Outside the Beltway

Ignorance, it turns out, isn’t bliss.

Might not be bribery, but it’s still exerting influence.

The four-team Playoff will go out making a lot of folks mad.

The game is the game.

Another illustration of the weakness of the American party system.

A political trial for political crimes always yields a political result.

Is a threat in the eye of the receiver or the issuer?

The questionable ethics of living a lavish lifestyle based on high office.

Cities are lowering or doing away with longstanding requirements to provide spaces.

People are leaving our cities for the suburbs. But not on an equal basis.

Some disturbing symbolism.

A hypothetical spoiler for 2024? (Stress on “hypothetical”).

Things finally got too weird for his benefactor.

Because I actually think its important.

The Greatest of All Time is hanging up his cleats a year too late.

Weirdly, politicians who don’t understand the debt ceiling also don’t understand other things.

The biggest entertainment product in America is getting bigger.

Galrahn is gone much too soon.

The Attorney General can’t please everyone, so he’s got to please himself.

The most popular television product is running out of room to expand.

A revealing comparison of Republican districts that deny and don’t deny the 2020 outcome.

Reading habits continue to evolve, not necessarily for the better.

Paywalls are not our problem.

An absurd extension of the fight over abortion.

The Nation is unusually divided and melancholy on its birthday.

More ugly revelations about the football hero turned politician.

Some thoughts.

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

It seems that some Americans are relocating to be with people who share their social and cultural views.

Are we really being blocked from getting back to normal? And if so, what is the real barrier?

The legendary football player and coach is gone at 77.

The biggest news doesn’t always get the most attention.

The Hall of Fame coach and legendary broadcaster is dead at 85.

The city’s second major championship was among the most improbable.

Voters are suppose to choose elected officials, not the other way around.

Several stories for your consumption.

Part of the ongoing, slow-motion tragedy.

The long demographic trend continues.

ZZ Top’s longtime bass player is gone.

Retired generals are no longer in the military.

The long shift of population from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt continues—with the unusual exception of California.

Let’s call it what it is.

More voice, more votes, more representation.

The author of “Lonesome Dove,” “Terms of Endearment,” and so many more great novels is gone at 84.

Also some ironic positions on capitalism.

The Lone Star State is celebrating its independence in a big way.

Debunking urban legends and Internet rumors is harder than it used to be.

And a discussion of markets (and a warning about partisanship).

You can’t make this stuff up.

A country music legend is yet another victim of COVID.