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
Congress and Insider Trading: The Rules Don’t Apply When You Make the Rules
Early in my career, I managed money for a federal judge. She couldn’t hold a single stock. No individual securities, no sector bets, no company-specific exposure of any kind. Any ruling touching a publicly traded company had to be beyond reproach. The appearance of a conflict was enough. She accepted that as a condition of… -
opinion
The Media Eagerly Take the Wrong Side of the Facts on Girls Sports
Journalists love to boast that they are “Facts First” people, that they are the brave souls seeking out “truth.” But when it comes to transgenderism, facts go out the window, and truth is triggering. When the Supreme Court upheld state bans on boys in girls sports, NBC anchor Craig Melvin sounded apologetic in live coverage…. -
opinion
Obscenity Is Still Illegal—It’s Time to Enforce Laws Against Pornography
The internet delivers an endless stream of hardcore pornography into American homes and pockets through laptops and mobile phones. Porn once confined to seedy bookstores is now ubiquitous, free, and increasingly violent. Most youngsters, especially boys, encounter hardcore pornography before they can drive. Marriages strain under its influence. The sexual dance is compromised by suspicion… -
opinion
Alive and Kicking: News of Woke’s Death Is Greatly Exaggerated
RealClearWire—Just a few years ago, wearing a sombrero on Halloween could get you banished from polite society for the social crime of “cultural appropriation.” Nutrition experts argued that preventing obesity was a form of racialized “fatphobia,” even as scientific names of songbirds were purged in a moral campaign presumably aimed at white supremacy. Meanwhile, a slew of studies, papers, and articles argued that punctuality, excellence, and other forms of professionalism are “the systemic, institutionalized centering of whiteness.” Today, as universities are dismantling… -
opinion
EPA, Don’t Regulate Away America’s Medical Device Sterilization Industry
RealClearWire—In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency tried to make it harder for hospitals to obtain essential sterilized medical equipment by threatening to regulate the American industry out of business. Two years later, the EPA is finally safeguarding the medical equipment supply chain by rescinding a damaging and badly conceived rule. The rule centers on a… -
opinion
Prioritize GPS or Risk Losing Future Wars
RealClearWire—The U.S. Global Positioning System stands as America’s key part of its critical space infrastructure. It is foundational to a highly functioning society. It underpins everything from smartphones, navigation for commercial aviation, precision-guided weapons, and global financial networks. Yet, despite its strategic importance, GPS modernization has too often been treated as a billpayer within defense… -
opinion
Meet the UK’s Terrible Next Prime Minister: Andy Burnham
As Americans try to make sense of the latest mess in British politics, one name keeps coming up as the likely next occupant of 10 Downing Street: Andy Burnham. The former mayor of Greater Manchester, always camera-ready and quick with a soundbite, looks set to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader and prime minister. If… -
opinion
Pamphlets to Posts: The Founders Would Have Been Keyboard Warriors
RealClearWire—If America’s Founding Fathers were still with us today, they wouldn’t avoid social media—they’d master it. Popular platforms like X, Facebook, Truth Social, and Instagram can reduce our ability to build trusting relationships and cross political boundaries. But they are also incredibly powerful tools to spread news and perspectives—and are not inherently incompatible with thoughtful… -
opinion
Fit to Fight: Why the Military Has Always Said No to Those Who Can’t
RealClearWire—The United States Army turned away Erik Holmstrom on Reception Day at West Point in 1995. He was a standout offensive lineman from Duluth with the body and the drive for it. The problem was an old ACL repair and a ligament that measured 0.03 centimeters too loose to meet deployment standards. The Army didn’t… -
opinion
Democrat Leaders Deny the Declaration’s First Right
This year, Americans are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which declared the “self-evident” truth that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” including the rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The leaders of the Democratic Party, however, deny this self-evident truth…. -
opinion
In the Cradle of Liberty, Educational Freedom Should Be the Default
RealClearWire—This summer, Philadelphia is celebrating its role as the birthplace of America. Tourists from around the world are descending on Independence Hall, where 250 years ago a group of colonists declared that governments exist to secure the rights of the people, not the other way around. It’s a fitting moment to ask whether Pennsylvania is… -
opinion
Abraham Lincoln and America’s Electric Cord
Welcome to the fourth in our series, Landmark Speeches in American History. We are celebrating America’s 250th anniversary with articles by prominent authors about how some of the greatest speeches in our history—by celebrated orators like Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr.—honored the vision of our founding document, the Declaration of Independence…. -
opinion
Reclaiming the Exceptionalism That Built the Greatest Nation on Earth
RealClearWire—As fireworks light the sky this July Fourth and we mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, we celebrate more than a birthday. We honor the most successful experiment in human freedom the world has ever known—an experiment that delivered unprecedented abundance, opportunity, and dignity to ordinary people. No nation in history has lifted the… -
opinion
This Summer, the Kids Are ‘Nixon Maxxing’
History is written by the victors, and more than 30 years after his death, Richard Nixon is finally being vindicated. During an interview earlier this month at the Nixon Presidential Library, Vice President JD Vance observed that “Nixon’s historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a cultural renaissance, and deservedly so.” Vance has clearly noticed… -
opinion
Patriotism Is in Peril. Here’s How to Fix That.
The World Cup has led to many displays of patriotism from European visitors to the United States. The Scottish “Tartan Army” marched into Florida behind a wall of bagpipes. Norwegians have carried their “Viking row” chant through stadium concourses, airport escalators, and Times Square. A strong country must produce those willing to sacrifice for its… -
opinion
Some Laws Kill
Car accidents kill 100 Americans every day. But now an amazing solution is available: self-driving cars. Robotaxis like Google-owned Waymo, for example. Passengers who try them, like them. Wherever robotaxis are allowed, ridership increases fast. Two years ago, there were 50,000 trips per week—today 500,000. “The car did a better job than if somebody was… -
opinion
MSCI’s SpaceX Rating Discredits the ESG Cartel
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, recently became the first trillionaire in history when SpaceX—the rocket company he founded—debuted in a record-breaking IPO. Though market volatility has since pushed his net worth below the trillion-dollar mark in some trading sessions, the milestone endures, as does SpaceX’s groundbreaking innovation in reusable spaceflight and its expanding work… -
opinion
Army ROTC Taught Me Never to Call Independence Day ‘the Fourth of July’
Most Americans think nothing of calling our nation’s birthday “the Fourth of July.” But I learned the hard way not to do that in my Army Reserve Officer Training Corps days in college. I’ll never forget the day Sgt. Thayer, a regular Army soldier, decided to randomly quiz our ROTC squad on American history while… -
opinion
America’s Founders Show Us How to Defeat Socialism
Can America survive if the next generation meant to preserve it believes our best days are behind us? As the Daily Signal has worked on a special project for America’s 250th birthday, I’ve been fixating on this question and struggling to answer it. But we might soon know the answer. A recent study from Pew Research found that just… -
opinion
Bill Maher, Liberalism’s Apostate
Bill Maher is the perfect liberal, at least on paper—yet despite his talk shows being nominated for Emmy awards more than 40 times, it’s only in Donald Trump’s Washington that Maher finally gets the recognition he craves. He’s now the 27th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, an award first won by…