Outside the Beltway

Going after Hillary Clinton by attacking her husband won’t work.

Some perspective from Sochi.

On rare instances in Washington, reporters do their job and ask tough questions of political leaders. Rarer still, the leaders give good answers.

In a stunning reversal of policy, DOD is allowing soldiers to march in a gay pride parade in uniform.

A legal dispute exposes an open wound.

The popular notion that the United States military is monolithically Republican is mistaken.

“Democratic” pollsters Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen argue that President Obama should decline to run for re-election.

There’s no consensus for European-style social democracy or a Randian libertarian paradise.

Stephen Hill, a US soldier serving in Iraq, was booed by some members of the audience at last night’s Republican debate.

The DON’T PANIC Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

A legendary American soldier, General John Shalikashvili, has died.

Not surprisingly, having ordered a successful mission to kill Osama bin Laden is being highlighted on President Obama’s re-election tour.

Whenever I despair at the current state of the Republican Party, I remind myself that things aren’t much better across the aisle.

Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown was a Tea Party darling when he picked up Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat last year, but he’s not embracing the movement as he prepares to run for re-election next year.

The social conservatives seems to have won the battle over CPAC.

On the eve of this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, another shot has been fired by those boycotting the meeting due to the presence of a gay conservative group.

Time for midterms.

With DADT Repeal now on its way to being fully implemented, the right is now claiming that it poses a threat to the religious liberties of military chaplains. As with their other arguments, this one is totally without merit.

The commander-in-chief, secretary of defense, and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff all support removing the ban on gays in the military without further delay. A long-awaited Pentagon study showed no reason not to do so. But three of four Service chiefs disagree.

Despite the Defense Department releasing its study showing that the effects of allowing gays to serve openly would be minimal, Senator John McCain isn’t convinced.

Tonight’s topics: The fallout from the latest WikiLeaks dump and the Pentagon’s report on gays in the military.

Is there really anyone who can credibly argue at this point that the policy regarding homosexuals openly serving in the armed services is anything other than basic discrimination?

New details are out about the upcoming Defense Department report on repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

One of the last arguments against allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the military — that active duty military would be unable to serve alongside them — appears to have no empirical support.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is once again the law of the land.

Last night’s one and only Nevada Senate Debate was an embarrassing affair all around, but it most likely sealed the electoral doom of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The prospect of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell before the November elections is in doubt thanks to a threatened filibuster led by Arizona’s John McCain.

Having long since gotten rid of rum and the lash, I suppose this day was inevitable.