Outside the Beltway

Chris Christie waded into the debate going on in the GOP over foreign policy. His comments were less than helpful to say the least.

Think of it as the spy version of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Another poll shows the President’s poll numbers dipping.

New technology brings the day of round the clock tracking of citizens who’ve done nothing wrong ever closer.

Low voter priorities and the natural tendency of the media to move on to the next big story meant that gun control was not going to be a top political issue for long.

The Tanks For The Mammaries Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

A privacy rights group has filed a Petition with the Supreme Court regarding recent actions by the FISA Court.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says revealing that the United States is spying on its allies has undermined their trust.

Chief Justice Roberts is the only person who gets to say who sits on the FISA Court.

The French were indignant about reports of the NSA’s surveillance programs. Now we know they have own of their own.

Contemporary Americans accept actions by the state that were once the cause for revolt.

Every piece of mail you send and receive is being logged by the Postal Service.

The blowback from yesterday’s revelations about U.S. surveillance on European allies continues.

The latest NSA leaks are likely to prove to be diplomatically embarrassing.

There seem to be some signs that defense hawks in the GOP are concerned about Rand Paul’s growing popularity in the party.

Focusing on Edward Snowden is largely a waste of time.

New revelations from The Guardian

Despite an extradition request from the United States, Edward Snowden left Hong Kong overnight on a flight to Moscow and parts unknown.

NSA Metadata coming to a courtroom near you?

Not surprisingly, Edward Snowden has been formally charged in connection with the leak of classified NSA documents.

Edward Snowden has likely violated many laws, but, absent additional facts, treason is not one of them.

Does it matter if political leaders like each other on some personal level? Sometimes it does.

President Obama’s poll numbers seem to be suffering under the weight of nearly two months of scandals and/ media attention.

The Pass The Buck Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

There is an important difference between private companies holding private data and government holding it.

Outrage over leaks like those that Edward Snowden makes doesn’t exist when its politicians doing the leaking.

My latest for The Atlantic, “Why Should Congress and the Courts Care About Snooping If Citizens Don’t?” has posted.

One Congressman thinks it would be a good idea to treat journalists as criminals.

Even if you trust the current occupant of the White House to exercise the powers granted to the agencies operating in secret under him, do you trust all future Presidents?

The ACLU is suing over the NSA’s data mining. Does it really have a chance?

Revelations about the NSA’s data mining programs don’t seem to be having a significant impact on public opinion.

Meet Edward Snowden, the 29 year old CIA/NSA contractor who has confessed to leaking the details of the NSA’s data mining projects.

Will voters care about the revelations about NSA data mining? Signs point to no.

Sometimes it seems like all John McCain does is appear on Sunday morning news shows. The problem goes deeper than that, though.

Not only do we not know the whole story of the NSA data mining operation, key details of what thought we knew are wrong.

Jay Stanley and Ben Wizner, privacy experts at the ACLU, argue that metadata is more sensitive than we think.

Contrary to President Obama’s assertion today, the NSA’s operations don’t have proper legislative or judicial oversight.