Outside the Beltway

After several months of bad housing sales, politicians in Washington are starting to talk about bringing back one of the worst public policy programs of the last two years.

For many reasons, the housing market is unlikely to fully recover for the foreseeable future.

The New York Times realizes that most Republicans just don’t care that Ken Mehlman is gay. Surprise, neither do most Americans at this point.

Park51 opponents are trying to depict Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as an anti-American radical. Read his speech at Daniel Pearl’s memorial service and judge for yourself.

Once again, an American President is stepping into the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and, once again, he has no idea how to accomplish the goals he’s established.

Ross Douthat’s latest New York Times column demonstrates an appalling misunderstanding of history in the context of immigration.

A helpful guide to the pleasures of navigating our nation’s capital by car, bike, or foot.

Every new report out of Iran seems to bring us closer to the moment when Israel has decided it’s heard enough. What happens if that day actually happens ?

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

How does the Electoral College influence policy and campaigning?

Senate Republicans want to rethink the 14th Amendment’s automatic citizenship for people born in the U.S.

The latest GDP numbers are nothing but bad news for Democrats.

Congress has (after many years of debate) narrowed the gap between sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine.

Can a public university expel a student for a religiously-motivated aversion to homosexuality?

The scumbags at WikiLeaks have published a huge trove of classified documents provided to them by one or more traitors in our military.

The world would undoubtedly be a better place if Islamic fundamentalism reached even 19^th century Western notions of individualism and gender equality. But cultures evolve over decades, and bans on their practices are not useful means of promoting positive change within them.

General Stanley McChrystal retired with full honors while being lauded by the Secretary of Defense.

A rare case of a headline underhyping the story: “Survey: Half of Journalists Think Their Offline Publications Will Eventually Fold.”

Andrew Breitbart is still patting himself on the back for a job well done in the Shirley Sherrod affair. In reality, he failed miserably.

The median duration of unemployment is at levels not seen in decades. What do we do about it?

Sarah Palin tweeted, and took the wrong side in a story that doesn’t even deserve to be a controversy.

Oakland marijuana growers worry that regulation will turn their product from a niche specialty to a mass market commodity.

Vice-President Biden glances into the future and sees a relatively good year for Democrats. Is he right ?

American cops increasingly think they can harass innocents in the name of keeping us safe.

The Fox News headline “University of Illinois Instructor Fired Over Catholic Beliefs” is grossly misleading.

A Princeton economist has devised a formula for a classic sitcom paradox.

Will Democrats use a lame-duck session of Congress to pass legislation they can’t get through otherwise ? They might try, but I doubt they’ll succeed.

President Obama was shocked –SHOCKED! — to learn that bureaucracy and contracting hassles delay construction projects.

Not surprisingly, American’s partisan views on the Supreme Court are pretty much wrong.

Christopher Hitchens has esophageal cancer.

Stanley McChrystal’s fate is the story of the day, but there’s a broader message in the Rolling Stone story, and it has broad implications for the future of the Afghan War.

Daniel Larison and Reihan Salan have an intelligent discussion on the Internet, managing to persuade each other!