Author: Brittany Mays

The new research from Vanderbilt and Wellesley finds that counties which narrowly elect Republican prosecutors show notably lower death rates among young people, challenging the idea that Democrat prosecutors’ softer policies are always safer. For years Americans were told that Democrat prosecutors were the compassionate choice, but a new study from Vanderbilt University economist Panka Bencsik and Wellesley College Professor Tyler Giles raises tough questions about the human cost of that approach. Their analysis compares counties where prosecutor races were decided by narrow margins and finds a consistent pattern: jurisdictions that narrowly elected Republican prosecutors experienced a significantly lower death…

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 1, 2025, declaring English the official language of the United States, a first in American history, and the White House press release included the line: “From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language. Our Nation’s […] This move, made official by President Donald Trump on March 1, 2025, marks the first time the federal government has formally named English the nation’s official language. The announcement came with a White House press release that included the exact passage: “From the founding of our Republic, English has…

Notre Dame’s relationship with its Catholic mission has long been unsettled, and that tension shapes decisions, campus culture, and how the university presents itself to students and the public. The tension over Notre Dame’s Catholic identity isn’t new; it’s been present for decades and shows up in policy choices, public statements, and institutional priorities. That wavering reflects competing demands: academic reputation, donor expectations, student life, and the commitments of a religious foundation. Those forces push and pull the university in different directions, often leaving its core mission ambiguous. Faculty and administrators often describe a desire to balance rigorous scholarship with…

This piece argues that Democrats struggle to match kitchen-table populism because their instincts for social engineering get in the way, leaving room for President Trump’s MAGA coalition to retain broad appeal among voters. Democrats keep missing a basic political truth: voters care about pocketbook issues and everyday stability more than ideological purity. When a party prioritizes top-down social experiments, it loses touch with the kitchen-table conversations that decide elections. That gap explains why President Trump’s brand of populism still resonates with many Americans. On the surface, Democrats talk about helping families, but their policies often read like checklists for cultural…

Lawyers say students who were held for four days after a scuffle with police in Pennsylvania had no idea an older, stocky man in plain clothes had stepped into the confrontation. The case raises questions about identification, use of force, and how quickly an unclear scene can become a criminal matter. What started as a student demonstration turned into a messy confrontation that left several young people in custody for four days. The short detentions followed a scuffle with police on a public street, and the situation quickly moved from a chaotic moment to a legal fight. Parents and classmates…

The record-long Feb. 24 State of the Union address and the intense Democratic backlash that followed make clear that President Donald Trump’s agenda and style are central to the political fight ahead. The “record-long Feb. 24 State of the Union address” was part policy blueprint and part performance, and it landed in front of a nation that has learned to expect both. What followed from the opposition was not merely disagreement but a level of hostility that underscored how much is at stake. That combination turns a speech into a litmus test for the next phase of national politics. Trump…

The president and his executive power alone can’t secure Republicans re-election come November; the GOP will have to act fast. If Republicans want to win in November, relying on the president’s office and executive orders is not enough. Voters judge a party by tangible results in communities, state capitals, and the courts, not by tweets or single-issue headlines. That means the party must move from defensive to decisive across multiple fronts right now. This is not a theoretical warning, it’s a practical one born from recent election cycles where national momentum collapsed without steady local infrastructure. When the ground game…

Quick summary: A skeptical look at a fresh political performer whose style echoes national Democrats, questioning whether optics and imitation are standing in for substance. “After hearing the name “James Talarico” for several weeks, I finally got my first visual and audio impression of him, and it’s the same one I had when I first saw Democrat Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speak: Does he know that we know he’s doing an Obama impersonation? It’s truly awe-inspiring to watch a presumably […]” That moment sticks because it captures a broader pattern in modern Democratic politics: style often precedes clarity. Voters should…

A sudden split over tariffs cost Rep. Jeff Hurd a high-profile endorsement while President Trump moved quickly to back a new candidate and to shift the administration’s trade response. President Trump withdrew his endorsement of Rep. Jeff Hurd, labeling the Colorado Republican a “RINO” and accusing him of siding with foreign interests on trade. The president instead endorsed Hope Scheppelman, described as a Navy veteran and critical care nurse practitioner, to challenge Hurd in Colorado’s 3rd District. The break came fast after a 6-3 Supreme Court decision blocked the administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose…

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will give private sworn depositions to the House Oversight Committee in Chappaqua, New York on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27 as part of the GOP-led investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, after resisting subpoenas and the threat of contempt. The Clintons did not volunteer to sit for these sessions. Their initial resistance forced the committee into issuing subpoenas and threatening contempt proceedings, and only then did both agree to recorded, private depositions in Chappaqua, New York on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27. The moment is unprecedented: the appearance marks the first…