Outside the Beltway

Ron Fournier sees major similarities but ignores key differences.

David Brooks thinks that the problem with American Government is that the Presidency isn’t strong enough.

Without a deal of some kind, it’s quite likely that Edward Snowden will remain beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement or some time to come.

Time to start talking about lame ducks?

The most important leader to come out of Africa in the 20th Century, and perhaps in all of history, has died.

The Federal Exchange website seems to be functioning better, but many questions about implementation of the PPACA remain to be answered.

Even as it defies China’s illegal territorial claims with military flights, the Obama administration is urging US airlines to comply.

Politics aside, the challenges to the PPACA’s birth control mandate raise important legal issues.

The Justice Department is reportedly not planning to prosecute Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in connection with the Bradley Manning case.

Republican hardliners are pushing a position on immigration that is completely out of sync with the nation as a whole.

Don’t blame Dallas, or 60s era Texas conservatism, for what happened in Dallas 50 years ago,

Phil Carter draws attention to “The Vets We Reject and Ignore.”

A second Federal Court of Appeals in a week in two weeks has ruled the PPACA’s birth control mandate is unconstitutional.

Accusations of blame are already being tossed around about why Republicans lost in Virginia, and they mirror a broader debate in the Republican Party nationally.

The news that Obama aides discussed a change to the 2012 ticket is part of the latest Halperin/Heilemann campaign history.

NSA Director General Keith Alexander really doesn’t like the idea of a free press.

Would you trust the men and women in this building?

The argument that the Roberts Court has been overly “activist” does not hold up to examination.

So much for the most transparent Administration in history.

The GOP’s approval numbers have fallen like a stone, but it’s unclear whether this will matter in 2014.

There seems to be at least some hope for a temporary deal in Washington to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, but don’t count your chickens just yet.

Republicans appear to be uniting behind a short-term plan to deal with the debt ceiling, but seem okay with keeping the government shutdown going forward.

63% are angry at Republicans, 57% are angry at Democrats, and 53% are angry at President Obama.

To borrow a phrase from Stephen Colbert, if you want to understand how Congress works, you better know a District.

Tom Clancy, author of dozens of bestselling military thriller novels, has died aged 66.

The GOP seems perfectly fine with risking a shutdown, even though polling shows they’d pay the biggest price for it.

Can differences in media coverage of two unrelated filibusters be explained solely by media bias?

Republicans reportedly have another plan to get what they want on Obamacare and other issues.

Starbucks is kindly asking customers not to bring guns to their stores.

The destruction of Syria’s stockpiles will be slow and laborious even if all goes according to script.

Even before the Russian curve ball, the public opposition to military strikes on Syria was mounting.

Opposing interventionism and unnecessary and unwise military engagements is not isolationism.

Why are chemical weapons a “red line” in a war where so many have been killed?

Given that the vote count seems to be heading that way, this is a question worth examination.

Prism ain’t got nothin’ on the Hemisphere Project.

The president’s public dithering on Syria is drawing jeers from friend and foe alike.

Western military action in the Syrian civil war now appears likely.

Once, against Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes it clear she isn’t going anywhere.