Outside the Beltway

Open mouth, insert foot.

Not only does the headline-making rancher have unique views on the nature of both grazing fees and the federal government, he has some positively retro (to use a kind word) views on race.

Could economic chaos bring Egyptians back out into the streets?

Voter ID supporters are pointing to a report from the North Carolina Board of Elections as proof of ongoing Voter Fraud. But, while long on facts, the report has yet to reach any such conclusions.

Middle East peace talks are apparently in such bad shape that the U.S. is thinking of releasing Jonathan Pollard as an incentive to Israel.

Nora Caplan-Bricker contends that, “Mike Huckabee Could Be President—If Only He Wanted It.”

Barack Obama is no Jimmy Carter.

The President’s sixth State Of The Union Address was fairly low-key.

After eight years in a coma, Ariel Sharon has passed away.

Dave Weigel has identified “The funniest part of Robert Gates’ very serious new memoir.”

The IDF has finally put a woman in command of a battalion. They’re decades behind American forces.

While I concur with the “intent, justice, legality, and morality” of the decision, I nonetheless oppose it.

Newly disclosed details about the US role in Colombia.

No previously published works have entered the US Public Domain since 1978. And none are scheduled to enter until 1923. So what are we missing?

The Fox News Channel created “War On Christmas” officially entered the absurd zone last week.

There are many choices in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program there are many choices, but some are better than others.

The opponents of the temporary deal reached in Geneva have been making some ridiculous historical analogies.

Some Members of Congress are talking about pushing a bill imposing new sanction on Iran despite the deal reached in Geneva yesterday.

We spend more per capita than any other country in the world and yet we are outperformed on a key metric, life expectancy, by a large number of countries

Small steps from both sides in the Iranian nuclear negotiations, but too early to say that we’ve reached a solution.

Thanks largely to France, this weekend’s efforts to reach an interim deal on Iran’s nuclear program fell apart.

Signs of some progress in the talks over Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Was Arafat poisoned? A new report raises some questions, but answers none of them conclusively.

Relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia seem to have soured in recent years.

The U.S. sends a mostly weak signal to the Egyptian military.

President Obama spoke with Iranian President Rouhani today, the first such contact between the nations in 34 years.

:Like his predecessors, President Obama’s speech last night exaggerated the threat that Syria poses in order to sell his plan to American voters.

President Obama’s plans in Syria are as unclear as they were before he spoke last night.

I’ve been up since 3 am and drinking since 6 pm, so my reaction to a presidential war speech at 9 am may not be the definitive word

Bombing Country B to “send a message” to Country A is not a valid argument for bombing Country B.

The president’s public dithering on Syria is drawing jeers from friend and foe alike.

Some questions that the Administration needs to answer before attacking Syria.

Persuasion is sometimes an important part of being president.

In both Egypt and Syria, it’s damned if we do and damned if we don’t.

Walter Russell Mead explains why a well intentioned, carefully crafted and consistently pursued grand strategy failed.

Andrew Bacevich argues, persuasively, that “absence of leverage does not preclude options” with respect to Egypt.

Does interest in Egypt make the same sense it did 30 years ago?

The architect of President Obama’s re-election campaign is going to work for the Tories.

Al Qaeda may be up to something, so take no chances.

Not surprisingly, the United States is not going to place aid to Egypt’s military in legal jeopardy by calling this month’s events a coup.

Lindsey Graham is playing cynical political games with a dangerous part of the world.

Last month, a retired Navy SEAL came out as transgender. Those still in uniform, however, must serve in silence.