Outside the Beltway

National tragedies, whether man-made or natural disasters, used to bring Americans together. Now they just seem to pull Americans apart.

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

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

Donald Trump’s win last night made him the presumptive Republican nominee, whether Republicans will unify around him is another question.

The business of the media is business. Business is not good.

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.

Should we treat terrorists as trolls?

A series of bomb attacks across Brussels has left at least 26 dead, and dozens more injured.

The coming political battle over President Obama’s effort to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia will likely be unlike anything we’ve seen before.

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

The producer behind a group of music legends has passed away at the age of 90.

Mitt Romney came out with a blistering speech denouncing Donald Trump, but it’s unlikely to have much of an impact on the race.

American Astronaut Scott Kelly is back home after a year in orbit.

Donald Trump won his third contest in a row in Nevada, putting him one step closer to inevitability.

It didn’t take long for the political battle over the seat held by the late Justice Antonin Scalia to become another part of the 2016 political battle.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign and its supporters seem to be getting frustrated by the fact that younger women are seemingly more interested in her opponent than in her.

Marco Rubio was the man in the cross hairs in last night’s Republican debate.

Donald Trump continues to lead, while Marco Rubio surges, in the first polls out of New Hampshire since the Iowa Caucuses.

Ted Cruz won, Marco Rubio surged into a stronger than expected third place, and Donald Trump was humbled just a little bit, but he was hardly a “loser.” The race for the GOP nomination has begun for real.

Sarah Palin is back, and she’s endorsing Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for President.

David Bowie has passed away at the age of 69 after a long battle with cancer.

Donald Trump is out with his first television ad, and it’s about what you’d expect.

A group led by Ammon Bundy, son of Clive Bundy, has taken over the Malheur Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon to protest somethingorother.

Jim Webb’s recent criticism of Hillary Clinton is renewing speculation about an independent bid for the White House, but he hardly seems like a viable candidate for such a run.

Donald Trump is drawing large crowds in Iowa, but at least some of his supporters aren’t sure if they’ll be showing up for the caucuses.

Marco Rubio has been getting a lot of love lately from both conservatives and so-called ‘establishment’ Republicans, but his seemingly meager ground game in early states is raising doubts about his campaign.

The Governors of Connecticut and New York are joining President Obama and Hillary Clinton in favor of a really bad idea.

Ben Carson threatens to leave the GOP over recent reports about plans for a brokered convention, but with his poll numbers collapsing one wonders why anyone would care if he did.

Notwithstanding the hopes of many Republicans, Donald Trump continues to be the person to beat in the race for the party’s 2016 Presidential nomination.

Donald Trump’s plan to exclude Muslims from the United States is provoking condemnation, and confusion, around the world.

Donald J. Trump continues to turn the dial higher and higher on his fascist demagoguery.

The no-fly list is a flawed, arbitrary mess that has kept innocent people from flying for years. Using it to deny people rights recognized by the Constitution is, quite honestly, insane.

Yesterday, cable news networks, and most especially MSNBC, showed their profession at its most pathetic.

The probability that the shootings in San Bernardino were at least inspired by ISIS and/or other Jihadist terror networks is increasing.

A leaked memo from a top Republican adviser tries to tell vulnerable Senate candidates how to deal with the possibility that they’ll be stuck with Trump on the top of the ticket.

A gunman is holed up in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs after shooting multiple people, but it’s unclear what if any motive may be involved in the shooting.

A potentially big complication in an already complicated situation.

The United States and Europe are giving everything the perpetrators of the Paris attacks hoped for.

In the wake of the attacks in Paris, some people have argued that American solidarity with France, in contrast to seeming disregard for tragedy elsewhere, is something we should feel bad about. That argument is ridiculous.

We are legally, morally, and practically obligated to respond. Let’s not do so stupidly.

Reports of at least up to sixty dead, a hostage situation, and attacks at multiple locations in Paris.

The racial saga at Mizzou has not been solved with the ouster of the president and chancellor.

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

You may not be aware, but your local Starbucks is the new front in the ‘War On Christmas.’

Nude photos of hundreds of students in one Colorado high school are being distributed.

American intelligence officials are saying that a Russian passenger jet that went down over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula was most likely brought down by a bomb.

The U.S. and Russia have reached a much-needed deal to avoid inadvertent confrontations over the skies of Syria.

A political earthquake north of the border.