Political Commentary & Opinion

An essay appeared recently in The Wall Street Journal under the headline “What Happens When a Whole Generation Never Grows Up?” Behavior that has always been understood to define what it means to be an adult is disappearing among America’s younger generations. Institutions always seen as the sinews that define and hold together a society–homeownership,…

Shortly before Milton Friedman’s death in 2006, I had the privilege of interviewing him over dinner in San Francisco. The last question I asked him was: What are the three things we have to do to make America more prosperous? His answer I have never forgotten: “First, allow universal school choice; second, expand free trade;…

Health officials in Louisiana announced Monday the first bird flu death in the United States. The elderly individual, who had underlying medical conditions, was exposed to the virus from a backyard flock and wild birds. There have been 66 reported cases of bird flu in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control…

President Jimmy Carter’s personal service to the poor after he left the White House in 1981 is remembered as Christian charity in action. What is not so well remembered is his role, albeit unwitting, in bringing evangelical Christians into the political process. Without Carter—who died Dec. 29 at age 100, and who will lie in…

Given vexing experiences in his first administration, once and future President Donald Trump is well aware of the resistance he will face from the Swamp, the vast horde of left-wing bureaucrats that inhabit the executive branch.  They see it as their political duty to impede, resist, and sabotage every policy priority of a Republican president,…

A spate of stories in the media recently provides a remarkable illustration of how the globalist policy agenda of the climate-industrial complex has captured key international institutions and perverted their original organizational aims. From initially serving broad, laudable objectives for the welfare of their constituents, these institutions have been subverted over the years to serve the insistent…

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya—the Stanford professor who is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the directorship of the National Institutes of Health—will bring transparency to this government agency, which sorely needs it. I am an odd person to write a piece supporting Jay’s nomination to lead the NIH. During the pandemic, I disagreed with Jay on COVID-19…

Toward the end of “A Complete Unknown,” a good biopic about Bob Dylan that opened on Christmas, there is a key scene in which Dylan manager Albert Grossman barks at folk music legend Pete Seeger, “You’re pushing candles, and he’s selling lightbulbs,” to which Seeger retorts, “You’re the only one selling anything here, Albert!” The scene portrays the eve of the…

New Year’s Day is a good time to take a long look backward with a cautious eye toward possible futures. My guide here is RealClearPolitics analyst Sean Trende’s 2012 book “The Lost Majority,” whose bold thesis was unduly neglected by political scientists spinning tales of a permanent New Deal Democratic majority. Trende’s thesis instead was…

Following defeat in the presidential election, Democratic Party leadership is doing much-needed soul-searching. Those not in denial know there is something wrong. Per Gallup, in the 10 months in 2024 prior to the election, January to October, the Democrat partisan advantage—the percentage identifying as Democrat or lean Democrat minus the percentage identifying as Republican or…

The Romans set January as the first month of the year. Originally, March had been the start of the new year. But the early Roman kings, before the republic, moved it to coincide with Janus, a two-faced god who looked backward with an old face and forward with a young face. Julius Caesar realigned Roman…

In the dreamlike days between Christmas and the regular work week’s return in the new year, it’s easy to believe all things are possible. Indulge in as much pie as you like—a resolution to eat healthier in 2025 will balance the scales. For most of us, this is harmless self-deception. Unfortunately, Congress has the same…

Travis Bowman is a seventh-generation descendant of one of America’s most remarkable yet overlooked Revolutionary War heroes: Peter Francisco, known as “The Virginia Giant.” During a recent visit to Washington, D.C., Bowman visited The Daily Signal to share the incredible tale of Francisco’s life: from his mysterious beginnings in the Azores, to his kidnapping by…

As woke illiberalism replaced live-and-let-live liberalism as the animating ideology of the American Left, the state of Israel has increasingly found itself on the outs. Never mind that modern Israel was founded by, and for three decades politically dominated by, a bunch of left-wing socialists. Never mind that Harry Truman, an iconic liberal Democratic president,…