Outside the Beltway

In addition to Delaware, the Tea Party movement appears to have a shot to upset an establishment candidate in New York.

Sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta is the first living recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.

Over the course of a little more than two hours, the “Burn A Koran Day” story merged with the “Ground Zero Mosque” story in a bizarre media circus that seems to have accomplished little other than give press attention to a bigoted Pastor in Florida.

An academic study reveals that police officers with college education are less violent than their peers. But the real story is how violent cops are, period.

Comments sections on larger blogs seem inevitably to turn into cesspools. Is it worth trying to stop it happening?

It’s getting harder and harder to tell blogs from newspapers.

According to Paul Krugman’s latest column, the massive destruction of World War Two was actually good for the U.S. economy. Sadly, there are people who consider him an expert.

Will Israel attack Iran ? You’d better hope not.

Democrats are sending some of their candidates to the Death Panels.

Both the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, impressive as they are, must be understood in terms of not just applied political philosophy, but practical politics as well.

The first ad of the 2012 presidential cycle has aired, by some dentist touting Hillary Clinton. She’s not running. Could she?

How long will we stop annual commemorations on the anniversary of that horrible day?

Did you know that more Christians than Muslims were victims of hate crimes in America? Did you also know that there are a lot more Christians? Oh. Never mind, then.

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

The controversial Muslim center near Ground Zero may get public financing.

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.

Americans who earn a lot of money disproportionately live in a tiny number of states and are married to other high-earners.

The Army and its officer corps are becoming increasingly Southern and rural. Is this a bad thing? If so, what can we do about it?

Ok, Saudi Arabia has less freedom than the US. Why do some people think that should form the basis of an argument about appropriate behavior in the US?

The guy who ran George W. Bush’s campaign and the Republican National Committee has realized after only 43 years that he likes dudes.

The Tea Party is coming to Washington, D.C. on Saturday for a Glenn Beck rally and one travel guide is warning them to stay away from certain parts of the city. Subtle racism ? No, it’s common sense.

Glenn Greenwald argues that the “Ground Zero Mosque” debate is about more than just a “mosque” near Ground Zero. He’s right, but that also means the debate is likely to get uglier.

Rick Lazio is running for Governor of New York and he’s found an issue in the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque,” but it doesn’t seem to be helping him in the polls.

Some of our politicians and commentators are looking to odd places for guidance over the application of fundamental American values.

Steve Emerson has reportedly found 13 hours of tape of Cordoba Initiative chairman Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and found him to be a “radical extremist cleric who cloaks himself in sheep’s clothing.” Does it matter?

Glenn Greenwald asks, “Why won’t the Pentagon help WikiLeaks redact documents?” For the same reason we don’t negotiate with terrorists.

The United States has promised $150 million in aid to flood-ravaged Pakistan. Should we have?

The New York Times is reporting that the Obama Administration has convinced Israel that Iran is much further away from developing nuclear weapons than Tel Aviv fears, but there seems to be something else going on here.

The Associated Press tells its reports to stop using the phrase “Ground Zero Mosque.” That’s a good thing.

Strippers didn’t attack us on 9/11. Then again, neither did American Muslims.

Rand Paul’s initial mis-steps after winning the Republican primary seem to be largely behind him.

Ann Coulter has been dis-invited from a World Net Daily conference for her decision to speak at a convention sponsored by a gay conservative group.

Some Republicans are start to wonder if it’s such a good idea for their party to be so closely associated with the heated rhetoric surrounding the future of this former Burlington Coat Factory.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, appearing on San Francisco’s KCBS radio, called for an investigation in the efforts to stop the building of a Muslim cultural center at the hallowed Burlington Coat Factory location blocks from Ground Zero.

Given public opinion on the proposed Islamic community center that is currently cominating the news, we would expect that opposition to the project would be strongest in Manhattan itself.