SCOTUS Fumbles On The Fifth Amendment

Yesterday, the Supreme Court narrowly decided a case on the right against self-incrimination that is likely to do great harm to individual rights.

Scott Walker: The GOP’s Sleeper Candidate For 2016?

Scott Walker could be the GOP’s surprise candidate in 2016.

Most Americans Oppose Obama Administration’s Incoherent Syria Policy

Two polls indicate that most Americans oppose the President’s latest moves on Syria. This makes sense considering actual policy there seems to be entirely incoherent.

Arizona Law Requiring Proof Of Citizenship To Register To Vote Struck Down By SCOTUS

Today’s decision by the Supreme Court was, on the surface, a victory for Federal Supremacy, but the issue itself is far from resolved.

Obama’s Job Approval Numbers Take A Hit In Wake Of NSA Revelations

President Obama’s poll numbers seem to be suffering under the weight of nearly two months of scandals and/ media attention.

Will Elijah Cummings Release IRS Transcripts Later Today? (Updated)

Today is the deadline for Darryl Issa to respond to a request from Elijah Cummings to defend a decision not to release IRS interview transcripts. What happens if Issa doesn’t respond?

Weekly Crowdsource: Your “Must Read” Experts Edition

This week’s Weekly Crowdsource is a search for new experts to follow.

Americans Don’t Have Much Confidence In The News Media

Public trust in the news media, along with many other institutions, continues to fall. That’s troublesome for many reasons.

OTB Caption Contest

Time for the Monday OTB Caption ContestTM

Detroit’s Pre-Bankruptcy Negotiating Game May Not Be Working.

Detroit faces some immense problems. Papering over them with short term deals with creditors isn’t going to solve them.

RNC Chair: Political Conventions Should Be Earlier Than Late August

The Chairman of the RNC wants the GOP to hold its quadrennial convention earlier in the year. He’s right.

“Happy Birthday To You” And What’s Wrong With Intellectual Property Law

A song written when Grover Cleveland was President is still protected by Copyright Law. That makes no sense at all.

Military Judge: Obama’s Comments On Military Sex Abuse An “Undue Command Influence”

Did President Obama’s comments about taking a tough stand on military sexual assault constitute “undue influence” on specific cases? One military judge says that they did.

Two Boston Parking Spaces Sell For $560,000

Are two parking spaces in Boston really worth $560,000? According to an auction earlier this week they are.

OTB Caption Contest Winners

The Pass The Buck Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over.

Republicans Haven’t Learned The Lessons Of 2012

The GOP seems to be making the same mistakes that led to defeat in 2012.

The Unfortunate State of the Congressional GOP

If one is going to be in government, one ought to take governing seriously.

WWJD?

Dog Butt Jesus

If there’s a Hell, somebody’s going to go there.

Supreme Court Bans Protests at Supreme Court but Not Near the Supreme Court

The AP has the Supreme Court banning demonstrations at the Supreme Court. The regulation in question doesn’t actually do that.

U.S. Says That Syria Has Used Chemical Weapons, Will Reportedly Start Arming Rebels

The U.S. is now confirming that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons. What’s next?

Organ Transplants, Medical Ethics, And Children

Getting the courts involved in the organ transplant issue could end up being a huge mistake.

Poll: Gridlock Is The Biggest Problem With Congress

Congress gets bad grades in Gallup’s latest poll, and gridlock is the main reason

Supreme Court Rules Human Genes Cannot Be Patented

Thanks to the Supreme Court, your DNA cannot be patented.

A Quick Thought on Privacy

There is an important difference between private companies holding private data and government holding it.

When Is A Leak Not Really A Leak? When It’s Beneficial To Those In Power, Apparently

Outrage over leaks like those that Edward Snowden makes doesn’t exist when its politicians doing the leaking.