Outside the Beltway

The seeds of the current peace deal date back to 2007-2008 (plus some longer-term background notes).

When did “politics” become a dirty word?

Joe Biden may want to run for President, but does anyone else? It doesn’t really seem like it.

Like many Republicans, Jeb Bush continues to be willfully blind to the truth about the Iraq War.

A Federal Appeals Court has dealt a setback to Texas in the battle over its Voter ID Law.

Public opinion on the Supreme Court has declined significantly, largely because Republicans don’t like the Supreme Court very much right now.

We are still a ways from actual voting–this needs to be remembered.

While “fundamentals” will have more impact on choosing our next president than what happens on the campaign trail, the race itself is important.

Greek voters rejected the latest bailout package, but that only seems likely to make things even worse for them.

He definitely wouldn’t appreciate it, but in some sense you can thank Robert Bork for the Supreme Court’s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges.

SCOTUS has upheld the use of election commissions to draw Congressional district lines.

Debating the proper role of the judiciary.

Wherein I take the view that as our understanding of language changes, so too does our application of the Constiution.

The US Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Constitution contains a right to same-sex marriage.

The era of legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act is over.

The Supreme Court ruled that states don’t have to grant license plates that display the Confederate flag. Their decision has the potential to seriously harm the First Amendment.

Surely it’s time to put a woman on American currency again, but why go after Alexander Hamilton?

Turkey’s governing party suffered big setbacks at the ballot box yesterday.

The “Draft Warren” movement is basically dead.

The Supreme Court accepted a case that will require the Justices to decide just what it meant when it established the “one person, one vote” rule for drawing legislative districts.

President Obama is taking steps to reduce police militarization, but there’s much more that needs to be done.

Fresh off an election victory, British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to propose a series of new measures to crackdown on extremism that raise serious civil liberties concerns.

Hillary Clinton told supporters she’d require Supreme Court nominees to pledge to overturn Citizens United, a decision she completely misrepresented.

49 “experts in governance and democracy” to call for nonsensical reforms to the presidential debates.

An attack on al Qaeda outposts in January resulted in the death of two hostages, but also resulted in the death of two high value al Qaeda targets.

Some thoughts on a column by Roger Noriega on the Obama administration and Latin America,

Harry Reid made outlandish claims about Mitt Romney during the 2012 election. He probably knew they were lies when he made them. And he doesn’t care.

Modern Singapore’s founder passed away at age 91 earlier this week.

President Obama thinks that it would be a good idea if everyone were forced to vote. He’s wrong, and his idea is most likely unconstitutional.

Elton John is leading a boycott against Dolce & Gabbana.

Don’t say “climate change” or “global warming” if you work for Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection.

The Supreme Court seems likely to strike down state laws that take redistricting completely out of the hands of state legislatures.

Rand Paul is carrying on a family tradition, winning the CPAC straw poll won many times by his father Ron.

Decision rules matter.

The Atlantic has a fascinating cover story by Graeme Wood titled “What ISIS Really Wants.”

Most in the international relations community are not amused by the president’s National Security Strategy.

A big change in an important nation in the most volatile part of the world.

Elizabeth Warren said once again that she’s not running for President, now or in the future. That’s not going to stop the efforts to draft her, though.

For a year that started out with regaining long-lost territory in Ukraine, 2014 is not ending so well for Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is not running for President, and she is unlikely to change her mind on that. Nonetheless, the speculation that she is will continue for some time to come because it suits her interests and the interests of others.

Sony is warning the press not to publish material leaked by hackers, but it doesn’t have much of a legal leg to stand on.

Many have suggested that prosecution of cases involving police misconduct should be handled by prosecutors who don’t work with local police departments on a regular basis. They’re right.

Thinking about that the state, law, violence, and the Garner incident (and contributing to the tl;dr phenomenon).