Does U. S. Support for NATO Serve a Strategic Purpose?

Does NATO membership serve a strategic purpose?

Maliki: U. S. Exit Not Subject to Extension or Alteration

Iraq’s PM re-affirms Iraq’s commitment to the U. S. withdrawal date in the Status of Forces Agreement.

Most Admired Man and Woman 2010

President Obama and Hillary Clinton top Gallup’s lists of Most Admired Americans.

International Sitrep

A capsule look at the world situation as 2010 draws to a close.

Afghanistan Still America’s Forgotten War

Unless you paid close attention, you probably missed most of the coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2010.

Treason And The Wikileaks Case

There’s been much talk recently about treason charges in the Wikileaks case, an most of it has been entirely wrong.

Why Were Republicans Silent During The Bush Years?

Republicans were largely silent during the Bush Administration as spending went out of control. Will they do that again?

Libraries Removing Books: It’s A Good Thing

Gustavus Adolphus College librarian Barbara Fister explains why she loves getting rid of books.

Gary Johnson: Yea, I Inhaled. Two Years Ago, Actually.

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

How Do You Define “Vital”?

The latest Wikileaks leak is a list of foreign infrastructure sites deemed vital to U. S. security.

Hollywood Lies About Plame

The editors of the Washington Post want you to know that “Fair Game,” the new movie about the Valerie Plame affair, is “Hollywood myth making.” Propaganda and lies is more like it.

Wikileaks Releases Diplomatic Cables, Revealing International Secrets

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

The GOP Dilemma: Tea Party Not Representative Of America As A Whole

According to a new poll, the Tea Party movement, which is largely now the base of the GOP, is not completely in step with the views of American voters as a whole.

Obama Seen As Biggest Impediment To Middle East Peace

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.

Liberty and False Comparisons

It’s not hypocritical or racist to support an aggressive pursuit of terrorists while getting outraged over abuses of Americans’ liberties.

Republicans Against The Military

Conservative Republicans who are typically deferential to the military are ignoring the advice of the military leadership on the new START Treaty.

Congratulations, Greece (Updated)

Terrorism risk assessment: Russia at “Extreme Risk”, Greece at “High Risk”, U. S. at “Medium Risk”, Canada and Germany at “Low Risk”.

Outrage and Opt-Outs will not Sway the TSA

So will there be an efficacious backlash against TSA policies? I am guessing no.

Will The Class Of 2010 Repeat The Mistakes Of 1994?

The incoming freshman of the 112th Congress say that they won’t repeat the mistakes that Republicans made when they gained power sixteen years ago, but some of the advice they’re getting virtually guarantees it will happen if they aren’t careful.

How Would I Solve the Deficit

Here’s my plan for creating a budget surplus of $126 billion by 2015 and $592 billion by 2030.

Partisanship, Segmentation and the Mass Media

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

Afghan President: U.S. Should Reduce Military Presence

Hamid Karazi says that the United States needs to reduce it’s military presence in his country. Perhaps we should listen to him.

Bush’s Apologia Should Not Be Accepted

Former Congressman Bob Barr argues that the right should not be so eager to rehabilitate George W. Bush. He’s right.

A Comparative Fact Regarding the Death Penalty that Gives One Pause

Of the five countries that use the death penalty the most, only one is a democracy.

What If Hillary Were President?

Dana Milbank asks, “Would we be better off under a President Hillary Clinton?” His affirmative answer isn’t very convincing.

Gary Johnson: 2012’s Ron Paul

He’s the darkest of dark horses right now, but Gary Johnson stands as the heir apparent to Ron Paul’s surprisingly energetic 2008 run for the GOP nomination.

Bush Considered Replacing Cheney As VP Before 2004 Election

George W. Bush’s new memoir reveals that he briefly considered replaced Dick Cheney as Vice-President before the 2004 elections. His decision not to do so reveals much about the relationship between Presidents and Vice-Presidents in modern American politics.

Tea Party = Racism?

Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson takes a look at the Tea Party movement and claims to find racism.

No Permanent Victories in American Politics

Pundits and partisans constantly overreact to the momentary mood expressed in a single election. The Republicans have already rebounded from 2008. The Democrats will recover from 2010.

Jonah Goldberg: Why Isn’t Julian Assange Dead?

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

Pentagon Fighting WikiLeaks with Technology

The Pentagon is looking at a system that would flag suspicious access to data, similar to the alerts by credit cards companies designed to prevent fraudulent charges.

Iraq War Not Fun

Michigan Iraq War veteran gets NOT FUN vanity plate.

Wikileaks Releases Treasure Trove Of Iraq War Documents

In what is being described as the largest leak of secret documents in U.S. history, Wikileaks has made public more than 400,000 documents related to the seven year long Iraq War.

What Is The Tea Party Foreign Policy?

The Tea Party movement doesn’t seem to have a coherent view on foreign policy. Which means that a Tea Party victory will just mean more of the same Republican neo-conservatism.

War: The Missing Campaign Issue

Tom Brokaw notices something peculiar about the campaign debates: Nobody’s talking about Iraq or Afghanistan.

Justice Alito Won’t Attend Next State Of The Union

Justice Alito said recently he won’t be attending the next State of the Union address. Sounds like a good idea to me.

The Year of the (Odd) Candidate

Politicians are, by definition, a bit abnormal. However, this year we seem to have more than our fair share of the truly odd.

Jim Jones Steps Down; Tom Donilon New NSA

General Jim Jones is stepping down as National Security Advisor.

VFW Endorses Non-Vet Over Allen West, Retired LTC

The Veterans of Foreign Wars has endorsed Ron Klein, who never served a day in uniform, over retired LTC Allen West, a decorated veteran of several foreign wars. Is this an outrage?

Caption Contest Winners

The Castle Arrghhh OTB Caption ContestTM is now over.

Soldiers: Not Poor, Stupid Hicks

Yet another study shows what any of us who’ve ever spent any time around soldiers already knew: Our Army is not comprised of stupid people who couldn’t find a decent job.

The Supreme Court Takes Up The Westboro Baptist Church Protestors

The Supreme Court yesterday heard oral argument in a case where being on the right side means supporting some vile people, but that’s what the First Amendment is all about.

Caption Contest

Time for the Monday OTB Caption ContestTM