Outside the Beltway

A racist scholar took some fascinating photos of an enslaved man in 1860. Now, his descendants want the rights to them.

Last November the state voted overwhelming to amend its constitution. The lawmakers they elected at the same time are sabotaging it.

A reading recommendation.

National and Virginia Democratic officials are calling on Virginia Governor Ralph Northam to resign over racist photos in his 1984 medical school yearbook.

Federal employees deemed “essential” missed a paycheck yesterday in violation of US labor law.

The damage done for Mickey Mouse in the name of Sony Bono is finally coming to an end.

In addition to being mandated by the Constitution, birthright citizenship goes to the core of what it means to be an American.

Overwhelmingly, legal experts agree that President Trump is wrong about birthright citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment.

The second installment of a seemingly forgotten series.

The Kavanaugh fight is just another indicator of our national divide.

Six siblings of Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar are starring in political ads against him. This is just another unfortunate example of the extent to which our political culture has been ruined by hyperpartisan polarization.

The Republican Party’s nominee for Senator in Virginia really is as bad as you’ve heard, probably worse.

Corey Stewart rose to become the Republican Party’s Senate nominee in Virginia with blatant appeals to racial division. Now his party fears they’ll be the ones who end up paying the price.

Contrary to what many people have claimed, the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Hawaii did not overturn one of the most controversial decisions in its history.

Trump spent much of Tuesday praising a dictator who has murdered and imprisoned millions of people. Then he returned to attacking the democratically elected leader of one of our closest allies.

Some legal scholars are speculating that the Court’s ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop could impact the ruling on the President’s Muslim Travel Ban. This seems unlikely.

In an exceedingly narrow ruling, the Supreme Court sided with a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding reception. However, the ruling did not address the broader issues raised by the case.

President Trump has issued another controversial pardon.

Mike Pence’s obsequiousness to his master knows no limits.

Hoping that Donald Trump might not run for reelection? Don’t get your hopes up.

Johnetta Benton was caught on tape in a 15-minute rant against President Trump’s campaign slogan. She ain’t wrong.

If you recall your grade school civics, you already knew this.

A woman who was at the center of one of the most important Supreme Court cases in American history has died at the age of 75.

Under Nelson Mandela’s leadership, the country made a smooth transition from apartheid. Now it’s going the way of Zimbabwe.

Two classic pieces of American Literature have been banned from the curriculum in Duluth, Minnesota. This is a mistake.

And a little Electoral College for good measure.

Some thoughts about why the president’s remarks on immigration are so problematic.

Polling remains uncertain in the Alabama Senate race, but the odds favor Roy Moore.

Roy Moore wishes he was back in the days of cotton when families were close and African-Americans were enslaved.

The Supreme Court held oral argument in a case that pits First Amendment rights against the rights of LGBT Americans.

As a candidate, Donald Trump liked to claim that he only hired the “top people.” and said he would do the same thing as President. So far, it isn’t working out that way.

The ‘No Labels’ movement is back, and it’s as irrelevant to contemporary politics as ever.

The battle over Confederate statues that was resurrected by the violence in Charlottesville is off the front pages, but that doesn’t mean it’s over quite yet.

We mourn Charlottesville because Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States, made clear in no uncertain terms that in his mind there was little distinction between those in Charlottesville who pursued the un-American “values” of soil, blood, and racial dominance and those who pursued the ideals of the American Constitution.

Facts are stubborn things.

It’s time to stop honoring the symbols of a nation of racist traitors.

Hatred and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

A Duke history professor uncovers “stealth plan” by “fifth columnists” who are seeking to overthrow democracy in the U.S. for their plutocrat masters.

Symbols shape our views of the past.

Puerto Rican voters voted overwhelmingly for statehood yesterday in a referendum whose legitimacy is being questioned due to boycotts by opposition parties.

President Trump’s comments about Andrew Jackson and the Civil War reveal something about how he thinks, and it’s not good.

Ben Carson is back and he’s saying some pretty dumb things again.

There were fireworks on the floor of the Senate last night, but it was really just politics as usual.

On Tuesday night the Establishment won and won yuge. (From new OTB contributor, Michael Bailey)

The Senate has passed an amendment to a military spending bill that would require women to register for the draft.

The rise of Trump and Sanders has resurrected a debate as old as Western civilization.

The success of the Broadway musical ‘Hamilton’ appears to be helping to save Alexander Hamilton’s place on the $10 bill. Andrew Jackson, meanwhile, looks likely to be booted from the $20 bill.