Outside the Beltway

This time on Venezuela

Congressman Duncan Hunter Jr’s defense of campaign law violations against him suffered a big setback yesterday when his wife and co-Defendant entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Late last week it appeared as if a 90-year-old veteran of the Korean War would be buried without anyone to say goodbye. Then the word got out, and thousands of people responded.

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

John Walker Lindh, the so-called “American Taliban,” has been released from prison but the war in which he was captured goes merrily along.

President Trump is reportedly planning to pardon several American servicemen convicted of war crimes, an action that would be an insult to everyone who has ever worn an American uniform.

Some 2020 Democratic hopefuls are turning to a surprising source for counsel.

Taiwan has become the first nation in Asia to legally recognize same-sex marriage.

Chelsea Manning, who was being held in jail for refusing to comply with a Grand Jury subpoena, was released yesterday but it’s likely to only be a temporary freedom.

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

Republicans have aborted President Trump’s lofty plan for a $2 trillion infrastructure deal just days after it was conceived.

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 U.S. military will no longer release reports regarding the success, or failure, of the current strategy in Afghanistan.

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

In military justice Bizarroland, Rep Duncan Hunter intentionally commits “reverse UCI.”

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.

Maybe there was a better way to get his point across?

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.

The legendary figure was in charge of strategic forecasting at the Pentagon for decades.

History’s first all-female spacewalk was thwarted by a lack of smaller suits.

US policy is creating nonconstructive confrontation.

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.

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?

Walter Jones, a former supporter of the Iraq War who became one of the most prominent anti-war voices in Congress, has passed away at the age of 76. He will be missed.

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.

The self-appointed Acting President of Venezuela has said he doesn’t rule out the idea of American intervention in his country, but we should rule it out immediately.

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.

More than any recent President, Donald Trump displays a tremendous amount ignorance about the world. Even worse is the fact that he seems proud of it.

President Trump has backed down in his showdown with Speaker Pelosi over the State of the Union Address, but that does nothing to bring us closer to a resolution of the government shutdown.

Pete Buttigieg, the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is the latest entrant into the 2020 race for President. To say is a long-shot is an understatement.

Thoughts on politics and constitutional powers.

With Democrats making a new proposal and the President set to speak later today, there could be movement on ending the government shutdown. I wouldn’t be too optimistic, though.

The efforts by Speaker Pelosi and President Trump to leverage their institutional powers raise interesting questions.

As the government shutdown continues, Washington is coming to resemble a fight between toddlers. Except the toddlers have the excuse of not knowing any better.

President Trump responded to the suggestion that the State of the Union be rescheduled by revoking military transportation for a Congressional trip to visit troops in Afghanistan.

Two years of Republican control of the Legislative and Executive Branches has put us back on a path toward $1 trillion budget deficits.

Herb Kelleher, who helped found an airline that revolutionized the industry thanks to his unconventional choices, has died at the age of 87.

As the shutdown drags on, the President is digging in his heels even further.

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

It is sincerely disturbing that the POTUS has this level of understanding of history and foreign policy.

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.

Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema will end up representing Arizona in the Senate together.

Trump has reportedly told aides that he doesn’t really care about reports of an approaching crisis of the budget deficit and national debt because he’ll be out of office before it becomes a problem.