# Just when I think Cal Thomas can't piss me off any worse, he outdoes himself **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 13, 2001, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133 "2001-11-13T16:09:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/1 "2001-11-13T16:09:07Z")
Yes, Mr Thomas, the respectable Christian Conservative journalist [spoke](http://www.lacrossetribune.com/rednews/2001/11/11/build/news/4calthomas.php) in our little town this week. I’m still frothing at the mouth. How does this guy get away with this stuff? Why is he considered respectable, when he should be right in there with Phelps, Chick & Co? > [@](#): > > On this theme, Thomas urged people to open their wallets to support a school that does not preach Islam, a faith he believes advocates violence against Westerners “because (Islamic) kids are learning to hate us.” > > “It is created out of ignorance,” Thomas said. “It is created out of a fundamentalist zeal that has nothing to do with God, and they are trying to bring it to us. They are already here. Are we ready to handle it?” AAAAAARRRRRGGGHH! FROTH! SPEW! Well, fuck you with a hatrack, Mr Thomas, you self-righteous effluvium of a dung heap. Those “ignorant” Islamic kids are gonna learn to hate YOU all right. Along with some of their other fellow humans. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/2 "2001-11-13T16:42:00Z")
Jeepers. ☹ > [@](#): > > At least the atheists of the communist system wanted to live because they believed there was nothing after life," Thomas said. And, um, Christians don’t mind dying because they know they’ll all go straight to Heaven? * * * Staring down the barrel of a long dull Tuesday afternoon? Browse [recent columns.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/archive.shtml) [Bush should use tactical nukes on the Taliban.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20011102.shtml) [September 11 was the media’s fault, because they distracted us from the real issues by covering only trivia like Condit.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20011025.shtml) [Multiculturalism in America’s classrooms leaves us wide open for the next terrorist attack.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20011011.shtml) [Islam is really a militant religion, not a peaceful one.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20011023.shtml) [When the next attack comes, it’ll be because the FBI was too nice to the detainees and the INS guys are weenies.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20011009.shtml) [Date rape is the fault of Hollywood, the media, and the girls themselves.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20010809.shtml) [Fucking Chink Commies, they threw out all our missionaries in 1949, we should boycott the 2008 Olympics.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20010718.shtml) [Fucking Chink Commies, revisited.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20010907.shtml) [John Ashcroft is God.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20010619.shtml) [The only reason teens have sex is because the Porn Industry has recruited them.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20010607.shtml) [School shootings are all the fault of parents who put their kids in day care.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20010327.shtml) You think I’m making these up? Here, Myron, lemme give you a hand with that hatrack… ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/3 "2001-11-13T17:21:37Z")
Thanks, Ducky. His flamage from us Dopers is long overdue. Let’s have at it, gang! ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/4 "2001-11-13T17:34:38Z")
Gee, I wonder if **astorian** has seen this guy’s columns. Because, you know, fundamentalist Christians don’t have any power in this country. Like a weekly newspaper column or anything. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/5 "2001-11-13T17:41:29Z")
Wow, normally religious kooks are amusing to read, but this guy is just squalid. I think I need to go brush my teeth or take a shower or something. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Red\_Menace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@The\_Red\_Menace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Red_Menace)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/6 "2001-11-13T19:18:01Z")
I remember one column in which he documented the “horror” of his grandkids having to attend a pagan evil atheist secular humanist liberal hippie PUBLIC school for a week. Amongst other accusations made by Thomas that I can rember was that schools are unresponsive to the issue of weapons being in school. I can’t think of anything more absurd. It’s to bad the archive provided by DDG doesn’t go back far enough to reveal that one (it was about 2-3 years ago) or the one in which he said science was deceiving the public on the issue of homosexuality (his argument: it’s 100% choice, and an evil, wrong one at that). Also the one in which he said science was lying about evolution, too. One that is in the archive I like is [this](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20010906.shtml) one, in which his argument seems to be that kids making editorial cartoons satarizing the right-wing is proof that public schools are brainwashing kids. What paranoia! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/7 "2001-11-13T20:53:03Z")
What a maroon! But then, look at some of the other “columnists” they feature-Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter and Oliver North? Seems like Thomas is in good company. Of course, there’s always [this](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20010510.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/8 "2001-11-13T20:58:56Z")
Jeeeeez. I just read a very level-headed interview with Thomas, in which I thought he was making a point almost opposite to this. I’m very surprised. The point was that Christians aren’t going to “win” any culture war. It’s not a matter of culture anyway, it’s belief systems. You can’t get people to live “right” unless they want to. Pushing them to do it when they don’t want to and don’t see the reasons only wastes time and makes them mad. I don’t mean not having laws, but you can’t expect people to live your way when they don’t believe the same things. Is Thomas really of two minds? I’d like to know. If he really said that about evolution, then he’s on my hit list of Christians who violate my 11th commandment: Don’t talk about things you don’t know about. Of course, that includes about 88% of the church in general, and certainly even a significant percentage at mine, where this kind of thing is not a rallying cry (or I’d leave). AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHH. ---
**Author:** ![rushtopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@rushtopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rushtopher)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/9 "2001-11-13T21:25:53Z")
> [@](#): > > During the 1929 Scopes trial, the media of that day thought they had buried fundamentalism. In 1979, the so-called “religious right” re-emerged from seven decades of political hibernation and the media scratched its head in astonishment. PBS’s Bill Moyers wondered in a 1980 TV special where all of these people had come from. He also probably wondered when 50 years became 7 decades! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/10 "2001-11-13T21:56:40Z")
There seem to be two Cal Thomas personae. One is the individual whose essence is captured in the above links, who I consider to be really, really, really off the wall. The other one, who seems to turn up in about 10% of his writings, is a thoughtful man who urges the christian community to stop taking on the secular world, but to just live their values quietly. I have difficulty reconciling the two views into the same person. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/11 "2001-11-13T22:19:02Z")
He seems pretty reasonable when he’s on that Fox roundtable show with Jeff Cohen (FAIR) and a few others. But the stuff qouoted here is bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/12 "2001-11-13T22:22:52Z")
Also, the Scopes trial took place in 1925. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/13 "2001-11-13T22:33:49Z")
Molly Ivins once said the Cal Thomas is one of the greatest minds of the 18th century. She’s too generous. More like 11th century. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/14 "2001-11-13T22:37:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Myron Van Horowitzski \* > > > [@](#): > > > > … to support a school that does not preach Islam, a faith he believes advocates violence against Westerners “because (Islamic) kids are learning to hate us.” On this one point, Cal Thomas is supported by Thomas Freidman of the NY Times. From today’s column: > [@](#): > > …This is Pakistan — these guys are on our side. Fat chance… > > On the way into Peshawar I stopped to visit the Darul Uloom Haqqania, the biggest madrasa, or Islamic school, in Pakistan, with 2,800 live-in students — all studying the Koran and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad with the hope of becoming mullahs, or spiritual leaders. I was allowed to sit in on a class with young boys, who sat on the floor, practicing their rote learning of the Koran from holy texts perched on wooden holders. This was the core of their studies. Most will never be exposed to critical thinking or modern subjects. > > It was at once impressive and disquieting. It was impressive because the madrasas provide room, board, education and clothing for thousands of Pakistani boys — who would otherwise be left out on the streets because of the gradual collapse of Pakistan’s secular, state education system. In 1978 there were 3,000 madrasas in Pakistan; today there are 39,000. It was disquieting because their almost entirely religious curriculum was designed by the Mogul emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir, who died in 1707. There was one shelf of science books in the library — largely from the 1920’s. > > The air in the Koran class was so thick and stale you could have cut it into blocks and sold it like ice. A sign on the wall said this room was “A gift of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” The teacher asked an 8-year-old boy to chant a Koranic verse for us, which he did with the beauty and elegance of an experienced muezzin. What did it mean? It was a famous verse: “The faithful shall enter paradise and the unbelievers shall be condemned to eternal hellfire.” > > I asked one of the students, an Afghan refugee, Rahim Kunduz, age 12, what his reaction was to the Sept. 11 attacks, and he said: “Most likely the attack came from Americans inside America. I am pleased that America has had to face pain, because the rest of the world has tasted its pain.” And his view of Americans generally? “They are unbelievers and do not like to befriend Muslims and they want to dominate the world with their power.” > > The Darul Uloom Haqqania madrasa is famous because the Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, once attended it, as did many other top Taliban figures. Mullah Omar never graduated, our guide explained, “but we gave him an honorary degree anyway, because he left to do jihad and to create a pristine Islamic government.” [http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/13/opinion/13FRIE.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/13/opinion/13FRIE.html) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/15 "2001-11-14T01:00:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Unfortunately, Islamic kids ARE learning to hate us **december** , you keep losing your "some"s from your posts. “Unfortunately, _some_ Islamic kids ARE learning to hate us” Otherwise, you are simply joining a long list of people who choose to _demonize_ their opposition with overstated rhetoric rather than actually presenting supportable facts in a rational manner–kind of like a certain Osama bin Laden. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/16 "2001-11-14T01:50:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\* > “Unfortunately, _some_ Islamic kids ARE learning to hate us” > > Otherwise, you are simply joining a long list of people who choose to _demonize_ their opposition with overstated rhetoric rather than actually presenting supportable facts in a rational manner–kind of like a certain Osama bin Laden. \*\* Fair point, tomndebb. I understood Friedman’s implication to be that since our good friends the Pakistanis are doing this, then many other Arab countries are also doing so. I may have read too much into his column, because I’ve rad other sources that described anti-American propaganda in a number of Arab countries. Naturally, it exists in places like Iran and Iraq. But, it also exists in ally Saudi Arabia. The Palistinians and Egyptians, who are given large amounts of money each year by the US, nevertheless demonize the US on state-controlled media. However, I will again concede that tomndebb is correct. My cite proved only that _some_ Islamic kids are learning to hate us. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/17 "2001-11-14T02:10:46Z")
I have issues with a lot of what Thomas has said as well, but can’t you criticize him without putting words in his mouth? (Or quoting someone who put words in his mouth?) Is it true you like to wear women’s undergarments? MVH: > [@](#): > > Yes, ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/18 "2001-11-14T02:21:33Z")
For reason that may be pretty obvious, Friend Thomas started to appear on a regular basis in the “Newspaper that Thinks All Iowa Depends on It” just about the same time that the paper was bought out by the USA Today people. Brother Thomas’s appearance is thought by some to mark the beginning of that papers decline. With few if any exception his stuff has been borderline psychotic and premised on the idea that American Christians are an oppressed and threatened minority. In his own way Brother Thomas is as offended by a secular society as is the Taliban themselves. I find that I can get through his columns without actually setting fire to the paper if I stop every two or three lines and repeat the mantra: this man is an idiot, this man is an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/19 "2001-11-14T02:29:23Z")
Even his publicity photo is offensive. That miserable smirk, the pencil-line mustache. You get the distinct idea that as a child this was the kid who ran to tell the teacher who threw the ball after the end-of-recess bell rang. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133/20 "2001-11-14T09:21:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > \*\*There seem to be two Cal Thomas personae. One is the individual whose essence is captured in the above links, who I consider to be really, really, really off the wall. The other one, who seems to turn up in about 10% of his writings, is a thoughtful man who urges the christian community to stop taking on the secular world, but to just live their values quietly. I have difficulty reconciling the two views into the same person. \*\* Cal Thomas is a self-centered, arrogant bastard whose only goal in life is to appear on as many MSNBC news/talk shows as possible. Every once in a while he’ll write some halfway-decent sounding article about how maybe Christian Conservatives should devote every second of their waking lives to slamming political enemies. Then he’ll plunge right into his next tirade of insults without even bothering to catch his breath. He doesn’t believe any of the things that he says in the rare, “reasonable” columns. He just writes those to get attention. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-i-think-cal-thomas-cant-piss-me-off-any-worse-he-outdoes-himself/93133.md?page=2)