Outside the Beltway

Is the West’s string of luck about to end?

What will Republicans think of a candidate for President who admitted to smoking marijuana as recently as two years ago?

According to a new Gallup poll, President Obama is not only less popular than George W. Bush, but the only president from the last half century less popular is Dick Nixon.

A crippling, and technologically advanced, computer virus and attacks against Iranian nuclear scientists lead to only one conclusion; someone is doing everything they can short of military action to make sure Iran doesn’t develop nuclear weapons.

The two English language newspapers who have been Julian Assange’s accomplices in disseminating stolen secrets defend themselves.

The diplomatic ramifications of the latest Wikileaks leaks are just starting to emerge and may place some countries in very embarrassing positions.

A new round of Wikileaks documents is out, and it opens the door on diplomatic correspondence previously hidden from the public.

Israelis and Palestinians don’t agree on much these days, but they do agree that Barack Obama hasn’t helped the peace process at all since coming to office.

North Korea has unveiled to the world a new nuclear processing facility that puts back on the table the question of just what we should, or can, do about the fact that a rogue state possesses nuclear weapons and wants to build more.

Is the current media environment a problem for proper political discourse?

New details are out about the upcoming Defense Department report on repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Jonah Goldberg has written a bad column. In this case, an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune headlined “Why is Assange still alive?”

If it’s September, it must be time for Mahmoud Ahmadinjad to stand up before the United Nations General Assembly and say something completely insane.

Ted Koppel thinks our actions since 9/11 have helped Osama bin Laden fulfill his goals. He couldn’t be more wrong.

Will Israel attack Iran ? You’d better hope not.

Should FOX News, which is obviously pro-Republican, have a front row seat in the White House press room? Of course.

Once again, an American President is stepping into the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and, once again, he has no idea how to accomplish the goals he’s established.

Steve Emerson has reportedly found 13 hours of tape of Cordoba Initiative chairman Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and found him to be a “radical extremist cleric who cloaks himself in sheep’s clothing.” Does it matter?

The New York Times is reporting that the Obama Administration has convinced Israel that Iran is much further away from developing nuclear weapons than Tel Aviv fears, but there seems to be something else going on here.

According to John Bolton, Israel has a deadline of August 21st to attack Iran’s nuclear program. This is the fourth deadline he’s set in the last three years.

Ross Douthat’s latest New York Times column demonstrates an appalling misunderstanding of history in the context of immigration.

Bill Kristol and friends are trying to make it politically toxic to criticize Israel.

Mutated bacteria spreading in India could mark the end of effective antibiotic drugs. The medical repercussions would be enormous.

Every new report out of Iran seems to bring us closer to the moment when Israel has decided it’s heard enough. What happens if that day actually happens ?

Some Democrats who support ending the Bush tax cuts for high earners want to exempt their own rich constituents.

Since 9/11 there has been a steady trickle of stories about jihadists hooking up with Latin American drug cartels and the like. Here is a guide of story points that can help you identify when such a story is almost certainly bogus.

Israel and Turkey held secret, informal talks recently. This is interesting, given the recent flotilla incident. What is more interesting is that the Israeli Foreign Minister learned of the event via the press.

Michael Gerson argues that the source of our polarization isn’t the Democrats and the Republicans but the Ugly Party and the Grown-Up Party.

Stanley McChrystal’s fate is the story of the day, but there’s a broader message in the Rolling Stone story, and it has broad implications for the future of the Afghan War.