Outside the Beltway

Donald Trump took to Twitter again this morning with predictable results.

A military judge has rejected a motion to dismiss the case against Bowe Bergdahl based on comments made by Donald Trump when he was a candidate for President.

Neither President Obama nor Vice-President Biden will attend Fidel Castro’s funeral.

One of the Cold War era’s last dictators has finally died.

Janet Reno, who served as Attorney General for nearly all of the Bill Clinton Administration, has died at 78.

The sense of national ‘unity’ that existed in the wake of the September 11th attacks didn’t last for very long.

The final major piece of the negotiations between the FARC and the Colombian government appears to be in place.

The Light Flyweight Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

With President Obama becoming the first American President to visit Cuba in 88 years, a new poll finds majority support for his changes in Cuba policy.

Given the stakes headed into the latest version of ‘Super Tuesday,’ last night’s Republican debate was surprisingly subdued.

The eighth Democratic debate raises the question of whether we really need this many debates.

The President has another plan to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It’s as likely to be well-received on Capitol Hill as all of his other previous plans on this issue.

Donald Trump is trolling the depths of the Internet’s conspiracy dungeons once again. This time to raise the largely absurd argument that Marco Rubio may not be eligible to serve as President.

The futility of US policy towards Cuba is obvious to anyone who gives it even a passingly objective assessment.

Another step forward with regard to the American-Cuban relationship.

In response to questions from reporters, Donald Trump suggested that Ted Cruz’s Canadian birth could pose problems for the GOP if Cruz won the party’s nomination.

After more than three decades, the men and women held hostage in Iran for 444 days will receive at least some compensation.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face a Court Martial for the circumstances that led to his being capture and held captive by the Taliban for five years.

After thirty years in Federal Prison, Jonathan Pollard is a free man. Make no mistake, though. Pollard is not, and never has been, a hero and he deserves to be remembered as nothing but the criminal that he is.

Syrian refugees have quickly become political footballs in the United States in the wake of the Paris attacks, and it’s become an exceedingly shameful display of pandering and fearmongering by a group of largely Republican politicians.

President Obama is set to sign a military spending bill that effectively guarantees that his 2008 campaign promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will go unfulfilled.

Ben Carson’s campaign now admits that he fabricated a key portion of his biography.

President Obama came to office inheriting the legacy of one unnecessary war, and another that had faded from memory. He will leave office with Iraq and Syria in crisis, Europe uneasy, Yemen and Libya unstable breeding grounds for terrorism, and China doing whatever it is they’re doing.

Peace between the FARC and the Colombian state appears nigh.

There are mutual embassies in Havana and Washington for the first time in 54 years. It certainly took long enough.

A 1980 debate between Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush shows a different GOP.

For the first time since 1961, there will soon be an American Embassy in Havana, and a Cuban Embassy in Washington. It’s well past time that this happened.

It’s easier for an American citizen to go to Iran or North Korea than it is for them to go to Cuba, That’s insane.

A Federal Appeals Court In Washington has ruled that the military tribunal convictions of one group of Guantanamo Bay detainees was unconstitutional.

In a case that took seven months to decide, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Presidency’s broad authority in foreign affairs, and inserted itself just a little bit in the thorny politics of the Middle East.

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

The Rock, Paper, Schisms Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

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 I Can’t GITMO Satisfaction Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Like nearly all of his fellow Republicans, Jeb Bush has adopted the disastrous foreign policy views that typified his brother’s Presidency.

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

Some thoughts on a column by Roger Noriega on the Obama administration and Latin America,

Many of America’s top law firms have declined to accept cases defending bans on same-sex marriage, and that’s okay.

Marco Rubio is the first Republican in the race who actually has a plausible chance to win the nomination, but it’s not going to be easy.

New polling on President Obama’s opening to Cuba is likely to surprise some, and disappoint others.

Bowe Bergdahl will face charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, and the White House’s narrative about this release lies in tatters.

Just in case there’s any question, yes, Ted Cruz is Constitutionally eligible to serve as President.

A powerful Democratic Senator looks like he’s about to be in a whole lot of trouble.

Pressure is building on the Administration to send military aid to Ukraine, but it would be a very bad idea.

The State Of The Union Address was more of the same, and the same will be true of Washington going forward.