Outside the Beltway

The new President of the National Rifle Association has a new theory to explain mass shootings, but there’s no basis for believing it’s accurate.

The Leader of the Free World is, sadly, enabling atrocities.

Celebrations and a deadly day in the Middle East.

President Trump’s decision to violate the terms of the nuclear deal with Iran could be a turning point in relations between the United States and its most important allies, and not in a good way.

As expected, President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the nuclear deal with Iran. There was no rational basis for doing so.

The new Secretary of State is an improvement over the worst Secretary of State in history.

Israeli Prime Minister gave a speech yesterday designed to undermine the nuclear deal with Iran. The evidence was unconvincing, but the speech was really only aimed at an audience of one.

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in the challenge to President Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban. It didn’t appear to go well for the challengers.

A Federal Judge has struck down the revised version of the ban on transgender members of the military from serving openly, and the ruling has significance that goes well beyond the issue at hand.

The United States has several options in Syria. None of them are good and one of them would be disastrous.

A response to one of the most deadly chemical attacks in the Syrian civil war has come, probably from Israel. What’s next?

Argumentation without the intent to persuade is masturbation, not journalism.

The Atlantic fired one of their few conservative voices for saying women who have abortions should be hanged. Was this beyond the pale?

President Trump seems intent on walking away from the nuclear deal with Iran. If he does, he’ll be handing a gift to Iran and harming American national interests significantly.

In selecting John Bolton as his National Security Adviser, Donald Trump has signaled to the world that he’s likely to take action that will only serve to make the world a more dangerous place.

The President’s new attempt to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military is as legally defective as the original ban was.

The President issued an incredibly confusing order that contradicts the advice of his generals and is probably illegal.

From Europe to the Middle East, to Asia, America’s allies are concerned about what the selection of John Bolton as National Security Adviser means going forward. They should be, and so should every American.

Americans actings as agents for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been working hard to manipulate the President.

Nine years later, at least one member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee is admitting what seemed at the time a rather obvious fact.

Two seemingly contradictory essays out today highlight the exhausting political conversation environment.

The circumstantial case for corruption by Kushner is growing.

John Bolton is leading a cry for preemptive war against North Korea.

This is very much why the security clearance process requires so much financial disclosure.

The Defense Department will reportedly recommend to President Trump that transgender members of the service currently serving in the military be allowed to continue serving.

If a law enforcement officer with 30 years of experience can’t stop an active school shooter, what makes anyone think a teacher with a gun can?

National Security Adviser H.L. McMaster is the latest person rumored to be considering moving on from the Trump Administration.

Billy Graham was the son of a North Carolina farmer who grew up to become a counselor to Presidents, Prime Ministers, and even a Queen.

President Trump’s tweets, other public statements, and actions are causing world leaders to doubt the reliability of the United States on the world stage.

Donald Trump is now claiming that he had never denied that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. This is, of course, not true.

Israeli police have recommended that charges be brought against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Whether that damages him politically remains to be seen.

Why does the U.S. continue to pursue the seemingly impossible goal of denuclearization with regard to North Korea? In part, it’s because we’re still locked into thirty-year-old rhetoric.

Women voters are turning decidedly against Donald Trump, this could pose problems for Republican in 2018 and beyond.

More than a year into the Trump Presidency, dozens of White House personnel lack proper security clearances.

A Federal Judge In Kansas has blocked enforcement of a state law barring anyone who does business with the state from engaging in a boycott of Israel.

Poland’s President has signed a controversial bill that purports to criminalize any effort to tie Poland to the Holocaust.

In the United States, in contrast, the judgment citizens hold of the media, along increasingly with everything else, turns on one’s identification with a political tribe. 

Will Joe Arpaio cause the GOP to lose an otherwise winnable Senate race?

When it comes to foreign policy, Donald Trump has no over-arching philosophy and little knowledge, so don’t expect anything approaching a coherent doctrine from his Administration.

The Trump Administration has acted in a manner to create the impression that there is “no daylight” between the United States and Israel. This is a myth, and pursuing such a goal poses real dangers for America’s national interests.

The Polish Government appears ready to approve a law that seeks to whitewash the truth about the role that many Poles played in the Holocaust.

President Trump has alienated America’s allies and friends, and they are acting accordingly.

Americans were once largely united in their opinions about Israel and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. That’s not the case anymore.

Just over one year after President Trump’s foolish and ill-informed decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Canada has stepped in to rescue the deal.

Thanks to Donald Trump, public opinion around the world about the United States is at its lowest level in ten years.

Anti-government protests are spreading in Iran.

Donald Trump’s foreign policy has been erratic, illogical, and demonstrated a clear disdain for diplomacy.

Transgender Americans will be able to enlist in the military beginning January 1st thanks to a ruling from a Federal District Court Judge.

Donald Trump’s Jerusalem decision reveals yet again that he is an appallingly bad deal maker.

A foolish, and potentially dangerous, decision by President Trump.