Outside the Beltway

The mea culpas and I-told-you-so’s are rather premature.

Many are calling for the UK Prime Minister’s ouster. But the problem is Brexit itself, not any one leader.

Our most prolific front-pager hasn’t posted in two weeks. Readers are beginning to ask questions.

Deny them the pleasure of an angry reaction, and they’ll probably leave you alone.

The mysterious disappearance of long-time OTB commenters.

The cases of Ralph Northam and Mark Herring raise a question of when, if ever, something we did in the past should follow us for the rest of our lives.

A man somehow got elected governor without being very good at politics.

Virgnia’s governor has to resign. But not because of some 35-year-old photos.

The way we elect Presidents make it unlikely that a third-party candidate like Howard Schultz could ever actually win the the Presidency.

President Trump put an offer on the table to end the shutdown, the question is whether it will actually lead anywhere.

After a barrage of criticism, New Jersey Democrats are abandoning a controversial redistricting proposal.

Donald Trump is engaging in another round of baseless and bizarre conspiracy theories about alleged voter fraud.

The emergence of a silly talking point.

New allegations of sexual misconduct mark the start of a crucial week for the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

We’ll likely never know whether the Supreme Court nominee is a sexual assaulter. But it really doesn’t matter.

The fact that American officials talked with Venezuelans plotting a coup against the government of their country is a dangerous turn of events.

Donald Trump is a bad, inept, and potentially dangerous President. That doesn’t mean that a ‘soft coup’ inside the White House is the answer to the problem he presents to our democratic republic.

A Georgia County is abandoning a dubious plan that would have closed 2/3 of the county’s polling stations.

There’s a reason President Trump’s Supreme Court picks are “normal” in a way his national security and economic teams are not.

America promised immigrants who volunteered to serve in our military a fast track to citizenship. Now, we’re throwing them out.

Yes, it’s still okay to celebrate America.

There is a frustration and a growing sense that the American political system is illegitimate.

Maine voters head to the polls today to pick nominees for Governor and several other offices, but the most interesting thing is way they’ll be voting.

It may be my favorite Star Wars film since ‘Empire Strikes Back.’

The United States is apparently looking to Libya as a guide for upcoming talks with North Korea. The DPRK most likely sees the fate of that nation and its leader as a warning.

The Kim regime has announced the end, for now, of its nuclear and ballistic missile testing programs. To understand why they made this concession, one needs to read between the lines.

The Editorial Board of the Newspaper of Record urges Congressional Republicans to steady themselves for a constitutional crisis.

While the nature of Rex Tillerson’s firing as Secretary of State was shocking in its abruptness, taken in context with the rocky nature of his tenure it was hardly surprising.

Yesterday marked fifteen years since I launched Outside the Beltway on the old Blogspot service. 

A Federal Court in North Carolina has issued a stinging ruling against the partisan gerrymandering undertaken by the Republican legislature in that state.

After nearly twenty years, the Republican domination of the Virginia House of Delegates came to an end thanks to a single vote.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a second case dealing with political Gerrymandering.

A Fox News host has debunked the Uranium One conspiracy theory being pushed by his own network.

Roy Moore’s most die-hard defenders are living in a world of their own, and it’s unlikely they’ll change their minds.

A complicated concurrence to Steven Taylor’s recent postings.

The ‘No Labels’ movement is back, and it’s as irrelevant to contemporary politics as ever.

Democrats and “Never Trump”ers shouldn’t count their chickens before they’re hatched.

The revelations about Donald Trump Jr.’s June 2016 meeting with someone represented as being a Russian government official just keep getting worse.

President Trump’s decision to share highly classified information with the Russians is yet another demonstration of his dangerous hubris and incompetence.

Was Jim Comey fired in an effort to impede the Russia investigation? Trump’s own words are making it sound more and more likely.

After 100 days in office, President Trump has very little to show for his work except to show that there’s no reason to trust his judgment going forward.

Roy Moore, who is currently on suspension, has resigned as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in order to challenge Luther Strange for his seat in the US Senate.

The background of the United incident, from an aviation law and policy perspective.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch even as it became inevitable that Republicans would be forced to invoke the ‘nuclear option’ to confirm him to the Supreme Court.

As expected, Donald Trump yesterday signed Executive Orders targeting Muslims and refugees.

While hardly the most compelling argument against an archaic institution, yesterday’s silliness was noteworthy.

Beginning late this morning, the Electors in each of the states will meet to carry out their Constitutional function. Despite the drama accompanying this year’s election, there’s likely to be far less drama than some people seem to be hoping for.

Congressional term limits are a good idea, but they are only a partial solution at best and may not be the best solution to the problems facing our political system.

In which I use a lot of words to say hello.