Outside the Beltway

A sharply divided Court heard argument today on an issue that has sharply divided the nation.

Tomorrow promises to be an historic day at the Supreme Court, but it’s been a long legal, political, and social battle.

The press corps is already bored.

One freshman Senator seems to think that war with Iran would be easy, just like Republicans used to think that war against Iraq would be easy.

Rand Paul has been cozying up to social conservatives lately, but he risks alienating the people most likely to support his campaign for the White House.

Once again, the Supreme Court appears to be sharply divided on the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

By refusing to stay the legalization of same-sex marriage in Alabama, the Supreme Court has sent the strongest signal yet that it is ready to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.

Shortly after the new year, we could know whether or not the Supreme Court will issue a definitive ruling on same-sex marriage by the end of June.

The Supreme Court has given the GOP a way out of a battle that they are going to lose anyway.

The nation’s newspaper of record is slashing its reporting team.

Opponents of marriage equality clearly don’t like the idea of a “big tent” in the GOP on the issue.

A lower court judge has upheld the Louisiana Constitution’s limitation of marriage to “one man and one woman.”

For a party that says its not interested in impeachment, the GOP sure keeps bringing it up.

The House leadership elections turned out about as expected, but we may be doing this all over again in five months.

If President Obama does decide to use military force in Iraq, he should be required to seek Congressional approval beforehand.

When everything’s an outrage, is anything outrageous?

A victory for Federalism and sanity in the War On Drugs.

A prime example of the failure of the “infotainment” industry that American news media has turned into.

Purity for profit on display.

A certain wealthy man with good hair is doing very well in a meaningless poll.

Ezra Klein has put out a teaser of the project that he left WaPo to pursue.

Wonkblog’s founder is leaving the Washington Post to start a new media outlet of his own.

The danger of saying stupid things online apparently has not sunk in with some people.

More bad poll numbers for the President and his party.

Congressional Democrats are not very pleased with the White House right now.

For some same-sex couples with a military spouse, living together on base is proving difficult to implement quickly.

Rand Paul used word-for-word excerpts from Wikipedia in two speeches in Virginia.

Chris Christie’s decision to take a tactical retreat on the issue of same-sex marriage raises some interesting questions for 2016.

And New Jersey makes 14.

Down in Alabama, the Stupid Party is being particularly stupid.

Is 2013 the year of second acts in American politics? Eliot Spitzer seems to be the latest disgraced politician to hope that it is.

Focusing on Edward Snowden is largely a waste of time.

One Congressman thinks it would be a good idea to treat journalists as criminals.

Cory Booker is in the race for New Jersey’s open Senate seat, but is he really unbeatable?

President Obama says Kamala Harris is “by far the best-looking attorney general in the country.”

The American people no longer seem to care if their political leaders are divorced.