Outside the Beltway

My latest for The Hill, “America Comes to Soccer,” has posted.

There’s little evidence for the conservative contention that the President has damaged America’s position in the world.

Apparently, there is an off ramp on the Appalachian Trail

President Obama is rewarding unqualified hacks who raised huge sums for his campaign with ambassadorships.

In case you needed a further reason to dismiss Jerome Corsi (and some general thoughts on what Corsi represents).

Not surprisingly, Time’s editors chose Pope Francis as Person Of The Year. However, Edward Snowden arguably would have been the better choice.

We spend more per capita than any other country in the world and yet we are outperformed on a key metric, life expectancy, by a large number of countries

Would you trust the men and women in this building?

Military coups used to be far more common than they are today.

Absent DOMA, the Full Faith and Credit Clause would seem to make gay marriage legal across the land.

The same story yet again.

The Tank Girl Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

“Mark Sanford walked out on us, violated our trust … maybe Mark Sanford should just keep walking.”

Because sometimes poorly contructed observations can set a fellow to writing.

The American people no longer seem to care if their political leaders are divorced.

Providing a little context for Pope Francis’ background+Erick Erickson needs to learn a little history.

Habemus Papam

The notion that guns prevent tyranny is based on fantasy and movies, not reality.

Two words spoken by a Romney aide have led to a ridiculous firestorm on the right, while the rest of their comments are being ignored.

The combined value of Apple’s stock is more than the GDP of some countries.

R.I.P.

The Justice Department claims to have disrupted a major Iranian-backed terrorist attack in the United States.

President Obama has walked out of negotiations on the debt ceiling with an agreement is nowhere in sight.

The GOP contenders are starting the regular ritual of decided how to navigate our rather odd nomination process.

Is it reasonable to state that countries with less guns are more likely to become tyrannical than countries with more guns?

The Anthony Weiner reveals once again the odd American obsession with the intersection of sex and politics.

Prejudice and negative attitudes towards obese individuals is becoming a global norm, not just an American phenomenon.

Since 9/11 there has been a steady trickle of stories about jihadists hooking up with Latin American drug cartels and the like. Here is a guide of story points that can help you identify when such a story is almost certainly bogus.