Outside the Beltway

A massive purge ahead of the long weekend.

Half a century have passed since a botched burglary changed history.

We’re hurting the feelings of those trying to destroy the country.

On the op/ed page of WaPo, the 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense say things that shouldn’t have to be said.

President Trump’s first choice to replace John Kelly as Chief of Staff turned the job down, leading one to wonder why anyone would want the job.

Michelle Obama can’t forgive Donald Trump for his role in spreading the racist birther conspiracy. I can’t say I blame her.

After eight months in office, the pressures on Chief of Staff John Kelly continue to mount under a President who cannot be controlled and whose behavior will not change.

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.

A surprising change at the top of the military’s civilian chain of command.

Fifty years after the Stand in the Schoolhouse door, there’s another standoff with recalcitrant states on civil rights.

Raymond Pritchett longs for the good old days of Tom Donilan, Hillary Clinton, and Leon Panetta.

The Army and Navy are finally doing something about brass bloat.

The sequestration cuts are two months old, and it seems pretty clear that the claims of doom we heard before they went into effect were heavily exaggerated.

Yesterday’s hearings shed more light while also raising yet more questions to which we’ll likely never get a satisfactory answer.

Chuck Hagel has countermanded his predecessor and canceled the Distinguished Warfare Medal.

Targeting terrorist leadership may be counterproductive.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta ordered a lifting of the ban on women in ground combat.