Cal Thomas is a conservative columnist. Although I do read many of his columns I almost never feel satisfied with his work. Of course, being a liberal myself, I suppose this shouldn't be surprising. But its not Cal's positions that bother me. Many thoughtful conservative analysts have made clear, persuasive arguments for things I do not support. Cal, unfortunately, has a "hyperbole" problem that is summed up in a single sentence from one of his recent columns.
In a column about the next female candidate for president, cal calming and almost matter of factly drops the following line: "For liberals, government is the ultimate solution to all problems." If this line strikes you as reasonable, then you may need to cut down on your Rush Limbaugh time and read more. Does Cal Thomas really believe what he has written here, or is he engaging in hyperbolic rhetoric as a way to frame his argument? That is to say, once he has relegated all liberals to this absurd position, his readers will have an easier time seeing the virtue of his perspective. While I admit, this is clever salesmanship, it is not (in my opinion) fairminded. It is intellectually disingenuous, unless Cal really believes it. In that case its just stupid, and I don't think Cal is stupid.
Why does Cal feel safe making such an absurd claim? Sadly, one reason is that some liberal candidates use the word "solutions" as a way to up the rhetorical anty, so to speak. One of my major complaints about Hillary Clinton's campaign was her cynical, and wrongheaded use of this concept. When it was clear that Barrrack Obama had captured the mantle of change, Clinton's pollsters told her to say that she would bring "solutions" to people's problems (i.e. results, not just words). Cal would probably use campaign rhetoric from Clinton to defend his hyperbole here, though I would respond by reminding him that Clinton lost. The winning Democratic candidate took pains to point out the limits of government and its role in creating "opportunities" for people to get to a place in their lives where they can solve their own problems. Any candidate that promises "solutions" to intractible problems without properly qualifying their use of this term is at best being disingenuous and at worst is flat out lying.
Unfortunately, Cal Thomas hardly ever resists the urge to use this time of rhetoric, which is why he is very low on my list of credible conservative columnists.