Outside the Beltway

Colonel Bud Day, who earned a Medal of Honor leading Vietnam POWs, had died, aged 88 years.

Lindy Boggs, the Louisiana Congresswoman best known to many of us as Cookie Roberts’ mom, has died at the ripe old age of 97.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has wasted no time issuing a full-throated statement endorsing today’s DOMA ruling

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

Senator Ted Cruz has alienated his colleagues in record time.

A surprise Friday resignation at the CIA.

The reported Romney “reboot” doesn’t look very impressive.

A POLITICO analysis finds that “Obama and his top campaign aides have engaged far more frequently in character attacks and personal insults than the Romney campaign.”

Challenge the ideas of those with whom you disagree, not their patriotism, decency, or integrity.

A new book by one of the Navy SEALs involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden differs significantly from the official version put forward by the government.

Once again, Chris Christie makes one wish there were more Republicans like him.

Michele Bachmann and several other Members of Congress are engaging in the despicable tactics of Joe McCarthy.

Figuring out how much of the opposition to a black president is based on racism is . . . complicated.

Thanks to a media that focuses obsessively on irrelevancies, we now have a permanent political silly season.

The race is over, Rick Santorum just won’t admit it.

While I’ve expressed my dissatisfaction with the degree that CPAC has embraced the worst elements of the conservative movement in recent years, it does appear that there is a line.

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

The U.S. War in Afghanistan sounds disturbingly similar to the Soviet one.

Was it wrong for the NFL to schedule its opening Sunday on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks?

Honoring the fallen by ensuring that the didn’t die in vain is a recipe for getting more good men killed.

Alabama youth choir gets hand slapped for impromptu rendition of the national anthem.

Ppartisan politics no longer stops at the water’s edge. This is a bad sign for the Republic.

NBC stoked a minor furor among the perpetually victimized by using the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal sent a warning to his fellow Republicans. Too bad they probably won’t listen.

Our patience with those who repeatedly hijack the discussion thread to detract from the topic at hand has ended, effective immediately.

I have banned a couple of serial violators in recent days after various warnings, deletions, and other signals failed to do the trick.

Information made public by Wikileaks appears to have played a role in sparking the protest movement that has brought down the President of Tunisia.

Charles Murray argues that the Tea Party is right to complain about out-of-touch elites.

Seems Grayson’s getting desperate.

You aren’t allowed the sing the Star Spangled Banner at the Lincoln Memorial.

A growing number of conservatives are in dismay about the state of their movement.

A review by the Army of its alarming spike in suicides blames it on the new strain of risk-seeking recruits who join during wartime and commanders who neglect to rein them in.

A lot of Americans don’t know that the US gained its independence from Great Britain. How can this be? Is it a liberal conspiracy?

Michael Gerson argues that the source of our polarization isn’t the Democrats and the Republicans but the Ugly Party and the Grown-Up Party.