Outside the Beltway

Patrick Shanahan is out as nominee to be Secretary of Defense after questions were raised during his background investigation.

As we head toward a potential crisis in the Persian Gulf, the consequences of the President’s lies are coming home to roost.

Benjamin Netanyahu named a town that doesn’t exist, and most probably will never exist, after the President of the United States.

A new report in The New York Times raises both national security and Constitutional concerns.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg laid out his foreign policy platform in a speech this week. It’s certainly an improvement over the current President.

This time on Venezuela

While the American media was paying attention to President travels and travails in Europe, there was another meeting taking place.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been indicted on seventeen counts under the Espionage Act arising out of his role in the Chelsea Manning affair.

Patrick Shanahan, who has been serving as Acting Defense Secretary since James Mattis left in December, is being selected to replace Mattis in that position.

While he campaigned on a message of restraint, Donald Trump has largely adopted the interventionist foreign policies of his predecessors.

All three children of the next head of the Army are following in his footsteps.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden is calling for an end to American support for the Saudi war on Yemen.

The Trump Administration’s policies toward Iran aren’t going to work, but that’s because they aren’t supposed to work.

Sunday’s attacks in Sri Lanka make it clear that the claim that ISIS has been defeated are nowhere close to being true.

ISIS is claiming responsibility for Sunday’s attacks in Sri Lanka, a strong sign that the claims by the Trump Administration that it had largely defeated the group were not true.

Pledges from wealthy men to help rebuild Notre Dame cathedral after a devastating fire is generating backlash.

President Trump has not surprisingly vetoed a Congressional resolution to limit American support for the Saudi war on Yemen. His defense for doing so is utterly absurd.

Steve King, who has recently come under attack for a long history of racist remarks, is facing a strong challenge for the GOP nomination in 2020.

Democrats in South Carolina seem to think they have a shot at beating Lindsey Graham in 2020. I wouldn’t be so sure of that.

The office has been vacant for 81 days. President Trump has yet to nominate a replacement.

The key remains the military.

After two years of spitting in their faces, President Trump is finding it hard to get America’s European allies to come to his aid.

Rather than pulling completely out of Syria the United States will be leaving behind a token force of about 200 troops. This is a mistake.

Steve King isn’t backing down from his history of white supremacy and racism. And he’s also running for re-election.

Following Donald Trump’s lead, the GOP is making clear that its game plan for 2020 is paint all Democrats as ‘socialists, baby killers, and anti-Semites.’

The Trump Administration continues to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe, can it ever be repaired?

In a rare display of assertiveness in the foreign policy arena, the House voted yesterday to bar U.S. assistance in Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war on Yemen.

Lyndon LaRouche, an eight-time Presidential candidate who ran a cult-like organization that spread bizarre conspiracy theories, has died at 96.

The arguments against withdrawing American forces from Afghanistan are becoming weaker and weaker.

In his business career Donald Trump relied largely on fear and intimidation to get his way on business deals. As President, he’s finding that nobody is afraid of him.

The President’s second State of the Union began and ended with calls for unity. In between, it was filled with the divisive partisanship that has marked his Presidency.

Lindsey Graham is telling his fellow Republicans that they better back the President if he decides to declare a national emergency to get funding for his border wall.

The House GOP has moved to rebuke Iowa Congressman for his racist remarks. What took them so long?

Iowa’s Steve King has long expressed anti-immigrant and racist views, now he’s asking why that’s a bad thing.

In a move that is likely to have political and international consequences, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has officially severed ties with Moscow.

Former Senator and Denocratic Presidential candidate Jim Webb is reportedly being considered for Defense Secretary.

Christmas is behind us, but don’t expect any progress when it comes to the government shutdown, which is in its fifth day.

President Trump announced today that James Mattis would be out as Secretary of Defense by the end of the year.

President Trump has lost another one of his top advisers on the fight against ISIS.

President Trump is now apparently on the warpath against the Federal Reserve Board Chairman he appointed only a year ago.

The Pentagon is being ordered to draw up plans to withdraw roughly one-half of the American forces remaining in Afghanistan. It’s about time.

In what clearly appears to be a rebuke of the President, Defense Secretary James Mattis is retiring as Secretary of Defense.

The Trump Administration is reportedly preparing to withdraw the small contingent of American troops from Syria. If it actually happens, this would be a good move.

American troops have been in Afghanistan for seventeen years now, it’s time to bring them all home.

In what has to qualify as one of the most horrifying displays of moral depravity on the international stage, the Trump Administration is saying it doesn’t really care if the Saudi Crown Prince is a murderer or not.

A filing in an unrelated case has apparently revealed the existence of a sealed indictment against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

President Trump recently blamed former President Obama for “losing” Crimea. It was never ours to lose.

As the midterm campaign draws to a close, Donald Trump is returning to the message of xenophobia and fear that dominated his Presidential campaign.

President Trump wants to send more troops than we have in Syria and Iraq combined to the border to deal with a non-existent threat.

Angela Merkel announced yesterday that she would step aside as Chancellor at the end of her current term. What that means for the short and long term future of Germany and Europe is unclear.