Outside the Beltway

Should we spread liberal democracy by force? If necessary!

Anti-government protests raged in Egypt for a second day, and nobody seems to know where they’re headed.

Demanding that the new GOP House hold the line at the current number is satisfying rhetorically, but all-but-impossible politically.

There is a problem with political rhetoric in this country, but telling people to be nicer to each other isn’t going to cool it down.

Bipartisan seating at the State Of The Union is a pointless act of political theater. Then again, so is the State Of The Union Address itself.

One columnist argues that Sarah Palin’s response to the Arizona shootings mark the end of whatever political future she might have had. He’s probably correct.

After five days of nonsense, President Obama’s address in Tucson last night struck exactly the right tone.

I’m blogging Mark Levin’s Conservative Manifesto. Here’s part one…

Sarah Palin released a statement today about the Arizona shootings and the debate that has followed. It’s unlikely to help her.

The relationships between inflammatory rhetoric and political violence is complicated.

The tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others in Arizona has started another debate about political rhetoric. It’s a stupid debate, and it’s utterly pointless.

Palin’s infamous “target” poster recycles a theme used by both parties over the years.

I don’t like it when things my allies say are misquoted and attacked; it’s no better when my allies do it.

In a new interview, Justice Antonin Scalia says that the 14th Amendment does not bar discrimination against women, whether it’s done by public or private entities. He couldn’t be more wrong.

Mr. Yglesias has it exactly backwards.

Constitutional ambiguity is as old as, well, it’s as old as the Constitution itself

Do republics expire after 200 years due to fiscal irresponsibility?

President Obama is supporting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Is this the end of America?

What the Haley Barbour situation illustrates is that we, as a country, have not fully accepted or dealt with our own past.

Unless you paid close attention, you probably missed most of the coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2010.

The battle over the individual mandate is really just nothing more than the latest round in a batter that has been ongoing for 221 years.

Are Marco Rubio, Haley Barbour, and Mike Huckabee the favorites to win the White House?

Is Congress too small and unequal to do its job?

Several smart center-left commentators argue that President Obama is not triangulating. At least one argues there’s no such thing.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he isn’t running for President, but he’s sure acting like a guy who’s at least thinking about it.

Sorting out, to some degree, the role of the states in our constitutional order.

If 33 states can muster support to kill a law, how would it have gotten enacted to begin with?

The two English language newspapers who have been Julian Assange’s accomplices in disseminating stolen secrets defend themselves.

There is a simple mathematical equation that explains why deficit reduction is so difficult.

Only 46 percent of Americans know that Republicans will have a majority only in the House when the new Congress convenes in January.

Yet another sign that the GOP’s biggest nightmare may actually end up coming true.

Democratic consultants Doug Schoen and Pat Caddell offer some free advice for President Obama. It’s worth every penny.

As the counting of write-in ballots in Alaska continues to go in Lisa Murkowski’s favor, the Miller campaign is getting more desperate in its ballot challenges.

Of the five countries that use the death penalty the most, only one is a democracy.

Virginia Senator Jim Webb is the last of a dying breed of Democrats, but his party may need him if it wants to remain competitive anywhere outside of a Blue State.

A longish NYT postmortem titled “Democrats Outrun by a 2-Year G.O.P. Comeback Plan” attributes Tuesday’s Republican victories to a January 2009 PowerPoint presentation. But structural factors were more important.

While Matt Yglesias is right that talk about “Realignment” after a single election is ridiculous, there have indeed been realigning elections in U.S. history.

A Chicago voter is less than thrilled with the political slate for which he’s voting today.

The younger voters that flocked to Barack Obama two years ago feel let down. They need to grow up.

The Onion spoofs life at a think tank with Boy, I Really Thought Like Shit Today.”