Outside the Beltway

Just because NSA data mining is legal, that doesn’t mean it’s proper or that the American people should tolerate it.

The sequestration cuts are two months old, and it seems pretty clear that the claims of doom we heard before they went into effect were heavily exaggerated.

The GOP’s latest investigatory crusade could end up backfiring on them.

The American people aren’t panicking.

President Obama may regret drawing a line in the sand over Syrian chemical weapons.

Opponents of immigration reform are deceptively attempting to use the bombing attack in Boston to derail immigration reform.

For better or worse, the attack in Boston is likely to have an impact on the immigration reform debate.

The Boston Marathon bomber must be tried in a court of law.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes uses a quota system to make sure his guests aren’t all white dudes.

Senator Ted Cruz has alienated his colleagues in record time.

Here we go again.

For the moment, Republicans appear to be blocking Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense but they don’t seem to know why they’re doing it.

A good start toward solving a long standing problem.

Marco Rubio has some good immigration reform ideas. Will his fellow Republicans listen to him?

Republican opposition to defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel reveals just how far the party’s thinking has drifted on foreign policy.

In “Veterans and Senate Buddies, Until Another War Split Them,” Elisabeth Bumiller profiles the relationship between Chuck Hagel and John McCain:

Alex Pareene’s annual hack list omits an obvious candidate: Alex Pareene.

Mitt Romney’s campaign schedule has been oddly light recently.

Lindsey Graham: “We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.”

Jeb Bush continues to speak the truth on the GOP’s position on immigration issues. Sadly, his fellow Republicans aren’t listening.

In calling for the sequestration cuts to be delayed, Republicans are demonstrating their lack of seriousness on the issue of fiscal responsibility.

Mitt Romney is criticizing the President over his Syria policy, but his alternative ideas aren’t very good.

Republicans are finally starting to realize that they are in trouble with Hispanic voters.

Not surprisingly, Republicans are trying to reverse the automatic cuts to defense spending agreed to in August.

With the Super Committee dead, 2012 is likely to see a fight over the defense cuts set to take place starting in 2013.

President Obama is being attacking from the right for following through on a policy decision made by his Republican predecessor.

Rick Perry’s immigration positions aren’t at all unreasonable, and that presents a problem for him inside the Republican Party.

Steve Benen has coined the phrase “Thank America Last” to describe those avoiding praise of President Obama for success in Libya.

We have a deal in Washington. Now, the leadership just has to make sure it can pass Congress.

By insisting on perfection in the debt ceiling debate, the Tea Party has made itself irrelevant to the process.

A few Republicans have picked up on John McCain’s criticism of critics of the Libya mission as being “isolationist.”

Contrary to what Senator McCain, seeking realism in military policy does not make one an isolationist.

The 60 day deadline for Presidential discretion under the War Powers Act will expire next week. Congress won’t do anything about it.

A study shows that most national columnists and talking heads are about as accurate as a coin flip.