Outside the Beltway

Separate, it turns out, is not equal.

Hundreds of illegal immigrants have been released from detention ahead of possible budget cuts.

Republicans at the state level are still trying to cook the books in the Electoral College

If one is going to worship at the alter of original intent, it might be useful to know a bit of history.

Rahm Emanuel is reportedly considering a 2016 presidential run. It’s a thin report.

NYT Magazine asks “Can the Republicans be Saved From Obsolescence?”

Employers have to provide health coverage for those who work 30 hours a week. Guess what?

The main who coined the word “meritocracy” meant it as a pejorative term.

Pretending like the Bush administration never happened is a problem for the GOP.

Virginia has decisively killed a bill that would have awarded the Commonwealth’s electoral votes to the winner of gerrymandered congressional districts rather than the statewide winner.

Chris Christie looks unstoppable in his bid for re-election

Since 1877, it has been illegal for unmarried Virginia couples to cohabitate. That may soon change.

The GOP seems to be drawing all the wrong lessons from the 2012 elections.

A potentially significant ruling on Separation Of Powers.

Some proposed reforms just need to be ignored.

Josh Marshall explains what it’s like to be a non-gun person in a very pro-gun culture.

Some have criticized the President for delivering his gun control speech before a group of children.

President Obama has unveiled a set of restrictions that wouldn’t have stopped the Sandy Hook Massacre. Some are nonetheless be good policy.

No Labels is attempting to relaunch itself after amounting to exactly nothing in the 2012 cycle. Let me save you the trouble: They won’t matter in 2014 or 2016, either.

Last January 1, some of us made a series of predictions. Here’s how we did.

There are very rational reasons behind the current gridlock on Capitol Hill.

Does the public still care about the personal transgressions of politicians? The evidence seems to suggest they don’t.

The bizarre dynamics of Virginia politics.

Last night’s defeat of “Plan B” demonstrated yet again that John Boehner does not really control his caucus.

Robert Bork, the controversial jurist whose failed Supreme Court bid ushered in a new climate in American politics, has died at 85.

Obsessive media coverage makes us believe mass shootings are far more common than they actually are.

Democrats are approaching an “Electoral College lock.” Republicans are trying to pick it.

Will your Yelp review land you in court?

Congress is trying to re-write a law that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional in June. Have they succeeded?

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.

In “Eyes on the Prize,” Chuck Culpepper looks at Saban’s first season as a head coach, with Toledo, way back in 1989-90. It seems that Nick Saban has been Nick Saban for a very long time.

Dean “Unskewed Polls” Chambers is back, and he’s as deluded as ever.

The GOP’s problems extend far beyond immigration.

Neither member of the Republican ticket seems to understand what really happened on Election Day.

Barone tells some tales to make himself feel better.

Political reality says that the Bush Tax Cuts for high income earners are likely doomed in the wake of the election, but the GOP will find it very hard to switch positions on this issue.

Turning young voters into Young Republicans isn’t going to be an easy thing for the GOP to pull off.

The Supreme Court has agreed to take on another big case.