Outside the Beltway

The situation in Venezuela entered a new stage yesterday as opposition leader Juan Guaidó claimed the nation’s Presidency.

Thoughts on politics and constitutional powers.

The efforts by Speaker Pelosi and President Trump to leverage their institutional powers raise interesting questions.

As the government shutdown continues, Washington is coming to resemble a fight between toddlers. Except the toddlers have the excuse of not knowing any better.

Theresa May survived the Labour Party’s call for a no-confidence vote, but the future for her and for her country remain as hazy as ever.

Nancy Pelosi is “suggesting” to the President that the State of the Union be rescheduled for a time after the government shutdown ends, but it clearly seems like more than just a suggestion.

Later today, Theresa May’s Brexit deal will face a decisive vote in the House of Commons in a vote that could have implications for May’s own hold on power.

Don’t expect the Congress (i.e., the Senate) to pull us out of this shutdown mess.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden will reportedly decide on whether or not he’ll be entering the race for President in the near future.

The Supreme Court is taking up the issue of partisan gerrymandering. This time, though, they’re likely to reach the merits of the cases rather than punting like they did last year.

Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of The House again after eight years out of power, but there’s little time for her to celebrate.

Begun, the 2020 campaign has.

Jacob T. Levy has a column worth a read.

French authorities are investigating reports that Russian interference may be helping to exploit and expand the five-week-old “yellow vest” protests.

Current attempts to take power away from the state executive branch illustrates a lot of what I have been writing about for years.

Moscow continues using information warfare to sow division in Western society.

Protests that have killed four and injured hundreds have been rewarded and show no sign of ending.

An effort by the Federal Government to prosecute Wikileaks founder Julian Assange raises serious First Amendment issues.

Some examples from 2018 of the problems with single seat districts.

It isn’t about foreign policy, it is about self-serving manipulation of the public.

Three Democratic Senators are suing the Acting Attorney General, asserting that his appointment was unconstitutional.

Yes, there can be real problems with election activities, but that does not excuse POTUS’ lies about fraud.

Trump, Scott, and their allies are not doing America any favors.

With their House majority secure, Democrats must now select their leadership team for the next two years. It’s not going smoothly.

CNN fires back in the Administration’s ongoing war with the news media.

Today in bad columns.

The NYT is trying to start a conversation.

Florida has begun the recount process in both the Senate and Governor’s races. Where it goes from here is anyone’s guess.

The issues are different than in Florida or Arizona, but the Georgia Governor’s race remains unresolved as Stacey Abrams hopes to find enough votes to force the race into a runoff.

Bret Stephens’ piece this week adds up to not much.

Is it too much to ask for truth about basic facts from the White House Press Secretary?

Hillary Clinton is hinting about maybe running in 2020 again. Is she serious, or is this just a publicity stunt?

More explosive devices sent to prominent Trump critics, including Robert DeNiro and Joe Biden, have been located.

Minority rule and self-reinforcing cleavages are not a a healthy combination.

President Trump is heaping praise on a Congressman who physically assaulted a reporter.

Part III is here (a lot sooner than Part II was).

The second installment of a seemingly forgotten series.

Fear-mongering of various types on full display.

The Merrick Garland precedent is power politics, nothing more.

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment has been in the news a lot lately, but what would it actually take to use it to remove a President from power?

Just how far should White House staffers and civil servants go in protecting the public from an erratic president?

A significant advance for LGBT rights in the world’s most populous democracy.

Thankfully, they chose not to help.

Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos received a very generous sentence in return for his guilty plea.

Donald Trump is a bad, inept, and potentially dangerous President. That doesn’t mean that a ‘soft coup’ inside the White House is the answer to the problem he presents to our democratic republic.

Another “progressive” victory over a longtime Democratic incumbent, but this one is a bit different.

The military regime in Myanmar has sentenced two reporters to prison for reporting on the repression of the Rohingya Muslims.

Social media has altered the way writers and readers interact in odd ways.

President Trump is alienating our allies and making friends with dictators, and the world is responding as you might expect they would.

Another milestone set to be crossed.