Opinion

The First is all about ideas, conversations, curiosity, and most of all freedom. To that end, we publish a plethora of content from both our own writers and outside contributors. We focus especially on real people, with real jobs, and real opinions, not the blather you see repeated on cable news.

We are not beholden to one person, party, or partisan agenda. We call it like we see it, and we want to bring you those who do the same.

So click below to read some of the premiere content from some of our contributors. Don’t like what they have to say? Have a question? Email them, or contact us at ideas@thefirsttv.com.

CHRISTIE: The ‘lol’ Candidate | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Wed, Jun 7, 2023

My God, he’s at it again. In 2016, New Jersey’s Gov. Chris Christie spent 70 days in New Hampshire, camped out to try and pry a few votes out of taciturn New England yankees who look down (south is always down) on New Jersey as a pit stop on their way to Florida vacations. In the …

Listen to the Smartest Man in the Room | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Tue, Jun 6, 2023

My brother Jay and I speak almost every morning. Our topics range from prosaic family stuff to the political. New Hampshire is a small state, and if you live there long enough, you get to know certain personalities. We both have connections to the Sununus. Both Jay and I grew up in the under 20-mile …

DEAL: Chip Roy Puts On His Armor From the Safety of the Castle on Debt Deal | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Wed, May 31, 2023

The list of House Freedom Caucus and other Republicans who have pledged to vote against Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s deal with the White House to pass a new debt ceiling bill, falls just short of something that would actually kill it. I say that’s by design. There might be a vote held to “vacate the chair” but I’m …

MAGA MAJOR GENERAL: Ken Paxton Faces Impeachment | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Fri, May 26, 2023

I didn’t expect this, but it’s good news coming out of Austin, Texas. A Republican-led state House investigative committee has recommended 20 articles of impeachment to rid the Lone Star State of its MAGA attorney general. The decision was unanimous. If the full house votes to impeach as early as today, by Texas law he would be …

DESANTIS RAKE-STEP Rakes in the Cash | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Fri, May 26, 2023

In an phone interview with Erick Erickson, newly announced Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that the “buzz” from his technically glitchy announcement interview on Twitter with Elon Musk was significant. He called it the “biggest story in the world.” A massive exaggeration, but it does have some merit. Misfortune has its own cachet. …

PSYOPS: Trump’s NH Play Against DeSantis | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Tue, May 23, 2023

The problem with Gov. Ron DeSantis is that he’s a lawyer, and he has almost no weapons that are effective against Donald Trump. See, lawyers look for fact patterns. Trump runs psyops campaigns. Just look at this annoying, Old MacDonald-had-a-farm ad run by a Trump-supporting political action committee. First, the facts. Almost every Congress has had to …

Bakhmut’s Ruins are Putin’s Victory | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Mon, May 22, 2023

It’s not Russian propaganda that Bakhmut is no longer in the hands of Ukrainian forces. Once every building is hollowed out, leveled, or structurally compromised to the point where it cannot offer shelter, there’s really nowhere for Ukrainian defenders to hide or regroup, so they left. But talk of “Pyrrhic victory” and “Russian losses” is counterproductive. …

ALTMAN ON AI: Regulate Me! Don’t Fall for It | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Wed, May 17, 2023

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Congress he’d like to be regulated. I bet he would! Like the Bell System, or Big Pharma, or the American Commercial Barge Line. Protective regulation has the added—if intended—effect of creating a hedge around the targeted industries. It freezes in place many of the positional factors, ossifying the market and turning star businesses …

SAVE BUD LIGHT: It Can Be Done | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Fri, May 12, 2023

Arnold Schwarzenegger once said something like, when you see a sport or group from the outside, it might seem really strange or exotic, but when you learn about it, you find it’s “just another thing.” It’s the same with the pedestrian but esoteric, industrial world of beer and brewers. At scale, the brands you think …

HOLD MY BUD LIGHT: Republicans Play Chicken with the Debt Limit | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Tue, May 9, 2023

President Joe Biden is unpopular. He has been unpopular since he botched our exit from Afghanistan, which seems so long ago that it happened in a different decade. Possibly the only Democrat more unpopular than Biden is his own Vice President and running made, Kamala Harris—at least since Krysten Sinema left the party. Not to be outdone, because it’s clearly …

CALLED BY GOD: Fulton DA Fani Willis Offers Immunity to Trump Electors | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Mon, May 8, 2023

“God called me,” is what Fulton County DA Fani Willis said about her decision to run for the office she holds, an office that is piece by piece assembling its case against former President Donald J. Trump, in what many believe (including me) is the most compelling exposition of Trump’s mind and intentions after the 2020 election. …

Ouija for Dummies | Steve Berman

By Steve Berman
Opinion Contributor

Mon, May 1, 2023

One of my pet peeves is when people eat the last Nutter Butter and put the empty package back in the cupboard. But that’s not important right now. (Yes, I’m directly stealing Jonah Goldberg’s schtick.) But really, one of my pet peeves is when people use the phrase “beg the question” when they really mean “raise …