Outside the Beltway

Political journalists aren’t like you and me. Well, you, anyway.

The US came a lot closer to something resembling a parliamentary system than most people think.

My first piece for CNN has been posted at Fareed Zakaria’s Global Public Square.

In the book he released last year , Rick Perry advocated far reaching changes to the Constitution.

Sarah Palin’s paranoia about the media was on full display during her recent visit to Iowa.

Iraq has become so dependent on Iran for its survival that it is endorsing the brutal tactics of Bashar Assad.

Will the trial of Hosni Mubarak actually change anything?

The world is starting to denounce the crackdown in Syria, but the reaction seems unlikely to go much beyond strongly worded statements.

Condi Rice’s speechwriter thinks Huntsman can appeal to the Tea Party.

Now that America’s political leadership have probably averted a self-inflicted global economic calamity, it’s time to assess the winners and losers.

A recent poll provides some insight into congressional behavior.

Charles Krauthammer claims we are in the midst of a great debate. I am not so sure.

A European anti-Muslim blogger observes, ‘It is clear that Anders Behring Breivik is one of us.'”

Does the 10th Amendment contain the answer to the same-sex marriage debate? Not really.

Illegal immigration from Mexico is down substantially, and it has nothing to do with all those anti-immigration laws.

Another major campaign finance case from the Supreme Court.

President Obama came close to endorsing same-sex marriage last night, but stopped short yet again

For the first time since the end of World War II, the GOP is wrestling with two diametrically opposed visions of foreign affairs.

Is it reasonable to state that countries with less guns are more likely to become tyrannical than countries with more guns?

Contrary to what Senator McCain, seeking realism in military policy does not make one an isolationist.

States are racing to put obstacles in front of voters in the name of fraud prevention.

The vast majority of the seats in the Virginia legislature will not even be contested this November.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, says fundamentalist Christians are a far bigger problem than Muslims. And, no, he’s not anti-religion.

Ousting evil dictators is harder than it looks.

Sandy Levinson suggests that there is a key lesson from the Founders that we ignore.

The US spends a lot on defense relative to, well, the rest of the world.

Turkey has had elections, and the ruling AKP has retained a majority in parliament. The next major issue appears to be constitutional reform.

It appears that the Syrian military is starting to fracture. Exactly how widespread this is remains to be seen.

To paraphrase Rumsfeld: you go to the ballot box with the candidate you have, not the candidate you want, or would like to have.

More on the whole “republic not a democracy” discussion.

Palin has some odd things to say about US history.

President Obama doubled down in his speech before this year’s AIPAC conference. Why he did so only he understands.

Once again, an American President thinks he can bring peace to the Middle East.

Elias Isquith proclaims my Atlantic essay “How Perpetual War Became U.S. Ideology” to be “a total disaster.”

Santorum has an interesting theory about the decline of great powers.

A major law firm has withdrawn from defending DOMA in Court, and a public controversy has erupted.

The NYT says it’s time for U. S. advisers and military air traffic controllers on the ground in Libya.

Yes, please secure your home networks. But also: perhaps the police need to reevaluate their tactics.

Francis Fukuyama: “In the developed world, we take the existence of government so much for granted that we sometimes forget how difficult it was to create.”