ArcaMax

I love definitions because they help focus the mind. For decades, we are said to have been in a culture war. As in any war, it helps to know one's enemy.

One online dictionary defines culture this way: "the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, ...Read more

The contrast could not have been starker. One picture showed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi smiling as she signed (with numerous pens) two articles of impeachment against President Trump. She passed out the pens like souvenirs to fellow Democrats. They were embossed in gold with her signature and rested on silver trays.

The other picture was of ...Read more

The latest protests in Iran by people angry over the Iranian military's missile launch that "unintentionally" downed a Ukrainian jetliner killing many Iranians, Canadians and others, is different from past protests over ...Read more

Like swallows returning to Capistrano, socialism makes an appearance on a regular cycle.

The current presidential campaign features self-confessed socialist Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who doesn't self-describe as a socialist, but whose policies closely resemble those of Sanders.

Sanders has the luxury of condemning...Read more

"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 musical "Les Miserables"

"It's the most wonderful time of the year," Andy Williams reminds us over tinny speakers in crowded shopping malls. It may be wonderful for the majority, but for ...Read more

While watching "Jeopardy" the other night, I had a fantasy. Suppose Alex Trebek had a Final Jeopardy category called "The Ultimate Impeachment Hypocrite"?

Here's how I thought it might go.

Trebek: "We go first to Joe, who is in third place, and he wrote, 'Who is Bill Clinton?'"

"No, that's wrong, but a good guess. politics/fromtheright/calthomas/s-2306656">Read more

"Blowout" was how one UK newspaper described the decisive victory of Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party in last week's election.

How decisive was it? Not only did conservatives win an 80-seat majority in Parliament, a constituency in Blythe Valley in Northeast England elected a conservative member for the first time since its creation 40 ...Read more

If it walks like a duck ... you know the rest.

Following a shooting attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola by a Saudi national identified as 21-year-old Mohammed Alshamrani, the FBI issued a statement saying it presumes the incident was a terrorist attack.

What might have given them that idea?

...Read more

Apologies to Elton John, but in Washington and throughout so much of the country, can you feel the hate tonight?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked by reporter James Rosen if she hates President Trump. She responded with an "if looks could kill" fire in her eyes and denounced Rosen for his question while claiming she doesn't hate Trump.

...Read more

Not many people think of the Ten Commandments these days, unless some group is trying to fight a legal battle to place them on public property.

Still, these laws of God, which may be familiar to some only through the Cecil B. De Mille classic film starring Charlton Heston as Moses, contain worthy guidelines that are applicable to today.

When ...Read more

It is a truism that a blackmailer is rarely satisfied. Once the payoffs start, there often is no end to them.

The Chick-fil-A fast-food chain is about to learn this hard lesson, far too late, as many victims of blackmail and extortion generally do.

For conservatives and evangelical Christians, <...Read more

Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to come earlier each year. Though the dates remain the same, the promotions from advertisers don't.

Christmas decorations are appearing before Halloween. Merchants can't wait for Thanksgiving to end so they can promote "Black Friday," itself beginning days and even ...Read more

There is a telling scene in Season 3 of the Netflix drama "The Crown" about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II that can instruct contemporary America about Democrats' attempt to impeach President Trump.

The episode is titled "Coup." Harold Wilson is prime ...Read more

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced U.S policy toward Israel's "settlements" is reverting to one held by the Reagan administration; that is the right of Israelis to settle in the ancient lands of Judea and Samaria "is not, per se, inconsistent with international law."

This is ...Read more

If you are in need of more evidence as to why so many Americans are cynical about politics in general and Washington in particular (and isn't current evidence sufficient?), you need look no further than the etymological shift taken by Democrats during the House impeachment hearings.

As politics/fromtheright/calthomas/s-2296661">Read more

According to a report by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the teaching of U.S. history to American students lags behind all other subject matters.

The latest NAEP survey finds that proficiency levels for fourth-, eighth- and 12th-grade students are in the 20, 18 and 12th ...Read more

If you are paying attention to the Washington circus that is the impeachment inquiry into President Trump's handling of the much maligned Ukraine call, this is what real collusion looks like: a media largely committed to advancing the goal of Democrats to severely damage or remove him from office, a series of at first private testimonies by ...Read more

As far as I can tell from a reading of history, while some presidents were friends of clergy, who sometimes advised them, to my knowledge, none hired them as staff members. Until the presidency of Richard Nixon. It was during Nixon's administration that Charles Colson began mobilizing the evangelical community to support the president's policies...Read more

Shortly after Jim Bakker's release from prison in July 1994, I invited the disgraced TV evangelist to my home. There was an important question I wanted to ask him.

Some background: Bakker and his "Praise the Lord" (PTL) associates sold $1,000 "lifetime memberships" to people who were promised annual three-night stays at his ...Read more

In those monster movies so popular at Halloween, it usually takes a while for the killer to be revealed, but when he is, the terror he inspired among his targets often comes to a frightening conclusion for viewers.

This analogy perfectly fits the impeachment scenario now playing out in Washington. The nation is beginning to see ...Read more