Outside the Beltway

Bizarre conspiracy theories shared by powerful people are immune to fact checking.

Donald Trump fared considerably worse against a cogent opponent.

Most departments have shockingly little screening of their officers.

Trump’s second term would be much worse than his first.

The far right won the first round. The far left won the second. It’s a mess.

The legendary basketball player and executive is gone at 86.

His party got destroyed in EU elections, so he’s doubling down.

Joy of four returned safe is mixed with the reality of scores of dead Palestinians.

Grouping House Members by their voting patterns.

Two related questions.

A two-level game where unconditional support has conditions.

Israel’s prime minister is defying red lines and humanitarian concerns.

The war could be ending soon.

The S&P and Nikkei are at all-time highs. Economists warn that it won’t last.

It’s what we do. I mean this is what we do.

The Secretary of Defense has outlined the parameters.

Further escalation is inevitable.

Israel and Iran’s proxies are on a collision course.

It’s just resting.

Steamboat Willie is about to be ripe for exploitation.

The four-team Playoff will go out making a lot of folks mad.

Hamas continues to cynically manipulate the world’s humanitarian impulses.

His critics are focused on the wrong problem.

The war in Israel is in danger of expanding.

Could the fourth time be the charm?

The ongoing Republican debacle and what it says about representative democracy in the US.

A hopeful irony.

Three increasingly-embarrassing defeats is all you get, apparently.

In a bathtub?

He might prefer McDeath.

A policy-leaning wing and a political-leaning wing make for an unworkable coalition.

He’s losing by a bigger margin in Round 2

Will at least four Republicans have a spine?

The timing is not auspicious.

A high-stakes move.

The crazies are this close to a complete takeover.

Jim Jordan is trying to bully his way into office. It almost certainly won’t work.

The clown show still lacks a ringmaster.

Some thoughts on the Speaker contest.

McCarthy lost it. Turned in his gavel. You, guy, are number 1.

One of the worst movies in memory may be getting a sequel.

A roundup of news and opinon.

We won’t have Kevin to kick around anymore.

The inmates are running the asylum.

Wherein I finally reveal my answer (spoiler: it is hardly surprising). And, also, wherein despite the goal of brevity, I fail at that goal.

His lawyers and Democratic lawmakers are urging an exception.

We all suffer if the the unserious have power.

A reminder that all choices are political to one degree or the other.

Some interesting (and potentially disturbing) polling trends.

Inventing outrage in an already outrageous world.