Outside the Beltway

What is CPAC telling us about the contemporary conservative movement?

Some thoughts on the biggest Marvel blockbuster yet. [Modest spoilers]

The Department of Education announced yesterday that it will no longer investigate civil rights complaints from transgender students regarding bathroom access in public schools.

A Federal Judge In Kansas has blocked enforcement of a state law barring anyone who does business with the state from engaging in a boycott of Israel.

Dodge is facing controversy this morning for using the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in a Super Bowl commercial, but they’re not the only party who may have some questions to answer.

A confusing new report from the Washington Post.

Democratic norms are eroding.

President Trump has shut down the commission he established to investigate unsupported claims of “voter fraud” in the 2016 election.

The Supreme Court declined to hear a major case regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation, but the issue is likely to come up again in the very near future.

The Supreme Court held oral argument in a case that pits First Amendment rights against the rights of LGBT Americans.

Jim Nabors, who became famous as Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle USMC, has died at the age of  87.

The latest domino to fall in the ongoing wave of sexual harassment and abuse revelations is Matt Lauer.

President Obama spoke out yesterday against his successor and the America he has created.

A complicated concurrence to Steven Taylor’s recent postings.

Reversing an Obama Era position, the Justice Department has rescinded a legal interpretation that purported to apply previously adopted civil rights laws to transgender individuals.

Previewing the next term of the Supreme Court, which starts today.

The battle over Confederate statues that was resurrected by the violence in Charlottesville is off the front pages, but that doesn’t mean it’s over quite yet.

President Trump’s effort to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military faces two new legal challenges.

President Trump’s attempts to interfere in the administration of justice go beyond the Russia investigation.

The president has abrogated his duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

Texas suffers another legal setback in its effort to pass a Voter ID law.

The dangers of the tyranny of the majority have only magnified.

The First Amendment protects the rights even of the people who gathered in Charlottesville to promote hatred and violence, However, it does not shield them from the consequences of that speech.

We mourn Charlottesville because Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States, made clear in no uncertain terms that in his mind there was little distinction between those in Charlottesville who pursued the un-American “values” of soil, blood, and racial dominance and those who pursued the ideals of the American Constitution.

Republicans now face a stark choice.

Yes, even Nazis must have their rights to peaceful speech and assembly protected.

Facts are stubborn things.

After two days, President Trump finally found the words to condemn the parties responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, but his remarks were far too little, far too late.

Just about two weeks after being announced, the President’s proposed ban on military service by transgender troops is being challenged in Court.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff are making clear that President Trump’s tweets are not official policy. At least not yet.

A step backward on civil rights from a President who claimed he would be a friend to the LGBT community.

A Duke history professor uncovers “stealth plan” by “fifth columnists” who are seeking to overthrow democracy in the U.S. for their plutocrat masters.

Thoughts on the quality of our democracy.

Symbols shape our views of the past.

The Supreme Court has accepted the appeal of a Colorado baker in a case that will determine if claims of religious liberty and free expression outweigh the application of generally applicable laws against discrimination.

With tomorrow marking the end of the Court’s current term, there’s speculation that we could see Justice Anthony Kennedy stepping down.

A Massachusetts teenager faces 20 years in prison for contributing to her boyfriend’s suicide via text message.

A Federal appellate court has ruled that a transgender student must be allowed to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.

#RulesMatter

A guilty plea in a particularly shocking case of police brutality.

There’s already speculation that former Vice-President Biden might try for a third run at the White House, but it seems unlikely.

Republicans held on to Mike Pompeo’s seat in the House, but the outcome was closer than many expected.

A top Trump campaign adviser was the subject of a FISA warrant for at least part of last year.

A big win for opponents of Voter ID laws.

As expected, Senate Republicans invoked the so-called ‘nuclear option’ to move the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch forward to a final vote on Friday.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, but its reasoning is questionable at best.

The Supreme Court has decided to return the case involving a transgender student’s right to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity to the Fourth Circuit rather than deciding it during this term.

It was both the best speech Trump has ever given and the worst presidential address I can recall