Outside the Beltway

Democracy produces good rulers, right?  Sometimes.  What good democracies actually produce best is good losers. Let us then be grateful for gracious losers, for our losers no less than our winners carry forward the American experiment in self-rule.  

In which I use a lot of words to say hello.

Donald Trump is not Adolf Hitler. But that’s not the standard.

In what seems like a replay of the primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, some top Democratic Party leadership positions may be in jeopardy.

The President-elect lost the popular vote. Legally, that is the way that is it. This is a disgrace for “the Greatest Democracy in the World.”

Despite resentments, power will transition peacefully from President Obama to President Trump. We should be thankful for that rather than protesting it.

Americans are rioting in the streets because they don’t like the outcome of a democratic election.

Defying the odds and the polls, Donald Trump triumphed over Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the United States.

Obama v. Trump in handling protesters at rallies (and a helping of untruth from Trump).

For better or worse, the third Presidential debate will largely be remembered for one thing.

Wherein an initial attempt to understand something seen on Facebook leads to ruminations on religious liberty.

The Republican nominee is threatening our fragile democracy.

The reputation of the US matters in global affairs.

There’s nothing compasssionate about protectionism.

Basic trust in process is essential for democratic governance to function and major party nominees ought not be undercutting that trust for cynical gain.

Big losses for proponents of Voter ID laws in two swing states.

Hillary Clinton delvers a largely successful acceptance speech that caps off a convention that ran far smoother than its Republican counterpart.

Eight years after beating her for the Democratic Nomination, Barack Obama passed the torch to Hillary Clinton with a speech that sounded more like Ronald Reagan than anything we’ve heard from the Republican nominee.

Donald Trump completed his unlikely journey to the Republican Presidential Nomination last night, but he the party he now leads remains divided.

Turkey’s government appears to have rebuffed a coup attempt, but questions remains about the stability of the government going forward.

Well that took long enough.

Comments on a pro-Trump (well, sorta) column.

A massive attack hits Istanbul’s airport.

Americans have increasingly come to view their political opponents as not just wrong, but evil, stupid, and immoral. That’s not something that makes for a healthy representative democratic republic.

The Supreme Court has once again issued a ruling that further chips away at the protections of the Fourth Amendment.

The murder of Jo Cox, MP is looking more and more like a politically motivated assassination, and that’s causing some in Great Britain to look inward.

Donald Trump continues his war on freedom of the press and reporters who cover him critically by barring The Washington Post from covering campaign events.

Libertarian Party Presidential nominee Gary Johnson is doing quite well in the polls, when pollsters bother to include him.

With top Republicans recoiling from the realization that the GOP is stuck with Trump in 2016, the ground seems to be being prepared for a conflict that could tear the GOP apart regardless of who wins in November.

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s fate lies the hands of the Supreme Court.

Another big night for Hillary Clinton, and more bad news for Bernie Sanders.

In a huge step forward for criminal justice reform, Virginia’s Governor has restored voting rights for some 200,000 people who have paid their debt to society.

The business of the media is business. Business is not good.

There are many aspects of the way delegates to the party convention are chosen that is “undemocratic,” but it’s unclear why this is a problem.

Bernie Sanders swept the Western Caucuses on Saturday, but Hillary Clinton remains in control in the delegate count.

With President Obama becoming the first American President to visit Cuba in 88 years, a new poll finds majority support for his changes in Cuba policy.

Given the stakes headed into the latest version of ‘Super Tuesday,’ last night’s Republican debate was surprisingly subdued.

It seems increasingly apparent that the only way to stop Donald Trump now is by trying to force a contested convention. It also seems clear that such a plan probably wouldn’t succeed.

With time running out, the top three candidates for the Republican nomination picked up right where they left off last week.

All of which leads to a discussion of electoral rules.

Is President Obama planning a Checkmate move in the SCOTUS nomination fight?

Dare I say: hate the game, not the players?

With the Vermont Senator holding a seemingly insurmountable lead in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders and HIllary Clinton clashed last night in their most contentious debate yet.

Ted Cruz won, Marco Rubio surged into a stronger than expected third place, and Donald Trump was humbled just a little bit, but he was hardly a “loser.” The race for the GOP nomination has begun for real.