Outside the Beltway

This November, California could become the first state in the nation to completely legalize the possession and sale of marijuana. And the battle over the ballot initiative is having an impact on other statewide races.

According to a poll released Tuesday, nearly 20 percent of U.S. citizens now believe Barack Obama is a cactus, the most Americans to identify the president as a water- retaining desert plant since he took office.

Christine O’Donnell’s victory in Delaware Tuesday has made it less likely that the GOP will be able to take control of the Senate, but they still have an excellent shot of making substantial gains that will transform Congress’s Upper House.

The Tea Party movement and the populist backlash against DC mayor Adrian Fenty are a sign that things are changing so fast that a lot of people simply can’t adjust.

White America is within thinkable distance of a moment when it will no longer be the majority.

A federal court has found that don’t ask, don’t tell violates the First and Fifth Amendments.

A new poll indicates that there are some disturbing motivations that seem to be associated with opposition to the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.”

The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart is suffering a little New Media embarrassment after writing a blog post based on comments by a Congressman who doesn’t exist.

Most of what passes for conventional wisdom about learning is wrong.

Is our Federal system a mere political compromise? Or were the Founding Fathers visionaries with a plan?

For most of the year, a GOP takeover in the Senate seemed beyond the realm of possibility. That’s no longer the case.

The writer of the infamous “Fonzie Jumps The Shark” episode of Happy Days breaks his silence.

Another set of bad economic numbers are out today, and one wonders when we’ll start getting the good news.

Americans who earn a lot of money disproportionately live in a tiny number of states and are married to other high-earners.

The guy who ran George W. Bush’s campaign and the Republican National Committee has realized after only 43 years that he likes dudes.

Glenn Greenwald argues that the “Ground Zero Mosque” debate is about more than just a “mosque” near Ground Zero. He’s right, but that also means the debate is likely to get uglier.

Washington Monthly ranks colleges “based on what they are doing for the country — on whether they’re improving social mobility, producing research, and promoting public service” rather than “wealth, exclusivity, and prestige.” Too bad they don’t hire that way.

Political campaigns are engaging in a new form of “new media outreach” — paying bloggers for favorable coverage.

Rand Paul is apparently taking heat from some of his more socially conservative supporters after FEC reports indicate he received a donation from the owner of an Adult web site. People need to get a life.

America’s obsession over the fate of the Burlington Coat Factory in Lower Manhattan, and a general rise in anti-Islamic rhetoric, plays right into the hands of the people that are actually our enemies.

The 9th Circuit yesterday ruled that Stolen Valor laws violate the 1st Amendment and that there is a limited right to lie.

President Obama’s motorcade caused gridlock in the Los Angeles area last night, although one wonders how people could distinguish it form the average Monday.

Same-sex marriages are still barred in California, but how long that lasts is in the hands of three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The GOP is playing a dangerous game with the anti-Islamic rhetoric that it seems to be courting these days.

An essay claiming that the TED talks are “the new Harvard” is gaining some traction from a lot of people who ought know better.

Judge Walker lifted the stay on his Order declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional, but the big news may be the procedural defect that could doom any appeal.

There’s not as much conservative unity on the gay marriage issue as there used to be.

For-profit universities are defrauding their students. Indeed, it’s their business model.

Protests against mosques aren’t just limited to Manhattan. And that’s a problem.

Lenders and Borrowers seem poised to make the same mistakes that brought about the last Housing Bubble all over again.

According to health inspectors in Portland, Oregon, this little girl is potentially a threat to your health and safety.

The Republican Party is keeping relatively quiet on the Proposition 8 ruling. That’s a good idea.

The First Family can go on vacation, but politics never does.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says there is no governmental or public interest in continuing a ban on gay marriage. But what about the will of his constituents?

That attitudes towards gay marriage varies by state won’t surprise you. The degree to which it does just might.

November’s elections will set modern records for most Senate seats and governorships on the ballot.

Some Democrats who support ending the Bush tax cuts for high earners want to exempt their own rich constituents.

What impact will Judge Walker’s decision on Proposition 8 have on politics in 2010 and beyond ?

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker today declared California’s Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional, thus opening the latest front in the gay marriage wars.

The first in a multi-part series on the Electoral College.