Political Commentary & Opinion
Analysis, commentary, and opinion essays on politics and policy from The Daily Signal’s contributors and experts.
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opinion
To Stop Wildfires, Burn Wokeism
Wildfires are inevitable. The apocalyptic devastation seen in Los Angeles isn’t. The Palisades Fire started recently in west Los Angeles. Driven by intense Santa Ana Winds, the fire quickly spread into the residential area of Pacific Palisades. That fire, along with others in LA, forced more than 175,000 residents to flee. The fire destroyed more… -
opinion
I Live in Pacific Palisades and I Know Who Caused the Fire
As officials investigate what caused Los Angeles’ devastating fires, I know the answer. It was the homeless. The Los Angeles Fire Department reports that 54% of fires in 2023 were started by homeless. They responded to almost 14,000 fires that year alone related to homelessness. Regardless of whether the Pacific Palisades fire was directly started… -
news
Heritage Foundation Launches Ad Supporting Former Dem RFK Jr. for HHS Secretary
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Heritage Foundation on Monday launched an advertisement campaign supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to direct the Department of Health and Human Services. The ad, first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, touts Kennedy as “fearless,” and promotes his policy agenda to make America healthier and combat the chronic disease… -
opinion
Newsom’s Governorship Going Up in Smoke
California’s Democrat Party elites are feeling the burn of their own failures to protect their state from devastating, uncontrolled fires. No politician’s reputation has been sullied as much as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. As the wildfires in Los Angeles continue to rage, Newsom has sputtered and flailed—sometimes literally. He’s becoming the object of ire for appropriately… -
news
‘FINAL POTSHOT’: What to Expect From Merrick Garland’s Release of Special Counsel Report
The first volume of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report–cleared for release this week–may be little more than a parting shot by the Biden administration’s Justice Department days before Donald Trump’s second inauguration. “There could be a few interesting tidbits about who testified to the grand jury and so forth, but as for hard evidence,… -
news
‘75% Incompetence’: Dem Ex-Lawmaker Rips California Leaders’ Wildfire Failures
PALOS VERDE, Calif.—Years of policy failures, bookended by insufficient preparation in the days leading up to the California wildfires, laid the groundwork for historic destruction, former California state Rep. Mike Gatto says. “When the history of these fires are written, people will conclude that it was 25% the weather and 75% incompetence and poor management,”… -
opinion
THE TYRANNY OF TABOOS: Causes of LA Wildfires Can’t Be Spoken
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. We’re into about the fourth or fifth day of the Los Angeles fires, and people are… -
opinion
A Well-Deserved Takedown of the California Political Class
Actress Sara Foster captured the rage of many Angelenos who have watched their city burn from the Palisades to Altadena in one social media post: “We pay the highest taxes in California. Our fire hydrants were empty. Our vegetation was overgrown, brush not cleared. Our reservoirs were emptied by our governor because tribal leaders wanted… -
opinion
States Should Conduct Their Own Censuses, Count Citizens Only for Redistricting. Here’s How.
The inclusion of aliens, legal or illegal, in the population used for apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives and for redistricting (i.e., drawing new boundary lines for congressional, state legislative, and local city council and county commission offices) unfairly dilutes the votes of U.S. citizens and distorts their representation and political power within legislative… -
news
Corporate Media Outlet Has Reportedly Shed Nearly 90% of Digital Readership in Only 4 Years
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Washington Post’s web traffic has taken a nosedive since 2021, with its digital readership declining by nearly 90%. The outlet, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had around 22.5 million daily active users in January 2021, according to Semafor. As of the middle of 2024, however, that number had fallen to just 2.5 million-to-3… -
news
LA Locals Urge Leaders to Prioritize Public Safety, Not Climate Agenda
As many Democrats seek to use the California wildfires to push their “climate change” agenda, the Los Angeles Fire Department and locals say the city and state should instead prioritize saving as many lives and as much property as possible. “For us, it doesn’t get very political at all,” Los Angeles County Fire Department Public… -
news
Family Who Sang Hymn in Midst of California Wildfire Rubble Praises God for 36 Years in Home
When Peter and Jacqueline Halpin evacuated the home they lived in for 36 years due to the Eaton wildfire, they had no idea they would never see it again. The Halpins evacuated their Altadena, California, home on Jan. 7 due to the incoming Eaton fire with nothing but the clothes on their backs, some paperwork,… -
opinion
Climate Change Isn’t Responsible for Disastrous Wildfires
Extended periods of hot weather and drought create ideal conditions for hard-to-fight forest fires. Although climate models predict that such weather conditions generated by human-caused global warming will increase the incidence of wildfires, recent wildfires cannot be blamed exclusively—or even primarily—on global warming: Weather-driven conditions conducive to forest fires have existed for millennia as a… -
news
Report: 1 in 8 Christians Worldwide Is Persecuted ‘Because of Faith in Jesus’
One in every eight Christians around the world faces persecution, ranging from imprisonment and censorship to extra-judicial and government-sanctioned martyrdom, according to a new report. “Each year, an estimated 300 million Christians around the world are persecuted because of their faith in Jesus. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are beaten, imprisoned, and even killed… -
opinion
Confirm Patel, Capsize the FBI
Kash Patel, President reelect Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI chief, heads into Senate confirmation hearings next week. His critics will warn ominously that Patel would turn the FBI upside down. As well he should. The FBI’s decent, diligent field agents might be the people most betrayed by their bosses in Washington, D.C. The bureau’s leftist command… -
opinion
Andrew Breitbart, Mark Zuckerberg and the Two-Way Street of Politics and Culture
The late, great Andrew Breitbart was one of the most quotable conservatives of his era. “Walk toward the fire,” he exhorted his fellow activists. “Don’t worry about what they call you. All those things are said against you because they want to stop you in your tracks.” It was good advice when Breitbart said it… -
opinion
An Ideological Agenda Leaves Californians Vulnerable to Wildfires
While California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blame this week’s devastating wildfires on climate change or claim that they did all they could to prepare, the evidence tells a different story. Their focus on a woke, climate-driven agenda has come at the expense of practical, effective wildfire prevention measures. The result?… -
opinion
A Progressive Hellscape
“February was the wettest month in downtown Los Angeles since 1998. With over 12 inches of rain drenching the city, it was the fourth-wettest February—and the seventh-wettest month overall—in the city’s nearly 150-year recorded history,” said Judson Jones’ report on Los Angeles’ weather on March 2, 2024, in The New York Times. Just under a… -
opinion
Double Standards: Carter’s Kindest Media Eulogists Were Rough on Reagan
In all the somber coverage of Jimmy Carter’s death, the audience could and should expect the tone of kindness that wafts over wakes and funerals. Each president served as leader of our nation, shouldering a great burden over a large country with an ever-enlarging government. But sometimes the tributes grow a little too treacly. CBS… -
news
DeSantis Tells Media Point-Blank Newsom Would’ve Been ‘Nailed to the Wall’ Over Wildfires If He Was Republican
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, accused reporters Thursday evening of going easy on California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, over his handling of wildfires in the Los Angeles area. The area around Los Angeles has been hit with multiple wildfires that rapidly spread through Pasadena and other localities, destroying hundreds of buildings and leaving…