Outside the Beltway

Revisiting an old posting of mine on the subject.

Because sometimes poorly contructed observations can set a fellow to writing.

One Virginia Republican Member of Congress recently got a lesson in what going against the GOP’s hyperpartisan atmosphere feels like.

Election rules should be oriented towards increasing participation, not based on partisan calculations.

Second thoughts about the Iraq War

Providing a little context for Pope Francis’ background+Erick Erickson needs to learn a little history.

Reminding government employees that they are employees of the government is suddenly controversial.

Walter Russell Mead presents his sitrep of the War on Terror.

The anti-communist icon is once again in hot water for making idiotic comments.

Institutional dynamics in the US constitutional system are the key to undertstanding our current predicament.

The regime we fought for in Iraq is now aiding the regime we’re fighting against (at least by proxy) in Syria.

The government of Malaysia paid a lot of money to get some blogs placed at various outlets.

An excellent essay by Adam Sternbergh “On the Enduring Appeal of ‘Die Hard.'”

Silly things members of Congress say (plus musings on authoritarianism).

If one is going to worship at the alter of original intent, it might be useful to know a bit of history.

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether limits on contributions to political candidates is Constitutional.

The main who coined the word “meritocracy” meant it as a pejorative term.

The smear campaign against defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel has taken a bizarre turn.

MSNBC’s Krystal Ball isn’t being hypocritical in trusting Obama to decide which Americans to kill even though she wouldn’t have trusted Bush. But she’s being short-sighted.

Andrew Bacevich bemoans the social impact of the all-volunteer force.

A potentially significant ruling on Separation Of Powers.

Some proposed reforms just need to be ignored.

Despite some tough questions, Congressional Republicans didn’t land a glove on Secretary of State Clinton.

Congress is historically polarized.

The notion that guns prevent tyranny is based on fantasy and movies, not reality.

(As well as party behavior).

For the New Year, how about challenging your ideas just a little bit?

Representative democracy is a process of delegation of power to agents who act on behalf of citizens. The process of delegation matters.

There are factions of the American right that really need to understand this.

Six weeks ago, we held a non-binding referendum asking Americans who they’d like for president. Yesterday, the real election was held.

Conor Friedersdorf contends “The U.S. Already Had a Conversation About Guns—and the Pro Side Won.”

Richard Lugar puts in a word for compromise and good governance on his way out of the Senate.

Democrats are approaching an “Electoral College lock.” Republicans are trying to pick it.

My first piece for the New York Daily News, “A Drone Strike on Democracy,” has posted.

Elections put the players in office. They don’t dictate the outcome of the game.

The Republican Party needs a new message on foreign policy that is true to the conservative principles of the base and yet has a broad appeal to the American public.

A quick post on a pet peeve.