Outside the Beltway

What makes a good school good?

Was Marbury v. Madison a mistake?

When checks and balances aren’t enough.

Old men still bitter about where they went to college.

The implications of modes of interpretation.

Shameless (but not surprising).

An odd kerfuffle in local education politics.

If this is the best they have, they don’t have a lot

A man most have never heard of is being reassessed more than a half-century after his death.

We’re likely to see more instances like the Capitol Riot and the Kyle Rittenhouse shootings.

The Democrats are apparently selling their omnibus spending package the wrong way.

Legislatures and school boards politicize what our kids are taught.

Critical race theory rears its ugly head yet again.

Biden’s America is a place and idea in which the trappings of empire or glory are ephemera in comparison with perennial human relationships—families; friendships; communities; schools; neighbors; partners.

The absurd notion that the President of Senate is the arbiter and judge of the electoral vote.

The popular former governor wants another crack at it.

This is not even close to the worst it’s ever been.

A shocking and yet completely unsurprising development.

The President is desperate and unwell and the press is making no bones about it.

A new article puts Joe Biden’s gaffes and malapropisms in a new light.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals handed President Trump a loss in his effort to prevent prosecutors in New York from getting copies of his tax returns.

The time for sitting on the sidelines is over. Donald Trump cannot be allowed to get away with his usurpation of power, his disdain for the law, or his continued policies that have damaged the country.

Is it possible, or even appropriate, to express pride in a country that is being led by a President who stands against everything this country stands for?

The job laid out by the Framers in Article II of the Constitution has expanded a mite.

Four years ago, Donald Trump began his campaign for President. What has followed has been as bad as could have been predicted that day.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin punted once again on the question of replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, making clear that any change that does occur won’t happen until after Donald Trump is out of office.

I’m not sure his solution is correct or even legal. But the problem is very real.

The problem is with our politics, not our institutions.

A seemingly out-of-the-blue political movement is arguing in favor of independent election of Vice-Presidents.

The Wall Street Journal tries, and fails, to defend President Trump’s indefensible veto of the Congressional resolution regarding the war on Yemen.

In some expert trolling, the Senate Majority Leader decries “mindless, undiscriminating obstruction for the sake of obstruction.”

Already the longest-serving former President, he’ll pass George H.W. Bush as the longest-living tomorrow.

It’s been a rough two years under Trump, but America’s institutions are surviving.

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

The efforts by Speaker Pelosi and President Trump to leverage their institutional powers raise interesting questions.

Nancy Pelosi is “suggesting” to the President that the State of the Union be rescheduled for a time after the government shutdown ends, but it clearly seems like more than just a suggestion.

The white supremacist charged with killing a counter-protester during last year’s events in Charlottesville has been convicted of first-degree murder.

Is Donald Trump thinking about dumping Mike Pence in 2020? Probably not, but that’s not going to stop the speculation.

Jamal Khashoggi’s final column includes a message that should resonate far beyond the Arab world it was addressed to.

Six siblings of Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar are starring in political ads against him. This is just another unfortunate example of the extent to which our political culture has been ruined by hyperpartisan polarization.

The Republican Party’s nominee for Senator in Virginia really is as bad as you’ve heard, probably worse.

Recent polling finds that Americans aren’t feeling quite so patriotic right now. It’s understandable, but we shouldn’t give up hope.

The President’s constant attacks on the news media are meant for a single purpose, to undermine even accurate reporting about wrongdoing in his Administration.

Quietly, Mike Pence is seeking to create his own power base inside the GOP even as the White House pushes back.

For Donald Trump and his supporters, “Fake News” means any news that doesn’t shower enough praise on him.

Rudy Giuliani is basically now suggesting that his client would be willing to set off a Constitutional crisis that would make Watergate seem like a picnic.

Instead of attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner last night, Donald Trump took his show on the road where he continued his long-standing attacks on the press. Unfortunately, it’s a message that resonates with his supporters.

Unable to get his way with the legislature, New York’s governor is taking a provocative step.

Barbara Bush, only the second woman in history to be the wife and mother of a U.S. President, has died at the age of 92.

Without Congressional authorization, any attack on Syria would be illegal, but don’t expect Congress to do anything about it.