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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: Donald Trump signs the pledge

Now even Donald Trump is taking himself seriously. He's trying now to be colorful without being reckless, careful not to be rude when he doesn't have to be, and playing less the showboat and more like someone trying out for the team.

September 3, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: New pronouns for the traveling freak show

Caitlyn Jenner, taking pride in his or her decolletage with a smart new frock for his famous Vanity Fair photo shoot, started the madness of the summer of '15, but he's got nothing on the educationist establishment. They're nothing but boobs (and proud of it).

August 31, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Hillary Clinton offers late apology for email scandal

Hillary Clinton attempted to "come clean" about her emails again, like a sinner squirming in the hands of an angry god, but the partisan gods do not seem to be appeased.

August 27, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: With Joe Biden, campaign 2016 fun about to begin

This may be the most entertaining road show yet. Round and round the presidential campaign goes, and where it stops nobody knows. Even Mitt Romney is said to be thinking about jumping in again, no doubt figuring that some of Jeb's "investors," who are familiar indeed, may be looking for another place to place their bets.

August 24, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Hillary Clinton’s dying campaign

Hillary Clinton may think those creatures making wide, gentle circles over her campaign are bluebirds of happiness, but they're looking more and more like buzzards. They look hungry.

August 20, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, back to haunt her

You almost have to pity Hillary Clinton. She has seen this movie, and now she has to sit through it again. The players are different, but it's the same old plot: The lady arrives to cheers and high spirits, and eventually the lady vanishes.

August 17, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Ebola decline, vaccine good news from Africa

Good news, an old newsroom canard goes, doesn't sell newspapers. It's true that it's the rare reader who wants to read about the ship that didn't sink, the house that didn't catch fire, the hurricane that blew itself out at sea. But sometimes the good news is the most thrilling news of all, and last week there were two items of news nothing short of thrilling about the march of medicine through Africa, where the news is almost never good.

August 13, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Barack Obama protects Islamic enemies against U.S. war

Barack Obama is afraid he might be a warmonger at heart. Who knew? But making war against an Islamic enemy? That defies everyone's imagination.

August 10, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: The anger at Donald Trump softens

Donald Trump is changing the tone, if not the substance, of the Republican reservations about him. He's still the uninvited guest at the family dinner, the object of raised eyebrows and whispered snark, but everyone is beginning to be a little more careful with the insults.

August 6, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: No second thoughts about a bomb for Hiroshima

The pointless debate continues. As reliable as the arrival of the scorching heat and drenching humidity of August, comes the debate (mostly by academics) over whether the United States is guilty of moral outrage for having dropped the atomic bombs on Japan on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, to put an end to the carnage of World War II.

August 3, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Abortion’s slippery slope

"The slippery slope" doesn't frighten very many people in Washington because that's where a lot of politicians live. Life can be comfortable there, and it's usually quite profitable. But it's a dangerous piece of real estate for the rest of us.

July 30, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Iran’s lies to become Obama’s legacy

Maybe the Christian thing to do is to cut John Kerry a little slack. He hit his head harder than the doctor thought when he fell off his bicycle in Switzerland.

July 27, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: The mullahs rub some noses in Obama’s folly

The Iranians, having hornswoggled Barack Obama and John Kerry, are giddy with euphoria. Ordinarily the parties to an agreement would help each other sell it to the skeptical and the suspicious in their ranks, not least by keeping their traps shut. But not these guys.

July 23, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Hillary Clinton in Arkansas

Hillary Clinton returned to the scene of the original crime Saturday night, telling the surviving Democrats in Arkansas why they should love her like she and Bill love themselves.

July 20, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Details of the surrender to Iran

Reality is moving in on Barack Obama and the gang that can't shoot straight. The sun shines bright and the mice won't find a dark place to hide. The president continues to celebrate the remarkably awful deal he cut with Iran, but the rank and rancid details continue to leak, like something from a neighbor's overflowing toilet upstairs.

July 16, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Mob hysteria in America

We'll remember this as the summer the nation went mad. Lynch mobs are usually brought to the boil by a heinous event, encouraged by heat, humidity and harangue. There was a heinous event, now all but forgotten, but this is hardly a long, hot summer. There's a drought in Southern California but June and July have been moderate and pleasant, with considerable rain, nearly everywhere else. Nevertheless, a lynch mob with tar, feathers, rails and ropes has been on the scout for somebody to harass, hurt or hang.

July 13, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Hillary Clinton catches the ‘inevitability disease’ again

Hillary Clinton can write the book on the risks and dangers to inevitable presidents. She's been there, done that. She has her inaugural address written, revised and polished. She has stood before her mirror practicing her Churchillian thunder, updating Bubba's laundry lists of the things that must be done. She has viewed with alarm and pointed with pride. She's ready.

July 9, 2015