Outside the Beltway

John Kasich wants the United States Government to create an agency to spread ‘so-called ‘Judeo-Christian values.’

To a large degree, the narrative you believe will govern the 2016 elections depend on which party you want to see win. But what’s the most likely outcome?

Much more so than in the past, the race for the Republican Presidential race has become a battle to define what it means to be a ‘conservative.’ Especially on issues like immigration and national security, one side seems to be winning the battle.

A new Gallup poll shows public approval of Congress once again approaching historic lows, but it means far less than anyone thinks.

Republicans haven’t really moved beyond the legacy of George W. Bush’s failed Administration as much as they’d like to think, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting them very much.

President Obama has apparently come to the same realization as many of his predecessors, that trying to craft a legacy by single-handedly bring about “Middle East Peace” is largely a waste of time.

In a new book, former President George H.W. Bush is highly critical of two of his son’s closest advisers in the White House.

President Obama came to office inheriting the legacy of one unnecessary war, and another that had faded from memory. He will leave office with Iraq and Syria in crisis, Europe uneasy, Yemen and Libya unstable breeding grounds for terrorism, and China doing whatever it is they’re doing.

A man with one of the more unique political and personal resumes in recent memory has passed away.

With the exception of Rand Paul, the foreign policy discussion at last night’s debate was about as bad as you’d expect.

Even if Donald Trump isn’t the Republican nominee in 2016, he could still end up causing real harm to the party’s chances of winning the White House and holding on to the Senate.

To lose something one has to have it in the first place. (It is pretty basic logic).

Like many Republicans, Jeb Bush continues to be willfully blind to the truth about the Iraq War.

Any discussion of the Iran deal has to be about realistic alternatives, not fantasies.

Was this simply ordinary intelligence collection? Or something more insidious?

Starting tomorrow, we can expect to see the Supreme Court hand down decisions in some of its most high profile cases. Here’s a preview.

Rand Paul is out with one of his more forceful attacks on Republican hawks to date.

Marco Rubio is the latest Republican Presidential candidate to have a problem giving a coherent answer to a few simple questions about the Iraq War.

Iraq seems to becoming a political headache for yet another member of the Bush family.

Seymour Hersh is out with a conspiracy theory about the death of Osama bin Laden that just doesn’t make sense.

Like most Republicans, Jeb Bush either fails or refuses to recognize what an utter, unjustifiable disaster his brother’s decision to invade Iraq actually was.

Rand Paul bucks Republican orthodoxy on Iraq, Libya, and negotiations with Iran.

Pot, meet kettle.

A series of mini-scandals point to the conflicts of interest around the Clintons.

Five years after it became law, the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act appears to be over.

Like nearly all of his fellow Republicans, Jeb Bush has adopted the disastrous foreign policy views that typified his brother’s Presidency.

Some thoughts on a column by Roger Noriega on the Obama administration and Latin America,

Unlike most world leaders, Pope Francis is wiling to call a genocide a genocide.

One freshman Senator seems to think that war with Iran would be easy, just like Republicans used to think that war against Iraq would be easy.

President George W. Bush had a running battle with the CIA throughout his eight years in office. Now, they’ve given him an award.

Do we really want to put another first-term Senator with no executive experience in the Oval Office? Because beyond the mere legal requirements, it does not appear that Ted Cruz is qualified to be President.

Hillary Clinton’s use of email while Secretary of State pretty much violated every Federal law and regulation on the issue.

The costs of more than a decade of war are far higher than many ever thought, and we’re still paying the price for the fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush Administration while they were being fought.

Vice-President Cheney’s amoral defense of torture has come to define how most conservatives view the issue, and that’s a problem.

Rick Perry is sounding for all the world like a candidate for President, and says he’s a different candidate this time, but initial perceptions are hard to overcome.

What now?

A dark and regrettable time in American history is finally seeing the light of day.

The GOP Senate Caucus seems to be split on whether or not to reinstate the filibuster for Presidential and Judicial appointments.

The shocking has become routine. We’re no safer because of it.

The Office of Legal Counsel told the president Wednesday he couldn’t do what he did on Thursday.

On substance, the President’s immigration actions aren’t very objectionable. How he is implementing them, though, is problematic and seems needlessly confrontational.

If the President now believes he can act unilaterally on immigration reform, why did he spend the last five years saying that he couldn’t?

Another round of election losses is leading Democrats to contemplate the direction they should take going forward.

Not unexpectedly, the Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging the Constitutionality of the Senate filibuster.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul continues to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy, and that’s a good thing.

A new report from the New York Times confirms the adage that, in war, the first casualty is the truth.

The Turks have entered the conflict in Syria. Unfortunately for the United States, it’s not on the side we would prefer.

If the GOP wins the Senate in November, their majority could prove to be fleeting.