The media seemed to treat Rand Paul’s query to Attorney General Eric Holder about the targeting with drones of U.S. citizens on American soil as kinda kooky – that is, implying that it could never happen in the great United States. Nationalistic war hawks, such as...
Rodmania in North Korea
Sometimes the common man--or not so common man, such as basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman--can teach elite media, politicians, and diplomats a thing or two. The media largely billed Rodman’s visit to North Korea to see its young leader as "bizarre," or...
Hold US Policymakers to Their Abysmal Record on Foreign Meddling
The United States and Saudi Arabia appear to be ramping up aid to the Syrian rebels. Here we go again on the road to debacle. Why? The media never holds anybody to either their predictions or their results--officeholders, politicians, and of course their own pundits....
‘Widespread Pain’ of the Sequester Not So Draconian
Recently, The New York Times ran an alarmist editorial about the "widespread pain" that would be inflicted on the American government and people by the budget "sequester." If no legislative action is taken, the sequester will make across the board...
Obama’s Drone War Could Legally Kill Americans But Not Anywhere
Although so far, President Obama seems to have less warlike inclinations than George W. Bush (perhaps damning by faint praise) – getting out of Iraq, finally scheduling to mostly pull out of Afghanistan, and going against all national security advisers by refusing...
Ron Paul’s Statement on Sniper’s Death Not ‘Appalling’
Former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul is being roundly criticized for his Twitter comment on the killing of celebrated former sniper Chris Kyle. The sniper was gunned down by former Marine Eddie Routh at a Texas shooting range while Kyle was...
‘Stupid’ Republicans
Bobby Jindal, Louisiana’s Republican governor, bluntly called his party the "stupid party." He also said that, "The Republican Party does not need to change our principles…but we might need to change just about everything else we do." This...
Foreign Policy and Defense in a Second Term
John Kerry and Chuck Hagel--two of the best mainstream nominees that President Obama could have selected for Secretaries of State and Defense, respectively--will soon face Senate confirmation. With these nominees, hopefully Obama is signaling a veering away from...
An Ally Out of Control
As in the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, an aggressive France threatens to pull the United States into another brushfire, nation-building war in the developing world. This time it is in the West African state of Mali. The French have panicked because...
Split Decision on Obama’s National Security Nominees
In the revamp of his national security team for a second term, President Obama gets a mixed review. Barring an unlikely presidential post-re-election epiphany leading to a radical scaling back of the American Empire, Obama probably got the best mainstream...


