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Clifford D. May

Clifford D. May

Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a columnist for The Washington Times. He can be reached at cliff@fdd.org.

Columns by Clifford D. May

Chinese Communist Party and TikTok in U.S. illustration by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

Attack TikTok, cut its Chinese Communist Party ties

In the 1920s, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union pioneered the art of disinformation. A hundred years later, the Chinese Communist Party has developed disinformation into a high-tech science. Published March 19, 2024

Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar illustration by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has four options

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 invasion of Israel and the worst single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, is believed to be lurking in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Gaza Strip. Published February 13, 2024

Empowering America's enemies illustration by Linas Garsys / The Washington Times

No better enemy: America continues to empower its adversaries

Seven years ago this month, then-Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged that the $150 billion in sanctions relief the Obama administration was providing Iran's rulers would -- to a greater or lesser extent -- fund terrorism. Published January 23, 2024

#5 Casablanca (1942) Director: Michael Curtiz Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid. Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and based on Murray Burnett and Joan Alison's unproduced stage play Everybody Comes to Rick's. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid; it also features Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate who must choose between his love for a woman and helping her Czech Resistance leader husband escape the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Nazis. Story editor Irene Diamond convinced producer Hal B. Wallis to purchase the film rights to the play in January 1942. Brothers Julius and Philip G. Epstein were initially assigned to write the script. However, despite studio resistance, they left to work on Frank Capra's Why We Fight series early in 1942. Howard E. Koch was assigned to the screenplay until the Epsteins returned a month later. Casey Robinson assisted with three weeks of rewrites, but his work would later go uncredited. Wallis chose Curtiz to direct the film after his first choice, William Wyler, became unavailable. Principal photography began on May 25, 1942, ending on August 3; the film was shot entirely at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, with the exception of one sequence at Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys, Los Angeles. Although Casablanca was an A-list film with established stars and first-rate writers, no one involved with its production expected it to be anything out of the ordinary. It was just one of hundreds of pictures produced by Hollywood every year. Casablanca had its world premiere on November 26, 1942, in New York City and was released nationally on January 23, 1943, in the United States. The film was a solid if unspectacular success in its initial run, rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the

The lessons of ‘Casablanca’

One of my favorite films is "Casablanca" starring Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, an American nightclub owner -- and isolationist -- in Morocco as the Nazis are goose-stepping across Europe and beyond. Published December 12, 2023

Middle Eastern history and Hamas supporters' ignorance illustration by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

Hamas supporters’ ignorance is appalling

Veteran newsman Brit Hume noted over the weekend that he's been watching interviews with students participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and has found them "truly discouraging." Published November 14, 2023

Hamas war against Israel and Western civilization illustration by Linas Garsys / The Washington Times

Hamas vs. Western civilization

"Hey hey, ho ho, Western Civ has got to go." That chant, frequently heard on American college campuses in the 1980s, protested courses on Greece, Rome, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Published November 7, 2023

Illustration on the war on the Jews by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

Iran is globalizing second war against the Jews

World War II was also "The War Against the Jews." But the Nazis took pains to conceal the fact that their goal was the extermination of Europe's Jewish communities. Published October 31, 2023