Outside the Beltway

Thinking about what was likely and what wasn’t.

A surprising factoid in a bad election for the party.

The New York Post and Wall Street Journal are blasting the losing loser.

A low bar has been cleared.

The 2020 loser has doubled down on losing.

The chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee lost his re-election.

The Needle is Broken

An interesting wrinkle in the 2024 race.

The Justice Department is looking to inoculate itself against charges of partisanship.

A deep dive into why our politics are so broken.

Local issues barely matter in Congressional races anymore.

We likely won’t know on Election Night.

A few stories to consider.

A member of the inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class and the most recent Country Music Hall of Fame class is gone at 87.

Another frivolous suit making a mockery of the American tort system.

Journalists openly root for a good story.

A brilliant national security leader is gone too soon.

A revealing comparison of Republican districts that deny and don’t deny the 2020 outcome.

They’re a bloc but also not.

The rules for voting in America vary widely.

A thought inspired by the PA Senate race.

A dramatic if likely symbolic move.

Publishers and consumers want very different business models.

A country music icon is gone at 90.

A complicated case out of NYU.

Hurricane Ian renews some perennial questions about recovering from natural disasters.

The veteran newsman is gone at 84.

Jim VandeHei and company have put out a new style guide.

The Russian leader may be looking over his shoulder after imposing a draft.

Apparently, more expensive versions of products are often better.

The ayatollahs face the biggest challenge to their authority in the history of the regime.

Makin’ his way the only way he knows how, that’s just a little bit more than the law will allow.

A lot of folks who study democracy have sent an open letter to Congress.

A shameful stunt reminiscent of an even darker era.

A sweet story gets a wee bit more complicated.

This is just playing crass political games with human beings.

He’s proposed a bill with no chance of passage seemingly timed to hurt his own party in the midterms.

They could be overstating support for Democrats. Or understating it. Or be more or less right.

And a reminder about Bannon’s wall grift.

CNN’s original anchorman is gone at 82.

The UK’s longest-reigning monarch has passed, aged 96.

What does objectivity mean in the Trump era?

Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in again… [update: x2]

The last Soviet leader is gone at 91.

Many young, progressive Jews are feeling unwelcome in young, progressive circles.

Why would the Trump team release a document that casts them in such a bad light?

The intersection of politics, morality, and meaning.

Is it time to call the whole thing off?

What we believe and what we say we believe are often not the same.

“Declassification, even by the President, must follow established procedures.” (Trump Administration 2018)