Outside the Beltway

Breaking News.

President Obama chided the media for paying too much attention to the birther issue, but his criticism was unwarranted.

For the first time, Donald Trump is leading a poll for the GOP 2012 nomination. That’s bad news for the GOP.

Glenn Beck will leave his Fox News show in December.

Paul Ryan unveiled an ambitious plan to cut the deficit today. The question is whether it will be the beginning of a debate, or an opportunity for Democratic demagoguery

The Obama Administration has given up on the idea of trying the September 11th suspects in a civilian court. Considering how much that trial would have perverted the justice system, that’s a good thing.

The groups we supported were defeated by the Taliban in the civil war that followed Soviet withdrawal. The Taliban and Usama bin Laden were supported by the separate “Sayyaf” group of Mujahideen supported by Saudi Arabia and Deobandi fanatics in Pakistan.

A handful of young male bloggers have launched themselves to the head of the line, leapfrogging those who’ve spent years playing the game by the old rules.juice

The Libyan rebels probably aren’t strong enough to defeat Gaddafi on their own, and the no-fly zone isn’t going to be enough either. Which means this operation is going to be far more extensive than President Obama is willing to admit publicly.

Obama is visiting Brazil and Chile while American fighting men join the coalition against Libya.

Fewer Americans are watching cable news networks, and that’s not surprising.

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is beginning to more like a real candidate for President. She won’t win, but she will be entertaining.

Cap’n Crunch is going the way of Joe Camel.

Why is Charlie Sheen seen as likable despite his serial abuse of women?

The saga of accused Wikileaks conspirator Bradley Manning continues to get uglier, with the military acknowledging that he was forced to spend the day naked for, well, no apparent reason.

Pfc. Bradley Manning faces twenty-two new charges, including one that could put him before a firing squad, but investigators still can’t prove any direct links between him and Wikileaks.

Some conservatives are finally waking up and realizing what people like Glenn Beck are doing to the movement. It’s probably too late, though.

Four U.S. citizens on a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates last week are dead. American military have killed the pirates.

Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak is expected to step down after 17 days of pro-democracy protests.

Oddly, the Democratic Party seems to be responding to the 2010 midterms by moving further left.

Egypt entered a second day of chaos with all signs pointing to things getting worse before they get better.

Al Jazeera English is kicking the butts of the American news networks on the Egypt story. Why?

The speculation on Keith Olbermann’s abrupt departure from MSNBC’s top-rated show continues. Was he fired? Did he quit? Did the Comcast overlords push?

After a fairly bad 2010, Barack Obama is starting off 2011 in a very good position.

The American media and Sarah Palin have developed an odd symbiotic relationship, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

There is a problem with political rhetoric in this country, but telling people to be nicer to each other isn’t going to cool it down.

It was, perhaps, inevitable that someone would attempt to draw a comparison between Saturday’s shootings in Arizona and the Oklahoma City bombing, but the two events really don’t have anything in common.