Outside the Beltway

After initially signaling support for a bill banning ‘bump stocks,’ Republicans in Congress now appear to be hoping someone else will act for them.

With his sentencing, the strange, strange saga of Anthony Weiner has come to an end. What a strange and wild ride it has been.

For the second time this year, there are rumors that Mitt Romney could run for Senator from Utah if Orrin Hatch decides to retire.

Hillary Clinton delivers the most obvious news ever.

No, the deal this week is not Trump becoming an independent.

A big change appears to have taken place in American cable news viewing habits.

On Trump’s anger.

Some Presidents knew how to respond to racism and hatred. The current President doesn’t.

Being a public servant, especially serving as President or in the White House in general, means you are going to be criticized, lampooned, ridiculed, and even “attacked.”

President Trump says he’d be willing to testify under oath in response to former F.B.I Director Comey’s accusations. That would be a mistake for several reasons.

Some thoughts on presidential interruptions.

In the immortal words of Warren Zevon, “Send lawyers, gun, and money. The shit has hit the fan.”

Donald Trump discovers reality.

Roy Moore, who is currently on suspension, has resigned as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in order to challenge Luther Strange for his seat in the US Senate.

The ordinary and the extraordinary with the latest SCOTUS nomination.

Republicans are going to find it difficult to distance themselves from Donald Trump.

After just over a week in office, Donald Trump already has a negative job approval number. That’s a modern record.

As with so many things, the President is demonstrating that he really doesn’t know what he is doing.

The answer is pretty straight-forward.

The number of faithless electors was both historical and trivial.

In the wake of the Democratic victory in the North Carolina Governor’s race, the Republican-controlled legislature has stripped the Governor’s office of significant power.

Political upheaval for an important Asian ally.

Another day, another EC fantasy,

Democracy produces good rulers, right?  Sometimes.  What good democracies actually produce best is good losers. Let us then be grateful for gracious losers, for our losers no less than our winners carry forward the American experiment in self-rule.  

If one believes the electoral college is awesome, one cannot make an argument from the position of “the wisdom of the Founders” nor from a viewpoint based on original intent.

The President-elect lost the popular vote. Legally, that is the way that is it. This is a disgrace for “the Greatest Democracy in the World.”

No, the Clinton dynasty isn’t dead just yet.

The candidate I voted for got more than 200,000 votes for president than the winner. I’m okay with that.

Clinton is getting no special treatment by the standards of her high-powered peers.

The personal, the political, and the Foundation are so intertwined as to be one enterprise.

Donald Trump is losing something much more important to him that an election.

Candidate trumps party in a presidential system.

Nothing that happens tonight during the Vice-Presidential debate is likely to matter, so feel free to skip it.

The Republican nominee is threatening our fragile democracy.

The reputation of the US matters in global affairs.

This is not exactly what Rick Perry had hoped he’d be doing this fall.

Early indications are the Ruth Bader Ginsburg and other older Justices don’t plan on leaving any time soon.

Did Donald Trump really suggest assassination as a political weapon, even as a joke? It sure sounds like it.

If you think that once elected Trump will be corralled by cooler heads and experts, I would submit to you that this week underscores this will not be the case.

The nature of US parties means that Trump more or less is the GOP at the moment, and hence the GOP will do nothing about Trump.