Outside the Beltway

Mass shootings rightly grab our attention. But the obscure the overall picture of violent crime.

Yesterday, the British Parliament debated the expansion of that nation’s military strikes against ISIS. For more than a year, our cowardly Congress has failed to even hold one debate or vote on America’s role in that conflict.

A new report finds that the problems at the Secret Service are far deeper than previously known.

The suspects in the San Bernardino shootings are dead, but that’s about all we know so far this morning.

A leaked memo from a top Republican adviser tries to tell vulnerable Senate candidates how to deal with the possibility that they’ll be stuck with Trump on the top of the ticket.

The British Parliament has approved expansion of that countries airstrikes into Syria, but it’s unclear just how much of an impact that will have on the ground.

The October 2014 shooting of 17 year old LaQuan McDonald is beginning to have a political impact in Chicago and could have national political implications as well.

Multiple victims, and possibly multiple shooters, reported in San Bernardino, California.

For good reason, many Republicans are worried about the prospect that Donald Trump could end up winning the Republican nominee, but they don’t seem to have a plan to stop him.

After requesting a 30 day extension to reply to the Federal Government’s request for appeal in the case challenging President Obama’s immigration executive action, the states get only eight days.

The latest national poll of the Republican race shows Trump continuing to lead, Ben Carson fading, and Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio rising while the rest of the field is stagnant or sinking.

Marco Rubio is telling conservative Christians in Iowa and elsewhere what they want to hear on same-sex marriage. It just happens to be complete and utter nonsense.

A Dallas man was kicked off a flight home from New York City because he had unknowingly cut off a flight crew member while going through a revolving door. This seems like a case of discretion gone way too far.

Blaming political opponents for criminal acts they clearly didn’t commit or advocate isn’t a political argument, it’s demagoguery.

A vote is still as much as two years away, and support for staying in the E.U. still has the most support, but support for the idea of a British exit from the European Union has grown in the past several months.

Given his rhetoric, it’s fairly clear that Donald Trump is drawing from a poisonous political well. So there’s no point in failing to acknowledge reality.

We still don’t know very much about Robert Dear, the man who shot and killed three people at the site of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, but that hasn’t stopped the usual suspects from politicizing the case.

Chris Christie has gotten the endorsement of the biggest newspaper in New Hampshire, but it’s not clear that this will have any impact on the race.

The 2016 election cycle is seeing “scientific” online polling become more prominent, but it’s unclear just how reliable it is.

Polls are quite useful in the right circumstances, but knowledge, complexity, and timing all have to be taken into account in determining what they are telling us.

Protests by students at Princeton are causing some people to finally pay attention to some inconvenient truths about America’s 28th President.

Five months after Charleston, Mississippi is still struggling to rid itself of symbols of the Confederacy.

The election of an anti-austerity government in Portugal is raising some concerns.

A gunman is holed up in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs after shooting multiple people, but it’s unclear what if any motive may be involved in the shooting.

The news that the late football legend Frank Gifford suffered from the same chronic brain disease that has been diagnosed in many N.F.L. players in recent years, and the upcoming release of a new film on the issue, seems certain to increase pressure to protect players at all levels of football.

The GOP “establishment” isn’t planning to take on Donald Trump directly and instead relying on Republican primary voters to come to their senses. They may be waiting for something that will never happen.

France’s President has spent the week trying to forge and agreement on an anti-ISIS policy, but the two nations that matter the most also disagree the most.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

Happy Thanksgiving! Don’t forget to start a political fight with your family!

Welcome To The Donald Trump Campaign. Where the facts are made up, and the truth doesn’t matter.

Tensions between Russia and Turkey remain high in the wake of yesterday’s incident, but there are some signs that things are starting to cool down.

A Chicago Police Officer has been charged with murder in the death of a 17 year old African-American male that, from the evidence that has been released, seems completely unjustifiable.

A former staffer for the House Select Committee investigation the attack in Benghazi is suing the Committee for improper employment practices, and Chairman Trey Gowdy for defamation.

Hillary Clinton’s recently announced policies toward the ISIS fight are as incoherent and misguided as President Obama’s and those of her Republican opponents.

The economy performed a little better than previously reported over the summer. It’s not great, but it’s probably enough to convince the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month.

Another poll shows Ted Cruz rising and Ben Carson falls in the Hawkeye State. The only question is who attacks who first, Donald Trump or Ted Cruz?

Nate Silver reminds us all that, even when it comes to Iowa and New Hampshire, it’s much earlier than we think, and that voters are still likely to change their minds.

A potentially big complication in an already complicated situation.

Two months after seemingly promising to remain loyal to the Republican Party, Donald Trump is again refusing to rule out an independent run for the White House next year.