April 10^th

Cal Thomas today is caught between a rock and a hard place, or between Scylla and Charybdis if you want a more literary metaphor. Cal is in a terrible position because he must choose to believe either the Obama administration or the Iranians. What’s a conservative to do?

Of course he begins by telling us a half-truth, he writes, “The United States is asked to foolishly believe promises by a regime that is religiously motivated to eliminate Israel and ultimately the United States, is the premier sponsor of terrorism in the world….” and Cal continues to demonize the Iranians at some considerable length; perhaps his contract pays him by the word. The half-truth here is that we are certainly not asked to believe anything the Iranians agree to without verification. Inspection is at the heart of any agreement with the Iranians; the “trust but verify” old chestnut should be familiar to Cal Thomas.

Unfortunately, while Cal doesn’t trust the Iranians, he doesn’t trust this administration either. He repeats what he apparently believes is a silly line by Nancy Pelosi that we must wait until Obamacare passes to find out what’s in it. He seems to be so hopelessly ignorant of the way legislation moves through the Congress that he doesn’t know bills can be amended, and even the amendments amended until the bill is passed. Of course no one will know what’s in the bill until it’s passed. Do try to read up on this Cal.

The Iranian negotiator, Javad Zarif, has accused Secretary Kerry of “misleading the American people” about what is in this agreement with Iran. Even though Cal Thomas accuses Iranian negotiators of bad faith, of lying, and that we might expect most Americans to side with the President on this issue; not so, Cal says. He obviously prefers the Iranian viewpoint but he doesn’t say why; he just finds the Iranians truthful in this instance and the Americans unbelievable. Could he have a political bias that leads him to prefer these godless Iranians to representatives of his own country? It seems he does!

He finishes with some childish comments about the Iranian negotiator’s Muslim religion. Here is a quote, “Did Secretary Kerry ask Zaraf if he had heard from Allah lately and whether Allah had changed his mind about the destruction of Israel, the eradication of the Jewish people and the elimination of the United States?” There is more of the same but why quote it? Why should anyone take a columnist seriously who writes such drivel? So Cal believes we should first insult the Iranian’s religious beliefs and then try to negotiate a treaty with them against nuclear armament?

If this treaty doesn’t come off Cal Thomas will be right there saying, “I told you so.” He’ll also be one of the commentators helping to kill it.