Outside the Beltway

A word that has come in recent years to be used to refer chiefly to Muslim fanatics obviously applies to a man who murdered nine people because they’re black.

The Supreme Court ruled that states don’t have to grant license plates that display the Confederate flag. Their decision has the potential to seriously harm the First Amendment.

Surely it’s time to put a woman on American currency again, but why go after Alexander Hamilton?

It could cost you $250 to say “F- Arlington” if you happen to be in Arlington when you say it.

Hillary Clinton told supporters she’d require Supreme Court nominees to pledge to overturn Citizens United, a decision she completely misrepresented.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are talking about fundamentally changing what it means to be an American, and it’s a bad idea.

150 years later, Abraham Lincoln continues to inspire us.

We’re down to debating whether bigots should have to sell cakes to gay people.

Thinking about comparative American struggles against tyranny.

Sadly whenever Alabama is first at something (save perhaps in football) it is never for something good.

The Atlantic has a fascinating cover story by Graeme Wood titled “What ISIS Really Wants.”

Ben Carson is not a serious candidate for President, but he’s likely to get a lot of support from the GOP’s Tea Party wing.

There’s more to life than politics. Unfortunately, there are many Americans who don’t seem to recognize that fact.

As usual, politicians and pundits are helping to create a climate of fear and concern about Ebola that is not justified by the facts.

After 200 years, Francis Scott Key’s most famous work may have outlived its usefulness..

With just nine days to go, it’s anyone’s guess how the Scottish Independence vote will turn out.

Just in time for the midterms, Todd Akin is back to remind voters of the GOP’s problems with female voters.

Some odd developments in Nigeria

Boko Haram is threatening to sell the 200-plus Nigerian girls it has kidnapped into slavery.

A prime example of the failure of the “infotainment” industry that American news media has turned into.

Cliven Bundy still has his defenders among the hardcore right, but many people have joined Kentucky’s junior Senator in throwing Cliven Bundy under the bus

Polarization is not the cause of our problems.

The notion that the past has been fully settled is simply incorrect and our debates over symbols illustrate this fact.

History matters.

Some striking data to illustrate the role slavery played in the economy of the South.

Rather than asking whether it was “worth it,” the important historical question regarding the Civil War is whether it could have been avoided.

A new blog, Rejection Letters of the Philosophers, “imagin[es] what the greats of history might have been faced with, had they been forced to publish or perish.”

Your latest Outrage Of The Day.

Yes, it ended slavery. But at a huge cost.

Why did House Republicans vote overwhelmingly for a bill that their own theories would find to be unconstitutional?

President Obama delivered another powerful speech on race.

Conor Friedersdorf contends “The U.S. Already Had a Conversation About Guns—and the Pro Side Won.”

Vilifying Thomas Jefferson is as much as mistake as placing him on a pedestal.

In a NYT op-ed titled “The Monster of Monticello” Paul Finkelman expresses his befuddlement that people play down Thomas Jefferson’s legacy as a slave owner.

An ode to one-term Congressman Allen West.

Equating opposition to the President with racism is absurd.

Seriously, how did this guy ever get elected to Congress?

Mitt Romney is a deeply flawed candidate, but that doesn’t mean the President is any better.