Outside the Beltway

When something simple isn’t so simple.

We’re seeing our lowest test scores in decades among a key cohort.

Long after most people returned to normal, public health agencies have given in.

A key pathway to success for low-income citizens isn’t working.

Safety, trade-offs, and risk assessment.

A growing trend has healthcare professionals and communities concerned.

A seemingly benign but controversial gesture.

President Biden’s dangerous gambit seems to have succeeded.

A big problem with a simple solution.

A revealing comparison of Republican districts that deny and don’t deny the 2020 outcome.

The rules for voting in America vary widely.

Fifty-plus “local” news outlets are a front for David Brock and company.

Reading habits continue to evolve, not necessarily for the better.

The symbolic vote attracted a handful of Republican votes.

How long can the unsustainable be sustained?

There are many barriers to true freedom.

Has the Internet made us more selfish?

The numbers don’t match the perception.

With masks off, political leaders are urging people to get out there and spend money.

The pandemic seems to have broken the social contract.

People failing to treat emergencies as emergencies make matters worse.

Kimberly Webb Joyner, my first wife and the mother of my children, has been gone a decade.

A serial criminal murdered five and injured dozens.

It’s usually more effective to run for something rather than against someone.

A piece in The Atlantic inspires thoughts.

DC’s new area code is causing an identity crisis.

A series of mismatches mean would-be workers can’t find employment despite an abundance of openings.

The long demographic trend continues.

The politics of face coverings continues to shift.

A lot of Americans think so.

A lottery brings out the worst in a small town.

One party is divided on how to govern and the other is united in not governing.

The Commonwealth is much more diverse than national election returns might indicate.

A shocking number of states no longer require them and the Leader of the Free World lacks the authority to change that.

The popular former governor wants another crack at it.

A rather remarkable milestone in that it’s coming so late.

A fundamental building block of our system makes it nearly impossible to fix.

We were much slower and have higher non-conformity than countries that have it under control.

The lousy hybrid option has been scrapped in favor of a worthless virtual one.

Contra the CDC, the AAP says getting kids to class outweighs the modest risk of their catching COVID-19.

Parents can’t homeschool their kids and hold down jobs indefinitely.

The lockdowns are ending and likely not coming back.

A surprisingly slow response from a governor who has been proactive during the crisis.

Can there be truth when there are consequences?

Vastly more people died than needed to and the economy still crashed.

Another grim milestone

Things are going to get better. And far worse.

We’re putting people in an impossible position.

A fiasco wrapped in a clusterfuck.