Outside the Beltway

It’s difficulty to have have a conversation with an albatross hanging over it.

We’re a long, long way from normal.

The venerable youth organization has fallen on hard times.

A long overdue correction.

A recurring source of friction in the OTB conversation.

Our measures for preventing abuse of our social welfare system are preventing those who need it most go without.

One side is arguing over rules while the other is focused on consequences.

A new poll finds that a strong majority of Americans support life in prison instead of the death penalty.

Given the times we live in, you may be tempted to argue about politics tomorrow. Here’s my advice — don’t do it.

There’s far more good in technology than bad, but these days we seem to be far more focused on the bad right now.

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

Expanding on yesterday afternoon’s post.

The liberal notion that people are persuadable through airing of ideas is obsolete.

A conservative columnist argues the legitimacy of our system is in question.

The norms of social discourse are rapidly changing in the #MeToo era.

An incident this week in Arkansas is just the latest example of a depressing and dangerous trend.

Continuing the conversation from James Joyner’s post.

Is the left unwittingly fueling a reactionary moment?

Another day, another mass shooting and, as is becoming all too common in this country, this one appears to have been racially motivated.

There’s an inherent tension in our national ethos.

How insidious talking points spread in the modern media environment.

A weird media narrative has formed.

Is it possible, or even appropriate, to express pride in a country that is being led by a President who stands against everything this country stands for?

Almost eighteen years after the greatest terrorist attack on our country, we haven’t taken care of those who risked it all.

At least some segments of the “pro-life” movement seem more concerned with policing morality than they do with protecting life.

Most of us define ourselves largely through our jobs. That’s increasingly a problem.

A Virginia woman left unusual instructions for the Executor of her will, and it’s become something of a controversy.

The city by the Bay is rapidly transforming. Should we lament that?

America’s leading motivational speaker and self-help guru is coming under fire.

Despite poll numbers suggesting otherwise, one political analyst suggests that the United States may not be “ready” for a gay President.

This is my shocked face.

The New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago metro areas are all losing people.

Pledges from wealthy men to help rebuild Notre Dame cathedral after a devastating fire is generating backlash.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court rejected a challenge by three women to their prosecution for going topless on a public beach in the Granite State.

The cases of Ralph Northam and Mark Herring raise a question of when, if ever, something we did in the past should follow us for the rest of our lives.

Wearing Donald Trump’s famous campaign symbol creates a presumption of ill intent. Is that fair?

Can society forgive the men caught up in the #MeToo movement? Is it even our place to decide?

Just days after appearing to condone donning blackface in the style of a 19th Century minstrel show, Megyn Kelly is out at NBC News.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints wants to be referred to by its given name. Shouldn’t we respect that wish?

The Kavanaugh fight is just another indicator of our national divide.

In November, Michigan voters will be able to make their state the tenth state to legalize marijuana. This is just the latest step in what seems to be an irreversible trend.

There is a frustration and a growing sense that the American political system is illegitimate.

A pioneer woman born in 1867 depicted American Indians and African-Americans in ways that are cringe-worthy today.

New York attorney Aaron Schlossberg found himself on the receiving end of an Internet firestorm this week. His case raises some interesting questions about Internet vigilantism.

The church sponsors 20 percent of the youth organization’s membership.

Controversies involving Jimmy Kimmel and “The Simpsons” highlight a perennial question.

Maureen Dowd blames the Internet for women having sex with men they find unattractive.

Argumentation without the intent to persuade is masturbation, not journalism.

The Atlantic fired one of their few conservative voices for saying women who have abortions should be hanged. Was this beyond the pale?

A woman who was fired after a photograph of her giving the middle finger to President Trump’s motorcade went viral is suing her former employer. She doesn’t have much of a case.