Americans are both outraged and energized over headlines highlighting scandals in Washington related to the Benghazi tragedy and the IRS targeting of conservative groups. But there is a bigger concern at play in these events and it’s something very few people are talking about although it underpins and links the …

North Korea’s misconduct is directed at three men it hopes will play the role of patsy: President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Pentagon-boss-nominee Chuck Hagel. It is largely for their benefit that North Korea created a video of New York being decimated, and for them that North Korea …

“This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.” — Barack Obama to Dmitry Medvedev, March 26, 2012 The puzzle of the Chuck Hagel nomination for defense secretary is that you normally choose someone of the other party for your Cabinet to indicate a move to the …

The Washington memoir is usually a boring and unilluminating literary genre. But the newly published book, “The Great War of Our Time,” written by Michael Morell, is both fascinating and revealing. It is also extremely sobering. Morell is the recently retired deputy director (and twice acting director) of the Central …

So according to an article in a British paper, Muslim docs and nurses will be allowed to opt out of strict hygiene rules aimed at stopping deadly superbugs. Apparently the change was made after female Muslims resented having their arms exposed below the elbow. Some Muslims may be allowed to …

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine: Fired Up The first African-American to be elected governor of a U.S. state has a message for President Obama: heads need to roll. Former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder writes on Politico that the president must replace the team that helped get him …

It’s obviously pile-on-Toyota week. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Toyota PR are trading barely-polite disagreements, and Japan is making Toyota investigate a new Prius braking problem. Equally bad, on Monday a celebrity came forward to claim he’d experienced sudden acceleration in his new 2010 Toyota Prius while using the cruise …

What do Alyssa Milano, Sandra Bullock, Lance Armstrong, Gisele Bundchen, the country of Senegal and — very possibly — you have in common? All — including you — have donated more funds to the Haitian relief effort than oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia and Iran. That’s right … if you …

You know what I think turns off voters? Not lying politicians, but lying politicians who insist they’re not lying politicians; politicians who say one thing, then do another. I know, I know: Nothing profound here. But you’d think those guys in Washington would get it there. People have had it …

So a friend asked me to explain the whole mess in Greece and I tried to make it simple. You know those people who keep spending money, even though their credit cards are maxed? That’s Greece. Now they have to cut back, but they don’t want to. Remember the phrase: …