Outside the Beltway

Does America have a social contract? If so, is it broken?

Far from being an existential crisis, the recent rise in public distrust in government is easily explained.

It never ceases to amaze me how many smart people manage to believe, against all evidence to the contrary, that their political philosophy has massive support.

Ron Paul is again making the argument that American foreign policy has contributed to terrorism. He’s more right than wrong.

That a popular two-term governor of Utah is being rejected by likely Republican primary voters as insufficiently conservative shows just how extreme American politics has gotten.

Rick Perry declared, “One of the reasons that I’m running for president is I want to make sure that every young man and woman who puts on the uniform of the United States respects highly the president of the United States.”

Michele Bachmann is claiming that the debt downgrade proves she was right about not raising the debt ceiling.

Watching the news and reading the op-eds makes it clear: America is doomed.

Former Oregon governor and long-time US Senator Mark Hatfield has died.

The defense spending lobby is already engaging in fear-mongering over very modest defense cuts.

Some on the left are upset with the President, but does it really matter?

Thomas Ricks makes the case that JFK was the worst President of his century but his argument misses the mark.

Leon Panetta has been brought in to oversee significant cuts to the U.S. Defense budget. Meanwhile, we’re in six wars.

The draft ended in 1973. It’s effects still linger today.

Tim Pawlenty’s foreign policy speech shows him siding with the hawks, and joining in the neocon distortion of Reagan’s legacy.

One foreign policy analyst argues that President Obama should look to Nixon’s Vietnam withdrawal strategy for ideas on Afghanistan.

160 million girls are “missing” owing to selective abortion and cultural preferences for male children.

A few Republicans have picked up on John McCain’s criticism of critics of the Libya mission as being “isolationist.”

For the second time in two weeks, copyright lawsuit mill Righthaven has suffered a loss in Federal Court.

Contrary to what Senator McCain, seeking realism in military policy does not make one an isolationist.

An ex-CIA agent says that someone in the Bush White House tried to use the agency to “discredit” Iraq War critic Juan Cole.

The Obama Administration tells Congress that it doesn’t need to comply with the War Powers Act because the Act does not apply to the mission in Libya.

WaPo’s Jackson Diehl asks, “Will the GOP nominate a dove?”

President Obama’s approval numbers shot up after Osama bin Laden was killed two weeks ago. They’ve already settled back to where they were

Newt Gingrich says the coming presidential election will be the most important since the Civil War.

Is the war in Libya illegal?

Technology has saved the lives of countless American soldiers. But it’s made going to war easier.

There are signs that the Ryan Plan isn’t playing well with the public.

One can almost hear the pitter-patter of American boots in the distance.

America’s war colleges have some problems but we can’t close them.

My first piece for The American Conservative, which they’ve titled “War Isn’t for Everyone–The military needs civilian control, not citizen soldiers,” is in the May issue.

The re-emergence of Obama foreign policy advisor Samantha Power to prominence has brought critics to the forefront

Todays’ horrific attack on the UN complex in Mazar-i Sharif may well the the Tet Offensive of Afghanistan: a relatively minor event that permanently changed the American public’s view of the war.

Tom Ricks doesn’t understand why we need an exit strategy in Libya.

When America’s leaders make the decision to engage in military action abroad, has the time for debate ended, or is it more important than ever that those with doubts about the policy speak out?

Operation Odyssey Dawn has resurrected the eternal battle over what limits there are, and should be, on the President’s ability to use military force without Congressional authorization.

Is Libya a war? Hell yes, Libya is a war.

While there are doubtless flaws with the journalistic values and culture of the New Media, we too often contrast today with a Golden Age of Media that never existed.

Did a unit in Afghanistan engage in an IO operation against U. S. senators?

The American right has become infected with the notion that Barack Obama isn’t just wrong, but evil. That won’t be healthy in the long run.

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