lying in ponds
The absurdity of partisanship
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Cal Thomas
Tribune Media Services

Columns 86
Words 69964
Median Partisanship Index 30.95
Total Partisanship Index 42.73
Combined Partisanship Index 36.84
Positive Democratic Index 7.39
Negative Democratic Index 19.42
Positive Republican Index 40.48
Negative Republican Index 9.77
Positive Index 47.87
Negative Index 29.20
Neutral Index 22.93



Partisan References

Type Number All References
Positive Democratic 59 Hall(7), Jackson(7), Democrats(6), DLC(4), Williams(3), Clinton(3), Democratic(2), Bill Clinton(2), Penn(2), Miller(2), Democratic Leadership Council(2), Rod Blagojevich, Blagojevich, Joseph Biden, Biden, Daschle, Henry "Scoop" Jackson, Henry Jackson, Anthony Williams, Democratic Party, Scoop Jackson, Mark Penn, Tony Hall, F.D.R. , Walter Mondale, Bob Beckel, Beckel, Jesse Jackson, Lieberman, William Proxmire
Negative Democratic 155 Democrats(70), Democratic(16), Dean(9), Howard Dean(5), Democrat(4), Byrd(4), Daschle(4), Clinton(3), Lieberman(3), Conyers(2), Jimmy Carter(2), Waxman(2), Bill Clinton(2), President Jimmy Carter, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, President Johnson, Williams, Robert Byrd, Henry Waxman, John Conyers, Tom Harkin, Democratic Party, Mario Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, administration, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, democrats, Pelosi, Clinton administration, Barbra Streisand, Joseph Lieberman, President Lyndon Johnson, Ronnie Musgrove, Musgrove, Feingold, Marty Meehan, Meehan, Al Gore, President Clinton, Gore
Neutral Democratic 59Democrats(13), Democratic(6), Democrat(4), Dean(3), Daschle(3), Bill Clinton(3), Robert Byrd(2), Clinton(2), Wallace(2), Bob Graham(2), Jimmy Carter(2), Tom Daschle, Patrick Leahy, President Bill Clinton, President Clinton, Joe Lieberman, George Wallace, Maxine Waters, Steny Hoyer, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Henry Waxman, Edward Kennedy, Joseph Lieberman, Democratic Party, John Edwards, Fritz Hollings, Zell Miller, Clinton administration
Positive Republican 323 President Bush(46), the president(41), Bush(28), Republican(21), Reagan(19), Republicans(18), The president(14), Bush administration(12), administration(11), Ronald Reagan(9), Powell(8), Wolfowitz(5), Snow(5), Santorum(5), George W. Bush(4), Bennett(4), Barbour(3), Nancy Reagan(3), President George W. Bush(3), Rush Limbaugh(2), Attorney General John Ashcroft(2), president(2), George Bush(2), GOP(2), Fletcher(2), Paul Wolfowitz(2), Fleischer(2), Secretary of State Colin Powell(2), Simpson(2), Chris Cox, Kempthorne, Bill Owens, Owens, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Tom Ridge, President Bush, Mitch McConnell, Conrad Burns, Eisenhower, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Rick Perry, Perry, John McCain, McCain, Henry Kissinger, Republican president, Robert B. Zoellick, John Snow, Ari Fleischer, Strom Thurmond, President Ronald Reagan, Limbaugh, George H.W. Bush, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, DeLay, President George Bush, Administration, Riley, The President, Ronald Wilson Reagan, former president, Reagan White House, Burns, Republican Congress, Donald Rumsfeld, Ernie Fletcher, Haley Barbour, McConnell, William Bennett, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ed Gillespie, Newt Gingrich
Negative Republican 78 Republicans(13), President Bush(7), Republican(6), Bush administration(6), the president(5), Bennett(4), Bush(4), president(3), administration(2), Ryan(2), The president(2), GOP(2), Republican Congress(2), Republican Party(2), President Nixon, Henry Kissinger, William Bennett, George Ryan, Thad Cochran, Trent Lott, Michael Bloomberg, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Bob Riley, Riley, congressional Republicans, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Alan Simpson, Simpson, Republican National Committee, Nixon administration, McCain
Neutral Republican 124President Bush(29), Bush(16), Republican(13), the president(8), Republicans(8), The president(6), Bush administration(3), Secretary of State Colin Powell(3), Ronald Reagan(2), White House(2), Bennett(2), Bill Bennett(2), administration(2), Rumsfeld(2), John Rowland, Kempthorne, Republican Party, McConnell, Burns, President George W. Bush, Bob Dole, Ryan, Rick Santorum, Santorum, George Bush, Dirk Kempthorne, Mike Huckabee, President George H.W. Bush, Colin Powell, House Majority Leader Tom Delay, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brent Scowcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, Sonny Perdue, Jeb Bush, Reagan, Gingrich, Richard Nixon, Reppublican, Republican National Committee



List of Columns

Title/
Date
words PI Partisan References
Howard Dean 'finds' Jesus
30 December 2003
854 83 19D-: Howard Dean, Democrats, Democrats, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, President Clinton, Clinton, Gore, Howard Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Democrat, Howard Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean
1R+: Republicans
4D=
The Supreme Court's gag order
11 December 2003
734 29 3D-: Feingold, Marty Meehan, Meehan
1R-: McCain
3R=
The embarrassing GOP
26 November 2003
806 40 4D-: Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats
2R+: Republican, Newt Gingrich
14R-: GOP, Republican Congress, Republican National Committee, Republicans, Republicans, Republican Congress, Bush administration, The president, Republican, Republican Party, GOP, Republicans, Republicans, Republican Party
Judging Michael Jackson and ourselves
25 November 2003
811 0
Three strikes and you're broke
13 November 2003
768 50 1R+: Republican
1R=
The Middle East concept of freedom
11 November 2003
829 0 3R+: Ronald Reagan, Reagan, Reagan
3R-: the president, President Bush, The president
7R=
The GOP 'on year' election
6 November 2003
948 67 2D+: Miller, Miller
11D-: Ronnie Musgrove, Musgrove, Democrat, Democrats, Democratic, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democratic, Democrats, Democrats
29R+: GOP, Republicans, Republican, Ernie Fletcher, Republican, Haley Barbour, Barbour, President Bush, Barbour, Fletcher, Republican, the president, Republicans, President Bush, Bush, Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican, Republican, GOP, the president, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Ed Gillespie, Fletcher, Barbour, President Bush, the president, Republicans
9D=, 6R=
FOX in the media hen house
4 November 2003
817 0 2R=
Why Democrats are wrong on taxes
30 October 2003
759 55 11D-: Democrats, Democratic, Democratic, Joseph Lieberman, Lieberman, Lieberman, Lieberman, Democratic, Democrat, Democrats, Democrats
4R+: Bush administration, Bush administration, Republican Congress, President Bush
3R-: Republicans, congressional Republicans, Republicans
4R=
Ronald Reagan revisionism
28 October 2003
893 96 2D-: Barbra Streisand, Jimmy Carter
21R+: Ronald Reagan, Ronald Wilson Reagan, Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Reagan, former president, Reagan White House, Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, administration, Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, Ronald Reagan
1R=
Gov. Bush's stay of execution
23 October 2003
748 20 1R+: Republican
1D=, 3R=
Muzzling the wrong dog
21 October 2003
795 50 1D+: Lieberman
1R-: Bush administration
2D=
Interview with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
16 October 2003
1530 50 1R+: President Bush
1R=
Tea with Ariel Sharon
14 October 2003
798 100 1R+: President George W. Bush
Weapons of mass distraction
9 October 2003
832 47 2D-: Democrats, Democrats
7R+: President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, the president, Powell, administration, Bush administration, the president
10D=
In Dow we trust
2 October 2003
818 0
The President and the dis-united nations
25 September 2003
793 100 1D-: Democrats
9R+: The President, President Bush, The president, Bush, The president, The president, The president, President Bush, Bush
A new 'commandment' from Alabama
18 September 2003
767 0 1D-: Democratic
2R+: Riley, Bush administration
3R-: Republican, Bob Riley, Riley
4D=
Whatever it takes
9 September 2003
808 71 12R+: the president, George Bush, The president, The president, The president, The president, the president, the president, Administration, administration, The president, the president
5R=
Sept. 11, plus two
4 September 2003
794 67 2R-: President Bush, Bush administration
1R=
Conflicting thoughts on Alabama
22 August 2003
812 0
Terror by whatever name is the same
21 August 2003
736 80 4R+: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, DeLay, President George Bush, President Bush
1R=
We were warned!
19 August 2003
771 0 3R=
The war that never ends
14 August 2003
789 50 2R-: Bush administration, Colin Powell
2R=
Who gets to make the rules?
7 August 2003
744 100 1D-: Clinton administration
The greatest story ever filmed
5 August 2003
764 0
Democrats are losing the center
31 July 2003
977 2 19D+: Democratic Leadership Council, DLC, Bill Clinton, Democrats, DLC, Mark Penn, Penn, Penn, Clinton, Democrats, Clinton, Democratic, Walter Mondale, Bob Beckel, Beckel, Jesse Jackson, DLC, Clinton, DLC
14D-: Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Clinton, Democrats, Howard Dean, Dean, Democrats, Democrats, Democratic, Democrats
6R+: Republicans, President Bush, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, President Bush, Bush
8D=, 4R=
Like I'm psychologically disturbed
29 July 2003
750 100 5R+: Strom Thurmond, President Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh, Reagan, Limbaugh
A pair of aces
23 July 2003
732 100 4D-: Democratic, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Howard Dean
7R+: Bush administration, President Bush, Bush administration, President Bush, administration, the president, The president
Thank you, Tony Blair
22 July 2003
766 0 2R=
Seeds of doubt
15 July 2003
845 44 3D-: Democratic, administration, Democrats
6R+: administration, Bush, President Bush, administration, the president, President Bush
1R-: Donald Rumsfeld
1D=, 7R=
The Bush slavery doctrine
10 July 2003
750 68 1D+: Democratic Party
1D-: Democrats
13R+: Bush, President Bush, Bush, Republican, Bush, president, Bush, Bush, Bush, the president, Bush, Bush, President Bush
2D=, 2R=
Theological dictators
8 July 2003
716 0
Useful idiots in the Middle East
3 July 2003
780 100 3R-: Bush administration, administration, president
Negative action at the Supreme Court
25 June 2003
754 0
The battle for the Constitution
24 June 2003
809 29 2R+: President Bush, Bush
2D=, 3R=
What's happened to Tony Blair?
19 June 2003
837 25 1R-: President Bush
3R=
Good night, David
13 June 2003
728 0 1D=
A Father's Day card
12 June 2003
769 0
Media suffer from acute denial syndrome
10 June 2003
819 100 2D-: Hillary Clinton, Clinton
3R+: Bush, Bush, Bush
It's the economy, genius!
5 June 2003
856 82 2D+: Bill Clinton, Democrats
4D-: Democratic Party, Democratic, Democrats, Democrat
16R+: President Bush, Bush, Republican, John Snow, Republicans, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, The president, Snow, administration, George W. Bush, administration, Republican, Ronald Reagan
Rekindling the fires of Auschwitz
3 June 2003
808 45 7R+: President George W. Bush, The president, the president, Republican, the president, Bush, Bush
2R-: President Bush, Bush administration
2R=
European governments: Let starving Africans eat
29 May 2003
784 45 8D+: Tony Hall, Hall, Hall, Hall, Hall, Hall, Hall, Hall
3R+: President George W. Bush, Robert B. Zoellick, President Bush
Terrorism pays
28 May 2003
778 100 1R+: Henry Kissinger
Wasting away in Congress
22 May 2003
819 74 13D-: Robert Byrd, Henry Waxman, John Conyers, Byrd, Byrd, Byrd, Conyers, Waxman, Democrats, Tom Harkin, Byrd, Waxman, Conyers
3R+: President Bush, John McCain, McCain
2R-: Thad Cochran, Trent Lott
1R=
The threat among us
20 May 2003
757 0
What's with Texas Democrats?
15 May 2003
870 79 1D+: Democrats
21D-: Democrats, Democrats, Democratic, Democratic, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats
12R+: Republicans, Republicans, Republican, Republicans, Republican, Republicans, Republicans, Rick Perry, Perry, Republican, Republicans, Republicans
1R-: Republicans
1D=, 3R=
Toning down whose rhetoric
13 May 2003
707 0
The school choice revolution
8 May 2003
822 0 6D+: Anthony Williams, Williams, Williams, Democratic Leadership Council, Democrats, Williams
3D-: Williams, Democrats, Democrats
3R+: Secretary of Education Rod Paige, President Bush, Republicans
2D=
Virtue is as virtue does?
6 May 2003
796 0 5R+: William Bennett, Bennett, Bennett, Bennett, Bennett
5R-: William Bennett, Bennett, Bennett, Bennett, Bennett
4R=
Privacy and morals: Who decides?
30 April 2003
796 71 5R+: Santorum, Santorum, Santorum, Santorum, Santorum
2R=
A road map to Israel's oblivion
29 April 2003
820 36 1R+: the president
5R-: administration, Nixon administration, President Nixon, Henry Kissinger, President Bush
5R=
One last touch by the angels
24 April 2003
880 0
The Scott Peterson conundrum
22 April 2003
801 0
Back to the economy (stupid!)
17 April 2003
836 38 1D+: William Proxmire
4D-: Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats
5R+: President Bush, President Bush, the president, the president, the president
2R-: Republicans, Republicans
4R=
False media prophets
15 April 2003
750 100 1R+: administration
Winners and losers
9 April 2003
818 89 8R+: Bush, President Bush, President Bush, the president, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, President Bush, president
1D=
After the fall, what next?
8 April 2003
819 100 1R+: President Bush
Our money vs. their money
3 April 2003
755 67 2D-: Democrats, President Johnson
3R+: President Bush, the president, Republican
1R-: Republican
The coalition's other 'enemy'
1 April 2003
819 100 1R+: Eisenhower
Law, liberty, and license
27 March 2003
815 0 3R+: Simpson, Republican, Simpson
3R-: Republican, Alan Simpson, Simpson
What's next for the naysayers?
25 March 2003
802 100 1D-: Jimmy Carter
3R+: Bush administration, administration, Bush
Blame America first vs. put America first
20 March 2003
861 3 12D+: Daschle, Henry "Scoop" Jackson, Jackson, Jackson, Henry Jackson, Jackson, F.D.R. , Jackson, Jackson, Scoop Jackson, Jackson, Jackson
4D-: Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, Daschle, Daschle, Daschle
9R+: Ari Fleischer, Fleischer, Fleischer, Republican president, Ronald Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, Reagan
2R-: president, president
5D=, 1R=
A 'road map' to nowhere
18 March 2003
866 36 1R+: President Bush
5R-: Bush, Bush, the president, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Bush
5R=
U.S. out of U.N. now?
13 March 2003
798 71 1D-: President Jimmy Carter
4R+: Ronald Reagan, President Bush, Reagan, President Bush
1D=, 1R=
Stamping out Saddam
11 March 2003
775 50 1D-: President Lyndon Johnson
6R+: George Bush, Republican, Mitch McConnell, Conrad Burns, McConnell, Burns
1R-: the president
4R=
God, Satan, and the media
5 March 2003
780 0 1D=, 1R=
Under God? Let's see the proof
4 March 2003
783 100 1R+: Attorney General John Ashcroft
Losing the argument over Iraq
27 February 2003
867 100 18R+: President Bush, the president, the president, the president, President Bush, the president, the president, the president, President Bush, the president, the president, administration, Bush administration, the president, the president, the president, The president, President Bush
Eight down, many more to go
25 February 2003
810 10 1R+: Attorney General John Ashcroft
2R-: the president, the president
7R=
The bipartisan Congressional money tree
20 February 2003
826 0 4D=, 3R=
A time for war
814 0
After Iraq, Israel
13 February 2003
855 100 7R+: President Bush, The president, the president, the president, President Bush, the president, President Bush
Paul Revere's ride (updated)
11 February 2003
790 100 3R+: Tom Ridge, the president, Bush administration
Why can't more New York City kids read?
7 February 2003
794 33 2R+: President Bush, President Bush
1R-: Michael Bloomberg
Colin Powell's slam dunk
6 February 2003
795 62 2D+: Joseph Biden, Biden
10R+: Colin Powell, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Powell, Powell, Powell, Powell, Powell, Powell, Powell, President Bush
1R=
Columbia remembered
4 February 2003
786 100 1R+: President Bush
The state of President Bush is good
30 January 2003
842 74 4D-: Daschle, Pelosi, Democrats, Democratic
14R+: President Bush, President Bush, George W. Bush, the president, the president, the president, George W. Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, the president, George W. Bush, Bush, the president
1R-: Republicans
4R=
More time for what?
28 January 2003
842 100 8R+: Condoleezza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, Wolfowitz, Wolfowitz, Wolfowitz, Wolfowitz, Wolfowitz, Bush administration
Republican governors mimic democrats
23 January 2003
841 21 2D-: democrats, Democrats
5R+: Kempthorne, Republican, Bill Owens, Owens, Bush administration
3R-: Republican, Republicans, Republicans
9R=
Tony Blair's finest hours
22 January 2003
839 14 2R+: President Bush, the president
1R-: President Bush
4R=
Those meaningless polls
16 January 2003
823 29 1D-: Democratic
3R+: Bush, President Bush, Republican
2R-: President Bush, Bush
1R=
The death penalty: mend it, don't end it
15 January 2003
839 88 3D+: Democratic, Rod Blagojevich, Blagojevich
4R-: Republican, George Ryan, Ryan, Ryan
1R=
Rerunning the class warfare horror show
9 January 2003
906 78 1D+: Democrats
10D-: Democrats, Democrats, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democratic, Democrats
6R+: Bush administration, Bush, Republicans, Chris Cox, Republicans, Republicans
1R-: Republicans
Why liberals are in denial about talk radio and tv
7 January 2003
836 100 5D-: Democrats, Democrats, Mario Cuomo, Democrats, Democratic
1R+: Rush Limbaugh
Why not cloning?
1 January 2003
738 0