Outside the Beltway

If you’re looking for the biggest obstacle to a resolution to the government shutdown, look no further than President Donald J. Trump.

The government shutdown has now entered historic territory, and the Trump Administration is moving closer to a “national emergency” or other extra-legal means to get money for his wall.

President Trump is now threatening to close the border if he doesn’t get funding for his border wall.

With Congress out of town until at least Thursday and negotiations apparently deadlocked, the White House is saying it’s likely the shutdown will last into 2019.

With just hours to go, a partial government shutdown is becoming more and more likely.

Even as its leader continues to deny the reality of Global Climate Change, the Trump Administration has released an utterly devastating report on the impact of such change over the course of the coming decades.

With most forecasts assuming that Republicans will at least lose control of the House, the odds are that the GOP will react to that by moving further to the right.

Tip O’Neill was famous for once having advised his fellow Democrats that “all politics is local.” That’s not true anymore, and that’s unfortunate.

When do we stop pretending that Fox News Channel is anything other than State Run Media for the Trump Administration?

America’s tradition of unlimited free expression increases the danger of violence.

Newt Gingrich has endorsed President Trump’s use of the rhetoric of Josef Stalin to attack the American news media.

The Bork hearings have come up in the context of the Kavanaugh confirmation, Some thoughts ensue.

Trumpism is a direct by-product of the poisonous populism of the Tea Party movement, and they’ve both taken over the Republican Party.

The Trump presidency is the latest step in treating commentators like policy experts. It is all a manifestation of how the modern GOP is a populist party.

The students who survived last week’s mass shooting in Parkland, Florida are speaking out, and some on the right are responding by engaging in personal attacks and spreading conspiracy theories.

Roy Moore’s most die-hard defenders are living in a world of their own, and it’s unlikely they’ll change their minds.

It’s been two years since John Boehner stepped down as Speaker, and he’s got a few things to say about his former colleagues and the state of American politics.

President Obama spoke out yesterday against his successor and the America he has created.

The Daily Caller crosses a line and doesn’t seem to regret it.

The dangers of the tyranny of the majority have only magnified.

The Senate GOP’s effort to ‘repeal and replace’ the Affordable Care Act is headed for a bumpy ride.

There are reports that the President is considering firing Special Counsel Bob Mueller. Are we headed for another Saturday Night Massacre?

The erstwhile Republican firebrand and current NeverTrumper shares his personal struggles.

For Donald Trump at least, the start of the General Election campaign is the perfect time to dredge up decades old conspiracy theories.

Four years ago, Trump lavished praise on Hillary. Brilliant!

The Light Flyweight Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

The effort to stop Donald Trump seems likely to set off a civil war inside the Republican Party.

Chris Cillizza thinks “Rush Limbaugh totally gets Donald Trump.” I disagree.

A political cartoonist for The Washington Post crossed a line and, rightfully, got condemned for it.

Sarah Palin has joined such luminaries as Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, and former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke in endorsing Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim immigration plan.

Even if Donald Trump isn’t the Republican nominee in 2016, he could still end up causing real harm to the party’s chances of winning the White House and holding on to the Senate.

Once again, Donald Trump is succeeding because he is saying things many Republicans agree with.

The Mellow Yellow Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Despite his remarks about John McCain, Donald Trump is likely to be around for some time to come.

In the wake of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on C.I.A. torture, some have suggested that eight years of Jack Bauer helped make torture more acceptable to the American public.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle like to tell people they’re just “average Americans,” but they’re lying and the American people seem to have figured out that they’re lying.

As usual, politicians and pundits are helping to create a climate of fear and concern about Ebola that is not justified by the facts.

It appears that the GOP still has a problem communicating with women.

Rush Limbaugh is still really, really angry about subsidized birth control. And lots of other stuff.

Ed Klein says he has “Democrat sources” who Obama wants Warren to continue his mission to “transform America into a European-style democratic-socialist state.”

The votes have been counted, the result is clear, but the battle between Senator Thad Cochran and Chris McDaniel continues to get stranger by the day.

Chris McDaniel and his Tea Party supporters are being very sore losers.

Ahmed Abu Kattalah, the alleged ringleader of the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, has been arrested.

When everything’s an outrage, is anything outrageous?

Once again, Rush Limbaugh panders to the most pernicious of the right side of American politics.