It sure is looking like that in Vienna! The Iranian negotiating team is open to the deal, but they have to take it back to the regime for approval. Cautious optimism! What’s at stake? Well: Diplomacy is underway to find out whether Iran will ultimately accede to an offer that the U.S. and its allies [...]

Hosenkoff & Isinball on Ayatollah Khamanei, despite recent blogospheric rumors. Yesterday afternoon, heading back to the office from the George Washington U/Foggy Bottom metro stop after an interview at the State Department, a rubicon was crossed. The guy galloping down the escalator in front of me was wearing an ironic Pearl Jam t-shirt. Couldn’t have [...]

Via Matthew Yglesias, Weezer performs a great medley of MGMT’s “Kids” (which might be the only song Ezra Klein likes) and “Poker Face” by the hype machine known as Lady GaGa. (And that, my friends, is suppressing fire to cover my retreat, as I am pretty ready to concede affection for LGG.) The band treats [...]

Wow, this David Rohde series. One detail just stuck to my ribs: If I made one more video, he said, we would be released. Ashamed of my previous video and convinced that Abu Tayyeb was lying yet again, I refused. “This is all about you,” I said, raising my voice. “You are demanding millions of [...]

You read it here first. Actually, you read it way first. Eventually I have to be right. Well, actually I don’t. But I think I am! Kerry’s performance in Kabul was crucial like barbecue. Eventually HRC has to move on, and when she does… Actually, I’m on my way to an HRC speech on proliferation [...]

Analysis here.

What did you expect, Bleacher Creatures? That this would be easy? That we deserve to sweep? That the Angels would go without a fight? What’s the matter with you? Do you remember losing the first two games of the 1996 World Series? How’d that turn out? Do you think that we’ll sweep the World Series? [...]

I made a mistake in this post and I hope my friend will forgive me. I stopped reading former AIPAC and Israeli D.C. embassy official Lenny Ben-David’s vile screed against J Street after he descended into racist innuendo that the organization is suspect because it takes money from (gasp) human beings of Arabian heritage. Had [...]

This email haunts me: He’s hiding in the shadows and he’s right behind you, promoting the legacy of Jack Kemp. (Explanation. Ink & Dagger.) RIP Sean.

I can’t believe I forgot to mention this in this post: Part of the strain comes from lessons learned from the generals who acquiesced to former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s demands for a small invasion force in Iraq, then faced criticism that they had not spoken up for more troops to secure the country [...]