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Wesley Pruden

Wesley Pruden would have wanted to spend his final hours at his keyboard, deftly deflating the pompous, entitled and arrogant of the political establishment, and he came awfully close. The venerable Washington Times editor, columnist and journalism institution was found dead July 17, 2019, at his home, after putting in a full day at the newsroom on New York Avenue in Northeast D.C., where he had worked since 1982, four months after the newspaper's founding. He was 83.
His remarkable career began 67 years ago as a teenage copy boy in Arkansas, making him among the few old-school newsmen whose sharp political acumen, elegant writing style, and keen sense of the absurd allowed him to remain as relevant in the digital age as he was in the days when the rumpled shirts of reporters were splattered with ink.
To read his obituary, please CLICK HERE

Articles by Wesley Pruden

WESLEY PRUDEN: Obama’s compares Crusades to Islamist terrorists in prayer breakfast speech

President Obama put on his preaching clothes yesterday and drove up Connecticut Avenue to the Washington Hilton to deliver a sermon to the choir. He took his text from the first chapter of the Book of Moral Equivalence and let the choir have both barrels.

February 5, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Scott Walker and a midwinter breakout

Scott Walker is the new flavor of the week, the new dish on the Republican menu. He brought crowds to their feet in Iowa over the weekend and placed first in an important regional poll to identify favorites for 2016.

February 2, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Saudis’ insult to Michelle Obama goes unchallenged by Obama

Barack Obama had a high old time in India and Saudi Arabia. The first lady, not so much. The trip was down hill after New Delhi. A good time in Saudi Arabia was not had by all.

January 29, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: The Democratic assault on free speech

Everybody's for free speech — until somebody says something he doesn't like. But the genius of the First Amendment is that it is so direct and plain that even a lawyer or a judge can understand it.

January 26, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Obama lives in ignorance of Islamic threat

President Obama has a happy and untroubled life on Fantasy Island, where he lives in splendid isolation from the world where the rest of us live. He is never troubled by terrorists, whether Islamic, Jewish or Episcopalian. All rough places have been made plain, manna falls right on time every morning, the water is pure, clear and cold, and golf courses where everybody breaks par stretch to a happy oblivion. The ants never get into his pants.

January 22, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Obama’s tax riot will make a memorable State of the Union

The annual State of the Union might not be an occasion for the president to preach to the choir, but it's an opportunity for the choir to catch 40 winks. Neither the soprano nor tenor will miss anything.

January 19, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Why Hillary Clinton won’t run for president

Hillary can't win, and that's why she won't run. She may not know that yet herself, but a lot of Democrats want her because she's all they've got. The Republicans are counting on her to run because they think she's the candidate they can beat in what looks from here like it could be a Republican year.

January 15, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Obama’s terrorism ignorance dooms us to remember more dates in infamy

A headline in London exclaims that what happened in Paris "has galvanized France." Well, that's good, so far as it goes. Galvanized can be a good thing only if the galvanizee stays galvanized. The record is not encouraging.

January 12, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Obama should stand tall to Islam

The radical Muslims who are making war on the world are confident they can win, destroy religious and ethical beliefs and cultures different from their own, and impose a worldwide caliphate.

January 8, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Democrats try, fail to burn Steve Scalise

The Republican caravan finally arrives, with a flutter of banners, the banging of pots and pans and dogs barking in the dust at everyone's feet. Those long-faced spectators relegated to the side of the road are Democrats, unable to hide their surly resentment and disappointment. They're packing heat disguised as eggs and tomatoes for throwing.

January 5, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: John Freeman a British diplomat not easily forgotten in Washington life

Diplomats usually have a short shelf life. They're paid to retreat into the woodwork and lie for their country, as the old saying goes, but, with Henry Kissinger and Hillary Clinton celebrated exceptions, diplomats are here today and gone when a president is through with them, usually tomorrow. Like old times, they're often easily forgotten.

January 1, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Technology breeds broken throwaway culture

Some things can't be fixed. I learned this painful lesson the hard way when I was 4 years old. I had my heart set on a toy steam shovel. A tiny bucket at the end of a string could be reeled in to lift a teaspoon of mud. A little boy could build an interstate highway system with it.

December 29, 2014

WESLEY PRUDEN: Christmas morn miracle of amazing grace

In the clutter of Christmas morn, the Christ born in a manger 2,000 years ago lives, liberating the hearts of sinners and transforming the lives of the wicked. The redeeming power of the Christmas message is nowhere more vividly illustrated than in the incredible life of an English slaver named John Newton.

December 24, 2014

WESLEY PRUDEN: Rand Paul, Marco Rubio debate in spirit of Founding Fathers

It's still a long, long way to 2016 as the mud flies, but sniping has started early in both parties, and that's good. The system is working exactly the way it's designed to work. Some people, forever fretting about spilling tea on their crumpets, are looking for the ladies' fainting couch. But here's a toast and a cheer for contentious politicians.

December 22, 2014

WESLEY PRUDEN: ‘The Interview’ in North Korea and the cowards in America

Movies may not be better than ever, as a Hollywood marketing slogan in yesteryear boasted they were, but the critics take movies seriously in North Korea. The chief movie critic in Pyongyang can kill a movie with a single review. He might even kill anybody who goes to see it.

December 18, 2014

WESLEY PRUDEN: Be careful who takes you to lunch

Lunch can sometimes be a big deal in Washington. Lunch is where alliances are struck, deals are made, and sometimes where foes become more or less friends over a shrimp cocktail or a chicken salad at the Palm. But if Karl Rove invites you to lunch, be sure you get to pick the restaurant.

December 15, 2014

WESLEY PRUDEN: The CIA and the lack of political morality

Efficiency was once a precious American virtue. America is great because America is good, in the words once credited to Alexis de Tocqueville, and when America is no longer good it will no longer be great. Whether he actually said them or not, the words are true.

December 11, 2014

WESLEY PRUDEN: Feminists wrong on UVa rape story

Some of our most dedicated feminists are trying to make a good thing of rape, heretofore regarded as one of the more horrific crimes. Once upon a time rape was even a capital crime, like murder. Many men went to the gallows or the electric chair for it.

December 8, 2014

WESLEY PRUDEN: Republicans leave Democrats out of lame-duck brawling

That's the pungent scent of the weak and fearful drifting across Capitol Hill. The establishment Republicans, eager to run from the sound of the popgun, are putting out peace feelers and they haven't even taken a hit.

December 4, 2014

WESLEY PRUDEN: In Ferguson, Al Sharpton, money not answers to ‘problem’

The terror of Ebola in the United States has subsided. Maybe it's too soon to tell, but it looks like we're not all dead, after all. Dispatches from West Africa have vanished from the front pages. The digital purveyors of news have gone on to more important catastrophes, such as the latest celebrity wardrobe malfunctions, feuding between Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O'Donnell, and gays fighting in borrowed hot tubs. The disappearance of Ebola from the public consciousness is a tribute not to the power of medical science, however, but to the power of the press.

December 1, 2014

EVENT: IndoPac 2026 Naval Dominance: Shipbuilding, Autonomy & C2

WATCH: Ranked choice voting is coming to D.C. — here’s how it works

Celebrating America’s 250th Honoring the milestones that got us here