Outside the Beltway

Ten American sailors detained by Iranian forces late Tuesday were released early today, something that seems to clearly demonstrate the value of diplomacy.

Former President Clinton is set to hit the campaign trail for his wife in the New Year, and that could make things quite entertaining.

As we head into Christmas, there doesn’t seem to be much peace on Earth or good will toward men among Ben Carson’s advisers.

Donald Trump’s speech yesterday at a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition was as bizarre as anything else we’ve seen from him.

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

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.

Another European capital is on edge over fears of a terror attack.

Donald Trump’s demagoguery and disdain for individual liberty enters a new phase.

A collection of material that tries to separate the facts of the U.S. Syrian refugee screen process from the fear, myth, paranoia, and xenophobia.

The nurse who was detained by New Jersey officials in a quarantine despite not displaying any symptoms of Ebola is suing Chris Christie and others for civil liberties violations.

In addition to doing everything she needed to do last night, Hillary Clinton also destroyed whatever logic remained for a Joe Biden candidacy.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is doing a reset in the face of declining poll numbers and bad press.

A trial court Judge in Oregon is the latest public official to refuse to do his job.

The Supreme Court has denied a Kentucky Clerk’s request to stay a ruling requiring her to comply with the law and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Clinton’s wanton disregard for the rules had predictable consequences.

Tragedy in Tennessee.

Depending on who you listen to, it’s either peace in our time or an epic catastrophe.

Not surprisingly, the House Committee re-investigating the Benghazi attack seems more concerned with scoring political points than fact-finding.

Another poll shows that Republicans are largely out of step with public opinion on the question of whether businesses should be free to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings.

A new poll suggests that the American public does not support laws that give religious exemptions to businesses that want to discriminate based on sexual orientation.

Oregon has become the first state in the nation to adopt universal automatic voter registration.

Mitt Romney is set to make an announcement at 11 Eastern today. [UPDATE: He’s out!]

A new Patriots cheating scandal, or much ado about nothing?

West Virginia’s Joe Manchin is reportedly mulling leaving the Senate to run once again for a job where he’d have the ability to actually accomplish something.

The fate of Cuba policy in Congress is far from certain, but what is certain is that following through on President Obama’s historic and necessary changes will face resistance.

The families of many of the Sandy Hook victims are seeking to have the manufacturer of the AR-15 held legally responsible for what happened. While understandable, their lawsuit is misplaced and largely without legal merit.

An American freed from captivity, and potentially huge changes in America’s diplomatic and trade relationship with Cuba.

Unlike Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson has lost his bid to have his suspension overturned.

Michele Bachmann leaves office at the end of the current Congress, but we may not have heard the last from her.

A crushing but expected defeat for a veteran Democrat.

Republicans performed better among Latino voters this year than they did in 2012, but that doesn’t mean they’ve solved their problems.