wasted than one lost in vain.

Column: Obama's Taliban-Bergdahl Deal May Well Be a 'Bargain with the Devil'
June 4, 2014, 3:37 PM EDT

Euphoria over the Taliban's release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was quickly tempered by media reports that Bergdahl had abandoned his post and that his father made comments opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bergdahl's father tweeted, "I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay for the death of every Afghan child."

Does that include those children killed while being used as human shields by the Taliban? Where is Bergdahl's concern for women who die from "honor killings" and for girls who are denied an education?

Column: The Rich List and the West's Culture of Envy
May 28, 2014, 5:34 PM EDT

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- In the 1970s, while working as a low-paid cub reporter in Houston, Texas, I always looked forward to the annual Christmas catalogs from Neiman-Marcus and Sakowitz, a local luxury department store. Both contained outrageously expensive things that only the super-rich could afford -- his and hers Thunderbirds stick in my memory. My wife and I couldn't wait to thumb through them and we frequently laughed at how much some of the items cost, wondering if even rich Texans would spend so extravagantly.

Another tribute to conspicuous wealth comes in the annual "Rich List," a guide to the 1,000 richest men and women in Britain, published in a special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine. A fat feline sits proudly on the cover with the symbol of a British pound (in gold) around its neck.

Column: The VA, the NHS, and Choice
May 22, 2014, 6:28 PM EDT

PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland -- President Obama Wednesday replayed a familiar scenario when dealing with scandal, in this case delays for treatment, deaths, alleged cover-ups and other acts of malfeasance reported at Veterans Administration hospitals in the United States: first express outrage, next announce an investigation and then say he won't comment on the scandal until the results of the investigation are in, promising people will be held "accountable," if they violated the law. Good luck with that.

Column: Supreme Court Rules 5-4 on Public Prayer
May 8, 2014, 4:50 PM EDT

Ever since the Supreme Court ruled organized prayer and Bible study in public schools unconstitutional in the early 1960s, conservative Christians have been trying to re-enter the secular arena.

Take Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971). The case, The New York Times wrote last year, "...challenged a 1968 Pennsylvania law that reimbursed religious schools for some expenses, including teachers' salaries and textbooks, so long as they related to instruction on secular subjects also taught in the public schools. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger ... said the law violated the First Amendment's prohibition of government establishment of religion. The ruling set out what came to be known as the Lemon test, which requires courts to consider whether the challenged government practice has a secular purpose, whether its primary effect is to advance or inhibit religion, and whether it fosters excessive government entanglement with religion."

Column: Obama's Foreign Policy Is Nonexistent
April 28, 2014, 6:03 PM EDT

You know things are bad when you can't wait for the return of a TV character to demonstrate what resolve and leadership really look like. Yes, after a four-year hiatus, the show "24," featuring Jack Bauer (played by Kiefer Sutherland), returns May 5 to the Fox network.

Bauer displays many of the traits once found in, or at least expected of, American presidents and top military leaders. He doesn't waffle or wiggle; neither does he negotiate. He wins. If you think I am about to draw a contrast between Bauer and the current president of the United States you are right.