Outside the Beltway

Vladimir Putin seems to be getting a lot of love from cultural conservatives in the United States.

Ron Fournier sees major similarities but ignores key differences.

For a year that seemed to start out so well, 2013 has been among the President’s worst of this five years he’s been in office.

Some 2000 veterans of World War II were lobotomized by the VA. That’s awful but not outrageous.

Thoughts on the precursors to the events of 72 years ago today.

Some good numbers for November in the Jobs report, but questions about the future remain.

Dana Milbank offers a nonsensical reason for denying our youth the freedom to choose their own path.

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

Robert Kagan warns of “a changing world order.” But he’s grasping at rather thin straws.

A top House Republican suggested today that only Governor’s should be President. His argument has both practical and historical merit.

My review of Andrew Bacevich’s latest book, Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country.

Bum Phillips, former head coach of the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints, has died aged 90.

The presence of politicians like Sarah Palin at yesterday’s “Million Veteran March” was not appreciated by the people who organized the protest.

Conservatives gathered on the National Mall today to protest the closure of memorials, but their message seems really intended for Republicans in Congress to not back down.

One of the dumber aspects of the current shutdown repeats itself.

The Defense Department might open for business while the rest of government remains shut down.

The world changed significantly twelve years ago today. Will it ever change back even a little bit?

An odd lawsuit out of France.

Opposing interventionism and unnecessary and unwise military engagements is not isolationism.

Why are chemical weapons a “red line” in a war where so many have been killed?

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

West Point graduates account for nearly one in fifty deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Colonel Bud Day, who earned a Medal of Honor leading Vietnam POWs, had died, aged 88 years.

In response to North Korean saber rattling and the rise of China, Japan is reassessing it’s military posture

Chris Christie waded into the debate going on in the GOP over foreign policy. His comments were less than helpful to say the least.

Military coups used to be far more common than they are today.

The GOP is going to have to come up with a lot more than just age if they end up facing off against Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Rather than asking whether it was “worth it,” the important historical question regarding the Civil War is whether it could have been avoided.

Edward Snowden has likely violated many laws, but, absent additional facts, treason is not one of them.

The infamous VA backlog is finally dwindling. Much of it was a function of good intentions.

As of today, John Dingell has been a Member of Congress for 20,997 days, a new record. That’s not something to celebrate.

Republicans have problems with the younger generation that they will need to fix if they’re going to succeed in the future.

The Federal Budget Deficit appears headed in the right direction, for now.

Homicide rates are on pace to be lower than they were at the start of the 20th Century.

My latest for The National Interest, “Kenneth Waltz’s Crucial Logic,” has posted.

Are civil liberties once again at risk in the wake of the bombing attack in Boston?

Once again, politics is dictating military policy.

The Boston Marathon bomber must be tried in a court of law.

The man who changed the way Americans viewed newspapers, just before newspapers themselves began getting pushed aside by technology, has died at the age of 89.