Outside the Beltway

For largely irrational reasons, French police are arresting women on the beach for wearing swimsuits that are compatible with their faith.

America’s largest voting bloc is heavily turned off by Donald Trump, and that is posing long-term problems for Republicans in general.

Another day, another round of irresponsible demagoguery from Donald Trump.

The one with the better convention seems to have lost ground over the last two weeks.

Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is out as head of the Democratic National Committee after the release of a trove of embarrassing emails.

Another acquittal in Baltimore leads to questions about whether or not prosecutors should continue with the trials against the officers involved in the Freddie Gray matter.

Another targeted killing aimed at police.

A horrific night in Dallas.

Two cases quite a distance from each other, but in both police seem to be acting with a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ attitude, especially when it comes to African-American men.

The trial of the man who was believed to be the most culpable in the death of Freddie Gray has been acquitted, calling the entire prosecution strategy into question.

The murder of Jo Cox, MP is looking more and more like a politically motivated assassination, and that’s causing some in Great Britain to look inward.

For the second election cycle in a row, and after a contentious floor fight, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is the Libertarian Party’s nominee for President.

Donald Trump now has enough delegates to win the Republican nomination on the first ballot.

An acquittal in one of the six Freddie Gray cases, but not an unexpected one.

Donald Trump has spent nine months encouraging his supporters to beat up protesters and calling the press “scum.” Words have consequences.

The execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric has led to a rapid deterioration of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The decision by a Cleveland Grand Jury to decline to indict a police officer in the shooting of 12 year old Tamir Rice raises once again questions about how the law handles shootings involving police officers.

A setback for prosecutors in the Freddie Gray case.

As we deal with the fall out from the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, we need remember the years after September 11th, 2001 and avoid holding an entire religion responsible for the actions of fanatics.

The October 2014 shooting of 17 year old LaQuan McDonald is beginning to have a political impact in Chicago and could have national political implications as well.

Protests by students at Princeton are causing some people to finally pay attention to some inconvenient truths about America’s 28th President.

The election of an anti-austerity government in Portugal is raising some concerns.

A Chicago Police Officer has been charged with murder in the death of a 17 year old African-American male that, from the evidence that has been released, seems completely unjustifiable.

French officials have confirmed that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the man believed to be the plotter of last Friday’s attacks in Paris, was killed in a police raid early Wednesday morning. This doesn’t mean authorities in France or elsewhere in Europe are any less concerned about future attacks, though.

Massive boycotts and protests likely spell the end of Tim Wolfe’s tenure as president.

Donald Trump was on Saturday Night Live last night. It wasn’t even remotely funny.

Yesterday, Paul Ryan spoke out against the procedure under which the new budget deal was negotiated. Today, he announced that he’ll vote for it anyway.

After an eleven hour day on Capitol Hill, it was Hillary Clinton 1 House Benghazi Committee 0.

What will likely be the apex of the House Select Committee’s investigation of the Benghazi attack begins and ends today with the testimony of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

With Russia now launching its own airstrikes in Syria, it’s become obvious that U.S. policy in the Syrian Civil War is irrational and contradictory. And Russia’s policy isn’t any better.

John Boehner let loose on the “false prophets” on the right yesterday, and he’s absolutely right.

The seeds of the current peace deal date back to 2007-2008 (plus some longer-term background notes).

The pressure on Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to expand the 2016 debate schedule is increasing.

Rowan County, Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis is being released from jail, but it may end up being a very short reprieve.

A Federal Appeals Court has upheld a 1949 law that bars protesters from the property around the Supreme Court building. This seems inconsistent with the Court’s recent First Amendment jurisprudence.

Public opinion on the Supreme Court has declined significantly, largely because Republicans don’t like the Supreme Court very much right now.

Removing the responsibility to investigate police misconduct from the prosecutors who have to work with those police on a daily basis is a good idea.

Finally.

A Federal Judge has uphold a Patent Office ruling revoking the Redskins Trademarks on the ground that they are “disparaging” toward Native Americans.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will be entering the race for President later this month, but it’s unclear if his recent turn to the hard right will help him or hurt him.

President Obama gave an interesting and somewhat unusual interview to a podcaster late last week, but the media is obsessed over a single word.

A Judge in Cleveland has found that there is probable cause to charge a Cleveland Police Officer with murder in the death of Tamir Rice, but that is hardly the end of the matter.

Turkey’s governing party suffered big setbacks at the ballot box yesterday.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker isn’t officially a candidate for President yet, but he’s doing quite well in Iowa anyway.

If a Russian solider dies, it’s now a secret thanks to a new decree signed by the Russian President.

The Cleveland Police Department has agreed to submit to significant monitoring in the wake of a damning Justice Department investigation.

A Cleveland police officer has been acquitted of manslaughter and other charges in a case that resulted in the death of two African-American individuals.

The first batch of email from Hillary Clinton regarding the 2012 attack in Benghazi have been released, and they don’t reveal anything we didn’t already know.