Outside the Beltway

Justice Sotomayor argued last week that we ought to look somewhere other than just the Courts of Appeal, the Ivy League, and the Northeast for Supreme Court Justices. She’s right.

Another historic launch and return by SpaceX.

A country music legend has passed.

For most Americans, the debate over same-sex marriage is over and marriage equality has won. This would not, however, include the social conservatives who continue to have a much too vocal role in the Republican Party.

Putting Donald Trump at the top of the ticket would likely lead to an Electoral College disaster for Republicans.

Is Ted Cruz really the only alternative to Donald Trump?

There are some signs of hope out of Wisconsin for those trying to stop Donald Trump.

Thanks to an equally divided Supreme Court, public employee unions won a case they most likely would have lost had Justice Scalia lived.

Ohio Governor John Kasich cannot win a majority of delegates at this point, but he’s still resisting calls to drop out of the race.

It’s time for Bernie Sanders and his supporters to face reality. He’s not going to be the Democratic nominee.

Looking at the delegate math, Donald Trump’s path to victory seems to be becoming clearer by the day.

One of the pioneers of the technology revolution of the past four decades has passed away.

With Donald Trump inching closer to a delegate majority with each primary, it’s obvious that GOP insiders have no idea how to stop Donald Trump.

Marco Rubio is ruling out a return to politics, at least for now.

After stumbling in Michigan last week, Hillary Clinton picked up a string of solid victories last night that put her one step closer to winning the nomination.

A big night in the Republican race for President leaves Donald Trump as the only candidate realistically situated to be anywhere near a majority of delegates by the time the primaries end in June.

The eighth Democratic debate raises the question of whether we really need this many debates.

Nancy Reagan was a crucial part what made Ronald Reagan the man he was, and today she passed away at the age of 94.

The effort to stop Donald Trump seems likely to set off a civil war inside the Republican Party.

It seems increasingly apparent that the only way to stop Donald Trump now is by trying to force a contested convention. It also seems clear that such a plan probably wouldn’t succeed.

The Supreme Court seems as closely divided as ever on an issue that has divided the nation for forty years, but the implications of Justice Scalia’s death were quite apparent during oral argument in the Texas Abortion Law case.

American Astronaut Scott Kelly is back home after a year in orbit.

As expected, Hillary Clinton won big last night while Bernie Sanders largely floundered, thus going further toward making Clinton’s victory inevitable.

A Federal Judge in New York has denied an F.B.I. request to force Apple to extract data from iPhones involved in a Federal drug case.

There’s little doubt that Hillary Clinton will win today’s South Carolina Primary, the only question is how big a win she’s likely to score.

With one surprise endorsement, Donald Trump stole the post-debate news cycle from Marco Rubio.

A man who helped create a multi-billion dollar a year industry, and some mighty fine wine, has passed away.

Apple is resisting a Federal Court order that it assist the F.B.I. in decryption of the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists.

Get ready for an expansion of the war against ISIS into Libya, because it’s probably not far away.

Thirty years ago this week, tragedy struck America’s Space Program.

CNN is taking over a late February Republican debate from NBC News, meaning it will host more Republican debates this election cycle than any other single network.

St. Louis will lose its second NFL team in 28 years as the Rams go home to LA.

The economy is booming. Except where it’s not.

After oral argument today in a high profile case, it appears likely that public employee unions are likely to suffer a major legal defeat later this year.

Donald Trump is out with his first television ad, and it’s about what you’d expect.

The people who believe there is a ‘War On Christmas” tend to be the same ones who hold to the largely false idea that their religious beliefs are under assault due to a “culture war.”

Last night, SpaceX successfully launched a rocket to the edge of space, deployed cargo, and returned to Earth. A huge and potentially revolutionary accomplishment.

There have been many arguments that polling has over-stated Donald Trump’s actual level of support among likely Republican voters, but there’s also a good argument that they are understating it and that Trump may do better when people start voting than many think.

Delaware has become the latest state to liberalize its laws regarding marijuana.

Heading into another Presidential debate, a new poll shows that Republicans are very receptive to Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslim immigration to the U.S.

A divided Supreme Court heard argument today in a case involving affirmative action in college admissions that is before the Court for the second time in two years.

The Director of the F.B.i. told Congress today that the San Bernardino shooters were apparently radicalized much earlier than previously believed.

The Supreme Court has declined to accept an appeal challenging a law barring certain types of so-called ‘assault weapons’ in a Chicago suburb.

As we deal with the fall out from the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, we need remember the years after September 11th, 2001 and avoid holding an entire religion responsible for the actions of fanatics.

For an Oval Office address delivered on a Sunday night, President Obama’s speech last night sounded more like a statement read from the podium in the press room.

The no-fly list is a flawed, arbitrary mess that has kept innocent people from flying for years. Using it to deny people rights recognized by the Constitution is, quite honestly, insane.

Yesterday, cable news networks, and most especially MSNBC, showed their profession at its most pathetic.

Donald Trump just keeps leading in the polls, and Republicans keep arguing that it can’t last.