Outside the Beltway

You might not hear little kids say they want to be “powerful” when they grow up. But they sure as hell want power now.

The Alaska Republican says he won’t answer questions about alleged misconduct as a public official, deeming it “personal.”

According to some new studies by crack economists, it’s helpful to have a spouse bringing in some money if you happen to lose your job.

Republicans are suddenly targeting — and Democrats in some cases are conceding — House seats that were until recently considered out of play.

The disaster that began last Monday in Hungary continues to unfold.

President Obama and the Democrats are charging the Chamber of Commerce of funneling foreign money into ads for Republicans. It’s a desperate move unlikely to work.

Once the province of science fiction, a car that can drive itself is now a reality, thanks to Google and DARPA. The implications are mind boggling.

New Jersey’s governor has killed a vital infrastructure project because of huge cost overruns. It’s penny wise and pound foolish.

Yet another study shows what any of us who’ve ever spent any time around soldiers already knew: Our Army is not comprised of stupid people who couldn’t find a decent job.

Daniel Larison’s “The Case Against NATO” makes compelling reading. In my New Atlanticist post “The Case Against the Case Against NATO,” I explain why it’s wrong.

Tonight’s topic: America’s rising income inequality and what, if anything, we ought to do about it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger predicts President Obama’s re-election. Historically, that’s the safe bet.

Would non-violence really have failed against the Nazis? History suggests maybe not….

Ken Levine has some advice for aspiring writers: Forget about slaving over plots and character development. Instead, sleep your way around campus and write about it.

If the Bush TARP initiative saved the economy at no cost to taxpayers, we have the odd situation of Republicans nonetheless angry it happened and Democrats who thought it a good idea annoyed that it worked.

Eugene Volokh explains why he’s not writing on a controversial subject recently in the news: He doesn’t know enough about it and doesn’t want to be wrong.

Robert Lane Greene investigates the rise of acronyms, initialisms, and other informal shortenings of speech.

Craig Newmark thinks NPR’s membership model will overtake advertising-supported news over the next decade.

Among the unintended but not unforeseen consequences of the new health care law is that companies who were previously offering some health coverage may stop altogether. In some cases, that’s just as well.

Tonight’s topics: Democrats’ infighting, the continued Tea Party “takeover” of the GOP, the Obama administration’s following of its predecessor’s lead on executive power, and the degree to which America’s economic competition is fair.

Some old guy and the man who created “The Wire” are among this year’s recipients.

The use of “partner” to describe someone with whom one is in a romantic relationship has interesting connotations.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is leaving his job at week’s end to run for mayor of Chicago.

Paul Krugman says there’s zero evidence for structural causes for unemployment. It’s just a demand problem. How do we spark demand, then?

Bob Woodward reports that President Obama was looking for options other than staying the course in Afghanistan. The military didn’t provide any.

President Obama’s approval is at its lowest point to date, matching President Clinton’s in 1994. It’s 14 points higher than his predecessor’s.

A Vanity Fair piece imagines what John Lennon’s life would have been like had he survived an assassin’s bullet.

Shepard Fairey, the artist behind the iconic HOPE poster, is disappointed with President Obama.

Many commenters on civil-military relations change their tune according to whose ox is gored.

Tracking “freedom” and American defense spending provides some interesting insights.

Meghan McCain canceled an appearance at Juniata College with only three days’ notice, citing “several unforeseen professional responsibilities.” She tweeted that she was “headed to sin city with my favorite crew of sinners instead.”

A case study in how one’s choice of graphing techniques can shape a debate over known data.

Should proper nouns be exempt from local spelling conventions?

Perhaps the biggest insight from Bob Woodward’s latest book is the sharpness of the split between the military and civilian leadership.

Subsidizing the markers of middle class attainment may undermine the traits that lead to it.

The nine months humans spend in the womb may be the most important time of our lives. And that has some profound implications.

Tonight’s topics: Bob Woodward’s new book, the Murkowski write-in bid, the weird race in Delaware, and the end of the Great Recession.

Is there a quiet cyberwar going on and we are just starting to notice it?

Attempts to capture the speech patterns of the American South in written dialogue should be approached with extreme caution.

The authors of Global Governance 2025 offer a wide range of trajectories for the international system depending on whether we adequately address known threats.

Dan Drezner asks, “Has Bob Woodward jumped the shark?” My snarky response is that he did that in Bob Casey’s hospital room.

President Obama told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, “Long before America was even an idea, this land of plenty was home to many peoples. The British and French, the Dutch and Spanish, to Mexicans, to countless Indian tribes. We all shared the same land.”

America’s elite universities have proportionately fewer slots than their English and French counterparts. Does it matter?

Jon Stewart’s response to Glenn Beck is taking place on the weekend where party leaders usually conduct their big get out the vote push.

We need global cooperation to deal with a growing variety of serious problems. But we can’t even agree amongst ourselves on policy options.

Great news, everybody: The biggest economic calamity since the Great Depression has been over for well over a year.

In yet another sign of how rapidly the media landscape is changing, longtime Newsweek stalwart is leaving for the Huffington Post.

The Tea Party movement and the populist backlash against DC mayor Adrian Fenty are a sign that things are changing so fast that a lot of people simply can’t adjust.