Outside the Beltway

After months of demanding Republicans resist, he says “We have nothing to hide.”

A bad night for Trump.

And what it means for 2024 and beyond.

How party change actually works in the US. Plus more on messaging and organzing.

Democrats are considerably less happy with their party than are Republicans.

Millions turned out in support of basic ideals.

Don’t talk like one.

Twenty-Second Amendment edition.

An attempt to connect higher education and political violence.

We’re not alone in dysfunctional politics.

An illustration from the Charlie Kirk discourse as to why stories like the TAMU firing matter.

A shocking, but not surprising, event. I fear it’s a harbinger rather than an outlier.

Air Force honors for Ashli Babbitt.

E-I-E-I-O

The takeaway of Hegseth’s video and the Pentagon’s clarification is meant to be obvious. 

Are Red and Blue states even part of the same country anymore?

Things are not operating as Madison intended.

It’s bad writing, but a necessary evil.

They may whine and bluster, but Trump always gets their votes.

They’re talking a big game now, but they’ll likely bend a knee. Again.

Of course you realize this means war.

Force to create compliance should not be supported or excused. And yet…

Half the counties in America have moved more Republican in each of the last three elections.

It says a lot about the Trump era.

Resisting gaslighting must be social. It’s crucial for those who oppose Trump’s falsehoods to remind each other, again and again, that 2 + 2 = 4.

Budgets are choices and choices reveal values.

One piece of a larger puzzle.

A passing observation on the attempt to gift Trump a plane.

A basic definition.

Gee, I wonder why?

The polls are showing a really weird dynamic.

A chilling admission from a leader in the President’s OWN party

Things have to be bad when they actually start to speak the truth to the President

…and I write a bit more than that.

We are about to find out the degree to which trade wars are good and easy to win.

Orwell came to mind this morning.

America is getting screwed by playing by the rules it created.

Applying rational analysis to attitude and instinct.

Waiting for the other side to self-destruct has always been ridiculous and dangerous.

The 47th President had a busy Monday.

On Christian compassion (and hypocrisy) and a little bit of the Streisand Effect for good measure.

An observation or two.

Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Barrett sided with the Court’s liberals.

Oligarchy and populism don’t mix.

Gaetz’s own party hates him almost as much as the Democrats hate him

Partisanship weakens the immune system and can lead to spread of bad ideas.

And who is “we”?

He has to be, right?