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Cal Thomas is America's most widely syndicated op-ed columnist. 540 newspapers in the United States and abroad carry the column, now syndicated by Tribune Media Services in Chicago. For sixteen years Cal Thomas's column was distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
Cal Thomas began his nearly 40-year journalism career as a copyboy for NBC News in his native Washington, D.C. Cal Thomas also has worked as a general assignment reporter and anchor for KPRC-TV in Houston and for NBC News in Washington.
For two years Cal Thomas hosted his own show on CNBC. It was nominated for a Cable Ace award as the best interview program on cable. Cal Thomas is a commentator/analyst for the Fox News Channel and appears weekly as a panelist on "Fox News Watch."
Cal Thomas is an author of ten books, including Blinded by Might: Why the Religious Right Can't Save America (HarperCollins/Zondervan). His latest is, The Wit and Wisdom of Cal Thomas.
Cal Thomas is married and he and his wife, Ray, who is a family therapist, have four grown children. They live in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Cal Thomas (Dec 29, 2011)
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... more
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Cal Thomas (Dec 27, 2011)
According to the Mayan "long count" calendar, the final day on Earth is less than a year away, on Dec. 21, 2012.???
While we wait to see if that... more
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Cal Thomas (Dec 22, 2011)
"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... more
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Cal Thomas (Dec 20, 2011)
Perhaps not since Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Carl Sagan has there been such an "evangelical" atheist as Christopher Hitchens, the writer and social commentator who died last... more
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Cal Thomas (Dec 15, 2011)
President Obama doesn't suffer from amnesia, but apparently he hopes the public does.
In his latest in a series of interviews on "60 Minutes" last Sunday night, the... more
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Cal Thomas (Dec 13, 2011)
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... more
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Cal Thomas (Dec 08, 2011)
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
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Cal Thomas (Dec 06, 2011)
We live in a bipolar culture. We allow ourselves to be drenched in sexual images in movies, on television and on the Internet and then defend First Amendment protection to... more
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Cal Thomas (Dec 01, 2011)
Seventy years ago this month, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and brought America into a war that had begun in Europe in 1939.
In his masterful new book "December 1941:... more
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Cal Thomas (Nov 29, 2011)
During the presidential campaign of 2000, George W. Bush was criticized by some conservatives for calling himself a "compassionate conservative." Some believed the term to be... more
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Cal Thomas (Nov 24, 2011)
For more than half my life I was a 99-percenter. I kept my first pay stubs in the news business to remind me where I came from and what was necessary in order to get where I... more
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Cal Thomas (Nov 22, 2011)
Now it's Newt's turn. Having risen to the top in some opinion polls, the former speaker of the House is taking heat for large consulting fees paid to him by the... more
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Cal Thomas (Nov 15, 2011)
"Success with Honor" is the motto of Penn State's athletic program. They got it half right.
The alleged sexual abuse of young boys by former defensive coordinator Jerry... more
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Cal Thomas (Nov 10, 2011)
If ever there was a time when "see, I told you so" was warranted, it is now as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports this week that Iran is close to... more
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Cal Thomas (Nov 08, 2011)
In 2007 when she was running for president, Hillary Rodham Clinton told a fundraising event in Carson City, Nev., "I sure don't want Democrats, or the supporters of... more
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Cal Thomas (Nov 03, 2011)
When it comes to sex, the media apply different standards to Republicans and Democrats.
Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton allegedly trolled for women, using state troopers... more
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Cal Thomas (Nov 01, 2011)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Eagles last Tuesday granted a request for a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks a provision in North... more
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Cal Thomas (Oct 27, 2011)
Republican Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana last weekend won re-election with a staggering 65.8 percent of the vote in a state that remains heavily Democratic. It is,... more
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Cal Thomas (Oct 25, 2011)
"Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust." -- Queen
Forgive me if I don't join the State Department,... more
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Cal Thomas (Oct 20, 2011)
At the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Sen. Barack Obama said, "...There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America --... more
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Cal Thomas (Oct 18, 2011)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sometimes sounds as if she has cast aside any attachment to reality. Responding to a bill co-authored by Rep. Joe Pitts, Pennsylvania... more
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Cal Thomas (Oct 13, 2011)
It was said of Al Smith, a Roman Catholic, that if he won the 1928 presidential election he would take orders from the Vatican and not uphold the Constitution.
John F.... more
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Cal Thomas (Oct 11, 2011)
The death of one of the great innovators of our time, or any time -- Steve Jobs -- brings a question asked by Pete Seeger in another context. To paraphrase: Where have all... more
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Cal Thomas (Oct 07, 2011)
It's Supreme's week in Washington and I don't mean the Motown group once led by Diana Ross.
The Supreme Court is back in session and the nine justices will consider a... more
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Cal Thomas (Oct 06, 2011)
New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie probably had more suitors than Portia in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" and yet in the end he made the right decision... more
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Cal Thomas (Oct 04, 2011)
Listening to some establishment Republicans grousing about the field of GOP presidential candidates should serve as a warning. Republicans, if they are not careful, are in... more
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Cal Thomas (Sep 29, 2011)
You know President Obama thinks he is in trouble with his liberal base when he lapses into what used to be called "jive talk" before an audience of Congressional Black Caucus... more
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Cal Thomas (Sep 27, 2011)
There isn't much about dysfunctional government that shocks me anymore,
but this story did.
According to a report by the Office of Personnel Management and... more
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Cal Thomas (Sep 22, 2011)
The cultural and media snobs are trying to explain Texas to those who don't know the difference between a steer and a bull. If you fall into this category, a steer has... more
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Cal Thomas (Sep 20, 2011)
The world -- or at least the large part of it that hates Israel and wishes it would go away -- moves a step nearer that goal this week when the United Nations votes on... more
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Cal Thomas (Sep 15, 2011)
"If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person." -- Bill Clinton
Nearly... more
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Cal Thomas (Sep 08, 2011)
The show business publication "Variety" reports "40-plus programs expected to commemorate 10th anniversary of (9-11) attacks." And those are just the specials. They don't... more
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Cal Thomas (Sep 06, 2011)
This will be a stretch for some, but stay with me. Suppose someone presented a plan that is guaranteed to achieve the objectives everyone (or almost everyone serious about... more
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Cal Thomas (Sep 01, 2011)
In advance of a "major speech" on the economy and jobs, President Obama has selected Princeton University professor Alan Krueger to be chairman of the Council of Economic... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 30, 2011)
In my high school days before sex and environmental education and the
general dumbing down of the population, memorization of some Shakespeare
was expected in Miss... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 25, 2011)
Name a single Arab or Islamic state, which, after a revolution that has overthrown a dictator, came to embrace political pluralism, religious tolerance and equal rights for... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 23, 2011)
While the federal government continues to drown in a sea of debt, several states are reporting surpluses, thanks to policies Washington would do well to emulate.
Nowhere... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 18, 2011)
As defined by Collins English Dictionary, a bigot is "a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, especially on religion, politics, or race."
In... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 16, 2011)
BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Some of those caught looting stores last week in Britain were asked why they did it. Four teenagers explained to Sky News that they viewed it as... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 11, 2011)
Mark Hatfield, 89, who died last weekend in his native Oregon, was the first Christian politician I recall meeting in Washington, which is to say he did more than keep a... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 11, 2011)
PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland -- Some have compared the riots in the UK to the London Blitz. It's a flawed comparison. The strategic bombing of London in 1940 came from an... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 09, 2011)
My father was a product of the Great Depression and World War II. Like so many others of his generation, he, like his parents before him, knew how to "do without."
When... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 04, 2011)
According to the website Politico, Vice President Joe Biden agreed "with a line of argument made by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) at a two-hour, closed-door Democratic Caucus... more
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Cal Thomas (Aug 02, 2011)
DENVER -- Some wives don't want their husbands to run for president -- Alma Powell (Colin Powell) and Cheri Daniels (Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels).
Texas Republican... more
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Cal Thomas (Jul 28, 2011)
Texas Republican governor and potential presidential candidate Rick Perry will headline a "Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis" on Aug. 6 at Reliant Stadium in... more
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Cal Thomas (Jul 26, 2011)
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. Even in... more
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Cal Thomas (Jul 21, 2011)
PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland -- "Glee" is not just an American TV show, it is also the emotion many people feel and express toward the trouble Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is... more
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Cal Thomas (Jul 19, 2011)
PLYMOUTH NOTCH, Vt. -- If your disgust over America's crushing debt and the irresponsible leaders who refuse to reduce unnecessary spending has reached the fed-up point,... more
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Cal Thomas (Jul 14, 2011)
The Constitution is specific when it prohibits a "religious test" for "any office or public trust" -- Article VI, Paragraph III.
That doesn't mean that voters are... more
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Cal Thomas (Jul 11, 2011)
"Nothing succeeds like success" -- Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870
If new millionaires or billionaires were created every time President Obama and his fellow liberals... more
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Cal Thomas (Jul 07, 2011)
When Atlantis lifts off on its final mission scheduled for Friday, it will bring to an end an era of space exploration that began for the U.S. with the Soviet launch of the... more
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Cal Thomas (Jul 05, 2011)
At first he didn't want to do any national media, preferring to focus on Florida issues. He didn't make his maiden speech on the Senate floor until June 14, five months after... more
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Cal Thomas (Jun 30, 2011)
Intellectually, I understand the Supreme Court's 7-2 decision that the First Amendment protects the most violent of video games. Experientially, I don't.
It's fine for... more
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Cal Thomas (Jun 28, 2011)
Something astonishing happened in New Jersey last week. A majority Democratic legislature and a Republican governor agreed on a measure that will cut benefits for the state's... more
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Cal Thomas (Jun 23, 2011)
Is there a profit-making business -- other than TV networks and The New York Times -- that so disrespects its audience it works overtime to offend them?
What other... more
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Cal Thomas (Jun 21, 2011)
In the aftermath of the exposure and resignation of Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) from Congress, his colleagues, some journalists, ethicists and pundits are trying to sort out... more
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Cal Thomas (Jun 16, 2011)
I bet you didn't know that federal law enforcement officers representing the Department of Education (DOE) can break down your front door if you are suspected of violating... more
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Cal Thomas (Jun 09, 2011)
"A member ... officer or employee of the House shall conduct himself at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House." -- Code of Official Conduct, Rule... more
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Cal Thomas (Jun 02, 2011)
The upheaval in Yemen and the possibility that al-Qaida might take over, turning that country into a stronger terrorist base than it already is, should give pause to American... more
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Cal Thomas (May 31, 2011)
DUBLIN, Ireland -- Observing the start of Lord and Lady Obama's (aka president and Michelle) grand European tour and the fawning press coverage, one might conclude they were... more
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Cal Thomas (May 26, 2011)
Perhaps you've heard of him, perhaps not. Louis Zamperini has had fame, lost it and seen it restored more than once. That happens when you are 94 years old and must be... more
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Cal Thomas (May 24, 2011)
With friends like President Obama, who needs enemies? If you're Israel, you already have quite enough of those.
On May 14, 2011, the State of Israel observed the 63rd... more
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Cal Thomas (May 19, 2011)
One of Dictionary.com's definitions of blackmail is "to extort money from (a person) by use of threats." Substitute "taxpayers" for "person" and you have what the White House... more
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Cal Thomas (May 17, 2011)
Politicians and political activists frequently declare the end of the world will occur if their candidate isn't elected, or if the debt ceiling isn't raised. Some... more
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Cal Thomas (May 12, 2011)
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... more
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Cal Thomas (May 03, 2011)
"Ding dong the witch is dead!"
As crowds gathered outside the White House, at the site of Ground Zero, and in other public places to cheer news of the death of Osama bin... more
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Cal Thomas (Apr 28, 2011)
Count me among the abstainers. I won't be watching over-the-top media coverage of Friday's wedding between Prince William and the "commoner" Kate Middleton.
After the... more
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Cal Thomas (Apr 21, 2011)
In bridge, a trump card is held in reserve for winning a trick. In politics, Donald Trump is anything but reserved and appears to think he might trick enough voters to win... more
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Cal Thomas (Apr 20, 2011)
Growing up, "Hallmark Hall of Fame" represented the gold standard of what we would call today "family values" television, except that TV then rarely carried anything... more
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Cal Thomas (Apr 19, 2011)
The Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C., Vincent Gray, distinguished himself last week by getting arrested in an act of "civil disobedience" reminiscent of the '60s. The... more
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Cal Thomas (Apr 14, 2011)
Twenty-nine years after her death, novelist Ayn Rand is coming to a theater near you. After many failed attempts, her 1957 novel "Atlas Shrugged" has been made into a... more
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Cal Thomas (Apr 12, 2011)
ARCHBOLD, Ohio -- Here in Middle America, where farmland extends to the horizon, I pass an inspirational yard sign: "Self-Control: Having a Life Purpose Bigger Than... more
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Cal Thomas (Apr 07, 2011)
HOUSTON -- On the day of the NCAA men's basketball final, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that is likely to produce champions for generations to come.
By... more
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Cal Thomas (Apr 05, 2011)
During the 2008 presidential campaign when candidate Barack Obama told "Joe the Plumber" that he wanted to "spread the wealth around," it sounded to a lot of conservatives... more
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Cal Thomas (Mar 31, 2011)
Let us have a "time out" from the wars and upheavals in the Middle East to consider another war taking place in too many of our homes. That would be the war against our... more
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Cal Thomas (Mar 29, 2011)
If there were an award for stating the obvious when it comes to the Middle East, it would go to The New York Times. On its front page last Friday, the newspaper ran a story... more
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Cal Thomas (Mar 24, 2011)
Norman Braman is not your typical billionaire car dealer. Nor is he your typical establishment Republican, who too often puts party above principle. Norman Braman is the type... more
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Cal Thomas (Mar 22, 2011)
Libya's recently resigned ambassador to the U.S., Ali Aujali, is optimistic about the outcome of the bombing of his country. He tells me he thinks dictator Moammar Gadhafi... more
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Cal Thomas (Mar 17, 2011)
In the 1979 movie "The China Syndrome," reporter Kimberly Wells (played by Jane Fonda) witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant and then uncovers a plot to keep it a... more
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Cal Thomas (Mar 15, 2011)
If the resignations at National Public Radio continue at last week's pace, there may be no need for Congress to defund the aging dinosaur, because there will be no one left... more
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Cal Thomas (Mar 10, 2011)
In Times Square last Sunday, an estimated 1,000 people gathered to protest the March 10 hearings before Rep. Peter King's Committee on Homeland Security entitled "The Extent... more
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Cal Thomas (Mar 08, 2011)
For many years American policy has been to sell modern weaponry to Arab states. The reasons given are to maintain the "balance of power" in the region, but the unstated and... more
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Cal Thomas (Mar 01, 2011)
President Obama has said his view of same-sex "marriage" is "evolving." Apparently he thinks that the law should be based on a kind of Darwinian jurisprudence which allows it... more
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Cal Thomas (Feb 22, 2011)
When three-fourths of the Boston police department went on strike in 1919, leading to broken shop windows and looting, then-Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge called out... more
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Cal Thomas (Feb 17, 2011)
On the home page of the Office of Management and Budget website, President Obama is quoted: "Rather than fight the same tired battles that have dominated Washington for... more
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Cal Thomas (Feb 15, 2011)
The events of recent days in Egypt offer a sober lesson to westerners who think the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak resembles the American Revolution.
Much of... more
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Cal Thomas (Feb 11, 2011)
One of liberalism's many problems is that once an idea or program is proved wrong and unworkable, liberals rarely acknowledge their mistake and examine the root cause of... more
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Cal Thomas (Feb 10, 2011)
One of liberalism's many problems is that once an idea or program is proved wrong and unworkable, liberals rarely acknowledge their mistake and examine the root cause of... more
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Cal Thomas (Feb 08, 2011)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke seemed to be channeling Chicken Little when he warned congressional Republicans that any delay in raising the debt ceiling beyond the... more
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Cal Thomas (Feb 03, 2011)
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... more
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Cal Thomas (Feb 01, 2011)
The turmoil in Egypt must not be seen in isolation from other events in the world. Neither is it an aberration. It is the next scene in a long-running play whose final act is... more
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Cal Thomas (Feb 01, 2011)
The turmoil in Egypt must not be seen in isolation from other events in the world. Neither is it an aberration. It is the next scene in a long-running play whose final act is... more
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Cal Thomas (Jan 27, 2011)
In his State of the Union address, President Obama at times sounded like he was channeling Ronald Reagan: cutting the deficit, hailing private enterprise and individual... more
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Cal Thomas (Jan 25, 2011)
By now those holiday bills have arrived. Those who have charged too much have cut back on spending until the bills are paid. Some have gone on the spending wagon, cutting... more
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Cal Thomas (Jan 20, 2011)
When the leadership of the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives decided as their first act to have members read the U.S. Constitution aloud, there were... more
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Cal Thomas (Jan 18, 2011)
The contrast between what Illinois Democrats did last week and what Republicans have done in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Virginia and New Jersey, could not be... more
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Cal Thomas (Jan 13, 2011)
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."
In the aftermath of... more
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Cal Thomas (Jan 11, 2011)
In the aftermath of the senseless wounding of Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Democrat of Arizona, and the murder of six others, including U.S. District Judge John Roll... more
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Cal Thomas (Jan 06, 2011)
Given the Democrats' track record of investigating Republican administrations, they will lack credibility when they protest Republicans investigating actions by the Obama... more
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Cal Thomas (Jan 04, 2011)
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... more