Outside the Beltway

Two seemingly contradictory essays out today highlight the exhausting political conversation environment.

The former Trump campaign official made the most of his 15 minutes of fame.

POLITICO buries the lede in making the case for “Donald Trump’s bubble presidency.”

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham says war against North Korea would be worth it. Ignoring the fact that it would result in casualties unlike anything America has seen since the Vietnam War.

The students who survived last week’s mass shooting in Parkland, Florida are speaking out, and some on the right are responding by engaging in personal attacks and spreading conspiracy theories.

The tragedy in Florida last week revealed once again how hyperpartisanship is destroying our politics and harming the country.

Expecting North Korea to agree to diplomatic talks that are aimed at getting rid of their nuclear weapons is asking for the impossible, and ensuring there will be no progress on the diplomatic front for the foreseeable future.

While most of America slept, the government was shutdown thanks to some faux theatrics by a single Senator.

Donald Trump spent much of the past year touting the rising stock market, now he’s getting a lesson in reality.

Do yourself a favor and skip the State Of The Union Address tonight. You won’t be missing anything important.

Despite mounting evidence and outrageous behavior, Republicans nationwide and on Capitol Hill continue to do the Administration’s dirty work. They’ll most likely live to regret it.

New reports indicate that the President is spending more and more time watching television and tweeting. That’s not what he was elected to do.

Donald Trumps’ tweets are the public statements of the President of the United States. This makes them noteworthy and often important.

A Trump judicial nominee who could not answer basic legal questions in a hearing last week has withdrawn his nomination, but this is likely to happen again unless the Administration fixes some obvious flaws in its selection process.

Donald Trump spends an inordinate amount of time watching television and regurgitating what he sees on Twitter. That’s not healthy.

Yesterday was the seventy-sixth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. For most Americans, though, it was just another day. That’s only natural.

There’s growing evidence that Donald Trump’s tweets are hurting him but his aides have basically given up trying to control his Twitter habit.

Donald Trump has been President 300 days and the record reveals no real accomplishments and increased dissatisfaction with the job he’s doing.

Since taking office, President Trump has made an average of 5.5 false claims per day.

Roy Moore’s most die-hard defenders are living in a world of their own, and it’s unlikely they’ll change their minds.

Without mentioning his successor by name, former President Bush delivered a stinging rebuke to Trump and Trumpism.

Now Donald Trump is using the death of American soldiers to tell lies about his predecessor.

Donald Trump is continuing to up the ante in his rhetorical war against one of America’s most fundamental freedoms.

Sean Spicer now says he regrets the lies that defined his time at the White House.

John Kelly has only been White House Chief of Staff for a month, but it’s already apparent that he isn’t likely to last very long in that position.

Donald Trump gave a campaign-style speech in Phoenix last night and reminded us of everything that’s wrong with him.

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

President Trump once again revealed his true self at a press conference yesterday.

“Why the hell would we do that?” — White House official.

Authorities are being second-guessed over their handling of Saturday’s protests. Virginia gun laws are the more obvious problem.

Hatred and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In another major change announced via Twitter, late yesterday President Trump announced he’d hired a new Chief of Staff, but changes at the staff level aren’t going to fix what’s really wrong with the Trump Administration.

A big but not unexpected personnel change at the White House.

President Trump’s reaction to the failure of health care reform efforts in the Senate demonstrates yet again that he doesn’t know how to be President.

The Senate left for vacation without a viable path forward on health care reform, and the road ahead seems treacherous and hard to navigate.

Twitter is, in some way, the most vacuous and simplistic of all social media, and it also appears to be the President’s main intellectual outlet.

Donald Trump thinks the media doesn’t like his Twitter habit. In reality, they love it.

Based on his just released opening testimony, tomorrow’s testimony by Former F.B.I. Director James Comey is likely to be explosive.

Former F.B.I. Director James Comey is now expected to testify before Congress next week, and will reportedly confirm previous reports that the President pressured him to end the Bureau’s Russia investigation.

The Republican candidate in today’s Special Election in Montana has been charged with assaulting a reporter.

Former C.I.A. Director John Brennan testified before a House Committee today, and what he had to say was not good news for the Trump Administration.

Coming to a television set or Internet livestream near you sometime after Memorial Day.

Even with the revelations of the last three weeks, impeaching the President is still largely a fantasy.

In Fox News Channel’s America, Donald Trump can do no wrong and Hillary Clinton is still a threat.