Outside the Beltway

The competition for 25 Greatest Americans was steep. Only 3/4 of Mount Rushmore made the cut.

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

Twenty percent of Americans still believe that Barack Obama is Muslim. Not only is it wrong, it says something rather disturbing about our country.

If the response to Cordoba House isn’t basically being anti-Muslim, what is it?

Rand Paul’s initial mis-steps after winning the Republican primary seem to be largely behind him.

Ann Coulter has been dis-invited from a World Net Daily conference for her decision to speak at a convention sponsored by a gay conservative group.

Some Republicans are start to wonder if it’s such a good idea for their party to be so closely associated with the heated rhetoric surrounding the future of this former Burlington Coat Factory.

Mary Cheney, who is openly gay and raising two children with another woman, has given $500 to New Hampshire Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte, who is “against same-sex marriage and believes marriage is between a man and a woman.”

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has struck down a US basing rights deal.

The 9th Circuit yesterday ruled that Stolen Valor laws violate the 1st Amendment and that there is a limited right to lie.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, appearing on San Francisco’s KCBS radio, called for an investigation in the efforts to stop the building of a Muslim cultural center at the hallowed Burlington Coat Factory location blocks from Ground Zero.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and his hair, will live to fight another day.

Given public opinion on the proposed Islamic community center that is currently cominating the news, we would expect that opposition to the project would be strongest in Manhattan itself.

According to John Bolton, Israel has a deadline of August 21st to attack Iran’s nuclear program. This is the fourth deadline he’s set in the last three years.

If the President looks worried, he has a pretty good reason.

Career fields dominated by women tend to pay less than those dominated by men. But gender discrimination isn’t the main reason.

President Obama’s motorcade caused gridlock in the Los Angeles area last night, although one wonders how people could distinguish it form the average Monday.

How did the future of this former Burlington Coat Factory turn into a national political issue ? Well, it’s a rather interesting story.

Same-sex marriages are still barred in California, but how long that lasts is in the hands of three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ross Douthat’s latest New York Times column demonstrates an appalling misunderstanding of history in the context of immigration.

As many American soldiers have died in Afghanistan under Obama as under Bush.

On January 3, 2008 Mike Huckabee celebrated a victory in the Iowa Caucuses, will be able to repeat that in 2012 ?

Robert Gates says he wants to retire next year, but will the call of duty cause him to stay longer ?

You heard it here first, the GOP will not gain control of Congress in 2010.

A major part of the problem with the seeming growing wave of anti-Muslim sentiment in some quarters of US politics is that it seems to equate Islam as “the enemy.” If that’s the case, then US foreign policy has some ‘splainin’ to do.

The GOP is playing a dangerous game with the anti-Islamic rhetoric that it seems to be courting these days.

Again, despite the rhetoric of some, the US does continue to enforce laws relevant to the border and, indeed, enforcement has been on the rise.

When John McCain is the voice of reason in the GOP, things are really screwy.

A year ago, President Obama was emphatically against raising taxes during the recession — even on the rich.

President Obama’s decision to speak out on the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” has turned what was a hot-button cable news item into a political issue that even his fellow Democrats don’t want to deal with.

If it was called the “Burlington Coat Factory community center” would anyone care about Cordoba House?

Harry Reid has spent the summer trying to portray is opponent as a kook. So far, it’s working.

President Obama waded into the “Ground Zero” mosque controversy at a Ramadan dinner last night.