Outside the Beltway

In the wake of the attacks in Paris, some people have argued that American solidarity with France, in contrast to seeming disregard for tragedy elsewhere, is something we should feel bad about. That argument is ridiculous.

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

A new poll shows Bernie Sanders ahead of Hillary Clinton, but within the margin of error, in New Hampshire. But a deeper examination suggests that Bernie-mentum is a mile wide and an inch deep.

Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us.

Texas has joined with 16 other states in a lawsuit against the Obama Administration over the President’s executive action on immigration. At first glance, it doesn’t appear to have much legal merit.

Black Friday chaos has crossed the pond.

Remember the border crisis? Yea, it’s not much of a crisis these days.

Dan Froomkin says Obama is as bad as Bush, if not worse.

Cowardice, or politically prudent?

Once again, the Tea Party has gotten the best of House GOP Leadership.

Rick Perry is sending 1,000 members of the Texas National Guard to the border to do nothing.

Iraq continues to fall apart.

Congressional elections have become “nationalized” to a far greater extent than they have ever been.

Iraq is falling apart for reasons that have nothing to do with President Obama or his policies.

The President’s second speech to the Corps of Cadets is a vast improvement over the first.

Once again, President Obama’s attempt to communicate a foreign policy vision falls short.

Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century is making quite a splash.

A new book by former SecDef Robert Gates is making political waves in Washington power circles, but will it matter to ordinary Americans?

Same-sex marriage remains the law of the land in one of the most conservative states in the nation, at least unless the Supreme Court says otherwise.

Sequestration is even dumber than we thought.

Jerry Brown’s second go-round as governor has been very, very good to the Golden State.

There seem to be some signs that defense hawks in the GOP are concerned about Rand Paul’s growing popularity in the party.

There seems to be an effort underway to reassess the legacy of our 43rd President.

Apparently, today’s youth no longer know how to have good sex on account of they’re having too much sex.

Second thoughts about the Iraq War

Chuck Hagel will be confirmed, but the campaign against him tells us much about the current state of Republican foreign policy

Prince Charles has been waiting for his mom to die for a very long time.

The scandal now surrounding David Petraeus should lead people to reassess his past record.

Another mostly disappointing report on the state of the economy.

First in a series of posts looking at the substance of the final presidential debate, ostensibly about foreign policy.

Slowly but surely, we’re giving up on Afghanistan.

The Afghan Surge announced by President Obama in December 2009 is over. By any objective measurement, it was a failure.

To much fanfare, President Obama announced a shift in Afghan War policy in December 2009. There’s little evidence it’s worked.

We’ve reached a point where our wonder at modern technology fades almost instantaneously and is replaced by annoyance that our technology isn’t better

Jennifer Rubin accuses Colin Powell of political opportunism for hedging on whether to renew his endorsement of Barack Obama.

Is there a Romney Doctrine?

The cause of the pain you’re feeling at the pump has little to do with domestic energy policy.

Mitt Romney seems poised for victory in Florida.

A new Iowa polls shows Rick Santorum gaining support. Or does it?

For years, analysts have worried that Iraq’s tenuous hold on stability would collapse upon the withdrawal of US forces. We’re now watching it happen.