Outside the Beltway

For better or worse, Marion Barry was a fixture in D.C. politics for much of the 40 year period of home rule that began in 1975.

A Presidential candidate’s health and fitness for office are legitimate issues. When it comes to bringing up Hillary Clinton’s age in the context of 2016,, though, Republicans need to proceed with caution.

The U.S. embargo of Cuba, and our lack of diplomatic recognition of the government in Havana, is an outdated relic of the Cold War. It’s time to end it.

The Khorasan Group is, functionally, al Qaeda. Or is it?

Former Reagan speechwriter and gun control activist Jim Brady’s death has been ruled a homicide. No, there was no foul play involved—at least not recently.

Could John Hinckley, Jr. face murder charges 30 years after his attempted assassination of President Reagan?

What the West does in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine is largely up to Europe, not the United States.

History matters.

Rather than being a bad thing, negative campaigning is an essential part of our political system.

The news media of 1914 didn’t see World War One coming, but it’s not clear that we’re any better.

A century later, the shots fired in Sarajevo 100 years ago still echo.

Does encouraging binge watching make sense for Netflix?

Trying to make some sense out of a week of outrage.

For the fourth time in 30 years, an American President spoke at Normandy to honor a day of sacrifice and triumph.

Using a chemical to commit a purely domestic crime doesn’t make you an international criminal, the Supreme Court correctly decided today.

Could the upcoming House Select Committee on Benghazi actually accomplish something useful?

Blaming Obama for the security bubble he travels in is, in the end, a pretty dumb argument.

President Obama’s new rules for killing Americans with drones are proving inconvenient.

In case you needed a further reason to dismiss Jerome Corsi (and some general thoughts on what Corsi represents).

Conservatives have their own Kennedy myth to compete with the myth of Camelot.

Don’t blame Dallas, or 60s era Texas conservatism, for what happened in Dallas 50 years ago,

Was Arafat poisoned? A new report raises some questions, but answers none of them conclusively.

Eleanor Clift reflects on her “final issue after 50 years at Newsweek.”

Score one for Team Bush?

The Sacramento Bee has released this remarkable video of President Gerald Ford testifying about the assassination attempt by Lynnette “Squeaky” Fromme.

A Federal Judge wasn’t very pleased when Administration lawyers told her that she doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit over the President’s drone policy.

Ostensible allies in the fight against the Assad regime, al Qaeda and the Free Syrian Army are killing each other.

The events of the last week in Egypt raise a whole host of questions.

Bill McClellan calls for ending military funeral honors for most veterans.

One in eight Americans support drone strikes against Americans on American soil.

The Obama White House is not ruling out targeted strikes against Americans inside American territory.

“Killing Americans,” my latest for The National Interest, has posted.

The Obama Administration has given us a peek at its legal arguments for targeted killings and they are troubling to say the least.

Two years ago, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others were killed in a plane crash in Russia. A new report has “traces of explosives” in the debris.

Equating opposition to the President with racism is absurd.

If you thought the War On Terror might be over, think again.