Outside the Beltway

Former car czar Steve Rattner sat down with Ezra Klein to whine about how the American people and its Congress wouldn’t just turn over the whole economy to unelected experts such as himself.

Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo has dedicated his Nobel Peace Prize to the victims of the June 1989 massacre in Tianamen Square. Proving again that the events of that day still live on in the memory of many Chinese people.

Citizens United really wasn’t that big a deal.

President Obama and the Democrats are charging the Chamber of Commerce of funneling foreign money into ads for Republicans. It’s a desperate move unlikely to work.

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. He probably doesn’t know it, though, because he’s currently sitting in a Chinese prison.

Daniel Larison’s “The Case Against NATO” makes compelling reading. In my New Atlanticist post “The Case Against the Case Against NATO,” I explain why it’s wrong.

If the Republicans win back Congress in November, it will be largely unearned. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no incentive for change in American politics.

Pakistan yesterday blocked NATO’s primary supply line into Afghanistan in retaliation for an air strike that killed three Pakistani paramilitaries. Are the two countries truly allies?

Support for the Tea Party is at record levels but that movement does not have a coherent policy platform. Can the energy be harnessed to good use?

The Obama White House is asserting that the President has the authority to issue assassination orders against American citizens, and that no Court has the authority to review his decision. If that doesn’t worry you, it should.

If the Obama Administration gets it’s way, your secure Internet communications won’t really be all that secure.

According to a new book from Bob Woorward, American policy in Afghanistan is the result of a decision making process that can only be described as chaotic at best.

Most voters want their representatives to take a stand.

Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections were marked by another round of allegations of widespread voter fraud, once again bringing to the forefront the question; what exactly are we trying to accomplish in Afghanistan ?

The Tea Party movement and the populist backlash against DC mayor Adrian Fenty are a sign that things are changing so fast that a lot of people simply can’t adjust.

Turkey reformed its constitution over the weekend, in what Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised “will go down in history as a turning point in Turkish democracy.” But there’s strong disagreement over which way it’s headed.

The winners of state legislatures in November will have a great deal of influence over Congressional elections for the next decade. Should it be that way?

Elena Kagan has announced that she will not participated in the consideration of more than half the cases currently scheduled to be hear by the Supreme Court when it’s new term begins in October.

Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas’ new book, AMERICAN TALIBAN: HOW WAR, SEX, SIN, AND POWER BIND JIHADISTS AND THE RADICAL RIGHT, continues a long tradition in political polemics.

President Obama didn’t use the words “Mission Accomplished” last night, but the message was the same.

America’s mission in Iraq is shifting from an active combat role to a smaller security presence. But the war that gripped our attention for years is now off the radar screen.

Barely half of Americans think Muslims have a Constitutional right to build a mosque near the World Trade Center and 18% think mosques shouldn’t be allowed anywhere. That’s why we have a 1st Amendment.

Sarah Palin decided to get involved in the “Doctor Laura” Schlessinger controversy, and in the process displayed a blatant misunderstanding of the First Amendment.

Sharron Angle’s views about the role of religion in politics are disturbingly similar to those of people who believe that the Bible itself should be the law of the land.

There’s a war of words developing between the Pentagon and the information-sharing website Wikileaks.

November’s elections will set modern records for most Senate seats and governorships on the ballot.

In the first entry in this series we looked at a basic question of democratic theory. In this one, we look at whether the EC ever worked as the Framers intended.

The first in a multi-part series on the Electoral College.

The Anti-Defamation League has taken an unfortunate stand on a issue involving religious tolerance and bigotry.

Screaming at one another and treating political opponents as enemies doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere. But is there a realistic alternative?

“I don’t condone leaking secrets. But nor do I condone a policy that can only work in secret.” – Bernard Finel

The Internet has given us many good things, but it’s also led to a decline in political discourse that we’d do well to reverse before it’s too late.

Andrew Sullivan is back from vacation and back obsessing over the birth of a two-year old kid in Alaska.

Will a debate over foreign policy tear apart the GOP ? Probably not.

The evidence that humans are irrational continues to mount. What does this mean for self-governance?

The Fox News headline “University of Illinois Instructor Fired Over Catholic Beliefs” is grossly misleading.

Another new poll brings bad news for Democrats and the President.

David Brooks and Gail Collins debate the proper role for pundits.

Thomas Jefferson took great pains to hide the word he originally used for “citizens” in the Declaration of Independence.

Contrary to popular belief, Adolf Hitler didn’t come to power by democratic means or because of his ability to whip the public into a frenzy.

While praise for the military often goes overboard, the reaction to the McChrystal flap shows our armed forces at their finest.

Is it time to elect a President that doesn’t have that “lean and hungry look” ?

President Obama is following the example of his predecessors in abusing his power to enact his preferred policies. Has he gone too far?