Outside the Beltway

A renowned sports economist argues that black quarterbacks are treated differently than their white counterparts.

Ted Koppel thinks our actions since 9/11 have helped Osama bin Laden fulfill his goals. He couldn’t be more wrong.

Even on a ridiculously easy multiple choice quiz, Americans don’t know the name of the Chief Justice or the Senate Majority Leader. So what?

The media is now starting to look at it’s own role in the whole Koran burning story, but the truth is that there really wasn’t any way they could’ve ignored the story.

Will appointing Elizabeth Warren to head a consumer protection agenda unleash an eruption of Democratic votes in November?

A federal court has found that don’t ask, don’t tell violates the First and Fifth Amendments.

The Glad Handing Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Over the course of a little more than two hours, the “Burn A Koran Day” story merged with the “Ground Zero Mosque” story in a bizarre media circus that seems to have accomplished little other than give press attention to a bigoted Pastor in Florida.

Steve Walt, Steve Clemons, Matthew Hoh and others have released a provocative new report arguing for a change in our Afghanistan strategy.

After weeks of trailing Republican-turned-Independent Charlie Crist in a three-way race, Republican Marco Rubio is leading the Florida Senate race.

As much hubris as it takes to think you can be the Leader of the Free World, it takes even more to buck the advice of the Establishment.

Bryan Caplan argues that the fact so many kids in the developing world don’t go to school proves that education isn’t very valuable.

A new poll indicates that there are some disturbing motivations that seem to be associated with opposition to the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.”

The Obama administration has persuaded the nation’s most liberal appellate court that the executive branch’s right to secrecy trumps the rights of people claiming they were tortured by the United States Government.

David Frum assesses the current state of right-of-center think tanks and the significance thereof.

Fidel Castro is back in the public eye, but he’s singing a slightly different tune now.

Everyone from David Petraeus to Sarah Palin is speaking out against a nutbag pastor’s Koran burning event. While they’re right, they’re emphasizing the wrong message.

Time for the Thursday OTB Caption Contest^TM

Tonight’s topics: The Gallup poll and the vanishing 10-point Republican lead, whether we overreacted to 9/11, Mike Castle and the RINO/DINO problem, income inequality, and the retirement of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

With Rahm Emanuel apparently set to leave the White House to run for Mayor of Chicago, speculation is turning to who may replace him in what some have called the nation’s de facto Prime Minister-ship.

According to Gallup, there was a ten point move in the public’s preference on the Generic Congressional Ballot between last week and this week. What’s more likely is that Gallup is making a mistake somewhere.

An academic study reveals that police officers with college education are less violent than their peers. But the real story is how violent cops are, period.

Google will now display and adjust search results as you type. This should be a boon to searchers and a terror to website operators, who live at the mercy of Google.

Beloved comedian and character actor Andy Griffith’s popularity in his home state has plummeted since making commercials endorsing ObamaCare and some Democratic candidates.

Has the digitization of entertainment — DVRs, iPods, iPods, digital cameras, Netflix, and so forth — transformed it from fun into work?

Robert Gates has been a reluctant Secretary of Defense but his impact at the Pentagon has been tremendous.

Lost amidst the welcome news of British-French cooperation on military cost-sharing in some tough talk from their ministers of defense on NATO.

The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart is suffering a little New Media embarrassment after writing a blog post based on comments by a Congressman who doesn’t exist.

Comments sections on larger blogs seem inevitably to turn into cesspools. Is it worth trying to stop it happening?

Despite conceding the primary race last week, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is apparently still trying to find a way to get on the November ballot.

Responding the near-collapse of the Greek economy, forestalled only by a massive bailout from their brethren, the EU’s finance ministers agreed this morning to submit the outlines of their budget plans for approval by the European Commission.

It’s getting harder and harder to tell blogs from newspapers.

Currently roughly 1 in 8 federal judgeships remain vacant.

As the mid-term elections enter their final eight weeks, there’s more bad news for Democrats.

Most of what passes for conventional wisdom about learning is wrong.

The How Do You Spell Relief? Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.