Outside the Beltway

At last week’s debate, Beto O’Rourke handed Republicans and gun rights advocates a nicely wrapped gift with his claim that he would seize guns from otherwise law-abiding Americans.

Canada is headed for a new election at the end of October as Justin Trudeau finds his government daling with a scandal.

John Bolton was not a good National Security Adviser, but the real problem with Trump Administration foreign policy comes from the man at the top.

One of the giants of the progressive blogosphere is going away.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that states cannot punish electors who fail to follow the will of the majority of voters n their state or state laws purporting to direct how they should vote.

President Trump continues to have an odd obsession with nuclear weapons.

Trump’s trip to El Paso in one photo and two videos.

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel from the Second Circuit has reinstated Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.

Jon Huntsman has resigned as Ambassador to Russia ahead of an anticipated bid to return as Utah’s Governor, a position he held 11 years ago.

The Trump Administration is set to raise tariffs on more products from Europe, including Scotch Whisky and other alcoholic beverages as well as food products and other items.

Not a new observation, but one that should not be forgotten.

Rural Americans are much less likely to go to college than their urban counterparts. Is there a solution?

Not content with taking a wrecking ball to America’s trans-Atlantic alliances, the President is attacking our trans-Pacific allies as well.

Evidence appears to clearly established that Russia used many of the same social media efforts it used in the United States in 2016 to interfere in the recent European Parliament elections.

The fight to determine the leader of the Conservative Party, and the next British Prime Minister, is down to two candidates, but there’s one clear favorite.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg laid out his foreign policy platform in a speech this week. It’s certainly an improvement over the current President.

President Trump says that he would not spy on a rival regime like North Korea, once again making one wonder where his loyalties lie.

The tree that President Trump and French President Macron planted last year has died.

Thirty years ago, when the veterans of D-Day were still relatively young and still largely with us, President Reagan delivered one of the finest speeches of his Presidency.

The attorney general hasn’t said a single thing that wasn’t technically true about the Mueller report. But he was dishonest.

A cautious analyst makes a strong claim.

Reports yesterday had former Vice-President Biden entering the Presidential field as early as tomorrow. Those plans appear to be delayed. but an an announcement still appears to be coming.

Some say yes, others no.

US higher education is made up of far more than just the Ivies and other elite schools.

Many are calling for the UK Prime Minister’s ouster. But the problem is Brexit itself, not any one leader.

Predictably, news that the investigation has ended has people on both sides cheering. It’s unwarranted.

Free expression sometimes enables horrible crimes. How does a free society deal with that tension?

It’s that time of year again, and once again people are asking if it isn’t time to drop the whole ritual of changing time every six months altogether.

The first test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon appears to have been an all-around success.

A successful launch for SpaceX and NASA and a successful beginning to the return of American manned spaceflight.

Early tomorrow morning, NASA and SpaceX will be testing a crucial part of America’s return to manned space flight.

And if you don’t know, now you know.

Twenty days after we learned about racist yearbook photos and everything that followed from it, there’s been no action against any of Virginia’s top political leaders. Don’t expect to see it either.

Roger Stone is being ordered to Court after an Instagram post that appears to be a direct threat against the Judge presiding over his criminal case.

The Trump Administration continues to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe, can it ever be repaired?

Theresa May’s Brexit deal suffered the worst defeat in the modern history of the British Parliament, and nobody is sure what happens next.

Yes, there can be real problems with election activities, but that does not excuse POTUS’ lies about fraud.

One hundred years after the end of World War One, the forces that led to it are waking up from a long slumber.

Robert Mueller’s office has referred an apparent effort to bribe women into making allegations against him to the F.B.I.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley says he would not consider a Supreme Court nominee in 2020. But does he really mean it?

While I was originally content to let Brett Kavanaugh sail through to confirmation, I now feel compelled to oppose his nomination to be a Supreme Court Justice.

My last post on this subject for the weekend (I think).

Recent controversies over rules enforcement have some crying Foul!

Donald Trump is a bad, inept, and potentially dangerous President. That doesn’t mean that a ‘soft coup’ inside the White House is the answer to the problem he presents to our democratic republic.

Entertainers work for a living, too.

President Trump is alienating our allies and making friends with dictators, and the world is responding as you might expect they would.

A new study concludes that the total death toll from Hurricane Maria was vastly higher than previously reported.

Andy Bitter has taken a new job but his former employer thinks it owns his social media account.

President Trump and the President of the European Commission announced an agreement late yesterday on trade issues, but it’s long on promises and short on results.

Some additional comparative info (internationally and state-to-state).