Outside the Beltway

It’s no wonder there’s no compromise in Congress.

Should states have the right to ban affirmative action? The Supreme Court will decide that this term.

The Supreme Court’s decision on Affirmative Action in education didn’t go as far as many thought it would, but it’s future in the near-term seems fairly clear.

For two centuries, British sailors have toasted their “wives and sweethearts.” No more.

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

Why won’t the “women don’t get pregnant from rape” meme die?

Set backs for Pennsylvania in its effort to reverse the NCAA sanctions against Penn State, and a new lawsuit from the Paterno family. The Sandusky story returns.

I have for months taken it as a given that she went on five Sunday morning talk shows and lied about what happened there. Did she?

It’s going to be another eventful month for the Supreme Court.

Republicans are fighting over how best to deal with their demographic problems, but they seem to be fighting the wrong battle.

The It’s good to be Putin Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Illegal aliens will henceforth be be called, well, something.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes uses a quota system to make sure his guests aren’t all white dudes.

The Iraq War did significant damage to the legacy of the Republican Party.

President Obama is taking some heat over the fact that his Second Term cabinet selections have been very white and very male.

One major factor in the skyrocketing cost of a college education in America is a huge increase in overhead costs.

Charlie Crist, run out of the Republican Party, is now a Democrat.

President Obama easily won re-election last night, carrying virtually all of the battleground states. Meanwhile, abortion, gay marriage, and recreational marijuana also won big.

Last night’s debate was rough and tumble, but it’s unlikely to change the state of the race.

The Supreme Court seems likely to severely limit the use of race-based preferences at public universities

The Court’s 2012-2013 term begins tomorrow morning, and there are plenty of big cases on the docket.

Lindsey Graham: “We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.”

Scientists have made a major step toward unlocking one of the biggest mysteries of particle physics

One law professor suggests that we need to double the size of the Supreme Court. Is he right?

An unsurprising decision on the Defense of Marriage.

The New York Times finds some infighting among old Republican foreign policy hands.

The City of Detroit appears ready to abandon vast sections of itself to the metaphorical jungle.

The people who gave us the “war on Christmas” are now touting an upsurge on black-on-white crime.

Andy Baio and friends have undertaken an interesting project: color coding political blogs to track bias.

A study of religiosity and young adults found that those who attend college are actually less likely to experience religious decline than those who do not attend college.

Scotch consumption is a leading economic indicator.

Mitt Romney won big last night, Newt Gingrich was Newt Gingrich, and the race is coming to the beginning of the end.

Rick Perry seems to be picking up where Sarah Palin left off.

What was written on a rock outside of a hunting lodge in Texas 30 years ago doesn’t really matter all that much.

A new look at Clarence Thomas’s 20 years on the Supreme Court, from a critic, is surprisingly positive.

Tim Cook is succeeding Steve Jobs as head of the world’s biggest technology company. Does it matter that he’s gay?