Outside the Beltway

Normalcy is not a bad thing.

An embarrassing photo demonstrates the perils of leading the free world.

Police and the Punisher Skull

The Russian leader is very unlikely to be hauled before the Hague.

Strikes near the Polish border show the real possibility of escalation.

Two notorious cases indicate a policy shift on federal prosecutions of cases already tried in lower courts.

What if the “fake news” is really fake news?

A possible murder plot in Colombia embedded into a problematic multi-decade narrative.

Two NeverTrump Republicans have had enough.

The Vietnam War hero and one-term Georgia Senator has died at 79.

We may be out of Afghanistan but the ‘war on terror’ is likely to continue indefinitely.

The postmortems are well underway.

He was both the youngest and oldest man to run the Pentagon.

The Commonwealth is much more diverse than national election returns might indicate.

“If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations, then we’re not going anywhere.”

Reflections on the events of 6 January two months later.

Some reflections

The iconoclastic journalist is out at the publication he founded.

Cops aren’t soldiers or spies but fellow citizens.

So far at least, Elizabeth Warren is not doing a good job of articulating her foreign policy positions. That needs to change if she’s going to be a serious candidate.

Eighteen years after the September 11th attacks, it’s becoming harder to remember what the world used to be like.

The Trump Administration from projects to build on-base schools and daycare facilities to spend on his border wall.

Thanks for nothing, Republicans.

The House of Representatives passed a defense spending bill that seeks to limit Presidential authority when it comes to striking Iran and aideing the Saudi war on Yemen.

Donald Trump has endorsed a proposal by a Republican Senator to ban flag burning.

While he campaigned on a message of restraint, Donald Trump has largely adopted the interventionist foreign policies of his predecessors.

Instead of merely seeking to block the President’s declaration of an “emergency” at the southern border, Congress should instead significantly amend the National Emergencies Act.

While the rest of the world looks at other events, tensions are flaring in a long-standing global hot spot.

Terrorists aren’t walking across the desert to get here. Flying is so much easier.

The Trump Administration is reportedly preparing to withdraw the small contingent of American troops from Syria. If it actually happens, this would be a good move.

Thanks apparently to the fact that it remained unwilling to get in line behind the Trumpidians, the conservative owner of The Weekly Standard has shut the magazine down.

In what has to qualify as one of the most horrifying displays of moral depravity on the international stage, the Trump Administration is saying it doesn’t really care if the Saudi Crown Prince is a murderer or not.

American involvement in the genocidal Saudi war on Yemen is getting more complicated. This is a bad idea.

Seventeen years ago, America was thrust into a war that seemingly has no end.

The first day of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings was much ado about pretty much nothing, but then that can be used to describe a process whose outcome is pretty much foreordained.

In his final words to his fellow Senators, and to his fellow Americans, Senator John McCain left a legacy, and a challenge.

Throughout the War On Terror, John McCain stood out as a strong moral voice against the use of torture against prisoners. For that he deserves the thanks of a grateful nation.

Kofi Annan, who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations at the dawn of the “War On Terror,” has died at the age of 80.

A towering figure gone much too soon.

Echoing the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration is arguing that it did not need Congressional authorization to attack Syria earlier this year.

As expected, Gina Haspel was confirmed as C.I.A. Director yesterday despite her controversial record when it comes to torture.

With a third Democrat crossing the aisle to support her, Gina Haspel now has the votes she needs to become the next C.I.A. Director.

Gina Haspel faced some tough questions from Democrats regarding her role in the C.I.A.’s post-9/11 torture programs, but she’s likely to be confirmed anyway.

With the start of her confirmation hearings just days away, Gina Haspel’s nomination to be C.I.A. Director is by no means secure.

General (Retired) Michael Hayden has some harsh, and concerning, criticisms of the Trump administration.

Without Congressional authorization, any attack on Syria would be illegal, but don’t expect Congress to do anything about it.

President Trump took to Twitter this morning and decided poke a stick in the eye of the Russian bear.

The nominations of Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel could be in trouble in the Senate.

While the nature of Rex Tillerson’s firing as Secretary of State was shocking in its abruptness, taken in context with the rocky nature of his tenure it was hardly surprising.

Service members deployed to Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda qualify.