Outside the Beltway

They might not be able to fix the economy or the healthcare system or agree on an efficient tax policy but Congress has managed to reach accord on one of the most serious problems facing America: loud television commercials.

Some old guy and the man who created “The Wire” are among this year’s recipients.

After several years in the wilderness, Dick Morris has returned as a Fox News analyst and, bizarrely, adviser to several Republican candidates for Congress.

Thanks to the Internet, there are a lot more Willy Lomans out there.

Apparently, Katy Perry’s dress was deemed too revealing for public television.

What’s so wrong with saying that America will survive even if al Qaeda manages to hit us again ?

Jon Stewart has made the transition into the post-Bush era much more effectively than his protege, Stephen Colbert.

In yet another sign of how rapidly the media landscape is changing, longtime Newsweek stalwart is leaving for the Huffington Post.

Is our problem that the very rich have too much money? Or that the rest of us don’t have enough?

In addition to Delaware, the Tea Party movement appears to have a shot to upset an establishment candidate in New York.

The political fight over the extension of the Bush tax cuts took a very interesting turn today.

Bryan Caplan argues that the fact so many kids in the developing world don’t go to school proves that education isn’t very valuable.

Has the digitization of entertainment — DVRs, iPods, iPods, digital cameras, Netflix, and so forth — transformed it from fun into work?

The writer of the infamous “Fonzie Jumps The Shark” episode of Happy Days breaks his silence.

The first ad of the 2012 presidential cycle has aired, by some dentist touting Hillary Clinton. She’s not running. Could she?

FOX reports that the entire combat phase of the Iraq War will cost less than President Obama’s stimulus. That’s not a useful comparison.

Four news items and articles about China that have caught my eye.

Capitalizing on the buzz from his weekend rally, talk host Glenn Beck launched a new online magazine called The Blaze overnight.

Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally raises, yet again, the tiresome fight over crowd estimates and their political significance.

If Republicans regain control of Congress, you could be seeing a lot of scenes like this on your television for the next two years.

Despite raking in billions of dollars in television, ticket, and licensing revenues, all but 14 of the 106 schools in the NCAA’s top athletic division lost money in 2009. The median loss was over $10 million.

President Obama will be giving an address to schoolkids again this year. Stay tuned for the cries of “indoctrination !”

A shorter preseason and more meaningful games may come to fruition as soon as 2012.

Marco Rubio is currently leading the three way race for the open Florida Senate seat, despite not spending a dime on television advertising in recent months.

Your Tweets, Facebook wall posts, and FourSquare announcements obviously provide a lot of insights into your life. But so does what you’re not posting.

Has MAD MEN jumped the shark? Or is it getting better?

Sarah Palin’s decision to back a long-shot candidate in the GOP Senate primary in Alaska didn’t exactly work out as planned.

Most people who record television shows skip the commercials. Despite that, TV remains by far the most effective form of advertising.

Glenn Greenwald argues that the “Ground Zero Mosque” debate is about more than just a “mosque” near Ground Zero. He’s right, but that also means the debate is likely to get uglier.

Rick Lazio is running for Governor of New York and he’s found an issue in the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque,” but it doesn’t seem to be helping him in the polls.

Political campaigns are engaging in a new form of “new media outreach” — paying bloggers for favorable coverage.

Rand Paul is apparently taking heat from some of his more socially conservative supporters after FEC reports indicate he received a donation from the owner of an Adult web site. People need to get a life.

Why are people’s views about Islam so screwed up ? Mostly because the only things they know about it tend to be the worst possible aspects of all.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is superbly qualified for the presidency. But our system virtually assures that he won’t be a serious contender for the job.

Should black people quit using the N-word to set an example for white folk?

Renowned author Ray Bradbury hates big government but wants it to fund the colonization of Mars. That a man of his intelligence and insight can hold such diametrically opposed thoughts is an amusing reminder of the limits of human rationality.

Harry Reid has spent the summer trying to portray is opponent as a kook. So far, it’s working.

Senior staffers are already leaving the Obama administration due to burn-out. But are 18-hour days really necessary for running the White House?

The average federal government employee earns twice as much as the average private sector worker. An outrage? Not so much.