Outside the Beltway

Michele Bachmann raised more money in the First Quarter of 2011 than any other Republican. Which means that she’ll have to be taken seriously if she decides to run for President.

Politicians in office have a nasty habit of behaving completely differently than they promise on the campaign trail.

President Obama has pledged no slaughter and no ground troops for Libya. He may well be forced to pick one.

Like all Presidents before him, Barack Obama is asserting the right to virtually unfettered discretion when it comes to military matters.

The U.S. seems to be on the verge of changing war strategies in Libya, even as it becomes clear that these rebels aren’t necessarily our friends.

The President’s winter polling bounce is gone, and he’s looking vulnerable again.

The “Obama Doctrine,” such as it is, seems to boil down to moral self-certainty combined with a glaring ignorance of reality. That’s a dangerous combination.

One week in to Operation Odyssey Down, public opinion is, to put it as nicely as possibly, ambivalent.

Donald Trump, who may or may not be running for President, is continuing his strange obsession with the birther myth, and reminding Republicans that two years of silence in the face of lunacy may come back to bite them.

I remain doubtful.

President Obama’s grand coalition against Libya is a lot less than meets the eye.

The Libyan rebels probably aren’t strong enough to defeat Gaddafi on their own, and the no-fly zone isn’t going to be enough either. Which means this operation is going to be far more extensive than President Obama is willing to admit publicly.

The public, and Congress, are skeptical of the mission in Libya, and the reason for that is because the President has failed to tell us exactly why we’re there and what we’ll be doing.

It has become quite apparent that neither the White House nor our coalition partners have any idea what the path to an endgame in Libya even looks like. That’s not good.

Operation Odyssey Dawn has resurrected the eternal battle over what limits there are, and should be, on the President’s ability to use military force without Congressional authorization.

The antiwar movement has been strangely silent despite the fact that U.S. foreign policy hasn’t really changed that much since Barack Obama became President.

Obama is visiting Brazil and Chile while American fighting men join the coalition against Libya.

U.S. officials are making clear that the current mission in Libya may not lead to the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule. If that’s the case, then why are we there in the first place?

Earth’s moon will seem bigger Saturday night than it has since 1993. It’ll still be the same size as usual, however.

Did President Obama pull off a diplomatic masterstroke? Or is he muddling through?

The Obama Administration is asking the U.N. Security Council to authorize direct military intervention in Libya. The question is, why now?

There’s still time for Sarah Palin to burnish her political reputation. But she probably won’t.

Public support for the war in Afghanistan continues to plummet, but will that hurt the President when 2012 rolls around?