Outside the Beltway

Don’t believe everything you read in the papers.

Many provisions of the Patriot Act lapsed at midnight, but apparently the world hasn’t ended.

The Senate returns tomorrow to try to pass an extension of the PATRIOT Act before it expires, but it may not be able to do so.

Another step forward toward ending a U.S. policy regarding Cuba that was outdated twenty years ago.

A woman discharged from the Marine Corps for violating multiple direct orders is fighting to the highest military court.

Rand Paul is out with one of his more forceful attacks on Republican hawks to date.

Several of the top representatives of soccer’s governing body have been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in New York.

Some unusually blunt, but true, language from the U.S. Secretary Of Defense.

The first batch of email from Hillary Clinton regarding the 2012 attack in Benghazi have been released, and they don’t reveal anything we didn’t already know.

The Senate went home last night without passing a bill to renew the PATRIOT Act, which expires at the end of the month.

Who knew terrorists had an H.R. Department?

Rand Paul held the Senate floor for nearly twelve hours yesterday to talk about the PATRIOT Act, but it’s unclear if he accomplished anything.

Hillary Clinton has admitted she made a mistake in supporting the Iraq War in 2002, but there are plenty of other questions she needs to answer when it comes to foreign interventions.

Marco Rubio is the latest Republican Presidential candidate to have a problem giving a coherent answer to a few simple questions about the Iraq War.

President Obama is taking steps to reduce police militarization, but there’s much more that needs to be done.

Lindsey Graham says that, if elected president, he would summarily kill anyone thinking about joining ISIS.

Final justice, but far from the end of the road.

Fresh off an election victory, British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to propose a series of new measures to crackdown on extremism that raise serious civil liberties concerns.

The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has seen better days.

The House has passed a bill that would place real restrictions on the National Security Agency’s data mining program. Now, it moves to the Senate.

Iraq seems to becoming a political headache for yet another member of the Bush family.

Ray Mabus is trying to make serving in the Navy and Marine Corps more attractive to women.

Seymour Hersh is out with a conspiracy theory about the death of Osama bin Laden that just doesn’t make sense.

Not surprisingly, the House Committee re-investigating the Benghazi attack seems more concerned with scoring political points than fact-finding.

Like most Republicans, Jeb Bush either fails or refuses to recognize what an utter, unjustifiable disaster his brother’s decision to invade Iraq actually was.

Director of National Intelligence now tells Congress that he testified falsely about NSA spying because he forgot the program existed.

The tributes to the troops you see during N.F.L. games were most likely bought and paid for with your tax dollars.

A Judge in New Jersey has ruled that the twin children of a New Jersey woman were in fact fathered by two different men.

Jeb Bush told a group of supporters that his brother is his top Middle East policy adviser. This strikes me as being a bad idea.

Largely in reaction to revelations about N,S.A. surveillance, Germany has cut back on its intelligence cooperation with the United States.

A Federal Appeals Court has ruled that the N.S.A.’s data mining program is illegal, but its ruling may not have a very big impact.

Two men were killed last night before they could carry out what appears to be a planned attack on an anti-Islam event in Texas.

Rand Paul bucks Republican orthodoxy on Iraq, Libya, and negotiations with Iran.

U.S forces in Afghanistan have been involved in missions that go far beyond the counterterror mission the Obama Administration said they would be limited to.

Congress can’t really do anything to stop a nuclear deal with Iran, and John Boehner knows it.

Pot, meet kettle.

Marco Rubio is often described as one of the GOP’s leaders on foreign policy, but a close look reveals a decided lack of substance.

The former CIA Director received no jail time and a nuisance-level fine in exchange for a guilty plea to espionage charges.

An attack on al Qaeda outposts in January resulted in the death of two hostages, but also resulted in the death of two high value al Qaeda targets.

Chinese analysts are telling their American counterparts that North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is far more sophisticated than previously believed.

A new report ties undisclosed donations to the Clinton Foundation to a Russian company’s acquisition of controlling interest in a major uranium mining company.

Not surprisingly, the Select Committee established by House Republicans to investigate something that has already been investigated multiple times, will be in operation well into the Presidential Election season.

Another step forward for U.S.-Cuban relations.

After months of resistance, the White House will allow Congressional review of any deal with Iran, but it may not hamper negotiations much in the end.

Conditioning an Iranian nuclear deal on recognition of Israel is foolish, unrealistic, and very bad diplomacy.

Fox News’ Catherine Herridge is creating a scandal where none exists.

One freshman Senator seems to think that war with Iran would be easy, just like Republicans used to think that war against Iraq would be easy.