Outside the Beltway

Senate Republicans have done more harm to the goal of stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons than they have done good.

Has the legislative branch abdicated its responsibility in US foreign policy?

For a year that started out with regaining long-lost territory in Ukraine, 2014 is not ending so well for Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Newly released documents reveal that Henry Kissinger wanted to attack Cuba in the mid-1970s.

Health experts are saying we could basically eliminate AIDS, or at least bring it under control, in fifteen years if we do the right things.

Some old fashioned political arm twisting has up-ended the apple cart in Richmond.

There’s little evidence for the conservative contention that the President has damaged America’s position in the world.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney’s choices in home decor raise an interesting question.

In retrospect, and in comparison with other recent Presidents, George Herbert Walker Bush’s four years in office were pretty darn good.

The danger of saying stupid things online apparently has not sunk in with some people.

Apparently, the security at Tuesday’s memorial for Nelson Mandela was so lax as to be nearly non-existent.

In 1789, George Washington took office after being elected by only a small portion of the population of the U.S. Does that mean he wasn’t “democratically elected?”

Some on the American right have a very odd view of both Nelson Mandela and the Apartheid regime he fought against.

The most important leader to come out of Africa in the 20th Century, and perhaps in all of history, has died.

We spend more per capita than any other country in the world and yet we are outperformed on a key metric, life expectancy, by a large number of countries

Another conflict between the Obama Administration and a news media that is frustrated about the extent they are being controlled by being refused access.

Military coups used to be far more common than they are today.

Absent DOMA, the Full Faith and Credit Clause would seem to make gay marriage legal across the land.

The anti-communist icon is once again in hot water for making idiotic comments.

Eight of Cameroon’s 37 Olympians are “missing.”

We, as Americans, tend to have a limited knowledge of the institutional variation that exists across democratic systems around the world.

Yes, the US Constitution has been the most successful such document in human history. That does not mean it is a good template for other countries.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg had some advice on Constitution drafting for Egyptians

The combined value of Apple’s stock is more than the GDP of some countries.

Time Magazine has chosen “The Protester” as its Person Of The Year. Let the outrage ensue.

The First Lady takes a lot of days off from her unpaid “job.”

While President Obama has had some amusing gaffes on his trip to London, including getting the year wrong in the guest book and an awkward toast to the Queen, his speech to Parliament today hit all the right notes.

Go The Fuck to Sleep, the children’s book aimed at parents, has become an Internet sensation and reached #1 on Amazon well before its release owing to a leaked copy.

The Obama Administration is asking the U.N. Security Council to authorize direct military intervention in Libya. The question is, why now?

Ronald Reagan would have turned 100 today. Here are some thoughts on his legacy.

The last thing that Haiti needed was for a former dictator to return, but that’s exactly what has happened.