Outside the Beltway

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

If recent history is any guide, there won’t really be a government shutdown next week. But, the zealotry of the “defund Obamacare” caucus could change everything.

The political polarization we saw during the Bush Presidency has continued throughout the Obama Presidency.

President Obama is trying to launch a war but there’s a lot of competition for attention.

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

Some thoughts on reform.

Walter Russell Mead explains why a well intentioned, carefully crafted and consistently pursued grand strategy failed.

Would conservatives learn a lesson if they got everything they wanted in 2016?

Congress isn’t spending much time in Washington these days but that’s only one of the reasons it isn’t accomplishing very much.

Ted Cruz is either being incredibly cynical as he deludes his fellow Republicans, or he’s living in a fantasy world.

As expected, President Obama’s latest “pivot” to the economy is less than meets the eye.

Time to “pivot to the economy” again.

A new poll shows public approval for the Supreme Court nearing a all-time low.

Once again, the threat of the “nuclear option” appears to have had less megatonnage than some expected and others hoped.

The Oval Office Address, once a common tool of the Presidency, has been in declining use of late.

President Obama is losing public support in the one area where he’s generally had broad support from the public in the past.

Egyptians celebrated last night, but the future is far from clear.

if reports are to be believed, there is a coup d’etat underway in Egypt.

The GOP is going to have to come up with a lot more than just age if they end up facing off against Hillary Clinton in 2016.

An empty threat.

The lede of a YahooNews report on President Obama’s trip to Africa: “President Barack Obama makes the first extended trip to Africa of his presidency next week—but he won’t be stopping at the country of his birth.”

There are risks to Republicans in blocking immigration reform, but there are also incentives for them to block immigration reform. Getting past that contradiction to passage isn’t going to be easy.

President Obama’s poll numbers seem to be suffering under the weight of nearly two months of scandals and/ media attention.

The U.S. is now confirming that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons. What’s next?

Even if you trust the current occupant of the White House to exercise the powers granted to the agencies operating in secret under him, do you trust all future Presidents?

A George W. Bush renaissance? Not exactly.

Revelations about the NSA’s data mining programs don’t seem to be having a significant impact on public opinion.

President Obama faces some perilous times ahead now that his Administration is under fire.

The American people aren’t panicking.

Former Justice O’Connor seems to regret the fact that the Supreme Court got involved in the 2000 election. Her regrets are misplaced.

2012’s election represented a significant change in voting patterns in the United States. What’s unclear is if the change is a permanent one.

Tom Brokaw has some good criticisms of what the White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner has turned into.

Because sometimes poorly contructed observations can set a fellow to writing.

The odds for a party switch in the House of Representatives remain quite low.

The American people no longer seem to care if their political leaders are divorced.